The Ant King and Other Stories
Benjamin Rosenbaum

August 5, 2008	Trade paper · $16 · 9781931520539 -- Preorder -- Mail Order -- Fictionwise -- Mobipocket  -- Powells -- Our Local Bookstore	Trade cloth · $24 · 9781931520522 -- Preorder -- Mail Order -- Fictionwise -- Mobipocket -- Powells -- Our Local Bookstore
A dazzling, postmodern debut collection of pulp and surreal fictions: a writer of alternate histories defends his patron's zeppelin against assassins and pirates; a woman transforms into hundreds of gumballs; an emancipated children's collective goes house hunting.

Table of Contents TK

Says who?

"A terrific range of tales, showcasing an active, playful mind and a gleeful genre-blender."
—Aimee Bender

On Other Cities

"Rosenbaum's fertile sense of invention and his sly humor ("Ponge, as its inhabitants will tell you, is a thoroughly unattractive city. 'Well,' they always say at the mention of any horrible news, 'we do live in Ponge.'") make these parables a real treat."
-- Asimov's

"Throughout Other Cities, compressed insight and wonder are compressed into but a handful of words. This small book's crisp design and illustrations mirror the elegance of the writing: recommended."
—Xerography Debt

"Charming..."
— Locus

"I enthusiastically urge you to get a copy and enjoy the exciting and odd metropolises in Other Cities."
— Washington Science Fiction Association Journal

"And though the stories are tiny, they do not disappoint as a result of their brevity. When you leave one fantastic destination behind, there is another city right around the corner."
—Tangent

"Other Cities by Ben Rosenbaum is a collection of fourteen gems, expertly cut and highly polished. Each contains, within its myriad facets, a metropolis, brimming with mystery, insight and wonder."
— Jeffrey Ford (The Girl in the Glass)

"Rosenbaum's little book of cities is like a box of very good chocolates, picked out by a dear friend with an intimate understanding of both confectionary and you. These vignettes are urbane without being arch, sweet without being maudlin, mysterious without being cryptic. Cities are the pinnacle of human acheivment: if you have any doubt, read this."
—Cory Doctorow (Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom and A Place So Foreign and Eight More)

"Benjamin Rosenbaum's miniature stories are like tiny arrows aimed straight at the heart of Mystery."
— Walter Jon Williams (Dread Empire's Fall: The Praxis)

"The eloquence and poignancy of each of these stories astonished me. "The City of Peace," alone, is enough to make one weep. But when read as a whole, Other Cities is not only harrowing, but exhilarating. It's a fearless exploration into both the heart of darkness and the soul of hope. Here, despair and joy are neither opposites nor antagonists -- but husband and wife, brother and sister, yin and yang. In these Cities of Humanity, you won't meet one without meeting the other."
— Bradley Denton (One Day Closer to Death: Eight Stabs at Immortality)

(Want to see the rest of Bradley Denton's quote?)

On the web:

• Benjamin Rosenbaum
• Other Cities
• ISFDB | Scifipedia | Wikipedia | Library Thing
• Find The Ant King in a library near you.

Publication history (TK)

Credits

• Cover art © Brad Holland.
  Download cover for print.