Frankenstein Dreams: A Connoisseur's Collection of Victorian Science Fiction

by Michael Sims Narrated by Tim Campbell

Overview

Long before 1984, Star Wars, or The Hunger Games, Victorian authors imagined a future where new science and technologies reshaped the world and universe they knew. The great themes of modern science fiction showed up surprisingly early: space and time travel, dystopian societies, even dangerously independent machines, all inspiring the speculative fiction of the Victorian era.



In Frankenstein Dreams, Michael Sims has gathered many of the very finest stories, some by classic writers such as Jules Verne, Mary Shelley, and H.G. Wells, but many that will surprise general readers. Dark visions of the human psyche emerge in Thomas Wentworth Higginson's "The Monarch of Dreams," while Mary E. Wilkins Freeman provides a glimpse of “the fifth dimension” in her provocative tale "The Hall Bedroom.'



With contributions by Edgar Allan Poe, Alice Fuller, Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Hardy, Arthur Conan Doyle, and many others, each introduced by Michael Sims, whose elegant introduction provides valuable literary and historical context, Frankenstein Dreams is a treasure trove of stories known and rediscovered.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

07/10/2017
In a prefatory note, Sims credits Jules Verne for having “woke up our attention to the real world by animating it with fantastic stories,” but he could just as easily be talking about the 18 other authors whose work appears in this thoughtfully compiled anthology of Victorian-era science fiction. To illustrate “the cross-fertilization occurring between science and literature” that distinguished popular fiction in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Sims collects 15 stories and five novel excerpts whose themes include brain transplants, time travel, and robotics. Several are written in a faux journalistic style to heighten their plausibility. In addition to such well-known works as Edgar Allan Poe’s tale of postmortem mesmerism, “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar,” and Arthur Conan Doyle’s speculation about monsters of the upper atmosphere, “The Horror of the Heights,” Sims includes little-known stories by Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Rudyard Kipling, and Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, who were known primarily as mainstream writers. Even the most devoted science fiction reader will find unfamiliar treats in this assemblage of foundational fiction. Agent: Georges Borchardt, Georges Borchardt Literary. (Sept.)

From the Publisher

"Frankenstein Dreams, an anthology of mostly-Victorian science fiction edited by Michael Sims . . . is more interested in how that novel fits the wider scope of Shelley's century, and shaped the genre after it . . . While several stories are familiar explorations of psychology and morality (see Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), some of the most interesting selections in Frankenstein Dreams aim for something more ambiguous . . . all of them are illuminating. That ends up being the greatest strength of Frankenstein Dreams." - NPR.org

"The 1890s may have been the time when sci-fi really took off. But were there no forerunners, no hints of what was just about to come? Michael Sims's anthology "Frankenstein Dreams" brings the issue into focus." - Wall Street Journal

"At a time when the world can seem ever more like science fiction, there is something intensely charming and even refreshing about Frankenstein Dreams." - January Magazine

"In this magnificent collection, Sims has chosen authors that range from the mighty Poe to the infamous Kipling to the beloved H.G. Wells . . . Every story is a perfect choice for the topic." - Suspense Magazine

"Even the most devoted science fiction reader will find unfamiliar treats in this assemblage of foundational fiction." - Publishers Weekly

"A highly entertaining fusion of visionary speculation and primordial terror, the stories included [in Frankenstein Dreams] merged cutting-edge science with fiction and essentially created a new category that explored what it means to be human in a world irrevocably changed by technological innovations and conceptual advancements . . . It's the lesser-known short stories that make this anthology so thematically compelling . . . A thought-provoking and undeniably entertaining read." - Kirkus Reviews

"The 20 works collected by [Michael Sims] highlights the importance of Victorian sf literature, both in its rich contributions to the genre and its exploration of the deeper themes that are still relevant today." - Library Journal

"Sims includes a lot of great stories . . . They, along with the brief introduction Sims provides for each, are fun to read. Still—what might be most interesting, though, is reading them as a collection and attempting to see what's changed—and what hasn’t . . . 8/10." - PopMatters

"Editor Sims has amassed a historical and interestingly diverse example of the speculative writing of the Victorian Era. With an Introduction explaining some of the scientific discoveries and theories of the day and linking them to specific stories, the anthology sets the mood for what is to come . . . This volume contains a fascinating cross-section of those tales that become the forebears of the many science fiction/fantasy stories of our 20th and 21st centuries." - The New York Journal of Books

"Michael Sims has another stunning anthology to his name . . . I can't recommend Sims' work enough—both his curated collections and his own creations. Add this to your Halloween reads, or indeed, your anytime of the year reads." - Meaghan Walsh Gerard

"Sims, whose elegant introduction provides valuable literary and historical context, has gathered many of the finest stories, some by classic writers such as Jules Verne, Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley and H.G. Wells, but many that will surprise general readers . . . Perpetual human concerns meet modern anxieties in these tales that grapple with time, mortality, the senses and the unknown . . . The major themes of modern science fiction emerge: Space and time travel, dystopian societies, dangerously independent machines, all inspiring the speculative fiction of the Victorian era." - The Entertainment Report

"As delightful as it is to see world-famous authors honored as midwives to the birth of a genre, what sets this collection apart are the gems Sims has found among the works of lesser-known writers . . . Frankenstein Dreams demonstrates [Sims's] continued devotion to finding the inspirations for and evolution of various literary themes. In doing so, he offers real insight into not only the stories but also, in his brief author biographies, their creators." - Chapter16.org

Library Journal - Audio

12/01/2017
This anthology of Victorian-era sf features a variety of authors, some more well known than others, that coincides nicely with the upcoming 200th anniversary (January 1, 2018) of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. These selections of classic sf include Edgar Allan Poe's "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar," Edward Page Mitchell's "The Senator's Daughter," Alice W. Fuller's "A Wife Manufactured to Order," and excerpts from Shelley's Frankenstein, Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde, to name a few. Tim Campbell provides a rich and appealing narration to these tales of the strange or frightening, of monsters and the imagination. VERDICT Fans both of literature and sf will find much to like in this appealing anthology. ["Highlights the importance of Victorian sf literature, both in its rich contributions to the genre and its exploration of the deeper themes that are still relevant today": LJ 8/17 review of the Bloomsbury hc.]—Denise A. Garofalo, Mount Saint Mary Coll. Lib., Newburgh, NY

Library Journal

08/01/2017
Victorian authors were just as curious about the unknown as writers of today's sf. In Alice W. Fuller's short story, "A Wife Manufactured to Order," a man discovers that having the "perfect wife" is not the dream he imagined. In Rudyard Kipling's "Wireless," the new invention of the radio allows a small group to reach across the airwaves—and into the mind of a dead poet. "Monsters Manufactured," an excerpt from H.G. Wells's The Island of Doctor Moreau, details the protagonist's decision to take his surgical skills down a dark path. And then there's the titular character of Mary Shelley's own creation, as Viktor Frankenstein confronts his monster. VERDICT The 20 works collected by editor Sims (The Phantom Coach; Dracula's Guest) highlights the importance of Victorian sf literature, both in its rich contributions to the genre and its exploration of the deeper themes that are still relevant today.—KC

Kirkus Reviews

2017-07-17
The latest anthology of Victorian genre fiction from Sims (Arthur and Sherlock, 2017, etc.) focuses on historically significant science fiction and includes tales from Mary Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe, H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, and Arthur Conan Doyle.Fueled by thrilling advances in science—from Herschel's discovery of Uranus to Darwin's breakthroughs in evolutionary biology—the 19th century brought about sweeping changes in the way humankind looked at the world. "New ways of thinking required new ways of writing," Sims explains in the introduction. A highly entertaining fusion of visionary speculation and primordial terror, the stories included within merged cutting-edge science with fiction and essentially created a new category that explored what it means to be human in a world irrevocably changed by technological innovations and conceptual advancements. But although it's excerpts from longer, iconic stories that will initially attract readers—like Shelley's Frankenstein, Wells' The Island of Doctor Moreau, and Stevenson's Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde—it's the lesser-known short stories that make this anthology so thematically compelling. Memorable selections include Florence McLandburgh's surreal "The Automaton Ear," which chronicles the consequences of inventing a device capable of hearing all the sounds that ever existed; "The Hall Bedroom," by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, which is set in a boardinghouse with a portal into the fifth dimension; and Alice W. Fuller's "A Wife Manufactured to Order," a story about finding the perfect spouse in the form of a robot—or not. Also of note is "The Monster of Lake LaMetrie" by Wardon Allan Curtis, a Hollow Earth story about a pair of researchers who find a plesiosaur living in a lake in a remote part of Wyoming. Utilizing concepts explored in Frankenstein, the tale takes a decidedly disturbing turn when one of the explorers dies. Although the science in these stories is dated, the thematic profundity and historical context make this anthology a thought-provoking and undeniably entertaining read.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170156153
Publisher:	HighBridge Company
Publication date:	09/05/2017
Edition description:	Unabridged

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