Space Magic Books In Order

Publication Order of Space Magic Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Space Magic Collections

Space Magic is a series written by David D. Levine. David is a popular name in science fiction. He has made a name for himself for the ingenuity he injects into the many stories he has contributed to the science fiction genre.

+The Story

The Space Magic series isn’t a typical collection of novels. Rather, Space Magic is the title of a volume of short stories. Space Magic brings together fifteen stories that sometimes blend science fiction with fantasy.

The stories are very wide ranging, taking readers from alien planets to ancient China. The critically acclaimed stories each paint a picture of the genius of David E. Levine.

Where most authors today are content to write about space wars and fancy technological devices, David’s focus in the Space Magic series is humanity. His stories endeavor to explore the many flaws of human beings and how they might react when exposed to unique situations.

Rather than shallow sources of entertainment, the stories in the Space Magic series are intimate and intelligent. David could have been loud and bombastic. Instead, he chose to be quiet and reflective.

His words bring to life very rich worlds filled with alluring environments and intriguing characters. The fact that these fifteen stories are so consistent in their ability to elicit interest and amusement says a lot about David’s abilities.

Short stories are nowhere nearly as prominent as they should be. The fact that David produced fifteen short stories of this quality is commendable. It takes an amazing amount of skill to write a short story.

You need to have full control over all your pieces, and you must have the ability to manipulate them masterfully in order to deliver a tight story. And David seems to do just that because all his stories are fresh and original. With each tale, David tries hard to deliver a strong emotional punch.

And most of them are so different. There are plain science fiction stories, ghost stories and even those tales that do not seem to fall within any given category. Even if David D. Levine has never appealed to you, there is at least one story in the Space Magic series that will intrigue you.

If David is your kind of author and you also love short stories, then the Space Magic volume is your exact cup of tea.

+The Author

David D. Levine is an American author born in1961 in Minneapolis. David loves science fiction. That is all he reads and writes. However, that wasn’t always the case. In fact, David began his writing career by working on technical articles. It took a while before he was finally able to pour his passion for science fiction into writing fiction set in the genre.

Some science fiction fans might be unaware of David’s presence primarily because the author’s focus is short stories. David’s only novel of note is ‘Arabella of Mars’. Besides that title, David is primarily associated with short fiction.

And for his efforts, David has been rewarded, receiving accolades like the Hugo Award, Nebula Award, Campbell award and even a Locus award. The author’s work has made appearances in publications like Realm of Fantasy and Asimov’s, not to mention Analog.

David has also made contributions to numerous anthologies. The author is a visible presence in the science fiction field. And those that have never read his short stories have probably heard of his contribution to George R.R. Martin’s Wild Cards.

+Space Magic

Some people have gone looking for a book by David D. Levine called Space Magic only to be disappointed when they learn that Space Magic isn’t a science fiction novel but a collection of fantasy and science fiction short stories.

Different readers will elicit enjoyment from different short stories, with the following providing an insight into what one can expect from this collection in the long run:

1). Wind From a Dying star

Wind from a dying star is set in the future. The story follows a group of humans basically living a nomadic life out in space. In the story, Earth’s star is dying and the oldest human in existence wants to make one final trip before he dies.

The journey promises many dangers, so his tribe must decide whether or not to follow him.

This story gave David D. Levine his big break. He remembers it because it was his first professional sale and he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to include it in the Space magic anthology.

David initially intended to write about a group of explorers traversing the edge of the universe. However, his focus gradually moved away from the awesomeness of the universe to the characters traveling across its expanse.

The result was a personal story set in a future where humans have evolved into something extraordinary. Even when mankind moves on to other pockets of space, he cannot help but yearn for home at the end.

2). Nucleaon

This story revolves around the equivalent of a magical junkyard that will give you whatever you desire.

The seeds for this idea were first sparked in David a long time ago. A field trip with the Portland Science Fiction club led to an encounter with a traveling exhibition by the Smithsonian Institution.

There, David saw concept designs for what they called a nuclear-powered car, one that many believed would be manufactured in the future. The idea never came to fruition. However, David always wondered what such a car would look like and what it might do.

He also thought about an alternative universe where the car had been built and imagined the manner in which their earth had transformed as a result. That led David to begin pondering the idea of alterative universes.

When David finally put this story on paper, edited it and completed the final product several years later, he was forced to field many rejections before someone gave Nucleon it’s deserved opportunity to shine.

The story is fanciful in nature, more fantasy than science fiction. But that is what David has become known for. When he creates concepts driven by science that is completely out of this world, he often finds it more effective to relegate such stories to the realm of fantasy rather than science fiction.