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Science fiction, Canadian
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Alyx Dellamonica and Kelly Robson Collection

  • TxAM-CRS C000246
  • Collection
  • 1977-2021

This collection consists of materials from the lives and careers of Canadian science fiction and fantasy writers Alyx (A.M.) Dellamonica and Kelly Robson.

Materials include manuscripts, story notes and proofs for their published work as well as for unpublished 'trunk' stories and novels; correspondence, diaries, and various other items relating to their lives and their literary work.

Some of the materials are born digital and not, therefore, physically housed with the rest of the collection.

Dellamonica, A. M.

William Gibson Spook Country Manuscript Collection

  • US TxAM-C C000584
  • Collection
  • 2006-2007

This collection consists of two versions of the manuscript for William Gibson's 2007 novel Spook Country, a science fiction technothriller that is the second in his acclaimed "Blue Ant" trilogy. (It follows Gibson's 2003 novel Pattern Recognitions and precedes 2010's Zero History). The trilogy has been defined by Gibson himself as "speculative novels of last Wednesday", that is, novels set in the contemporary world but viewed through a science fictional perspective, showing readers the present through a futuristic lens.

The Blue Ant trilogy centers on the character of Hubertus Bigend, an advertising executive and tech magnate who serves as the series' amoral antihero. Though Bigend dominates the trilogy as whole, Spook Country focuses on the intertwining stories of three characters in particular: Hollis Henry, a journalist hired by Bigend to write a story on the phenomenon of 'locative art'; Chinese-Cuban Tito, a member of a family of criminals who gets bound up in American secret intelligence operations; and Milgrim, a drug addict being held in captivity by a mysterious covert operative named Brown. The novel, set in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, and explores the uses and misuses of locative technology, the eversion of cyberspace, and the changed political climate of the United States following the attacks. It was nominated for the 2008 Locus award for Best SF Novel, the 2009 Imaginaire Award, and the 2017 Prix Aurora for Best of the Decade.

Both versions are housed in clamshell boxes within the larger enclosure. The first box contains the autographed typescript of the novel, with heavy corrections and copyedits. The second box holds the autographed and corrected unbound proofs.

Gibson, William