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scrooge3's review against another edition
4.0
This 1992 anthology spans stories published from 1956 to 1989, probably a bit too early at the time to classify all of them as classics. A number of them have lost some luster over the subsequent 30 years, but there are still enough quality stories to enjoy. Here are some of the highlights.
"The Country of the Kind" by Damon Knight (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1956 - short story)
4 Stars
A disturbing look at a near future where humans no longer have destructive, antisocial, or aggressive behavior, but where a degenerate who retains those traits believes that without them, great art and creativity also cannot exist.
"The Moon Moth" by Jack Vance (Galaxy Magazine, August 1961 - novelette)
5 Stars
In a society where everyone wears masks to indicate social status, mood, and relationships, and where communication is primarily done by singing and the playing of small musical instruments, the various types of which also convey social status, etc., a diplomat from another planet arrives faced with not only learning how to navigate the subtleties of the masks and music, but to also capture an escaped fugitive who may be hiding in plain sight under someone else's mask. How the diplomat, who wears the Moon Moth mask, solves his problems is world building at its finest.
"This Moment of the Storm" by Roger Zelazny (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June 1966 - novelette) 1967 Hugo Award finalist and 1967 Nebula Award finalist
4 Stars
On an alien world, the human settlers must contend with a massive rain storm that devastates their community. The protagonist is a man who has spent hundreds of years in suspended animation, traveling the voids between planets, and his reactions to the storm and how it affects those around him are poignant and bittersweet.
"Driftglass" by Samuel R. Delany (If, June 1967 - short story) 1968 Nebula Award finalist
4 Stars
I imagine that if Hemingway wrote sf, it would look something like this. The sf element of this story, that people are surgically modified to swim in the ocean, could probably be removed and you would still have a compelling tale of fishermen and the dangerous lives they lead and how it impacts their friends and families.
"The Fifth Head of Cerberus" by Gene Wolfe (Orbit 10, February 1972 - novella) 1973 Hugo Award finalist and 1973 Nebula Award finalist
5 Stars
"The Fifth Head of Cerberus" is the first section of the novel of the same name, published later in 1972; the novel consisting of three thematically linked novellas. The story is an autobiographical memoir of an unnamed narrator in which he looks back on his boyhood and youth on the Earth-like planet of Sainte Croix, and the events which led to his long, harsh incarceration, and eventual freedom. The narrator lived in seclusion in his "father's" mansion along with his brother, a robotic tutor named Mr Million, and assorted odd others. The father turned out to be conducting mysterious biological experiments while earning money from using the mansion as a brothel. It's a story full of complex character dynamics and fascinating world building.
"Particle Theory" by Edward Bryant (Analog, February 1977 - novelette) 1978 Nebula Award finalist
3 Stars
A middle-age journalist is going through his mid-life crisis when he's diagnosed with prostate cancer. He volunteers for an experimental treatment using subatomic particles instead of radiation or chemotherapy. At the same time, the heavens are lit up by several supernovae. What all of these threads have to do with each other is not entirely clear. The story serves mostly as a character study of the journalist.
"The Ugly Chickens" by Howard Waldrop (Universe 10, September 1980 - novelette) 1981 Nebula Award winner and 1981 Hugo Award finalist
2 Stars
Part tall tale, part encyclopedia entry, this lighthearted story recounts a modern biology student's hunt for living dodo birds in the wilds of the U.S. South. Not much meat on these bones.
"Going Under" by Jack Dann (Omni, September 1981 - short story) 1982 Nebula Award finalist
4 Stars
A time-traveling tourist visiting the Titanic falls in love with another time traveler, complicating their plans to live and die, respectively, on the ship. And then there's her father's head she keeps in a box to add weirdness to the proceedings.
"Salvador" by Lucius Shepard (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, April 1984 - short story) 1985 Hugo Award finalist and 1985 Nebula Award finalist
3 Stars
This is mostly a character study of a soldier in a Central American war. He is like a lot of soldiers, tired and disillusioned. The sf element is in the form of drugs that the soldiers take to enhance their fighting abilities. Well written, but not my cup of tea.
"Pretty Boy Crossover" by Pat Cadigan (Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, January 1986 - short story) 1987 Nebula Award finalist
3 Stars
This story examines the ethical considerations of transferring one's memories and personality into a virtual simulation. Is it a utopia or is it a curse?
"The Winter Market" by William Gibson (Vancouver Magazine, November 1985 - novelette) 1987 Hugo Award finalist and 1987 Nebula Award finalist
4 Stars
In a world where actors' lucid dreams can be downloaded to computers and edited into movies, a senior editor becomes infatuated with a rising star, a woman who wears a bionic exoskeleton because of a congenital physical handicap that prevents her from moving normally. It's a strange and poignant cyberpunk love story.
"Chance" by Connie Willis (Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, May 1986 - novelette)
4 Stars
This story has all the hallmarks of Willis's romantic comedies, although this one is a bit more serious. The premise is that not only do large life decisions, such as picking an occupation or marrying someone, cause significant changes in one's life, but small, almost trivial things do, too. Our lives are ruled by chance encounters and seeming coincidences. There's really not much science fictional about this story other than the protagonist's dreamlike reminiscences and what-ifs that might or might not be real.
"The Edge of the World" by Michael Swanwick (Full Spectrum 2, April 1989 - short story) 1990 Hugo Award finalist
4 Stars
A trio of teenagers descend a "bottomless" cliff near a U.S. military base in the Middle East. Eventually, they find some ancient caves which supposedly have mystical powers, and one of them makes a surprising wish. An intriguing tale, and the ending raises many questions.
"Dori Bangs" by Bruce Sterling (Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, September 1989 - short story) 1990 Hugo Award finalist and 1990 Nebula Award finalist
4 Stars
A music critic and an underground comix artist find love in an alternate reality that extends into the then future of the 21st Century. It's a well written character study that is all the more poignant because the two never "really" meet.
"The Country of the Kind" by Damon Knight (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1956 - short story)
4 Stars
A disturbing look at a near future where humans no longer have destructive, antisocial, or aggressive behavior, but where a degenerate who retains those traits believes that without them, great art and creativity also cannot exist.
"The Moon Moth" by Jack Vance (Galaxy Magazine, August 1961 - novelette)
5 Stars
In a society where everyone wears masks to indicate social status, mood, and relationships, and where communication is primarily done by singing and the playing of small musical instruments, the various types of which also convey social status, etc., a diplomat from another planet arrives faced with not only learning how to navigate the subtleties of the masks and music, but to also capture an escaped fugitive who may be hiding in plain sight under someone else's mask. How the diplomat, who wears the Moon Moth mask, solves his problems is world building at its finest.
"This Moment of the Storm" by Roger Zelazny (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June 1966 - novelette) 1967 Hugo Award finalist and 1967 Nebula Award finalist
4 Stars
On an alien world, the human settlers must contend with a massive rain storm that devastates their community. The protagonist is a man who has spent hundreds of years in suspended animation, traveling the voids between planets, and his reactions to the storm and how it affects those around him are poignant and bittersweet.
"Driftglass" by Samuel R. Delany (If, June 1967 - short story) 1968 Nebula Award finalist
4 Stars
I imagine that if Hemingway wrote sf, it would look something like this. The sf element of this story, that people are surgically modified to swim in the ocean, could probably be removed and you would still have a compelling tale of fishermen and the dangerous lives they lead and how it impacts their friends and families.
"The Fifth Head of Cerberus" by Gene Wolfe (Orbit 10, February 1972 - novella) 1973 Hugo Award finalist and 1973 Nebula Award finalist
5 Stars
"The Fifth Head of Cerberus" is the first section of the novel of the same name, published later in 1972; the novel consisting of three thematically linked novellas. The story is an autobiographical memoir of an unnamed narrator in which he looks back on his boyhood and youth on the Earth-like planet of Sainte Croix, and the events which led to his long, harsh incarceration, and eventual freedom. The narrator lived in seclusion in his "father's" mansion along with his brother, a robotic tutor named Mr Million, and assorted odd others. The father turned out to be conducting mysterious biological experiments while earning money from using the mansion as a brothel. It's a story full of complex character dynamics and fascinating world building.
"Particle Theory" by Edward Bryant (Analog, February 1977 - novelette) 1978 Nebula Award finalist
3 Stars
A middle-age journalist is going through his mid-life crisis when he's diagnosed with prostate cancer. He volunteers for an experimental treatment using subatomic particles instead of radiation or chemotherapy. At the same time, the heavens are lit up by several supernovae. What all of these threads have to do with each other is not entirely clear. The story serves mostly as a character study of the journalist.
"The Ugly Chickens" by Howard Waldrop (Universe 10, September 1980 - novelette) 1981 Nebula Award winner and 1981 Hugo Award finalist
2 Stars
Part tall tale, part encyclopedia entry, this lighthearted story recounts a modern biology student's hunt for living dodo birds in the wilds of the U.S. South. Not much meat on these bones.
"Going Under" by Jack Dann (Omni, September 1981 - short story) 1982 Nebula Award finalist
4 Stars
A time-traveling tourist visiting the Titanic falls in love with another time traveler, complicating their plans to live and die, respectively, on the ship. And then there's her father's head she keeps in a box to add weirdness to the proceedings.
"Salvador" by Lucius Shepard (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, April 1984 - short story) 1985 Hugo Award finalist and 1985 Nebula Award finalist
3 Stars
This is mostly a character study of a soldier in a Central American war. He is like a lot of soldiers, tired and disillusioned. The sf element is in the form of drugs that the soldiers take to enhance their fighting abilities. Well written, but not my cup of tea.
"Pretty Boy Crossover" by Pat Cadigan (Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, January 1986 - short story) 1987 Nebula Award finalist
3 Stars
This story examines the ethical considerations of transferring one's memories and personality into a virtual simulation. Is it a utopia or is it a curse?
"The Winter Market" by William Gibson (Vancouver Magazine, November 1985 - novelette) 1987 Hugo Award finalist and 1987 Nebula Award finalist
4 Stars
In a world where actors' lucid dreams can be downloaded to computers and edited into movies, a senior editor becomes infatuated with a rising star, a woman who wears a bionic exoskeleton because of a congenital physical handicap that prevents her from moving normally. It's a strange and poignant cyberpunk love story.
"Chance" by Connie Willis (Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, May 1986 - novelette)
4 Stars
This story has all the hallmarks of Willis's romantic comedies, although this one is a bit more serious. The premise is that not only do large life decisions, such as picking an occupation or marrying someone, cause significant changes in one's life, but small, almost trivial things do, too. Our lives are ruled by chance encounters and seeming coincidences. There's really not much science fictional about this story other than the protagonist's dreamlike reminiscences and what-ifs that might or might not be real.
"The Edge of the World" by Michael Swanwick (Full Spectrum 2, April 1989 - short story) 1990 Hugo Award finalist
4 Stars
A trio of teenagers descend a "bottomless" cliff near a U.S. military base in the Middle East. Eventually, they find some ancient caves which supposedly have mystical powers, and one of them makes a surprising wish. An intriguing tale, and the ending raises many questions.
"Dori Bangs" by Bruce Sterling (Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, September 1989 - short story) 1990 Hugo Award finalist and 1990 Nebula Award finalist
4 Stars
A music critic and an underground comix artist find love in an alternate reality that extends into the then future of the 21st Century. It's a well written character study that is all the more poignant because the two never "really" meet.