Title: Rip-Off!
Authors: John Scalzi, Jack Campbell, Robert Charles Wilson, Mike Resnick, Elizabeth Bear, Allen Steele, Daryl Gregory, Lavie Tidhar, Mary Robinette Kowal, James Patrick Kelly
Editor: Gardner R. Dozois
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Year: 2012
~360 pages
"Fireborn" by Robert Charles Wilson
"The Evening Line" by Mike Resnick
"No Decent Patrimony" by Elizabeth Bear
"The Big Whale" by Allen M. Steele
"Begone" by Daryl Gregory
"The Red Menace" by Lavie Tidhar
"Muse of Fire" by John Scalzi
"Writer's Block" by Nancy Kress
"Highland Reel" by Jack Campbell
"Karin Coxswain or Death as She Is Truly Lived" by Paul Di Filippo
"The Lady Astronaut of Mars" by Mary Robinette Kowal
"Every Fuzzy Beast of the Earth, Every Pink Fowl of the Air" by Tad Williams
"Declaration" by James Patrick Kelly
An amusing but not memorable collection, and given the number of homages, I'm not certain these are "rip-offs." In fact, starting with a text/texte from an admired author is an honored poetic device.
Many of the stories are not science fiction or fantasy, and many are strangely similar to others in the collection. Several, such as Williams's, were funny, but there are no great pieces here. Scalzi's was familiar, though well-written--it's The God Engines writ small.
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