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Swift Thoughts
This collection of stories showcases the work of George Zebrowski, one of science fiction’s masters and a writer Hugo and Nebula Award winner Robert J. Sawyer has called “one of the most philosophically astute writers in science fiction.� Like the writers Olaf Stapledon, Arthur C. Clarke, and Stanislaw Lem, Zebrowski explores the “big questions”—the expansion of human horizons, and the growth of power over our lives and the world in which we live. In the title story, scientists push the boundaries of human mentality to keep pace with ever-evolving AIs. In “The Eichmann Variations,”a finalist for the Nebula Award, exact copies of captured Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann stand trial for his crimes against humanity, while in “The Word Sweep,� all speech must be rationed because spoken words take on physical form. In “Wound the Wind,� another Nebula Award finalist, unchanged humans roam freely until captured by those who know what’s best for them, and in “Stooges,� a visiting alien hijacks the persona of Curly Howard. From hard science fiction (“Gödel’s Doom�) to alternate history (“Lenin in Odessa�) to first alien contact (“Bridge of Silence�), and with an introduction by renowned physicist/writer Gregory Benford, this collection presents one of the most distinctive voices writing in the field of science fiction today.
414 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2002
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About the author
George Zebrowski
137books23followersGeorge Zebrowski was an American science fiction writer and editor who wrote and edited a number of books, and was a former editor of The Bulletin of the Science Fiction Writers of America. He lived with author Pamela Sargent, with whom he co-wrote a number of novels, including Star Trek novels.
Zebrowski won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award in 1999 for his novel Brute Orbits. Three of his short stories, "Heathen God," "The Eichmann Variations," and "Wound the Wind," were nominated for the Nebula Award, and "The Idea Trap" was nominated for the Theodore Sturgeon Award.
Zebrowski won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award in 1999 for his novel Brute Orbits. Three of his short stories, "Heathen God," "The Eichmann Variations," and "Wound the Wind," were nominated for the Nebula Award, and "The Idea Trap" was nominated for the Theodore Sturgeon Award.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 5, 2012
Rating: 2.5* of five
The Book Report: Twenty-four short fictions from philosophical scientist Zebrowski. All the stories in the collection are centered around Big Ideas...what if Gödel's incompleteness theorem can be disproved by artificial intelligence? What if Lenin's assassination by Sidney Reilly succeeded in 1918?...and are, in the finest sense of the word, speculative masterworks rendered in prose.
My Review: What they aren't is any fun at all to read. The characters are wooden, the dialogue is sermonific (as sleep-inducing as a sermon, with all a sermon's stiffness that induces the neck's looseness and the eyelids' heaviness), but the concepts are stellar.
There are two stories that I like: “The Eichmann Variations,� which explores the nature of revenge, forgiveness, selfhood, and evil, all in about 3200 words. It's compact, it's eerie, it has as a background a fascinating alternative to our own history, which is simply put out there and assumed that the reader got it, processed it, and took in the implications of it. I found this story compelling while reading it, and still think about it days later. I appreciate being treated this respectfully by an author.
And “Lenin in Odessa,� an alternative to the events as played out in our own world surrounding a British-backed attempt to rid the world of Lenin in 1918. It's nothing short of superb. The narrative voice is Stalin's, and that seems to make the chunkiness of the dialogue okay to me; I can imagine with ease that the voice of the real Stalin would sound this windbaggy swaggering way.
The other twenty-two were not fun for me to read. I found “Gödel's Doom� unpleasantly reminiscent of a workshop piece that didn't quite make it; I liked “Swift Thoughts,� the title piece, so little that I was outraged to read Zebrowski's self-assessment of the piece as like Elgar's or Mahler's music. The others passed by my eyes, doing little enough damage to them, but offering little reward for the effort.
I read fairly frequently in reviewers' comments reported to us by Zebrowski himself comparisons of his writing to that of Olaf Stapledon ([Last and First Men]). Yes. Exactly. Agreed. Wooden, awkward, overweeningly self-congratulatory stuff by a minor talent.
The Book Report: Twenty-four short fictions from philosophical scientist Zebrowski. All the stories in the collection are centered around Big Ideas...what if Gödel's incompleteness theorem can be disproved by artificial intelligence? What if Lenin's assassination by Sidney Reilly succeeded in 1918?...and are, in the finest sense of the word, speculative masterworks rendered in prose.
My Review: What they aren't is any fun at all to read. The characters are wooden, the dialogue is sermonific (as sleep-inducing as a sermon, with all a sermon's stiffness that induces the neck's looseness and the eyelids' heaviness), but the concepts are stellar.
There are two stories that I like: “The Eichmann Variations,� which explores the nature of revenge, forgiveness, selfhood, and evil, all in about 3200 words. It's compact, it's eerie, it has as a background a fascinating alternative to our own history, which is simply put out there and assumed that the reader got it, processed it, and took in the implications of it. I found this story compelling while reading it, and still think about it days later. I appreciate being treated this respectfully by an author.
And “Lenin in Odessa,� an alternative to the events as played out in our own world surrounding a British-backed attempt to rid the world of Lenin in 1918. It's nothing short of superb. The narrative voice is Stalin's, and that seems to make the chunkiness of the dialogue okay to me; I can imagine with ease that the voice of the real Stalin would sound this windbaggy swaggering way.
The other twenty-two were not fun for me to read. I found “Gödel's Doom� unpleasantly reminiscent of a workshop piece that didn't quite make it; I liked “Swift Thoughts,� the title piece, so little that I was outraged to read Zebrowski's self-assessment of the piece as like Elgar's or Mahler's music. The others passed by my eyes, doing little enough damage to them, but offering little reward for the effort.
I read fairly frequently in reviewers' comments reported to us by Zebrowski himself comparisons of his writing to that of Olaf Stapledon ([Last and First Men]). Yes. Exactly. Agreed. Wooden, awkward, overweeningly self-congratulatory stuff by a minor talent.
December 3, 2008
5.0 stars. This is an amazing group of short stories. I have not gone through all of them so will only review the first 3.
1. "The Eichmann Variations" - One of the best short stories I have EVER read (certainly in the top 20). Takes place in an alternative history where World War II ended when atomic weapons obliterated German cities (Japan then surrendered). The Nazi war criminal, Adolf Eichmann (the chief architect of the Holocaust), is not executed when he is captured by Israelis in the early 1960s (as happened in our world). Instead, he is cloned, by the State of Israel (the world's most powerful country), and each clone is given the opportunity to repent. When the clones do not repent they are killed and the process begins again (presumably until 6 million clones have been killed in retirbution for the Holocaust). A staggering story about the nature of guilt, identity and evil. A MUST READ.
2. "The Word Sweep" - One of the most original stories I have ever read. The basic premise is that all words spoken begin to take physical form (falling to the groud and creating massive amounts of "garbage" which leads to restrictions on the amount people are able to speak.
3. "Starcrossed" - A very intellectual tale regarding the true nature of what it means to be alive and the nature of identity.
1. "The Eichmann Variations" - One of the best short stories I have EVER read (certainly in the top 20). Takes place in an alternative history where World War II ended when atomic weapons obliterated German cities (Japan then surrendered). The Nazi war criminal, Adolf Eichmann (the chief architect of the Holocaust), is not executed when he is captured by Israelis in the early 1960s (as happened in our world). Instead, he is cloned, by the State of Israel (the world's most powerful country), and each clone is given the opportunity to repent. When the clones do not repent they are killed and the process begins again (presumably until 6 million clones have been killed in retirbution for the Holocaust). A staggering story about the nature of guilt, identity and evil. A MUST READ.
2. "The Word Sweep" - One of the most original stories I have ever read. The basic premise is that all words spoken begin to take physical form (falling to the groud and creating massive amounts of "garbage" which leads to restrictions on the amount people are able to speak.
3. "Starcrossed" - A very intellectual tale regarding the true nature of what it means to be alive and the nature of identity.
September 13, 2020
I heard of Zebrowski through his collaboration with Charles Pelligrini on The Killing Star, but wasn't familiar with him otherwise when I picked up this collection. As with most anthologies, we have a mixed bag. I enjoyed the title story, along with Lenin in Odessa, an excellent example of a second order counterfactual in an Alternate History tale; Stooges an oddly entertaining first contact story, and the Eichmann Variations, while the surrealist pieces The Word Sweep and The Idea Trap fell flat.
February 6, 2016
Mostly 1993-2001, but not particularly dated.
As other reviews noted, what they are is boring.
They are all exercises, in which Zebrowski considers a future possibility and looks for ethical/moral problems with it, or applications of it that might make us go "Eww!"
It can work when an author writes a story around a concept. The short story "The Cold Equations" works, and so does Sturgeon's shattering "The Man Who Lost the Sea." But these put pulp-fiction cardboard characters in dull settings, as if to avoid getting in the way of the philosophy. Gosh, George, I wish they had, because the philosophy is like eating month-old Cheerios without milk.
As other reviews noted, what they are is boring.
They are all exercises, in which Zebrowski considers a future possibility and looks for ethical/moral problems with it, or applications of it that might make us go "Eww!"
It can work when an author writes a story around a concept. The short story "The Cold Equations" works, and so does Sturgeon's shattering "The Man Who Lost the Sea." But these put pulp-fiction cardboard characters in dull settings, as if to avoid getting in the way of the philosophy. Gosh, George, I wish they had, because the philosophy is like eating month-old Cheerios without milk.
November 20, 2022
A book of short stories -- and a collection that shows, I think, the author's fixation on a couple of themes, one of which is "time" and the universes that spawn from different choices and events. I find these particularly interesting. But I missed having space travel stories, so I downgraded the collection a little bit. Recommended.
November 3, 2022
Got on a whim, and turned out to be a great collection of shorts from an author I'd never heard of. Some sci-fi, some alt-hist, all intriguing, with interesting characters and sometimes way-out stories. Well written and edited.
September 26, 2023
This review is based on reading only “The Word Sweep� which is available online at
December 15, 2012
Thought I would give short stories a shot again, but another blah collection of dated stories with too much exposition on themes of transcendance, AIs, and the nature of the future of humanity. Much too much repetition over and over again, if you catch my drift. Maybe appreciated by true fans, but a little goes a long way for the newcomer. I can't say anthing but skip it. Maybe give his most famout novels a try.
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