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Title: Stick to 'Broken Stones' for short fiction.
Review: Dan Simmons is no doubt a great writer... 'Hyperion', 'Carrion Comfort', and 'Song of Kali' are all great books, but this collection of novellas is a total disappointment. I think the problem lies in the fact that Simmons is moralizing here on subjects that he cares about (like the horrors of AIDS) and it's getting in the way of his usual magical style of storytelling. With the story subservient to the moral, we the readers are left to consider Simmons' ethical point of view, which in the case of "Dying in Bangkok", is downright offensive. It's not hard to understand why this book is out of print. Stick with 'Prayers To Broken Stones' if you want to experience Simmons' shorter works of fiction.
