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mxmlln's review against another edition
I read 3 of the 14 short stories:
1. You Triflin' Skunk!
2. The Will
3. Dark Benediction
Dark Benediction was the only one I liked. I'm generally not a fan of short stories.
1. You Triflin' Skunk!
2. The Will
3. Dark Benediction
Dark Benediction was the only one I liked. I'm generally not a fan of short stories.
oleksandr's review against another edition
4.0
This is a collection of shorter works (up to a novella in length) of [a:Walter M. Miller Jr.|6025722|Walter M. Miller Jr.|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1339680458p2/6025722.jpg], who is most known for his 1961 Hugo-winning novel [b:A Canticle for Leibowitz|164154|A Canticle for Leibowitz (St. Leibowitz, #1)|Walter M. Miller Jr.|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1450516880l/164154._SY75_.jpg|250975], which was his last published work during his lifetime. His publishing career was quite brief, from 1951 to 1957, but he created some noticeable fiction during this time. He was a bomber pilot during the World War Two, which profoundly affected his later life: he converted to Catholicism in 1947, and after his award-winning debut novel became a recluse, avoiding contact with nearly everyone, struggling with depression and finally committing suicide in 1996.
The stories included in this audiobook where also published as a [b:Dark Benediction|1372926|Dark Benediction|Walter M. Miller Jr.|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1349069620l/1372926._SY75_.jpg|1362798] by Science Fiction Masterworks.
You Triflin' Skunk! SF/horror, a woman is raising a kid with special abilities, sired not by a human, as he states. 3*
The Will a boy is dying from cancer, but he is a fan of Captain Chronos, Custodian of Time TV series, hoping for a time machine. 3.5*
Anybody Else Like Me? a woman finds out that she can share mind with a man, who deciding that such a mutation is beneficial starts to stalk her. 4*
Crucifixus Etiam a man works on Mars terraforming project as an unskilled laborer. To let the breathe, aerator valves are surgically stitched in his chest. He is afraid that like many workers he’ll forget how to breathe, returning to Earth as a cripple. 4*
I, Dreamer story’s narrator is XM-5-B, whom Teacher calls "Clicker." Is it a strange abused AI, used in a bomber delivery system? 4*
Dumb Waiter a post-apoc story initially reminding of [a:Ray Bradbury|1630|Ray Bradbury|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1445955959p2/1630.jpg]’ There Will Come Soft Rains from [b:The Martian Chronicles|76778|The Martian Chronicles|Ray Bradbury|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1374049948l/76778._SY75_.jpg|4636013], but instead of an automatic house without people, there is a man, who goes to a town that continues to send bombers long after they run out of bombs. There is a managing computer in the town and some people plan to destroy it, which will collapse a civilization to barbarism. Content warning: usual for the 50s but cringy today role of a womanж it is actually present in a few other works here. 3*
Blood Bank a galaxy empire, a ship transported medical supplies from Earth (which is almost forgotten, on the outskirts) and the ship denied inspection to a patrol and was destroyed. Patrol’s captain was legally I the right, but killing a medical ship of course led to his resignation. He travels to Earth to find truth. 3.5*
Big Joe and the Nth Generation a protagonist is a thief in some planet turned savage. The air is getting thin and he has to travel to a taboo place е find a solution. 3*
The Big Hunger an epic story of cycles of life, where eugenics growth specialized minds to get space ships but destroy the minds later. A nice stylization One of the prophets wrote an energy equation. Men crucified an Agitator on a telegraph pole. They purged a minority-group. They split a uranium atom into atoms of strontium and xenon. They wrote immortal lines deploring war while they invented better ways to wage it. They refashioned a body for my life-principle, for the tensor-transformers that constitute my soul. They mounted me again in a sky-borne prairie schooner because they were weary of sanctified braying. 4.5*
Conditionally Human a man works as a District Inspector for the F.B.A., collecting and disposing off unwanted evolved animals, which creates a conflict with his wife. The idea is that to limit population only a few can have kids, while the majority satisfy their parenting instinct with evolved animals, whose intelligence is artificially limited. He gets an order to find an animal freak that was made too smarts and destroy it. 5*
The Darfsteller Hugo winner for best novella of 1955, a former theater star works as a janitor in a new robotized theater. Unlike most other actors he hasn’t supplied his profile for copying in robots and plans to return to the scene one day. 3*
Dark Benediction a post-apoc about strange disease from outer space, which urges people to touch others, spreading it. Some group to fight it like a zombie plague, but the protagonist cannot kill an infected girl and seeks another way. Another of his work with Catholic church s a major player. 5*
The Lineman a team lines cable on a Moon, where strict one gender rule is set after mutated babies where born. A flying bordello arrives… 3*
Vengeance For Nikolai a war between the USSR and USA and Soviets send a strikingly beautiful woman, who just lost her kid to enemy bombing to assassinate US military strategist. 3*
The stories included in this audiobook where also published as a [b:Dark Benediction|1372926|Dark Benediction|Walter M. Miller Jr.|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1349069620l/1372926._SY75_.jpg|1362798] by Science Fiction Masterworks.
You Triflin' Skunk! SF/horror, a woman is raising a kid with special abilities, sired not by a human, as he states. 3*
The Will a boy is dying from cancer, but he is a fan of Captain Chronos, Custodian of Time TV series, hoping for a time machine. 3.5*
Anybody Else Like Me? a woman finds out that she can share mind with a man, who deciding that such a mutation is beneficial starts to stalk her. 4*
Crucifixus Etiam a man works on Mars terraforming project as an unskilled laborer. To let the breathe, aerator valves are surgically stitched in his chest. He is afraid that like many workers he’ll forget how to breathe, returning to Earth as a cripple. 4*
I, Dreamer story’s narrator is XM-5-B, whom Teacher calls "Clicker." Is it a strange abused AI, used in a bomber delivery system? 4*
Dumb Waiter a post-apoc story initially reminding of [a:Ray Bradbury|1630|Ray Bradbury|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1445955959p2/1630.jpg]’ There Will Come Soft Rains from [b:The Martian Chronicles|76778|The Martian Chronicles|Ray Bradbury|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1374049948l/76778._SY75_.jpg|4636013], but instead of an automatic house without people, there is a man, who goes to a town that continues to send bombers long after they run out of bombs. There is a managing computer in the town and some people plan to destroy it, which will collapse a civilization to barbarism. Content warning: usual for the 50s but cringy today role of a womanж it is actually present in a few other works here. 3*
Blood Bank a galaxy empire, a ship transported medical supplies from Earth (which is almost forgotten, on the outskirts) and the ship denied inspection to a patrol and was destroyed. Patrol’s captain was legally I the right, but killing a medical ship of course led to his resignation. He travels to Earth to find truth. 3.5*
Big Joe and the Nth Generation a protagonist is a thief in some planet turned savage. The air is getting thin and he has to travel to a taboo place е find a solution. 3*
The Big Hunger an epic story of cycles of life, where eugenics growth specialized minds to get space ships but destroy the minds later. A nice stylization One of the prophets wrote an energy equation. Men crucified an Agitator on a telegraph pole. They purged a minority-group. They split a uranium atom into atoms of strontium and xenon. They wrote immortal lines deploring war while they invented better ways to wage it. They refashioned a body for my life-principle, for the tensor-transformers that constitute my soul. They mounted me again in a sky-borne prairie schooner because they were weary of sanctified braying. 4.5*
Conditionally Human a man works as a District Inspector for the F.B.A., collecting and disposing off unwanted evolved animals, which creates a conflict with his wife. The idea is that to limit population only a few can have kids, while the majority satisfy their parenting instinct with evolved animals, whose intelligence is artificially limited. He gets an order to find an animal freak that was made too smarts and destroy it. 5*
The Darfsteller Hugo winner for best novella of 1955, a former theater star works as a janitor in a new robotized theater. Unlike most other actors he hasn’t supplied his profile for copying in robots and plans to return to the scene one day. 3*
Dark Benediction a post-apoc about strange disease from outer space, which urges people to touch others, spreading it. Some group to fight it like a zombie plague, but the protagonist cannot kill an infected girl and seeks another way. Another of his work with Catholic church s a major player. 5*
The Lineman a team lines cable on a Moon, where strict one gender rule is set after mutated babies where born. A flying bordello arrives… 3*
Vengeance For Nikolai a war between the USSR and USA and Soviets send a strikingly beautiful woman, who just lost her kid to enemy bombing to assassinate US military strategist. 3*
andrattey's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
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