Published simultaneously as Desolation Road, the Empire Dreams collection was intended to exploit the author’s nomination for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1985. It collects the following stories:
Vivaldi Visits to Remarkable Cities
Unfinished Portrait of the King of Pain by Van Gogh
Scenes from a Shadowplay Radio Marrakech
King of Morning, Queen of Day
The Island of the Dead
Empire Dreams (Ground Control to Major Tom)
Christian The Catharine Wheel (Our Lady of Tharsis)
REVIEWS
“One of the most interesting and accomplished science fiction writers of this latter-day era, indeed maybe the most interesting and accomplished, and certainly the most culturally and musically sophisticated, the Frank Herbert, William Gibson, or arguably even Thomas Pynchon of the early 21st century.” – Asimov’s
“I will read anything that man writes — he is the most underappreciated genius working in the field today.” – Cory Doctorow
“McDonald’s power as a storyteller lies in his stylistic versatility and intensity of language as well as in his capacity to create vivid and memorable characters.” – Library Journal