Shards of Space by Robert Sheckley

 

(pb; 1962: science fiction story anthology)

 

Overall review

The stories in Shards range from excellent (“The Slow Season,” “Alone at Last”) to solid and entertaining (“Fool’s Mate,” “Subsistence Level”), showing Sheckley to an overall superb, timeless-in-his-themes-and-situations author, making this classic (in the best possible way) anthology one worth purchasing, and Sheckley a writer worth looking out for.

 

Review, story by story

“Prospector’s Special”: In Venus’s Scorpion Desert, a goldenstone miner (Morrison), seeking his fortune for himself and his wife—he hopes to buy and run an “ocean farm” with dolphins as well-treated employees—tracks a red and purple vein of goldenstone, hoping to achieve the titular special. As disasters pile up on him, he keeps on, despite others, via “’port” and phone, encouraging him to give up and return to civilization.

 

This is an excellent, humor-limned, offbeat and often surprising ticking-clock/relentlessly intense tale; it emotionally hooked me, had me rooting for Morrison as the story progressed. “Prospector’s” end is fun, bringing to the fore the humor previously took a backseat to the increasingly dire situation. Memorable, superb.

 

“The Girls and Nugent Miller”: A post-nuclear war man (Miller) unexpectedly encounters something he hasn’t seen the since the start of humanity’s wipeout: a group of living people, women! Unfortunately for the bull-headed Miller, they’re fierce, feminist females. Solid story, with a chilling, too-timely ending.

 

“Meeting of the Minds”: On “the island of Vuanu, southernmost of the Solomons, almost in the Louisade Archipelago,” a team of Spanish galleon treasure hunters attempt to fend off a Martian bug (a Quedak) intent on sharing a global mind-meld with them. Good, weird-situation story with a fun alien and a solid, relatively happy wrap-up.

 

“Potential”: An amnesiac wakes up alone on a seriously damaged spaceship flying through space. Why can’t he remember anything? And what is this mysterious mission that has the pre-programmed ship planet-hopping, searching for other humanoid life?

 

Fast-paced, tightly edited tale, this, with its well-timed reveals and disturbing, interesting ideas and finish.

 

“Fool’s Mate”: A long-standing stalemate between two warring enemies is broken, when the Earth-based humans’ President’s Executive (Richard Ellsner) decides to abandon the Configuration-Probability-Calculator’s [CPC] projected, chess-minded potential casualty reports, the reason for the stalemate: both sides are using the same reports. Solid, interesting story, with familiar but effective twist-of-sorts.

 

“Subsistence Level”: Solid story about a “pioneering” couple, Amelie and Dirk Bogren, move to a planetoid on the outskirts of society, largely due to Dirk’s restless nature and dislike of crowds, only to see their rough-life home become a popular destination.

 

“The Slow Season”: A financially struggling dressmaker (Slobod) is hired to sew dresses with inhuman, wildly varied measurements by a cryptic customer (Mr. Bellis). Succinct, excellent Twilight Zone-esque work, with a memorable story and ending. This is one of the best stories I’ve read in recent years.

 

“Alone at Last”: Another gem of a Twilight Zone-esque tale, this, where a man (Arwell), seeking near-absolute solitude, embarks on a journey toward a “dangerous” destination. It’s not difficult to see where “Alone” is headed but its specific details and tonal-shift finish make this super-short story stunning, excellent.

 

“Forever”: A scientist with a world-changing serum is hunted by menacing, metropolitan strangers while heading to a patent office to register his scientific discovery. Fun, smart, quirky adventure-work.

 

“The Sweeper of Loray”: Grim, sad tale about two astronauts (Professor Carver and his assistant, Fred)—opportunistic and imperialistic in their respective missions—studying and hoping to steal a “universal panacea” from peaceful, tribal aliens (the Lorayans), who don’t want to give it to them. Well-written, one of the darkest entries in this anthology.

 

“The Special Exhibit”: A mild-mannered ornithologist (Mr. Grant) shows his wife “of such heroic proportions and meager mentality” (Mrs. Grant) a scientific exhibit-experiment exclusively reserved for the happiness of museum employees and specialists. While it’s easy to spot where it’s likely going, “Special” is an immensely satisfying, darkly cheerful and waste-no-words work about coupledom and “a far more effective problem solver than marriage counseling.” Above-average, Twilight Zone-esque.