Geoff Ryman writes about the other and leaves us dissected in the process. His stories are set in recognizable places - London, Cambodia, tomorrow - and feature men and women caught in recognizable situations (or technologies) and not sure which way to turn. They, we, should obviously choose what's right. But what if that's difficult? What will we do? What we should, or . . . ?

Paradise Tales builds on the success of his most recent novel, The King's Last Song, and on the two Cambodian stories included here, "The Last Ten Years of the Hero Kai" and the exceedingly-popular "Pol Pot's Beautiful Daughter." Over the next year or so Small Beer Press will be reprinting Ryman's novels Was and The Child Garden and a collection, The Unconquered Countries, with new introductions to continue to build the readership of one of the most fascinating writers exploring the edges of being, gender, science, and fiction.