"Tony Daniel - Robot's Twilight Companion" - читать интересную книгу автора (Daniel Tony)

тАЬMystery Box,тАЭ copyright ┬й 1999 by Dell Magazines, a division of Crosstown Publications; first
published inAsimovтАЩs Science Fiction , April 1999.

тАЬRadio Praha,тАЭ copyright ┬й 1998 by Dell Magazines, a division of Crosstown Publications; first
published inAsimovтАЩs Science Fiction , March 1998.

тАЬThe RobotтАЩs Twilight Companion,тАЭ copyright ┬й 1996 by Dell Magazines; first published inAsimovтАЩs
Science Fiction , August 1996.




For Lucius Shepard,
Who taught me the life of the writer


and


In memory of Jim Turner,
An extraordinary editor and friend

Introduction
T ony and I share the same opinion of introductions, that is, that the work should speak for itself, and we
agreed that this would be a fitting place, instead, to focus on the role of Jim Turner in bringing this book
to print. Most of you have never heard of Jim Turner . . . and I suppose thereтАЩs no reason you should
have. He was an editor, which is an under-publicized and unappreciated profession. Jim was one of the
most unappreciatedтАФand most astuteтАФeditors in the history of publishing. He lived and worked in
Collinsville, Illinois, far from the literary spotlight of New York. There, unencumbered by corporate
concerns, by the need to provide vast amounts of silage for the undiscerning appetites of mass-market
readership, he was able to transform Arkham House from a minor-league publisher specializing in H.P.
Lovecraft tributes to a respected showcase for new writing talent. He had a passion for making quality
books with strong content, beautiful books that would survive as objects for generations. His Arkham
booksтАФas well as those he produced under his own imprint, Golden Gryphon (which continues today
under the stewardship of his brother, Gary)тАФwere lovingly designed and were nominated for and won
innumerable awards. Jim himself was not accorded the slightest honor by the field he served so ably and
devotedly until after his death when he won the World Fantasy Award in the category тАЬSpecial Award,
Professional.тАЭ He was never less than forthright in his opinions, and IтАЩm certain that the notion of being
recognized posthumously would have struck him as the height of hypocrisy.
I believe that JimтАЩs greatest virtue as an editor was his ability to spot talent. Evidence of this is a phone
call I received from him in late 1989, during which he raved about the first published story of a young
writer named Tony Daniel. I had taught at a workshop that Tony attended the previous summer, and
when I mentioned this, Jim got excited and started pumping me for information, as he was wont to do.
He declared his intention of one day publishing a collection of stories by TonyтАФhe was that sure of
TonyтАЩs potential. As usual, JimтАЩs judgment was borne out: Tony has since become one of the most
important new-generation science fiction writers, and itтАЩs likely that his ultimate horizon lies far beyond
the shores of that genre.The RobotтАЩs Twilight Companion is the last book that Jim Turner nurtured
from conception to the printerтАЩs shop before his untimely death. It stands as a fitting memorial to his life,
constituting the record of a maturing young writerтАЩs development, something that Jim delighted in and
something that has been a signature of many of his books. From the title piece, with its Asimovian focus