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Space Magic
Walker's got a problem. A human salesman on an alien world, he's got software to sell. But he doesn't understand the language or the culture, and he's running out of resources. Sometimes survival means understanding the difference between what's most valuable and what's most important. Translated into 7 languages, "Tk'Tk'Tk" won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 2006.
"Tk'Tk'Tk," a short story, is also available as part of Space Magic, an award-winning collection of science fiction and fantasy stories by David D. Levine.
"Tk'Tk'Tk," a short story, is also available as part of Space Magic, an award-winning collection of science fiction and fantasy stories by David D. Levine.
26 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 17, 2012
8 people are currently reading
191 people want to read
About the author
David D. Levine
114books174followersDavid D. Levine is the author of novel Arabella of Mars (Tor 2016) and over fifty SF and fantasy stories. His story "Tk'Tk'Tk" won the Hugo Award, and he has been shortlisted for awards including the Hugo, Nebula, Campbell, and Sturgeon. Stories have appeared in Asimov's, Analog, F&SF, and five Year's Best anthologies as well as award-winning collection Space Magic from Wheatland Press.
David is a contributor to George R. R. Martin's bestselling shared-world series Wild Cards. He is also a member of publishing cooperative Book View Cafe and of nonprofit organization Oregon Science Fiction Conventions Inc. He has narrated podcasts for Escape Pod, PodCastle, and StarShipSofa, and his video "Dr. Talon's Letter to the Editor" was a finalist for the Parsec Award. In 2010 he spent two weeks at a simulated Mars base in the Utah desert.
David lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife Kate Yule. His web site is .
David is a contributor to George R. R. Martin's bestselling shared-world series Wild Cards. He is also a member of publishing cooperative Book View Cafe and of nonprofit organization Oregon Science Fiction Conventions Inc. He has narrated podcasts for Escape Pod, PodCastle, and StarShipSofa, and his video "Dr. Talon's Letter to the Editor" was a finalist for the Parsec Award. In 2010 he spent two weeks at a simulated Mars base in the Utah desert.
David lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife Kate Yule. His web site is .
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
April 30, 2021
Very unique and interesting short story, worthy of its Hugo win. Salesman turns away from his life that he finds devoid of meaning and adopts an alien spirituality. Cool alien culture and language!
February 11, 2013
David D. Levine and I are connected, but he doesn't know it. At the only Worldcon I've ever attended (LA Con IV, 2006), Harlan Ellison presented a Hugo Award to Levine for his short story "Tk'tk'tk". The image of Levine leaping for joy into the arms of Harlan Ellison is a bright memory of that wonderful week. That's why I was thrilled to see this collection available as an e-book. I thought I'd enjoy it, and I wasn't disappointed.
There are 15 stories included here, and they demonstrate story-telling skill in fantasy, science fiction, and the in-between. My favorite story in the collection is one of the in-between stories: "The Tale of the Golden Eagle". It spans a large number of years during which the enhanced brain of a golden eagle experiences much, from acting as the sentient control system for a ship to walking around in an android body. It's a 5-star story that originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in June of 2003.
Another standout is that Hugo winner - "Tk'tk'tk". A salesman goes to an alien planet to sell inventory management software of all things, and ends up being changed by the experience. Definitely an award quality story, but so was "The Tale of the Golden Eagle".
One more science fiction story I'd like to mention is "At the Twenty-Fifth Annual Meeting of Uncle Teco's Homebrew Gravitics Club". I thoroughly enjoyed this fun story about a convention that takes place annually in Earth orbit. The group that gathers there is made up of people that met each other on the internet years before. Since then the group has grown, and there has been a lot of infighting and water under and over the bridge... this is a great setting, and I wonder if Levine has written any more about these folks.
On the pure fantasy side, there's "The Ecology of Faerie", a very moving story about a sixteen year old girl's encounter with faeries, and "Circle of Compassion", in which a priestess is ordered to send her spirit to an enemy camp to spy. And there's also the lovingly meta "Charlie the Purple Giraffe Was Acting Strangely", in which a purple cartoon giraffe starts to wonder about his readers.
This is a very solid and diverse collection of stories that I enjoyed very much.
There are 15 stories included here, and they demonstrate story-telling skill in fantasy, science fiction, and the in-between. My favorite story in the collection is one of the in-between stories: "The Tale of the Golden Eagle". It spans a large number of years during which the enhanced brain of a golden eagle experiences much, from acting as the sentient control system for a ship to walking around in an android body. It's a 5-star story that originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in June of 2003.
Another standout is that Hugo winner - "Tk'tk'tk". A salesman goes to an alien planet to sell inventory management software of all things, and ends up being changed by the experience. Definitely an award quality story, but so was "The Tale of the Golden Eagle".
One more science fiction story I'd like to mention is "At the Twenty-Fifth Annual Meeting of Uncle Teco's Homebrew Gravitics Club". I thoroughly enjoyed this fun story about a convention that takes place annually in Earth orbit. The group that gathers there is made up of people that met each other on the internet years before. Since then the group has grown, and there has been a lot of infighting and water under and over the bridge... this is a great setting, and I wonder if Levine has written any more about these folks.
On the pure fantasy side, there's "The Ecology of Faerie", a very moving story about a sixteen year old girl's encounter with faeries, and "Circle of Compassion", in which a priestess is ordered to send her spirit to an enemy camp to spy. And there's also the lovingly meta "Charlie the Purple Giraffe Was Acting Strangely", in which a purple cartoon giraffe starts to wonder about his readers.
This is a very solid and diverse collection of stories that I enjoyed very much.
October 7, 2015
Really enjoyable - not perfect, but really great. David's prose is approachable, yet elegant. The subject of the story was extremely interesting, and the degradation of Walker's personality was difficult to watch. I enjoyed this piece, as I enjoy all Levine I've read.
August 8, 2013
Originally posted at FanLit:
Before picking up this story collection, I was only familiar with David D. Levine from a couple of his stories that I’ve read in anthologies. Space Magic sparked my interest because it contains a Hugo Award winning story (“Tk’Tk’Tk’�) and because it has recently been released in audio format, read by the author himself.
It rarely happens that I enjoy every story in a collection, but that’s what happened here. All of these tales are entertaining, I was pleased with the diversity of themes and styles, and I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the audio production. Here are the stories you’ll find in Space Magic.
“Wind From a Dying Star� � (first published in the anthology Bones of the World, 2001) A tribe of post-humans who travel the universe in freeform bodies decides to visit the galaxy that spawned the human race. The Earth is dead, Sol is fizzling out, and the solar winds are dangerous. They need to find an energy source so they can recharge and get away. This sad story is a celebration of “the headstone of humanity,� a warning about how we are using our planet and energy resources, and a speculation about the future evolution of the human race.
“Nucleon� � (first published in Interzone, 2001) Looking for inspiration, a concept artist discovers a huge junk yard owned by an old man who seems to be able to find anything his customers need. The two men strike up a years-long friendship and marvel together about the source of the strange junk yard’s power. I loved this sweet story about art, friendship, and wonder. It left me smiling. This was probably my favorite story in Space Magic.
“I Hold My Father’s Paws� � (first published in the magazine Albedo One, 2005)This heart-wrenching story is about a father and son who’ve been estranged for 20 years but meet again when the father decides to undergo an operation that will turn him into a dog (only in California!). As the two get reacquainted, we learn why the father has made this drastic decision. I cried at the end of this story.
“Zauberschrift� � (first published in the anthology Apprentice Fantastic, 2002) A former magician’s apprentice is called home to help the villagers deal with a curse that’s affecting their weather. After a bit of deduction, he realizes that he needs to debug an ancient magic spell.
“Rewind ”� (first published in L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future, Volume 18, 2002) An elite soldier who’s been designed to be able to rewind time by a few seconds is trying to escape from the U.S. government unit he belongs to. He gets help from a “terrorist� group of citizens. I liked the concept of this exciting story and when it ended I wished there was more. It would make a great novel.
“Fear of Widths� � (first published in the anthology Land/Space, 2003) In this very short story a man returns to the Midwestern town he grew up in so he can attend his parents� funeral. He becomes disturbed that he can see the horizon, something he never notices in Portland, where he’s been living for years. Turns out that he’s right to be nervous�.
“Brotherhood� � (first published in the anthology Haunted Highways, 2004) Gus and his brother are working in a steel manufacturing plant during the Great Depression and are being paid extra by management to spy on workers who want to unionize. When, due to management’s negligence, Gus dies on the job his ghost returns to urge his brother to do the right thing. But what is the
right thing?
“Circle of Compassion� � (first published in the anthology Gateways, 2005) In this Oriental-inspired fantasy, a priestess lends her special skills and a piece of magical jewelry to help her besieged village by spying on the enemy and getting civilians and soldiers to safety.
“Tk’Tk’Tk� �(first published in Asimov’s, 2005) An interplanetary travelling salesman is so far out of his comfort zone and has such a hard time making a deal with the aliens he’s visiting that he takes a serious look at his profession and the American lifestyle. I love how David Levine made his aliens feel so alien while at the same time the real focus of the story is on rather mundane but essential human concerns. This is the story that won a Hugo Award.
“Charlie the Purple Giraffe Was Acting Strangely� � (first published in Realms of Fantasy, 2004) This cute story is about a comic book character who realizes that he’s being watched and laughed at by readers. The premise of this story is funny, but what I liked best were the vivid little details that made me actually visualize a comic book while I was reading it. I smiled all the way through. This was another favorite.
“Falling off the Unicorn� � (original to this collection) Misty is a teenage girl who shows unicorns and she’s competing in the Nationals. This story cleverly blends and twists two unrelated clichés: unicorn-virginity myths and pageant moms. I totally believed it.
“The Ecology of Faerie� � (first published in Realms of Fantasy, 2005) A 16 year old girl whose mother is dying of leukemia discovers that faeries exist, and they’re not very nice! Because she doesn’t have any support from her parents, she must do her own research to figure out how to get rid of them. This story is disturbing both because of the scary faeries and the leukemia.
“At the Twenty-Fifth Annual Meeting of Uncle Teco’s Homebrew Gravitics Club� � (first published in OryCon 25 Souvenir Book, 2003) Old friends from a gravity hacking club reunite at their annual convention and reminisce about the good times and the bad times. This story has a nostalgic feel and lots of cool props.
“Love in the Balance� � (first published in All-Star Zeppelin Adventure Stories, 2004) Zeppelins and Zombies! This strange steampunk-style story has tons of atmosphere, reminding me a little of the Girl Genius comics and, because of the sentient airships, a little of Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot. It’s another one that would make an interesting setting for a novel or two. I want to read that.
“The Tale of the Golden Eagle� � (first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, 2003) This fascinating story is a legend about an eagle whose brain is used to guide a spaceship by changing the shape of space. When the spaceship is retired, the eagle’s brain powers an android whose body is made of jewels. “The Tale of the Golden Eagle� is beautifully written and has lots of cool ideas. It was nominated for a Hugo Award.
The diversity of the stories in Space Magic shows David D. Levine’s broad range of subject matter and his aptitude with many styles and themes. As Levine explains in the afterword, the title “Space Magic� is intended to convey the point that the collection contains both science fiction and fantasy stories. This title seems too soft, dreamy and nebulous to me. For me it evokes swirly sparkles and rainbows. It doesn’t get across the reality that these stories are vivid, detailed, and sometimes dark and hard-hitting.
I was a bit wary of trying Space Magic on audio because in my experience authors are not usually the best narrators for their own material � or anybody else’s for that matter. There are a few exceptions, with Neil Gaiman being the most obvious. However, I needn’t have worried. In fact, I was surprised at how well Levine’s audiobook turned out. He used a range of pleasant and realistic voices and his cadence was nice. (You’d think this would be easy for the author to get right, but apparently it’s not). Space Magic is a professional quality audiobook and one I have no trouble recommending both for the stories and the audio production. I’m looking forward to reading more of David D. Levine’s stories.
Before picking up this story collection, I was only familiar with David D. Levine from a couple of his stories that I’ve read in anthologies. Space Magic sparked my interest because it contains a Hugo Award winning story (“Tk’Tk’Tk’�) and because it has recently been released in audio format, read by the author himself.
It rarely happens that I enjoy every story in a collection, but that’s what happened here. All of these tales are entertaining, I was pleased with the diversity of themes and styles, and I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the audio production. Here are the stories you’ll find in Space Magic.
“Wind From a Dying Star� � (first published in the anthology Bones of the World, 2001) A tribe of post-humans who travel the universe in freeform bodies decides to visit the galaxy that spawned the human race. The Earth is dead, Sol is fizzling out, and the solar winds are dangerous. They need to find an energy source so they can recharge and get away. This sad story is a celebration of “the headstone of humanity,� a warning about how we are using our planet and energy resources, and a speculation about the future evolution of the human race.
“Nucleon� � (first published in Interzone, 2001) Looking for inspiration, a concept artist discovers a huge junk yard owned by an old man who seems to be able to find anything his customers need. The two men strike up a years-long friendship and marvel together about the source of the strange junk yard’s power. I loved this sweet story about art, friendship, and wonder. It left me smiling. This was probably my favorite story in Space Magic.
“I Hold My Father’s Paws� � (first published in the magazine Albedo One, 2005)This heart-wrenching story is about a father and son who’ve been estranged for 20 years but meet again when the father decides to undergo an operation that will turn him into a dog (only in California!). As the two get reacquainted, we learn why the father has made this drastic decision. I cried at the end of this story.
“Zauberschrift� � (first published in the anthology Apprentice Fantastic, 2002) A former magician’s apprentice is called home to help the villagers deal with a curse that’s affecting their weather. After a bit of deduction, he realizes that he needs to debug an ancient magic spell.
“Rewind ”� (first published in L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future, Volume 18, 2002) An elite soldier who’s been designed to be able to rewind time by a few seconds is trying to escape from the U.S. government unit he belongs to. He gets help from a “terrorist� group of citizens. I liked the concept of this exciting story and when it ended I wished there was more. It would make a great novel.
“Fear of Widths� � (first published in the anthology Land/Space, 2003) In this very short story a man returns to the Midwestern town he grew up in so he can attend his parents� funeral. He becomes disturbed that he can see the horizon, something he never notices in Portland, where he’s been living for years. Turns out that he’s right to be nervous�.
“Brotherhood� � (first published in the anthology Haunted Highways, 2004) Gus and his brother are working in a steel manufacturing plant during the Great Depression and are being paid extra by management to spy on workers who want to unionize. When, due to management’s negligence, Gus dies on the job his ghost returns to urge his brother to do the right thing. But what is the
right thing?
“Circle of Compassion� � (first published in the anthology Gateways, 2005) In this Oriental-inspired fantasy, a priestess lends her special skills and a piece of magical jewelry to help her besieged village by spying on the enemy and getting civilians and soldiers to safety.
“Tk’Tk’Tk� �(first published in Asimov’s, 2005) An interplanetary travelling salesman is so far out of his comfort zone and has such a hard time making a deal with the aliens he’s visiting that he takes a serious look at his profession and the American lifestyle. I love how David Levine made his aliens feel so alien while at the same time the real focus of the story is on rather mundane but essential human concerns. This is the story that won a Hugo Award.
“Charlie the Purple Giraffe Was Acting Strangely� � (first published in Realms of Fantasy, 2004) This cute story is about a comic book character who realizes that he’s being watched and laughed at by readers. The premise of this story is funny, but what I liked best were the vivid little details that made me actually visualize a comic book while I was reading it. I smiled all the way through. This was another favorite.
“Falling off the Unicorn� � (original to this collection) Misty is a teenage girl who shows unicorns and she’s competing in the Nationals. This story cleverly blends and twists two unrelated clichés: unicorn-virginity myths and pageant moms. I totally believed it.
“The Ecology of Faerie� � (first published in Realms of Fantasy, 2005) A 16 year old girl whose mother is dying of leukemia discovers that faeries exist, and they’re not very nice! Because she doesn’t have any support from her parents, she must do her own research to figure out how to get rid of them. This story is disturbing both because of the scary faeries and the leukemia.
“At the Twenty-Fifth Annual Meeting of Uncle Teco’s Homebrew Gravitics Club� � (first published in OryCon 25 Souvenir Book, 2003) Old friends from a gravity hacking club reunite at their annual convention and reminisce about the good times and the bad times. This story has a nostalgic feel and lots of cool props.
“Love in the Balance� � (first published in All-Star Zeppelin Adventure Stories, 2004) Zeppelins and Zombies! This strange steampunk-style story has tons of atmosphere, reminding me a little of the Girl Genius comics and, because of the sentient airships, a little of Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot. It’s another one that would make an interesting setting for a novel or two. I want to read that.
“The Tale of the Golden Eagle� � (first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, 2003) This fascinating story is a legend about an eagle whose brain is used to guide a spaceship by changing the shape of space. When the spaceship is retired, the eagle’s brain powers an android whose body is made of jewels. “The Tale of the Golden Eagle� is beautifully written and has lots of cool ideas. It was nominated for a Hugo Award.
The diversity of the stories in Space Magic shows David D. Levine’s broad range of subject matter and his aptitude with many styles and themes. As Levine explains in the afterword, the title “Space Magic� is intended to convey the point that the collection contains both science fiction and fantasy stories. This title seems too soft, dreamy and nebulous to me. For me it evokes swirly sparkles and rainbows. It doesn’t get across the reality that these stories are vivid, detailed, and sometimes dark and hard-hitting.
I was a bit wary of trying Space Magic on audio because in my experience authors are not usually the best narrators for their own material � or anybody else’s for that matter. There are a few exceptions, with Neil Gaiman being the most obvious. However, I needn’t have worried. In fact, I was surprised at how well Levine’s audiobook turned out. He used a range of pleasant and realistic voices and his cadence was nice. (You’d think this would be easy for the author to get right, but apparently it’s not). Space Magic is a professional quality audiobook and one I have no trouble recommending both for the stories and the audio production. I’m looking forward to reading more of David D. Levine’s stories.
September 16, 2015
I received a free copy of this book in return for a review, via the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.
This is a story about a bird. A bird, a ship, a machine, a woman - she was all these things, and none, but first and fundamentally a bird.
It is also a story about a man - a gambler, a liar, and a cheat, but only for the best of reasons.
No doubt you know the famous Portrait of Denali Eu, also called The Third Decision, whose eyes have been described as "two pools of sadness iced over with determination." This is the story behind that painting.
It is a love story. It is a sad story. And it is true.
I was really happy to review this Early Reviewers book, as I have heard a few of David D. Levine's stories read on podcasts, including two of those from this collection, "Wind From a Dying Star" and "Zaubershrift". The beginning of "Tk'Tk'Tk'" seemed familiar too, but the story went off in an entirely different direction than I had expected, so I must have been thinking of another story whose opening a scene featured a human dealing with a very alien shopkeeper.
The stories in this collection are very varied indeed. Apart from the science fiction stories, there are a ghost story about unionisation in 1930s America, a possibly non-genre story about landscaped-induced agoraphobia, cartoon animals who talk using word ballons (the U.S term for speech bubbles?), a village cursed by a defaced grimoire, an ancient Chinese priestess, a rather unusual junkyard, a pony story with unicorns instead of ponies, and a girl who is worried about the the frogs iving outside her house.
The science fiction stories range from near future to more than a million years in the future, and includes tales of biotechnology, a convention held in a hotel in near-earth orbit, time-travelling soldiers, a travelling salesman far from home, rivalries between floating cities, a bird-brained spaceship, and a tribe of post-humans travelling between stars under their own power.
As I said earlier, very varied and also very enjoyable. My favourites were "Tk'Tk'Tk'", "Circle of Compassion" and "The Ecology of Faerie", while I wasn't so keen on "I Hold My Father's Paws" and "Fear of Widths".
This is a story about a bird. A bird, a ship, a machine, a woman - she was all these things, and none, but first and fundamentally a bird.
It is also a story about a man - a gambler, a liar, and a cheat, but only for the best of reasons.
No doubt you know the famous Portrait of Denali Eu, also called The Third Decision, whose eyes have been described as "two pools of sadness iced over with determination." This is the story behind that painting.
It is a love story. It is a sad story. And it is true.
I was really happy to review this Early Reviewers book, as I have heard a few of David D. Levine's stories read on podcasts, including two of those from this collection, "Wind From a Dying Star" and "Zaubershrift". The beginning of "Tk'Tk'Tk'" seemed familiar too, but the story went off in an entirely different direction than I had expected, so I must have been thinking of another story whose opening a scene featured a human dealing with a very alien shopkeeper.
The stories in this collection are very varied indeed. Apart from the science fiction stories, there are a ghost story about unionisation in 1930s America, a possibly non-genre story about landscaped-induced agoraphobia, cartoon animals who talk using word ballons (the U.S term for speech bubbles?), a village cursed by a defaced grimoire, an ancient Chinese priestess, a rather unusual junkyard, a pony story with unicorns instead of ponies, and a girl who is worried about the the frogs iving outside her house.
The science fiction stories range from near future to more than a million years in the future, and includes tales of biotechnology, a convention held in a hotel in near-earth orbit, time-travelling soldiers, a travelling salesman far from home, rivalries between floating cities, a bird-brained spaceship, and a tribe of post-humans travelling between stars under their own power.
As I said earlier, very varied and also very enjoyable. My favourites were "Tk'Tk'Tk'", "Circle of Compassion" and "The Ecology of Faerie", while I wasn't so keen on "I Hold My Father's Paws" and "Fear of Widths".
August 30, 2013
Audiobook read by the author.
Space Magic is a collection of short stories by David D. Levine that are either Science Fiction, Fantasy, or some combination of those together. I have to admit that I really enjoyed this short story collection. Short stories in general sometimes feel underdeveloped or trivial, but the stories in this collection do a great job of introducing a whole new world, what's going on, and coming to a satisfying conclusion. If you like SciFi/Fantasy of any kind, this is a great collection of stories.
Here were some of my more favorite stories:
Nucleon - This was like Mr. Magorium's wonder imporium at a junkyard. A fun concept and likeable characters.
Zauberschrift - Really cool story about a scribe who used to apprentice with feuding wizards needs to help a village plagued by bad magic. Really cool magic ideas and insights into mob mentality.
Rewind - This story really reminded me of Equilibrium in how you have someone from an elite force of some totalitarian government join in with the rebellion with his super abilities/powers. So many possibilities in this story.
Brotherhood - A great story of the labor force in their struggles with the man that will have you wondering why it's in this collection for most of the story...(in a good way)
Tk’Tk’Tk - This story takes the problems of a salesman selling to a different culture to the extreme. What if you were an interstellar salesman coping with the cultures of another species you could barely understand?
Charlie the Purple Giraffe Was Acting Strangely - This story is crazy. What happens to comic characters between the cells and between the comics?
The Ecology of Faerie - This story is like Faerie horror. I don't know how Mr. Levine did it, but he made a Faerie story like Night of the Living dead and it's awesome!
Audiobook: David D. Levine does his own reading for this book. He does a pretty decent job with the reading although not being a professional reader. You wouldn't necessarily be missing anything if you decided to read this rather than audiobooking but good luck pronouncing the stuff in Tk'Tk'Tk...
Space Magic is a collection of short stories by David D. Levine that are either Science Fiction, Fantasy, or some combination of those together. I have to admit that I really enjoyed this short story collection. Short stories in general sometimes feel underdeveloped or trivial, but the stories in this collection do a great job of introducing a whole new world, what's going on, and coming to a satisfying conclusion. If you like SciFi/Fantasy of any kind, this is a great collection of stories.
Here were some of my more favorite stories:
Nucleon - This was like Mr. Magorium's wonder imporium at a junkyard. A fun concept and likeable characters.
Zauberschrift - Really cool story about a scribe who used to apprentice with feuding wizards needs to help a village plagued by bad magic. Really cool magic ideas and insights into mob mentality.
Rewind - This story really reminded me of Equilibrium in how you have someone from an elite force of some totalitarian government join in with the rebellion with his super abilities/powers. So many possibilities in this story.
Brotherhood - A great story of the labor force in their struggles with the man that will have you wondering why it's in this collection for most of the story...(in a good way)
Tk’Tk’Tk - This story takes the problems of a salesman selling to a different culture to the extreme. What if you were an interstellar salesman coping with the cultures of another species you could barely understand?
Charlie the Purple Giraffe Was Acting Strangely - This story is crazy. What happens to comic characters between the cells and between the comics?
The Ecology of Faerie - This story is like Faerie horror. I don't know how Mr. Levine did it, but he made a Faerie story like Night of the Living dead and it's awesome!
Audiobook: David D. Levine does his own reading for this book. He does a pretty decent job with the reading although not being a professional reader. You wouldn't necessarily be missing anything if you decided to read this rather than audiobooking but good luck pronouncing the stuff in Tk'Tk'Tk...
December 6, 2008
This collection by Portland author David Levine is all over the map - and that's a good thing, in this case. It shows his range. Levine's stories invite comparison with authors as varied as , and , as well as with others who aren't even named Jack.
And I'm not by any means alone in admiring his work; "Tk'Tk'Tk" won a Hugo award for Best Short Story in 2006.
Picking particular stories to recommend is difficult, because there are so many good ones, but the tales that stick best in my memory include: "Nucleon," with its echoes of Jack Finney crossed with ; the piquant fantasy tale "Zauberschrift"; the aforementioned "Tk'Tk'Tk" (which for me evoked and Jack Dann, though name-checks and instead, and I cannot disagree); the topological conceits of both "Charlie the Purple Giraffe Was Acting Strangely" and "Circle of Compassion"... well, I'll stop there before listing the whole table of contents. Suffice it to say that each story is rewarding, and each in its own way.
And I'm not by any means alone in admiring his work; "Tk'Tk'Tk" won a Hugo award for Best Short Story in 2006.
Picking particular stories to recommend is difficult, because there are so many good ones, but the tales that stick best in my memory include: "Nucleon," with its echoes of Jack Finney crossed with ; the piquant fantasy tale "Zauberschrift"; the aforementioned "Tk'Tk'Tk" (which for me evoked and Jack Dann, though name-checks and instead, and I cannot disagree); the topological conceits of both "Charlie the Purple Giraffe Was Acting Strangely" and "Circle of Compassion"... well, I'll stop there before listing the whole table of contents. Suffice it to say that each story is rewarding, and each in its own way.
December 31, 2015
Disclosure: I am friends with Sara Mueller, who co-wrote the included "Falling Off the Unicorn." (I think I enjoyed it its own merits, but it's best to be honest.)
The stories in Space Magic are fantasy in a way that makes sense. Everything is "normal", except there's clicking bug-aliens. Everything is "normal", except the government has time-rewinding assassins. And the stories have a plot. Even the ones not set in this world have a tether to Earth and reality.
See, sometime after reading this, I ended up with another book of short stories that was award winning despite reading like a collection of particularly nonsensical fever-dreams. And before this, the last book of short stories I'd had was this very dense collection of characters thinking about their families and considering whether they should fish. So if you're avoiding short stories because they're boring or just too weird, I understand where you're coming from, and suggest this instead! The stories are not boring, and are a perfect level of weird!
The stories in Space Magic are fantasy in a way that makes sense. Everything is "normal", except there's clicking bug-aliens. Everything is "normal", except the government has time-rewinding assassins. And the stories have a plot. Even the ones not set in this world have a tether to Earth and reality.
See, sometime after reading this, I ended up with another book of short stories that was award winning despite reading like a collection of particularly nonsensical fever-dreams. And before this, the last book of short stories I'd had was this very dense collection of characters thinking about their families and considering whether they should fish. So if you're avoiding short stories because they're boring or just too weird, I understand where you're coming from, and suggest this instead! The stories are not boring, and are a perfect level of weird!
January 28, 2013
I really enjoyed reading all short stories in Space Magic. David Levine stories are varied little worlds of wonder waiting to entertain us. I found myself smiling at the end of some stories, like I do when I read the few short stories written by my favorite authors. I look forward to find more stories written by him. He certainly knows how to write a great short story.
Below are individual ratings of the short stories in the book.
Wind from a Dying Star (4 stars)
Nucleon (5 stars)
I Hold My Father's Paws (3 stars)
Zauberschrift (4 stars)
Rewind (5 stars)
Fear of Widths (2 stars)
Brotherhood (3 stars)
Circle of Compassion (5 stars)
Tk'Tk'Tk (5 stars)
Charlie the Purple Giraffe Was Acting Strangely (3 stars)
Falling Off the Unicorn (2 stars)
The Ecology of Faerie (5 stars)
At the Twenty-Fifth Annual Meeting of Uncle Teco's Homebrew Gravitics Club (4 stars)
Love in the Balance (3 stars)
The Tale of the Golden Eagle (5 stars)
Below are individual ratings of the short stories in the book.
Wind from a Dying Star (4 stars)
Nucleon (5 stars)
I Hold My Father's Paws (3 stars)
Zauberschrift (4 stars)
Rewind (5 stars)
Fear of Widths (2 stars)
Brotherhood (3 stars)
Circle of Compassion (5 stars)
Tk'Tk'Tk (5 stars)
Charlie the Purple Giraffe Was Acting Strangely (3 stars)
Falling Off the Unicorn (2 stars)
The Ecology of Faerie (5 stars)
At the Twenty-Fifth Annual Meeting of Uncle Teco's Homebrew Gravitics Club (4 stars)
Love in the Balance (3 stars)
The Tale of the Golden Eagle (5 stars)
July 29, 2013
Before picking up this story collection, I was only familiar with David D. Levine from a couple of his stories that I’ve read in anthologies. Space Magic sparked my interest because it contains a Hugo Award winning story (“Tk’Tk’Tk’�) and because it has recently been released in audio format, read by the author himself.
It rarely happens that I enjoy every story in a collection, but that’s what happened here. All of these tales are entertaining, I was pleased with the diversity of themes and styles, and I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the audio production. Here are the stories you’ll find in Space Magic.
“Wind From a Dying Star� � (first published in the anthology Bones of the World, 2001) A tribe of post-humans who travel the universe in freeform bodies decides to visit the galaxy that spawned the human race. The Earth ... Read More:
It rarely happens that I enjoy every story in a collection, but that’s what happened here. All of these tales are entertaining, I was pleased with the diversity of themes and styles, and I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the audio production. Here are the stories you’ll find in Space Magic.
“Wind From a Dying Star� � (first published in the anthology Bones of the World, 2001) A tribe of post-humans who travel the universe in freeform bodies decides to visit the galaxy that spawned the human race. The Earth ... Read More:
January 2, 2010
A Portland author, a book that beat out even Stephenson to win an award, and an intto duction by a Eugene author I like--what could go wrong?
Well, not anything, really. These are the types of SF and fantasy stories I like to read: stories that are more concerned with people and emotions than gadgets and interstellar wars. I like the way they are set and the fact that Levine isn't afraid to do political stories.
So, all the ingredients are there, right? I mean the guy writes short stories much like the ones I write myself. That's the disturbing thing for me. Jeez, I could have written some of these and I don't like thme? Post modern madness ensues or something.
Anyway, the bright side is that the kind of stories I like to write won an award, eh.
Well, not anything, really. These are the types of SF and fantasy stories I like to read: stories that are more concerned with people and emotions than gadgets and interstellar wars. I like the way they are set and the fact that Levine isn't afraid to do political stories.
So, all the ingredients are there, right? I mean the guy writes short stories much like the ones I write myself. That's the disturbing thing for me. Jeez, I could have written some of these and I don't like thme? Post modern madness ensues or something.
Anyway, the bright side is that the kind of stories I like to write won an award, eh.
February 3, 2013
I am not usually a reader of short stories. I got this book as part of the early reviewer program at ŷ. I liked the first story "Wind from a Dying Star". Actually the first thing I liked in the book was the introduction. Anyway the first story was followed by a collection of very varied stories with different subjects and styles. Some I liked more than other, but there was no story that I didn't enjoy reading. After finishing some of the stories, for instance "Love in the Balance", I felt like reading more of the same, wishing the story would have been an entire book. Nevertheless after reading this book I think I might pay more attention to short stories in the future.
February 21, 2013
I'm a bit torn on this book. To me they are science fiction stories - yet they aren't. I would suggest that the settings for the stories are based in science fiction and fantasy. However, the actual stories come across as dealing with standard life themes. The were a few hits and a few misses.
My favorites include: Nucleon, Rewind, Charlie the Purple Giraffe was acting strangely, and The Tale of the Golden Eagle. The ones I felt were lacking were: Falling of the Unicorn and I hold My Fathers Paws. The rest were middle of the road.
Its a decent collection and worth a look - I just wasn't overly wowed over.
My favorites include: Nucleon, Rewind, Charlie the Purple Giraffe was acting strangely, and The Tale of the Golden Eagle. The ones I felt were lacking were: Falling of the Unicorn and I hold My Fathers Paws. The rest were middle of the road.
Its a decent collection and worth a look - I just wasn't overly wowed over.
December 30, 2014
I generally do not like anthologies. Most of them are very uneven, and stories that don't catch my interest often cause me to put the book aside. So, I was skeptical when a friend recommended this anthology to me. "Trust me," he said.
I'm glad I did. There wasn't a single story in this book that failed to catch my interest. Even though the stories had wildly different genres, settings, and styles, they all were captivating. Some were funny, some were thought-provoking, and some were kind of just "out there" yet still entertaining.
If you enjoy thoughtful, well-written, science-fiction and fantasy stories, add this book to your collection.
I'm glad I did. There wasn't a single story in this book that failed to catch my interest. Even though the stories had wildly different genres, settings, and styles, they all were captivating. Some were funny, some were thought-provoking, and some were kind of just "out there" yet still entertaining.
If you enjoy thoughtful, well-written, science-fiction and fantasy stories, add this book to your collection.
Shelved as 'maybe-to-read'
April 30, 2021***why a maybe***
A reviewer I follow on ŷ had this to say about the story:
Short and to the point. The thing is they also mentioned it won a Hugo? I don't know in which year but somehow I have this huge mental block of reading the older winners of the Hugo Awards. Every time I think it would be a fun project I look at the titles and think "Eh, let's watch a review by Thomas of SFF180 on YouTube."
But it does sound intriguing so it's a maybe!
A reviewer I follow on ŷ had this to say about the story:
Salesman turns away from his life that he finds devoid of meaning and adopts an alien spirituality. Cool alien culture and language!
Short and to the point. The thing is they also mentioned it won a Hugo? I don't know in which year but somehow I have this huge mental block of reading the older winners of the Hugo Awards. Every time I think it would be a fun project I look at the titles and think "Eh, let's watch a review by Thomas of SFF180 on YouTube."
But it does sound intriguing so it's a maybe!
November 17, 2012
Everyone seems to be ga-ga about the Hugo winner "T'k' T'k' T'k'" but honestly, my favorite is "Charlie the Purple Giraffe Was Acting Strangely". It's a cleverly hidden discussion of existentialism - possibly space / time? Well worth a read by the Philosophy, Quantum Physics and Astrophysics majors.
Want to read
May 23, 2013[Really enjoyed his story in [book:Armored|12377899], "The Last Days of the Kelly Gang." I'm not usually a person who reads short stories, but I've been enjoying anthologies more, and the story was solid enough to seem encouraging when I saw that this book won an Endeavor Award and contains his Hugo Award winning story. - Will write a real review after I read the book.]
October 10, 2022
It’s not quite “Death of a Salesman,� but it comes very close. How do you close the sale on an alien planet where everything you do seems to offend or otherwise go wrong. The answer, Levine seems to say, is to lean in. The other answer, however, is questioning if the sale is worth all that trouble. Amusing and painful, in that Seinfeldian way.
June 28, 2016
An excellent collection with a lot of variety. I first encountered one of Levine's SF stories, , but I enjoyed the fantasies in this collection at least as much.
January 6, 2017
I don't know if there is a deeper meaning to this book that I just didn't get or if there's just no meaning to it...
For me, it was good enough for a short, in-between read but I have to say I was glad it wasn't a longer book.
For me, it was good enough for a short, in-between read but I have to say I was glad it wasn't a longer book.
October 31, 2009
Not engaging enough.
Want to read
July 4, 2014David D Levine received a Hugo award for short fiction and also a 20 year medallion at the recent Iagsdc convention in SLC. Going to read his stuff!
August 10, 2024
Very weird aliens, even weirder money.
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