Book description
Two dazzling novellas from the celebrated author of Fahrenheit 451.
Two previously unpublished novellas comprise this astonishing new
volume from one of science fiction's greatest living writers. In the
first, 'Somewhere a Band is Playing', newsman James Cardiff is lured
through poetry and his fascination with a beautiful and enigmatic young
woman to Summerton, Arizona. The small town's childless population hold
an extraordinary secret which has been passed on for thousands of years
unbeknownst to the rest of human civilization.
In the second novella, 'Leviathan '99', the classic tale of Herman
Melville's 'Moby Dick' is reborn as an interstellar adventure. It
recounts the exploits of the mad Captain Ahab, who, blinded by his first
encounter with a gigantic comet called 'Leviathan', pursues his lunatic
vendetta across the universe. Born in space and seeking adventure in the
skies, astronaut Ishmael Jones joins the crew aboard the Cetus 7 and
quickly finds his fate in the hands of an indefatigable captain.
Published together for the first time in one volume, these two stories
twinkle with Bradbury's characteristically intricate metaphors and
lyrical phrases. Both are a lasting testament to an older generation of
writers that, much like the Leviathan itself, are on the threshold of
passing on into the realm of legend. 'A meditation on writing,
inspiration, ageing and change, all deep themes lightly handled, both
elegiac and suspenseful… There are echoes in it not only of Melville,
but of Shakespeare, Whitman and Poe … The language sings.' The Times
'Brilliant' DeathRay
Praise for Ray Bradbury:
'It is impossible not to admire the vigour of his prose, similes and
metaphors constantly cascading from his imagination' Spectator
'Bradbury has a remarkable range of intensity and vision' Sunday Times
'Bradbury is an authentic original' Time Magazine
'No other writer uses language with greater originality and zest. he
seems to be an American Dylan Thomas - with discipline' Sunday Telegraph
Ray Bradbury has published some 500 short stories, novels, plays and
poems since his first story appeared in Weird Tales when he was twenty
years old. Among his many famous works are The Illustrated Man and The
Martian Chronicles.
