Scan barcode
dee9401's review
4.0
A fun read I picked up at Autumn Leaves Used Books in Ithaca, NY. There are highs and lows in this collection of eight stories. The best story, hands down, was Damon Knight's "Ticket to Anywhere." Wow, just a fantastic novelette with nice buildup, good inner dialogue and a nice ending. It was like eating a fine meal, I was so satisfied when I finished it. I need to read more of his work. (Aside: His second wife, Kate Wilhelm, is one of my favorite SF writers of all time.)
I enjoyed Terry Carr's experimental story "The Dance of the Changer and the Three." It is definitely part of the New Wave movement in SF. I also liked Gordon R. Dickson's "Lulungomeena" novelette. It was a fun read though I thought a bit of a cop out at the end. Still, up until that moment, I enjoyed it.
A. E. van Vogt's story "Far Centaurus" started out strong but then fell with a weak ending, though perhaps I should be a little less harsh as it was written in the 40s. The psychology of the sleeper ship part of the story reminded me of some of the New Wave's focus on inner thoughts & the emotionally/psychological difficulties encountered. It reminded me a little, though without the grander scope, of Michael Moorcock's 1969 novel, The Black Corridor.
Of the others, I thought Chad Oliver's "Blood's a Rover" and Harlan Ellison's "Life Hutch" were good. I thought Robert Silverberg's "The Sixth Palace" was interesting and a good short story. I wasn't overly excited about Jack Vance's story "Noise", but maybe because it just never caught on in my head.
I enjoyed Terry Carr's experimental story "The Dance of the Changer and the Three." It is definitely part of the New Wave movement in SF. I also liked Gordon R. Dickson's "Lulungomeena" novelette. It was a fun read though I thought a bit of a cop out at the end. Still, up until that moment, I enjoyed it.
A. E. van Vogt's story "Far Centaurus" started out strong but then fell with a weak ending, though perhaps I should be a little less harsh as it was written in the 40s. The psychology of the sleeper ship part of the story reminded me of some of the New Wave's focus on inner thoughts & the emotionally/psychological difficulties encountered. It reminded me a little, though without the grander scope, of Michael Moorcock's 1969 novel, The Black Corridor.
Of the others, I thought Chad Oliver's "Blood's a Rover" and Harlan Ellison's "Life Hutch" were good. I thought Robert Silverberg's "The Sixth Palace" was interesting and a good short story. I wasn't overly excited about Jack Vance's story "Noise", but maybe because it just never caught on in my head.
austinbeeman's review
4.0
DEEP SPACE
RATED 88% POSITIVE. STORY SCORE = 3.88 OUT OF 5
8 STORIES : 1 GREAT / 6 GOOD / 0 AVERAGE / 1 POOR / 0 DNF
Robert Silverberg’s short science fiction anthologies are like a bag of candy. It’s easy to grab a handful as you walk by. Perhaps, these stories won’t change the world, but they do offer a fun blast of SciFi goodness that is totally worth your reading time. I wish there were more short anthologies published today.
The titular theme of the book is “Deep Space,” which Silverberg uses as a workaround for the frequent lament that “Science Fiction is harder now because of the pace of Science.” It is an opinion that is always wrong. This anthology was published in 1973. In this instance, the theme plays out in the cosmic scale of the stories.
We have tales of electric aliens that strangely dance and astronauts either abandoned to strange beauty or trying not to lose money gambling. Robots protect riches with trivia questions or become dangerous when they malfunction.
There is one story that makes The Great List:
https://www.shortsf.com/beststories
Blood's a Rover • (1952) • novella by Chad Oliver. This novella feels like a condensed novel. A future war is fought by humans making small anthropological changes to the people’s of foreign worlds, in order to eventually have allies. Cosmic in scope, compassionate in acknowledging the injustice of colonial intervention, and with a wonderfully sharp conclusion.
***
DEEP SPACE IS RATED 88% POSITIVE
8 STORIES : 1 GREAT / 6 GOOD / 0 AVERAGE / 1 POOR / 0 DNF
Blood's a Rover • (1952) • novella by Chad Oliver
Great. This novella feels like a condensed novel. A future war is fought by humans making small anthropological changes to the people’s of foreign worlds, in order to eventually have allies. Cosmic in scope, compassionate in acknowledging the injustice of colonial intervention, and with a wonderfully sharp conclusion. A very strong start to the anthology.
Noise • (1952) • short story by Jack Vance
Good. Poetic and haunting tale of a man stranded on a strange planet that transforms itself along colors and shapes. He slowly starts to see a parallel ‘bleed-over’ between his realm and a woman in another.
Life Hutch • [Earth-Kyba War] • (1956) • short story by Harlan Ellison
Good. An injured soldier must combat a broken robot that is attacking anything that moves.
Ticket to Anywhere • [The Analogues] • (1952) • novelette by Damon Knight
Good. A man hijacks his way into entering an alien portal that takes one into a random place the in solar system.
The Sixth Palace • (1965) • short story by Robert Silverberg
Poor. A fabulous treasure is protected by a robot that will kill you if you can’t answer his questions.
Lulungomeena • (1953) • novelette by Gordon R. Dickson
Good. On a working-class space station, a old man and a young man come into conflict over gambling and the superiority of the old man’s home planet. An alien visitor - from a race that cannot lie - comes to dinner as the ultimate power play.
The Dance of the Changer and the Three • (1968) • short story by Terry Carr
Good. A public relations man from a devastated mining colony recounts a strange performance of the indigenous aliens. Quite a good depiction of a truly alien mentality.
Far Centaurus • (1944) • short story by A. E. van Vogt
Good. Astronauts emerge for brief moments from a long cryo-sleep voyage to Alpha Centari, with death, beauty, and alien vessels on fire. The real challenge will come when they arrive to realize the meaningless nature of their mission.
RATED 88% POSITIVE. STORY SCORE = 3.88 OUT OF 5
8 STORIES : 1 GREAT / 6 GOOD / 0 AVERAGE / 1 POOR / 0 DNF
Robert Silverberg’s short science fiction anthologies are like a bag of candy. It’s easy to grab a handful as you walk by. Perhaps, these stories won’t change the world, but they do offer a fun blast of SciFi goodness that is totally worth your reading time. I wish there were more short anthologies published today.
The titular theme of the book is “Deep Space,” which Silverberg uses as a workaround for the frequent lament that “Science Fiction is harder now because of the pace of Science.” It is an opinion that is always wrong. This anthology was published in 1973. In this instance, the theme plays out in the cosmic scale of the stories.
We have tales of electric aliens that strangely dance and astronauts either abandoned to strange beauty or trying not to lose money gambling. Robots protect riches with trivia questions or become dangerous when they malfunction.
There is one story that makes The Great List:
https://www.shortsf.com/beststories
Blood's a Rover • (1952) • novella by Chad Oliver. This novella feels like a condensed novel. A future war is fought by humans making small anthropological changes to the people’s of foreign worlds, in order to eventually have allies. Cosmic in scope, compassionate in acknowledging the injustice of colonial intervention, and with a wonderfully sharp conclusion.
***
DEEP SPACE IS RATED 88% POSITIVE
8 STORIES : 1 GREAT / 6 GOOD / 0 AVERAGE / 1 POOR / 0 DNF
Blood's a Rover • (1952) • novella by Chad Oliver
Great. This novella feels like a condensed novel. A future war is fought by humans making small anthropological changes to the people’s of foreign worlds, in order to eventually have allies. Cosmic in scope, compassionate in acknowledging the injustice of colonial intervention, and with a wonderfully sharp conclusion. A very strong start to the anthology.
Noise • (1952) • short story by Jack Vance
Good. Poetic and haunting tale of a man stranded on a strange planet that transforms itself along colors and shapes. He slowly starts to see a parallel ‘bleed-over’ between his realm and a woman in another.
Life Hutch • [Earth-Kyba War] • (1956) • short story by Harlan Ellison
Good. An injured soldier must combat a broken robot that is attacking anything that moves.
Ticket to Anywhere • [The Analogues] • (1952) • novelette by Damon Knight
Good. A man hijacks his way into entering an alien portal that takes one into a random place the in solar system.
The Sixth Palace • (1965) • short story by Robert Silverberg
Poor. A fabulous treasure is protected by a robot that will kill you if you can’t answer his questions.
Lulungomeena • (1953) • novelette by Gordon R. Dickson
Good. On a working-class space station, a old man and a young man come into conflict over gambling and the superiority of the old man’s home planet. An alien visitor - from a race that cannot lie - comes to dinner as the ultimate power play.
The Dance of the Changer and the Three • (1968) • short story by Terry Carr
Good. A public relations man from a devastated mining colony recounts a strange performance of the indigenous aliens. Quite a good depiction of a truly alien mentality.
Far Centaurus • (1944) • short story by A. E. van Vogt
Good. Astronauts emerge for brief moments from a long cryo-sleep voyage to Alpha Centari, with death, beauty, and alien vessels on fire. The real challenge will come when they arrive to realize the meaningless nature of their mission.
thestarman's review
RATING: 4 stars for its era, or ~2.9 stars compared to modern SF.
REVIEW: No absolute stinkers here. Pipe-smoking males and microfilm. Fun to see what authors got right/wrong about future.
REVIEW: No absolute stinkers here. Pipe-smoking males and microfilm. Fun to see what authors got right/wrong about future.
lordofthemoon's review
3.0
This is a collection of short stories tied together by the theme of the universe, it's size and the Stuff that could be out there. The quality was good overall, with some of the stories being excellent. In particular, Noise by Jack Vance about a guy whose liferaft lands on a planet with ethereal life forms and Lulungomeena by Gordon R Dickson about a bet on the frontier of explored space. Worth reading if you're after some perspective on the scale of things.
More...