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wittenberg's review
challenging
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
A book of important warnings. Szilard was one of the physicists on the Manhattan project who worried about the political effects of having built the atomic bomb.
This is science fiction as a way to think about society. Each of the stories contemplates how the world might look in a few plausible futures: How anthropologists from other cultures would view the earth after a nuclear war killed all the people; How science was organized; and so on.
This is science fiction as a way to think about society. Each of the stories contemplates how the world might look in a few plausible futures: How anthropologists from other cultures would view the earth after a nuclear war killed all the people; How science was organized; and so on.
jshawreads's review
challenging
dark
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
niallharrison's review against another edition
funny
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
octavia_cade's review
3.0
Szilard, I think it is fair to say, was a man with one foot in the future - scientifically and politically at least. He, together with Einstein, wrote the letter that kick-started the Manhattan Project. Working on the bomb and using that bomb were quite different things, however, and one suspects that he never quite got over the latter.
The titular story in this collection is essentially a thought experiment: the establishment of a political environment where the threat of atomic war is ameliorated, and peace between nations established. Its interest (and that of the collection as a whole) lies in the connection between this thought experiment and Szilard's own personal/professional context. A second attempt on the same subject ("The Mined Cities") is essentially the same thing, with the added benefit of brevity, and the few remaining stories run along the theme of failure - whether of the dolphins' plan, or all others.
The book is not, one must say, a literary triumph - Szilard tends to didacticism and clearly prefers blueprints to beautiful prose. Still, as a science fiction response to atomic war it has interest and even, I think, importance - even if the latter results from the author instead of the text.
The titular story in this collection is essentially a thought experiment: the establishment of a political environment where the threat of atomic war is ameliorated, and peace between nations established. Its interest (and that of the collection as a whole) lies in the connection between this thought experiment and Szilard's own personal/professional context. A second attempt on the same subject ("The Mined Cities") is essentially the same thing, with the added benefit of brevity, and the few remaining stories run along the theme of failure - whether of the dolphins' plan, or all others.
The book is not, one must say, a literary triumph - Szilard tends to didacticism and clearly prefers blueprints to beautiful prose. Still, as a science fiction response to atomic war it has interest and even, I think, importance - even if the latter results from the author instead of the text.
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