WORLDS ENOUGH AND TIME, BY DAN SIMMONS

A collection of short stories by the author of the Hyperion books. Good stuff, I think. Simmons is not lyrical, by any means, but he comes up with some great plots and ideas. “Searching for Kelly Dahl,” a story about a school teacher and his former student, in which the latter’s troubled home life drives her so far inward she . . . can control reality, and tosses the teacher into invented worlds, often based on his former lessons. That sounds terrible. It’s actually kind of a beautiful, a paean to the landscape of Colorado, and to learning. “Orphans of the Helix” takes place in the Hyperion universe, and although I enjoyed it the first time I read it, immediately after Hyperion, its origins as a Star Trek script show through on re-read. Still space butterfly people are cool. The other stories are fun too, though I lack the background to get “The Ninth of Av”, I think.