Praise for Geoff Ryman's most recent novel:

"[Ryman] has not so much created as revealed a world in which the promise of redemption takes seed even in horror."--"The Boston Globe"

"Inordinately readable . . . extraordinary in its detail, color and brutality."--"The Independent "(UK)

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.

Geoff Ryman is the author of the novels "The King's Last Song," "Air" (a Clarke and Tiptree Award winner), and "The Unconquered Country" (a World Fantasy Award winner). Canadian by birth, he has lived in Cambodia and Brazil and now teaches creative writing at the University of Manchester in England.