""Think Like a Dinosaur"" and Other Stories

Many SF readers will be familiar with Kelly's work from his novel Wildfire (1994), but more will know him from the frequent appearance of his short stories in genre magazines. Here are 14 of those tales. Kelly puts his best foot forward with the Hugo Award-winning novelette, ""Think Like a Dinosaur,"" the double-edged title of which speaks to the foolishness of romanticizing technology as well as to the challenge of adopting ""alien"" mores. Kelly is exceptional when exploring the dark side of otherwise marvelous technologies, as in the cyberpunkish ""Big Guy"" and ""Mr. Boy,"" the wry ""Standing in Line With Mister Jimmy"" and the sharp contemporary fantasy ""The First Law of Thermodynamics."" Less acute but still thoughtful are ""Pogrom,"" in which the economic gap between aging baby boomers and the young incites civil war, and ""Dancing With the Chairs,"" in which a philandering husband learns the error of his ways. Offbeat relationships are the focus in ""Itsy Bitsy Spider,"" ""Monsters"" and the sentimental ""Faith."" Those familiar with Kelly's work will appreciate having his finest stories gathered together in one place, while new readers will be pleased to discover a writer of uncommon subtlety and imagination. (Aug.) FYI: This volume launches Golden Gryphon Press, whose editor, Jim Turner, was for 21 years and until recently the editor of Arkham House.