title: A Short, Sharp Shock
author:  Kim Stanley Robinson 
description: Kim Stanley Robinson, justly famous for his science fiction, has created a mesmerizing fantasy work in <i>A Short, Sharp Shock</i>. Each brief chapter (with evocative titles such as "Beauty Is the Promise of Happiness") explores a little further along the path of the amnesiac protagonist, Thel. Thel finds himself on an amazing world, which has just one narrow ridge of land encircling the globe, with endless ocean on either side. And Thel is on a quest, searching for the woman who was with him when he first awakened, but who was taken by the murderous spine kings. In his travels along the ribbon of land, Thel encounters exotic local peoples and their legends of the origin of the world, and learns more about his companions and himself. Robinson's imagination is far-ranging and he has a pointed way with words: in a scene where Thel is slowly pushed through a magical mirror, Robinson's evocation of pain is unforgettable. <i>A Short, Sharp Shock</i> is guaranteed to haunt the reader for a long time. <i>--Blaise Selby</i>
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  f e a r i t s e l f
  
  
  a c h r i s t m a s s t o r y
  
  
  b y l e w i s s h i n e r
  
  
  
  
  
  h e s t r a n g e r s a t d o w n at the other end of Robinson’s bench, closer
  than strictly necessary. He wore a Navy blue pea coat and billed cap T
  
  
  with earmuffs against the bitter cold. His complexion was ravaged, his eyes
  bloodshot, and Robinson knew the man meant to kill him.
  
  
  It was long past dark on Christmas Eve of the worst year of Robinson’s life.
  
  
  There was nowhere else for him to go. As he pulled the collar of his thrift
  store coat higher around his neck, he felt something sting his cheek and
  looked up. Specks of white flashed in the glare of the streetlight behind him.
  
  
  Snow, Robinson thought.
  
  
  Perfect.
  
  
  
  
  
  i s f a l l f r o m g r a c e had been quick, if not painless; absurd, if not
  actually funny. He’d come home from the meeting where he’d learned H
  
  
  that the company had gone belly up to find his apartment building in flames.
  
  
  The application for his renter’