Academic Exercises Author:K. J. Parker The first collection of shorter work by master novelist K.J. Parker, and it is a stunner. Weighing in at over 500 pages, this generous volume gathers together thirteen highly distinctive stories, essays, and novellas, including the recent World Fantasy Award-Winner, "Let Maps to Others". The result is a significant publishing event, a ... more »book that belongs on the shelf of every serious reader of imaginative fiction. Rounding out the volume, and enriching it enormously, are three fascinating and illuminating essays that bear direct relevance to Parker's unique brand of fiction: "On Sieges", "Cutting Edge Technology", and "Rich Men's Skins". Taken singly, each of these thirteen pieces is a lovingly crafted gem. Together, they constitute a major and enduring achievement. Rich, varied, and constantly absorbing, Academic Exercises is, without a doubt, the fantasy collection of the year.
Contents:
A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong (2011) • novella
A Rich, Full Week (2010) • novelette (variant of A Rich Full Week)
Amor Vincit Omnia (2010) • novelette
On Sieges (2009) • essay
Let Maps to Others (2012) • novella
A Room with a View (2011) • novelette
Cutting Edge Technology (2011) • essay (variant of Cutting Edge Technology: The Life and Sad Times of the Western Sword)
Illuminated (2012) • novelette
Purple and Black (2009) • novella
Rich Men's Skins; A Social History of Armour (2013) • essay
The Sun And I (2013) • novelette
One Little Room an Everywhere (2012) • short story