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gleizer's review
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
suvana's review
5.0
The writing in this book rewires my brain every time I read it. Glorious language, fantastic, enormous universe barely glimpsed. Liminal shivers. Fantastic.
arlan's review
5.0
One of the finest, and nowadays thoroughly forgotten, works of worldcrafting I have ever read. Refreshing original concepts - and not overworked. Great stuff.
chadrushing's review
4.0
Very original Science Fiction. Everyone that has come after owes a lot to this author.
therewithal's review
4.0
I really loved a lot of things about these stories, but as with most SF by men from this period, his attitudes toward women are a kick in the stomach amid the good stuff.
lordofthemoon's review
5.0
This volume contains the entire of Cordwainer Smith's short science fiction. This mostly consists of stories set in his "Instrumentality of Mankind" future history, but there are a handful of other stories at the end. The Instrumentality universe is a massive imagining, as mankind is shepherded by the all-powerful Instrumentality, protecting it from itself and beyond.
The stories here are lyrical, vivid creatures that demand to be savoured, one or two at a time and Smith's style reminds me in some ways of [a:Ray Bradbury|1630|Ray Bradbury|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1190744775p2/1630.jpg], another of my favourite writers. This volume, combined with [b:Norstralia] contains the sum total of Smith's output, cut short by a heart attack at the awfully young age of 53. The Instrumentality universe is rich and varied, with themes including the liberation of the Underpeople (genetically modified animals used as slaves) and the meaning of what it is to be human (leading to the "Rediscovery of Man" period).
Picking highlights is difficult, but Scanners Live in Vain, Smith's first published story, is excellent. It tells of the men who man the spaceships, with their sensory nerves cut to block out the "pain of space" and the volunteers who undergo the same procedure to monitor them, and the process that could make them obsolete. The Dead Lady of Clown Town and The Ballad of Lost C'Mell both deal with the liberation of the underpeople while Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons is a darkly humorous story about the lengths that the Norstalians will go to to protect their monopoly of the immortality drug, Stroon.
In all, this a marvellous collection for any fan of future history and the Instrumentality will stay with me for quite some time.
The stories here are lyrical, vivid creatures that demand to be savoured, one or two at a time and Smith's style reminds me in some ways of [a:Ray Bradbury|1630|Ray Bradbury|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1190744775p2/1630.jpg], another of my favourite writers. This volume, combined with [b:Norstralia] contains the sum total of Smith's output, cut short by a heart attack at the awfully young age of 53. The Instrumentality universe is rich and varied, with themes including the liberation of the Underpeople (genetically modified animals used as slaves) and the meaning of what it is to be human (leading to the "Rediscovery of Man" period).
Picking highlights is difficult, but Scanners Live in Vain, Smith's first published story, is excellent. It tells of the men who man the spaceships, with their sensory nerves cut to block out the "pain of space" and the volunteers who undergo the same procedure to monitor them, and the process that could make them obsolete. The Dead Lady of Clown Town and The Ballad of Lost C'Mell both deal with the liberation of the underpeople while Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons is a darkly humorous story about the lengths that the Norstalians will go to to protect their monopoly of the immortality drug, Stroon.
In all, this a marvellous collection for any fan of future history and the Instrumentality will stay with me for quite some time.
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