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Rating: 
Summary: Some of the Best Michael Swanwick Stories.
Review: Contents of this collection can probably still be found on the Amazon site and elsewhere, but here they come again, with additional information.A User's Guide to Michael Swanwick by Bruce Sterling (foreword).
'The Very Pulse of the Machine' (short story) Asimov's Feb 1998.
'The Dead' (short story) Starlight 1, ed. by Patrick Nielsen Hayden, 1996.
'Scherzo with Tyrannosaur' (short story) Asimov's Jul 1999.
'Ancient Engines' (short story) Asimov's Feb 1999.
'North of Diddy-Wah-Diddy' (novelette) Killing Me Softly, ed. Gardner Dozois, 1995.
'The Mask' (short story) Asimov's Apr 1994.
'Mother Grasshopper' (short story) A Geography of Unknown Lands, 1997.
'Riding the Giganotosaur' (short story) Asimov's Oct/Nov 1999.
'Wild Minds' (short story) Asimov's May 1998.
'The Raggle Taggle Gypsy-O' (short story).
'Microcosmic Dog' (shory story) Science Fiction Age Nov 1998.
'In Concert' (short story) Asimov's Sep 1992.
'Radiant Doors' (short story) Asimov's Sep 1998. 'Ice Age' (short story) Amazing Jan 1984.
'Walking Out' (short story) Asimov's Feb 1995.
'The Changeling's Tale' (short story) Asimov's Jan 1994.
'Midnight Express' (short story) Sirens and Other Daemon Lovers, ed. Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, 1998.
'The Wisdom of Old Earth' (short story) Asimov's Dec 1997.
'Radio Waves' (short story) Omni Win 1995. There are quite a number of stories here that have either won an award or were at least nominated. Scherzo with Tyrannosaur is a 2000 Hugo winner. And The Very Pulse of the Machine is likewise a Hugo winner, but of the year 1999. All those awards merely state the obvious: Read these tales. Swanwick is excellent in the short story and novelette regions but I'm as of yet unfamiliar with his novels. This collection was for me an introduction to Swanwick the writer, and I'll probably pick up one of his novels in the near-future. This is a fine collection, one of the best in years. Write more stories, Michael Swanwick!
Rating:
Summary: The body of work of a true Master
Review: Michael Swanwick's latest collection 'Tales of Old Earth' is masterful. The collection of stories ranges from Hard SF to the so-called Hard Fantasy (don't ask me to explain it). There are Hugo and World Fantasy Award Winners and numerous stories that were nominated for major awards. It's unfortunate that Michael Swanwick isn't widely-recognized as the writer that he is. His work is consistently head-and-shoulders above the average work being turned out in the genre. But he writes predominantly short fiction, and short fiction never has, and never will be, recognized by the masses. This is one of the best story collections I've ever read. There isn't a 'dog' in the bunch. Every story jumps out at the reader with its vibrancy. Michael Swanwick is a wordsmith of unparalleled talent. I have no doubt that he's the best writer of the current generation. I highly recommend this collection.
Rating:
Summary: The body of work of a true Master
Review: Michael Swanwick's latest collection 'Tales of Old Earth' is masterful. The collection of stories ranges from Hard SF to the so-called Hard Fantasy (don't ask me to explain it). There are Hugo and World Fantasy Award Winners and numerous stories that were nominated for major awards. It's unfortunate that Michael Swanwick isn't widely-recognized as the writer that he is. His work is consistently head-and-shoulders above the average work being turned out in the genre. But he writes predominantly short fiction, and short fiction never has, and never will be, recognized by the masses. This is one of the best story collections I've ever read. There isn't a 'dog' in the bunch. Every story jumps out at the reader with its vibrancy. Michael Swanwick is a wordsmith of unparalleled talent. I have no doubt that he's the best writer of the current generation. I highly recommend this collection.
Rating: 
Summary: Decent for the "Not-so-Dedicated"
Review: This book is a good collection of short stories for the aspiring SF reader. However, for the more serious that read such books as the Foundation series or Dune, it is in all respects, a book that grasped me for a select few stories.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible
Review: This collection of short stories is among the best ever written. Deeply profound, thoughtful and literary tales, these stories remind me of Franz Kafka and Philip K. Dick at their best. Swanwick utilizes science fiction in the exact way science fiction should be utilized: as a realistic and cautionary window into the future. His favorite themes include: The dangers of unfettered capitalism and emergence of corporate slave-labor; science and medical technology run amok; the nature of death, the soul, and the afterlife; and time travel and the complications involved in altering the past. He also seems to have an obsession with dinosaurs. If these themes sound like a recipe for intellectual and thoughtful literature, you are correct. Swanwick is able to convey fascinating philosophical concepts through his fiction, and does so with a clear and lucid style. Unlike some modern authors, Michael Swanwick does not try to experiment with an overly abstract or poetic style, and does not play tricks with the reader in an attempt to create a "new" style of writing prose. Swanwick sticks with a basic writing style, and invokes pioneering literary concepts through the actual content of his stories. This is mystical-realist literature at its best - realistic style and execution, combined with far-out mystical concepts.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible
Review: This collection of short stories is among the best ever written. Deeply profound, thoughtful and literary tales, these stories remind me of Franz Kafka and Philip K. Dick at their best. Swanwick utilizes science fiction in the exact way science fiction should be utilized: as a realistic and cautionary window into the future. His favorite themes include: The dangers of unfettered capitalism and emergence of corporate slave-labor; science and medical technology run amok; the nature of death, the soul, and the afterlife; and time travel and the complications involved in altering the past. He also seems to have an obsession with dinosaurs. If these themes sound like a recipe for intellectual and thoughtful literature, you are correct. Swanwick is able to convey fascinating philosophical concepts through his fiction, and does so with a clear and lucid style. Unlike some modern authors, Michael Swanwick does not try to experiment with an overly abstract or poetic style, and does not play tricks with the reader in an attempt to create a "new" style of writing prose. Swanwick sticks with a basic writing style, and invokes pioneering literary concepts through the actual content of his stories. This is mystical-realist literature at its best - realistic style and execution, combined with far-out mystical concepts.
Rating:
Summary: A collection worthy of Borges
Review: This is one of the finest SF collections in years, a generous gathering of Michael Swanwick's superb, rich, dense, sardonic, and allusive stories. Each of these 19 tales is like a gem: concentrated, many-faceted, crafted with tremendous skill. Of particular note: "The Wisdom of Old Earth", "The Very Pulse of the Machine", "The Changeling's Tale", and "Mother Grasshopper".
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