How can one person (and his newborn clone) convince an alien not to end the world?
How far will a Lit Professor go in a game of alien chess in pursuit of a lost Shakespearean play?
Does the planet Mars really need baby seals?
Across 30 tales of Science Fiction spanning more than 20 years, former professor of psychology Lawrence M. Schoen explores ideas and metaphors of alien encounters, artificial intelligence, and human psychology, blending wit and charm and old-fashioned story telling (and even the occasional atrocious pun).
If science fiction is the mirror we use to look at ourselves, if aliens and A.I.s are the allegories that let us challenge who we are, then this collection by a multiple Hugo, Nebula, and Astounding Award nominee will open your eyes to the wonder that is the human race even as it amuses and entertains.
From extinct languages to projecting human consciousness into the bodies of polar bears, from bridging alien communication through art and literature to flim-flamming the creators of time machines, from the joke that created the universe to a pen that writes new worlds, Schoen spins tales that amaze and delight even as they tell us about who we are at the end of the day.