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.

Destination: Universe! by A.E. van Vogt

 

(pb; 1953: science fiction story anthology)

From the back cover

“Meet a terrifying creature on a remote Pacific Island whose soul is atomic fire.

“Observe the first man on Venus encounter a can of paint—a maddening test of his capacities for survival.

“Read the bizarre correspondence between two interstellar pen pals.

“Watch an artificial, manlike monster turn against its captors and threaten a cosmic empire.

“Follow a lovely saleswoman of uncanny gadgets on a tour through new vistas of time and space.”

 

Overall review

The stories within this collection range from solid to excellent, a superior-to-other-anthologies book that’s worth owning, if you’re a science fiction and turn-on-a-sentence-or-two writing.

 

Review, story by story

“Far Centaurus”: A four-man crew on a five-hundred-year mission encounter unexpected death, and a daunting alien encounter—are they saved or doomed by their intentions, and do the aliens, as well as a fractured crewmate (Jim Renfrew) have their best interests at heart?

This is one my all-time favorite science fiction tales, with initially-solid-then-great-written characters and motives, and a memorable twist, that thrilled me not only as a reader and a writer.

 

“The Monster”: On an environmentally devastated planet, a team of dismayed alien scientists encounter a willful, wily human. Solid story.

 

“Dormant”: A resurrected “monster” awakens to find itself being investigated then attacked by militaristic humans—with serious repercussions for all involved. Good, creature-interesting read.

 

“The Enchanted Village”: The only survivor (Jenner) of a ship-crash on desolate, hot Mars stumbles onto a strangely pristine village that poses challenges and possibilities for survival for the desperate astronaut. Intriguing, fun, unpredictable tale, one of my favorites in Destination.

 

“A Can of Paint”: A thematic-and-structural-sequel-of-sorts to “The Enchanted Village”, “Can” tells of  the Venusian adventures of an astronaut (Kilgour), the first man to successfully land on Venus—not unlike Jenner’s relationship with Mars in “Enchanted”.

Kilgour finds a small cube outside his ship, and once he starts understanding it, tries to find a way out of his possibly fatal dilemma. Humorously light, tightly written and edited (while maintaining a boisterous spirit) and memorable. This, too, is one of my favorite entries in Destination.

 

“Defence”: Old machinery within a “dead planet” turns on, setting off a chain of chaotic events. Excellent, sharp two-page story.

 

“The Rulers”: At a Washington dinner party, a guest (Dr. Latham) recounts how he dealt with a thirteen-member, h-drug-pushing cabal. What is h-drug? Read and find out! Good, fun stuff.

 

“Dear Pen Pal”: A criminal alien (Skander, on planet Aurigae II) becomes pen pals with a wary Earthling—resulting in possibly twisty, dangerous communications. Solid, word-economical, fun.

 

“The Sound”: Yevds (alien spies), intent on defeating humans, kidnap and try to manipulate a boy (Diddy) into helping them with their espionage. Good, offbeat story.

 

“The Search”: Ralph Carson Drake, Quik-Rite Company stationary salesman, wakes in the hospital; it seems he has amnesia regarding his activities for the past two weeks. When he retraces his steps leading up to them, wild truths and characters gradually reveal themselves—and himself. Excellent speculative fiction piece.

Picnic on Nearside by John Varley

 

(pb; 1980: science fiction anthology. Originally published as The Barbie Murders.)

Overall review

Picnic is a bold, ambitious blast of science fiction free love at the world. Many of its key characters are young people─worldwise children with adult experiences to back their age-accelerated awareness up and technology to pull off fantastic science-fiction feats. That includes non-explicit (mentions of) sex, sometimes incest (which no longer, in Varley’s future centuries, bears out genetically questionable fruits), and if those notions are upsetting for you, Picnic is not the book for you.

Picnic also shares themes and references Varley espoused in his Gaea trilogy (Titan, Wizard, Demon), e.g., a love of cinema and 1950s-era culture, repercussion-free promiscuity, a flouting of conservative culture rules, and advanced maturity and awareness beyond the limits of one’s flesh.

This is an excellent collection, some stories better than others, but all interesting (in a good way), unique and thematically solid (in relation to Picnic’s other stories and in general). Worth owning, this, if you’re not put off by gender-fluid, tastefully stated explorations of love beyond physical boundaries and age.

 

Review, story by story

“Bagatelle”: A depressed cyborg-nuclear bomb (Hans) threatens to blow up the space city of New Dresden. Can a seemingly crazy explosives expert (Roger Birkson) and a police chief (Anna Bach) defuse Hans in time? Excellent, fun, and often unpredictable story.

 

“The Funhouse Effect”: Multiple disasters aboard a tourist comet (Hell’s Snowball) make two of its passengers (Quester and Solace) question the dangerous surreality of their situation. The twist is not unexpected, but the ride is a blast.

 

“The Barbie Murders”: A police detective (Lt. Anne-Louise Bach) is tasked with a near-impossible task: find a killer in Anytown, a religious megacult haven for those who’ve had surgery to look and live like a conformist Barbie doll. Intriguing story, solid ending.

 

“Equinoctial”: A human woman─a Conser─sharing her body and her awareness with an implanted Symb (Symbiotic Space-Environment Organism) named Equinox, floats around the rings of Saturn when her Symb is taken from her by Engineers, religious fanatics who want to paint one of Saturn’s rings red. This theft impels the long-lived woman (Parameter) to retrieve her Symb, who is incubating Parameter’s unborn children. For Parameter, this is the start of an unpredictable and bumpy mission. Clever, satirical, funny, perverse, imaginative, and sporting notions of hippie-era free love (not unlike Varley’s Gaea trilogy), “Equinoctial” is one of my favorite stories in this collection.

 

“Manikins”: Solid story about a student (Evelyn) who interviews a man-hating paranoid schizophrenic (Barbara), a life-changing experience.

 

“Beatnik Bayou”: On Lunar, a planet where age and gender are physically, easily changeable, a thirteen-year-old Lunarian boy (Argus-Darcy-Meric) is about to go through a Change, when he transfers from one life-teacher to another. His current educator, Cathay (a middle-aged man physically regressed to Argus’s age since age seven) is about to age-regress, educate a new student.

Things get complicated when a mentally ill─possibly sociopathic─woman (Tiona) stalks Cathay, Argus and their friends, then files a complaint against them with the Central Computer, Lunar’s legal authority. This not only jeopardizes the scheduled transitions of Argus, Cathay, and their friends, but could get them executed.

 

“Beatnik” is one of my favorite stories in Picnic. This offbeat, playful, thematically mature and warm-hearted tale is delightful and full of unpredictable turns with its imaginative, free-love-meets-ancient-Greece-and-1950s-America mindset (adult teachers can─possibly expected to─have sex with their adolescent students in certain situations, à la the way ancient Greeks did. . . a thirteen-year-old Lunarian is practically the equivalent of an eighteen-year-old in California, United States.) If this last aspect bothers you (there’s no explicit sex in “Beatnik”), you probably shouldn’t read this anthology.

 

“Good-bye, Robinson Crusoe”: On the artificial bubble island of Pacifica beneath the surface of Pluto, a memory-infused, teenage clone of an old man (Piri) resists leaving and growing older─things change quickly with the arrival of Lee, a beautiful dream of a woman, who is more than she appears to be.

This is an excellent, cinematic-intense, and unique reversal-twist of a sort-of-coming-of-age story, memorable for its setting.

 

“Lollipop and the Tar Baby”: A young woman (Xanthia), hovering near Pluto in a lifeboat ship, is contacted by a talking (via radio) black hole. They form a friendship, one that dramatically alters her relationship with the woman (Zoe) who created her through cloning. “Lollipop” is a fun, dark-humored, emerging-identity story.

 

“Picnic on Nearside”: On the moon, two hundred-plus years after the Invasion of Earth, a twelve-year-old boy (Fox, who has the maturity, awareness, and many of the experiences of a seventeen-year-old) and his same-age friend (Halo, no longer a boy but a sexy woman) head to the dangerous, metropolitan ruins of Archimedes. Archimedes, during dark and immediately post-Invasion times, was humanity’s first enclave, but was abandoned because its view of Earth bummed people out─but is there more to it than what people initially saw?

Martian Quest: The Early Brackett by Leigh Brackett

(hb; 2002: science fiction story anthology. "Introduction" by Michael Moorcock.)

From the inside flap

“Martian Quest: The Early Brackett is a long-overdue collection of the twenty earliest stories by the undisputed ‘Queen of Space-Opera.’

“On a Venus that never was, on a Mars that can never be (but should have been), Leigh Brackett’s early stories laid the foundation for her later classic adventures, The Sword of Rhiannon, The Nemesis from Terra, and the 'Eric John Stark' series.

“Other stories in this collection draw inspiration from such diverse sources as the lost-race novels of H. Rider Haggard, the lush fantasies of A. Merritt, and the planetary romances of Edgar Rice Burroughs. With an appreciation for Raymond Chandler and James M. Cain, Brackett’s prose is a unique display of vigorous swashbuckling adventure tempered with a harsh, hard-boiled economy.”

Overall review

Brackett’s Forties-era science fiction adventure stories largely stuck to a few basic western genre-born templates: a man of action with a troubling or mysterious past finds himself in dire, violent situations with aliens and (usually) a female romantic interest who may or may not be true to him or his aims. While the female characters are firmly envisioned in the male gaze, Brackett keeps them palatable with knowing winks.

Brackett, an excellent, cut-to-it author, keeps it lean, sometimes twisty─depending on the length of the work─and genre-true. Springing from these early, formulaic beginnings, she would go on to write expanded, more complex works, earning her reputation as a stellar science fiction writer.

Stories

“Martian Quest” [Astounding Science Fiction, February 1940]: A young Earthling (Martin Drake), poor and further saddled with self-doubt, uses his knowledge of chemicals to fend off Khom, giant creatures that devour impoverished Martian settlers’ homes.

“The Treasure of Pkatuth” [Astounding Science Fiction, February 1942]: On Mars, competing adventurerers (Terence Shane, Thaldrek of Ved) seek a legendary, forbidden city (Pkatuth) while contending with a barbaric tribe (the Shunni) and their beautiful leader (Zenda Challoner)─who may be the daughter of a wise, mad god. This is an excellent retelling of the Fountain of Youth story.

“The Tapestry Gate” [Strange Stories, August 1940]: A supernatural tapestry preys on a couple’s mutual loathing.

“The Stellar Legion” [Planet Stories, Winter 1940]: A military group made up of mixed aliens fend off a horde of Nahali (“six-foot, scarlet-eyed swamp dwellers”) while a traitor schemes within their ranks.

“The Demons of Darkside” [Startling Stories, June 1941]: A murder suspect (Barry Garth) steals a ship to Mercury in order to save his girlfriend (Alice Webster) from state execution. This thinly plotted story is especially action oriented.

“Water Pirate” [Super Science Stories, January 1941]: In 2418, a man (Jaffa Gray) and a girl (Lhara) go after whoever is hijacking life-giving water transports, in order to stop them.

“Interplanetary Reporter” [Startling Stories, May 1941]: When Jupiter declares war on Venus, cynical reporter Chris Barton is compelled by a beautiful, hard woman (Kei Volhan) and her idealistic fiancé (Bobby Lance) to further investigate what’s going on─which means that all is not as it seems. Especially exciting, romantic standout work.

“The Dragon-Queen of Venus” [Planet Stories, Summer 1941]: Desperate, starving soldiers try to hold back swamp people and life-draining serpents from their alien outpost fort. If they do not succeed in defeating the invasive creatures, their efforts to colonize Venus means the death of their home-planet people.

“Lord of the Earthquake” [Science Fiction, June 1941]: In this ambitious, tightly plotted Robert E. Howard-esque tale, two submariners travel 12,000 years into the past, just before an ancient civilization (Mu) is shaken into ruins by tremblors, music and treachery.

“No Man’s Land in Space” [Amazing Stories, July 1941]: Monsters and stalk and kill the citizens of Sark, an outlaw town on fragile asteroid. Wartime intrigue, a rogue scientist, Lunar creatures and cynical humor highlight this fast-moving work.

“A World is Born” [Comet Stories, July 1941]: On Mercury, a civilization-building prisoner plots his escape, a scheme hastened when an opportunistic capitalist (Caron of Mars) arrives to use the planet and its inhabitants for his own ends.

Like many of the lead characters in preceding stories, Mel Gray─”World” protagonist─is a hard, cynical antihero with a sense of decency, honor. Fun tale.

“Retreat to the Stars” [Astonishing Stories, November 1941]: A spy for the State is torn between his lust for a rebel soldier (Marika) and fulfilling his cold-hearted mission. Okay read, would’ve been better at a shorter length.

“Child of the Green Light” [Super Science Stories, February 1942]: Son, an energy-born creature with telepathic powers, fends off space-suited invaders who are trying to kill the source light that not only made him, but is slowly killing them. Especially good read.

“The Sorcerer of Rhiannon” [Astounding Science Fiction, February 1942]: A treasure hunter (Max Brandon) is caught between two warring aliens with superior technology (Tobul, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Kymra). His professional rival, a deadly Venusian named Dhu Kar, also complicates Brandon’s trek through a Martian desert. Lots of action in this one.

“Child of the Sun” [Planet Stories, Spring 1942]: On-the-run outlaws land on a planet where an illuminated alien life form holds power. Good, character-twisty read.

“Out of the Sea” [Planet Stories, Spring 1942]:The Japanese use science to direct giant sea creatures to attack US beaches, and it’s up to Webb Fallon (an alcoholic reporter) and Einer Bjarnsseon (a scientist with a submarine) to save the day.

Fun storyline and setup for this, with a parodic tone (making fun of tough guys and sexism).

“Cube from Space” [Super Science Stories, August 1942]: An outlaw is trapped by parasitic aliens (the Rakshi) and forced to help them find new bodies─until he is able to break free and help his fellow humans fight back. Good read.

“Outpost on Io” [Planet Stories, Winter 1942]: On an alien moon, a prisoner (MacVickers) tries to foment revolt among his fellow alien prisoners against their Europan guards.

“The Halfling” [Astonishing Stories, February 1943]: Jade Greene, a carny boss-man, hires a new performer (Laura) who brings dangerous secrets and violent problems into Greene’s traveling show.

“The Citadel of Lost Ships” [Planet Stories, March 1943]: A man (Roy Campbell) helps a Venusian tribe evade the Government patrols who mean them harm.

Star Trek: The New Voyages 2 edited by Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath

(pb; 1977: fan fiction/science fiction story and poem anthology)

Overall review

New Voyages 2 is a good, mostly entertaining collection of fan fiction. I didn’t enjoy it as much as I did the first volume, but it was still a worthwhile read.

Stories

“Surprise!” – Nichelle Nichols: The Enterprise crew try to set up a surprise birthday party for James Kirk while he, to their frustration, roams around the ship. Fun, ultra-flirty and chatty tale─it’s overlong and wanders a bit, but still largely entertaining.

“Snake Pit!” – Connie Faddis: Christine Chapel─nurse/secondary doctor on the Enterprise─must, with a knife, fend off many snakes in a pit where she and downed-by-poison James Kirk try to avoid becoming weather-predictive sacrifices for a Vestalan tribe, the Hualan. Outstanding story, nice to see Chapel in an unusual-for-her situation, beyond her role as a healer.

“The Patient Parasites” – Russell Bates: Kirk, Sulu and McCoy match wits with a technology-thieving, difficult-to-defeat machine (Finder), whose deeper agenda is even more devastating. This teleplay is entertaining, flows well and is a standout read in this collection.

“In the Maze” – Jennifer Guttridge: Kirk recklessly disobeys Star Fleet orders and further risks getting himself, Spock, Bones and several other crewmen killed or worse when he illegally investigates an out-of-place technological building on a backwater planet. Well-written, entertaining tale that bringing to the fore Kirk’s underlying, sometimes-childish-and-selfish umbrage nature.

“Cave-In” – Jane Peyton: Back-and-forth-structured dialogue poem, did not read it. (Not into Star Trek-themed verseworks.)

                                                   

“Marginal Existence” – Connie Faddis: The crew of the Enterprise encounter sleeping aliens and hostile robots. Solid, pedestrian-for-the-series piece.

“The Procrustean Petard” – Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath: Several crew members of the Enterprise are gender-switched and trapped in planetary orbit with a ship full of Klingons, led by fan-favorite Kang. While it runs too long and is occasionally awkward, it is an often-entertaining read.

“The Sleeping God”: Kirk and co. come face-to-face with a galaxy-destroying mega-computer while transporting super-powered mutant (Singha the Sleeper). Good, chatty story.

“Elegy for Charlie” – Antonia Vallario: Another unread poem.

“Soliloquy” – Margarite B. Thompson: Another unread poem.

Night Monsters by Fritz Leiber

(pb; 1969: story anthology)

Overall review

Night Monsters is a standout tale collection. Its stories are presented in an intuitive, theme-linked and -progressive flow, the key elements of each story passed on─in altered form─to the next story. Three of the four pieces are excellent, one of them good (it’s chatty). Worth owning, this.

Stories

“The Black Gondolier”: In Los Angeles, CA, a man recounts his friendship with a conspiracy theorist (Daloway), who lives in mortal fear of oil─which may possess a malevolent awareness. Creepy, atmospheric, entertaining, quirky and overly chatty work.

“Midnight in the Mirror World”: A man (Giles Nefandor) sees weird, multiple figure reflections in his late-night mirror─is he being stalked? And if so, by whom or what?

As with his other works (e.g., Our Lady of Darkness, 1977), Leiber─in “Midnight”─abstract, odd notions of unease palpable and believable. Excellent piece, one of my favorite Leiber works thus far.

“I’m Looking for Jeff”: A mysterious Veronica Lake look-alike─invisible to some people─regularly visits Tomtoms, a bar, looking for Jeff. Clever, fun and superb tale, would make a great Twilight Zone episode.

“The Casket-Demon”: A notorious film star (Vividy Sheer) is repeatedly─and by necessity, if she is to continue living─attacked by a demon, whose purpose is to hunt and eventually kill those in her family.

“Casket-Demon” is a unique, sly and full-of-twists story, one of the best stories I’ve read a long time.

#

Night Monsters was packaged as a reverse-bound “Ace Double” novel, which means that if readers flip the book over and upside down, there was another science fiction novel. Often, it was penned by another author. In this case, it is Fritz Leiber’s The Green Millennium.

Star Trek: The New Voyages edited by Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath

(pb; 1976: story anthology)

Overall review

Voyages is a fan-fiction anthology, published by Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and his company. As anthologies go, it is worthwhile purchase─mostly because of its first four tales. The rest of the works are not terrible, but they are typical, nothing to get excited about. Largely entertaining read, this, followed by another anthology, Star Trek: The New Voyages 2.

Stories

“Ni Var” – Claire Gabriel: Spock’s personality aspects─human and Vulcan─are divided into two physical-twin versions, a situation that affects the fate of the Enterprise as well.

This story strikes a good, Trek-true tone, with its characterization, events and pacing─its dilemma is character-based, personal yet universal. 

“Intersection Point” – Juanita Coulson: A strange, amorphous energy field─sentient?─attaches itself to the Enterprise, starting a short countdown-to-death for the entire crew. “Intersection” reads like an unaired episode of the show, gripping with its life-or-death situation, and its characters’ interactions, down to William Shatner’s over-the-top portrayal of James Kirk.

“The Enchanted Pool” – Marcia Ericson: On the planet of Mevinna, a nymph-like woman (Phyllida) attempts to distract Spock─sans crewmen─away from tracking down a Federation device hijacked by the Andorans. This is a delightful tale, with a mini-twist or two, and one of my favorite entries in this collection.

“Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited” – Ruth Berman: While shooting on the set of the show Star Trek, William Shatner, Forrest Kelley and Leonard Nimoy find themselves in another reality, where they have replaced their Trek characters, who are real people─and who have replaced the actors on the Trek set.

This is a funny, insider’s-view and spot-on alternate take on Trek ideas and characters, easily one of the best tales in this anthology.

“The Face on the Barroom Floor” – Eleanor Arnason and Ruth Berman: During shore leave on the planet Krasni, Kirk gets in a bar fight and goes to jail. A skeleton crew on the Enterprise, led by Spock, tries to find him so they can depart for an important mission.

This was an okay story. It feels padded out with clichés, nothing exciting nor anything that expands the Trek mythos.

“The Hunting” – Doris Beetem: McCoy accompanies Spock during a Vulcan ritual (mok farr: “time of remembrance”), where Vulcans mind meld with a wild animal in order to, among other things, expand their mindset. After Spock does this with an owltiger on the plant Rhinegelt, McCoy is stalked by the now-animalistic Vulcan.

“Hunting“ is another okay, padded-out story, this one loaded-with-Edgar-Rice-Burrough-esque adjectives during Spock’s mental transformation. Its cheesy end-line, uttered by McCoy, reads like something Kirk would say─not McCoy.

“The Winged Dreamers” – Jennifer Guttridge: Many of the Enterprise‘s crew members, while on shore leave, begin hallucinating and refuse to leave the paradisal planet they are visiting.

“Winged” is a solid work, with its well-written (if oft-used) Trek setup: nothing special, but not egregious either.

“Mind-Sifter” – Shirley S. Maiewski: Kirk disappears for two years while the crew of the Enterprise searches for him.

This is a chatty, okay story that would benefit from ruthless editing. It would also benefit from an editor trimming Maiewski’s overly emotional and also-chatty dialogue (especially in the case of Spock, who comes off like a trauma counselor instead of, well, Spock). Its plot is interesting, would’ve been great, had it not been hobbled by the above concerns.

“Sonnet from the Vulcan: Omicron Ceti Three” – Shirley Meech: Reads like a solid Vulcan sonnet. (Not a poetry fan.)

Mutants by Gordon Dickson

(pb; 1973: science fiction story anthology)

Overall review

Mutants is a solid, sometimes chatty and overlong science fiction story anthology revolving around the theme of aliens and their interactions with humans. Even the lesser tales have something interesting about them to recommend them, even if they ultimately fall short of greatness (e.g., “Idiot Solvant,” “The Immortal,” “Home From the Shore,” “Rehabilitated,” “Of the People”). This is a book worth picking up for a few bucks or borrowing from the library.

Standout stories

1.)   “Warrior”: An alien soldier seeks justice for the unnecessary deaths of his fellow troops. Good read, with its science-fiction-mixed-with-a-revenge-pulp storyline.

2.)   “Danger─Human!”: Eldridge Timothy Parker, a human kidnapped and gently studied by aliens, seeks to escape his captors. Will he succeed? This is one of the best tales in this collection, for its imaginative, superb writing and exciting finish.

3.)   “Listen”: A four-year-old boy’s companion─a tentacle, trilling and amiable creature─schools the boy in the notions of a larger good. Excellent read, this one sporting a nuanced and horrifying ending.

4.)   “Roofs of Silver”: Science fiction Western about a murderer (Jabe) whose reluctant actions stem from an official government report condemning his family to death─another favorite offering in this anthology.

5.)  “By New Hearth Fires”: The world’s last dog is dying─though an experiment may save him and others. Tender-hearted, futuristic and memorable read.

6.)  “Miss Prinks”: Lydia Prinks, a woman with lady-like principles, changes─just a little─after an encounter with distorted time. Fun, character-true read.

Ancient, My Enemy, by Gordon R. Dickson

(hb; 1974: science fiction anthology)

Overall review:

Excellent, memorable science fiction anthology - all of the nine stories in this collection are well-written, entertaining: worth owning, this.


Standout stories:

1.)  "Ancient, My Enemy": A clan of mountain-ranging cannibals, led by a feud-minded chief (Hehog), track a group of prospectors back to civilization.  Excellent, memorable tale that resonates on multiple levels with its timeless themes and troubling emotions.


2.)  "Tiger Green": Intriguing story about a human crew that's trapped on a jungle world, awash in their own nightmares and impending insanity, who are trying to escape.  Like other stories in this anthology, "Green" sports a strong, satisfactory sense of morality, humanism and logic, especially in how the men's situation(s) play out.


3.)   "The Friendly Man": A time traveler (Mark Toren) discovers that his arrival in a strangely familiar future may be less - and more - than he expected.  Compact, fun Twilight Zone-esque read.


4.)   "Love Me True":  Another compact, fun Twilight Zone-esque entry, this one about a soldier (Ted Homan), whose exotic, affectionate alien pet (Pogey) raises red flags among his commanding officers. 


5.)  "The Bleak and Barren Land":  Bureaucratic pettiness forces a Colonial Representative (Kent Harmon) into an untenable political and survival situation - trying to head off an impending conflict between planet-native aliens (Modorians) and incoming imperious human settlers.  This is a masterful story, resonant on multiple levels and increasingly intense; it's also one of the best pieces in this collection.

Convergent Series, by Larry Niven

(pb; 1979: science fiction anthology)


Overall review:

All of the twenty-one stories in this collection are worthwhile reads.  More thoughtful and quirky than your usual action-and-laser-beams science fiction anthology, Convergent Series is largely a talk-oriented anthology, with its tightly-edited stories revolving around a few core themes (communication between divergent cultures, time travel, etc.).  Most of the stories build on ideas, characters and places from previous pieces, especially the Draco's Tavern entries.

Worth owning, this.


Standout stories:

1.)   "The Meddler":  Quirky, imaginative genre blend of noir and science fiction, about a private detective (Bruce Cheseborough, Junior) going after a crime lord (Lester Dunhaven Sinclair III) with the help of a strange alien.


2.)   "Convergent Series": Especially clever, light-hearted piece about a man who matches wits with a demon.


3. )  "Singularities Make Me Nervous":  Intriguing story about a time traveler whose conundrums increase unexpectedly.


4.)   "The Schumann Computer":  This story, the first in the Draco's Tavern series, is a darkly funny piece about a tavern owner (Rick Schumann) who builds a supercomputer (Baby), based on alien - "chirpsithtra" - technology, which has unexpected personality quirks.


5.)    "Assimilating Our Culture, That's What They're Doing!":  Rick Schumann learns disturbing facts about one of the alien races [the "Gligstith(click)tcharf"] who patronize his tavern.  Laugh out loud funny, excellent tale.  One of my favorites in this collection.


6.)   "Cruel and Unusual":  An intergalactic crime cause Rick Schumann to close Draco's Tavern, an establishment he founded/ran for twenty-two years; it also, in relation to the aforementioned crime, raises reader-haunting questions about what defines "cruel and unusual".

One of my favorite stories in this anthology.


7.)   "Transfer of Power":  Good, fantasy-themed piece about a post-bloodless coup conversation between a deposed king (Sarol) and the country's new leader (Guppry) - a conversation that may or may not herald disastrous events for the fledgling, magic-based society.


8.)   "Night on Mispec Moor":  On a low-gravity planet (Sereda) in the year 2731, a soldier (Tomas Vatch) is besieged by doubt and legendary undead men ("night walkers").  Good, action-oriented story.


Other stories:

"Wrong Way Street"; "Bordered in Black"; "One Face"; "Like Banquo's Ghost"; "Dry Run"; "The Deadlier Weapon"; "The Nonesuch"; "Grammar Lesson"; "The Subject is Closed"; "Cautionary Tales"; "Rotating Cylinders and the Possibility of Global Causality Violation"; "Plaything"; "Mistake"

Fungus of the Heart, by Jeremy C. Shipp

(pb; 2010: horror/science fiction anthology)


Overall review:

This is one of the most unique and best microfiction collections that I've read in a long while.

Fungus isn't a "casual" read - every word counts, and each word can easily flip the meanings and tableaux presented in these wildly original stories, into even odder - though strangely relatable - works.

Worth owning, for microfiction readers who don't mind a bit of initial narrative disorientation/strangeness and mental puzzle-working in their reading experiences.



Standout stories:

1.) "The Haunted House": Distinctive take on the concept of being "haunted".


2.) "Fungus of the Heart": Intriguing fantasy tale about Nightingale, a Sentinel [warrior] who's on a mission of revenge and love.

Beautiful end-line to this one.


3.) "Boy in the Cabinet": In a world of monsters, Death Cats and other sources of cruelty, a Boy seeks a love that will transform, not trap him.

Striking and reader-hooking piece.


4.) "Just Another Vampire Story": A cheating boyfriend gets his strange, but well-deserved desserts.

Succinct, perfect, and relatively "normal"/mainstreamish story (for this collection).


5.) "The Escapist": A war between gnomes and goblins takes on diseased - possibly redemptive - aspects.


6.) "Ula Morales": A forest creature superhero struggles to live up to her mother's designs.


7.) "Spider House": A warsick being (Shanna), living with a simple-minded sprite (Roan) and a demon (Evening), considers the ghosts of their pasts. Ultimately tender-toned work, this.


8.) "Monkey Boy and the Monsters": Monkey Boy and Soapy, soldiers in the war mentioned in "Spider House," fight vampires (often disguised as boy bands), snotty teenagers, werewolves, the pretentious rich, and other monsters.

There are so many laugh-out-loud zinger lines in this, it's easily one of my favorite entries in this anthology.


9.) "Agape Walrus": Cleverly titled, genre-flipping piece about a zombie polar bear and a rare walrus.


10.) "Kingdom Come": The kidnapping of a man's son leads, in labyrinthine fashion, to the father's personal revelations.


Other stories:

"How to Make a Clown"; "The Sun Never Rises in the Big City"; "Ticketyboo"

They Came From Outer Space edited by Jim Wynorski

(hb; 1980: science fiction anthology. "Introduction" by Ray Bradbury.)

Overall review:

Wonderful, varied collection of classic science fiction stories that, for the most part, became worthwhile (if loosely adapted) films. This anthology is worth owning, a reminder of science fiction's modestly charming roots, as read in the pages of pulp-ish magazines. By all means, seek this anthology out.


Review, story by story:


1.) "Dr. Cyclops" - Henry Kuttner: Four scientists and their jungle guide (Paco), visiting a secretive, bespectacled scientist (Dr. Thorkel, aka Dr. Cyclops) are shrunk to pin-height, via a radium-spraying projector (called a "condensor") so Thorkel can study them. But the scientists and Paco escape into the jungle, hunted by Thorkel and his black cat, Satanas. When the shrunken scientists and their guide engage in retaliatory guerilla-warfare tactics, it's an imaginative, thrill-a-minute adventure.

The popular Dr. Cyclops (and this tale) appeared in the June 1940 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories, along with photos of the film, which had been released stateside on April 12, 1940.

Albert Dekker played Alexander Thorkel (aka, Dr. Cyclops). Janice Logan played Mary Mitchell (cinematic counterpart to Dr. Mary Phillips). Tom Coley played Bill Stockton. Charles Halton played Dr. Rupert Bulfinch. Victor Kilian played Steve Baker. Frank Yaconeli played Pedro. Ernest B. Schoedsack directed the film.


2.) "Who Goes There?" - John W. Campbell: A recently-discovered ancient frozen alien ship awakens fresh, mutative horrors amongst human scientific-expedition members in the South Pole.

Initially chatty, but not overly so -- Campbell's characters are filling in the backstory on the ship's discovery -- the story's compelling science-fiction-based tone quickly turns paranoid, Lovecraftian-horrific, and morbidly-funny. The end-paragraph is anti-climactic and a tad pompous. (Though, admittedly, I have to take into account that this story was published in 1938, appearing in the August issue of Astounding Stories.)

Despite that minor end-flaw, this is one of my favorite science-fiction/horror stories of all time.

The (first) resulting film, re-titled The Thing From Another World, illuminated stateside movie screens on April 29, 1951. Directed by Christian Nyby and scripted by Charles Lederer, the movie bears little resemblance (aside from its setting and tone) to its source story -- notably, the monster in the movie (played by James Arness) is a Frankensteinian creation; in the source-story, the alien-monster had neck-tentacles, could mutate/reproduce asexually (incorporating and outwardly mimicking its victims' biologies/outer forms), and had three red "hateful" eyes.

Kenneth Tobey played Captain Patick Hendry. Margaret Sheridan played Nikki Nicholson. Robert Cornwaithe played Dr. Arthur Carrington. Douglas Spencer played Ned "Scotty" Scott. James Young played Lt. Eddie Dykes. Dewey Martin played Crew Chief Bob. Robert Nichols played Lt. Ken "Mac" Chapman. Paul Frees played Dr. Voorhees.

A remake, titled The Thing, was released stateside on June 25, 1982. Closer in spirit monster-wise (it maintains the mutation element of the story, if more-horrifically so), it also kept the characters' original names. (The 1951 version had completely re-named characters.)

John Carpenter directed this oh-so-paranoid graphic gem of a horror film, one of my favorite films of all time. Kurt Russell played MacReady. Wilford Brimley played Dr. Blair (he was billed as A. Wilford Brimley). T.K. Carter played Nauls (a character not in the original story). David Clennon played Palmer (another character not in the source-story). Keith David played Childs (another non-source-story character). Richard Dysart played Dr. Copper. Charles Hallahan played Vance Norris. Richard Masur played Clark. Donald Moffat played Garry. Larry J. Franco (billed as Larry Franco) played "Norwegian [Helicopter] Passenger with Rifle" -- Franco, off-screen, also served as associate producer to the film. An uncredited Adrienne Barbeau (Carpenter's wife from 1979 to 1984) was the voice for one of the computers. The film was scripted by Bill Lancaster.


3.) "Farewell to the Master" - Harry Bates: A newspaper photographer, hidden in a scientific museum, discovers that an otherworldly robot-humanoid and its ship in one of the displays isn't as still-life as it seems, when the robot (Gnut) thinks everyone has left. Intriguing, unique story with able pacing, and a great, simply-wrought end-twist/line.

The (first) resulting film, considered one of the best science fiction films of all time, was titled The Day the Earth Stood Still. Its stateside release date was September 28, 1951. Directed by the supremely-talented Robert Wise, this larger-in-scale-than-its-source-story film starred: Michael Rennie as Klaatu; Patricia Neal as Helen Benson (a character not originally in the story); Hugh Marlowe as Tom Stevens (another non-story character); Sam Jaffe as Prof. Jacob Barnhardt (another non-story character); Billy Gray as Billy Benson (another non-story character); Frances Bavier as Mrs. Barley (another non-story character); and Lock Martin as Gort (a cinematic stand-in for the robot Gnut).

(Side-note: The film was scripted by Edmund H. North, who, according to anthology editor Wynorski, "readily admits his loose adaptation of the Bates story contains many specific religious references. . . even beyond the obvious 'resurrection' sequence. For instance, when Klaatu escapes from the hospital he identifies with the man whose suit he has taken. The name is Carpenter -- one [Klaatu] adopts as his own. This too is part of the Christ parallel, a tack the original novella never explored.")

A remake was released stateside on December 12, 2008. Keanu Reeves played Klaatu. Jennifer Connelly played Helen Benson. Kathy Bates played Regina Jackson. Jaden Smith played Jacob Bensen. John Cleese played Professor Barnhardt. Jon Hamm played Michael Granier. James Hong played Mr. Wu. Script-writer David Scarpa updated Edmund H. North's 1951 screenplay. Scott Derrickson directed.


4.) "The Foghorn" - Ray Bradbury: Sad, solid tale about a lonely, last-of-its-kind sea monster who mistakes a lighthouse foghorn for a mating call. Memorable work.

The film, re-titled The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, is a loose-as-loose-gets adaptation of its source-story. (In one of this anthology's charming introductions, "The Turkey That Attacked New York," Bradbury shows disdain for the cinematic version of his story.)

The film hit stateside screens on June 13, 1953. Paul Hubschmid (billed as Paul Christian) played Professor Tom Nesbitt. Paula Raymond played Lee Hunter. Cecil Kellaway played Prof. Thurwood Elson. Kenneth Tobey, also seen in 1951's The Thing From Another World, played Col. Jack Evans. Lee Van Cleef played Cpl. Stone. Co-screenwriter Eugène Lourié directed, from a script Fred Freiberger, Daniel James Lou Morheim (billed as Louis Morheim) and Robert Smith.


5.) "Deadly City" - Ivar Jorgenson: Four people -- a suicidal hooker (Nora Spade), a nice Everyman (Frank Black), a submissive emotional abuse victim (Minna Trimble), and a brash volatile charmer (Jim Wilson) -- wake up and band together in an seemingly-otherwise evacuated city. They're caught between a threatening, weird wailing that echoes throughout the city, and a wealthy, escaped-from-his-keepers psychopath (LeRoy Davis). How will they get out alive?

Jorgenson's writing ably balances the story's spooky/echoes-in-a-strangely-empty-city effect, its (possible) alien-invaders theme, and its civilized-man-confronted-with-savagery theme. Its characters are believably varied and flawed, its plot-flow is spine-tingling and scary, and its character-based finish is knowing, in a tragic-in-the-city way. Stunning, truly-classic story.

Resulting film facts. . .

Keeping its source-story title, this "entertaining" (according to anthology editor Wynorski) B-movie first graced stateside screens on November 7, 1954. Richard Denning played Frank Brooks. Kathleen Crowley played Nora King (a cinematic stand-in for Nora Spade). Virginia Grey played Vicki Harris (a cinematic stand-in for Minna Trimble?). Richard Reeves played Jim Wilson. Robert Roarke played "Davis, the Killer" (cinematic stand-in for LeRoy Davis). Sherman A. Rose directed, from a script by James H. Nicholson, Wyott Ordung and William Raynor. Ivar Jorgenson, the source-story's author, is billed as Paul W. Fairman in the movie's writing credits.


6.) "The Alien Machine" - Raymond F. Jones: Too many story-bogging technical details (pertaining to the titular device) made me abandon this story after two pages. Fans of "hard" (technologically-detailed) science fiction will probably appreciate this story more.

The film, titled This Island Earth, was released stateside on June 1, 1955. Rex Reason played Cal Meacham. Faith Domergue played Ruth Adams. Jeff Morrow played Exeter. Lance Fuller played Brack. Russell Johnson played Steve Carlson. Scripted by Franklin Coen and Edward G. O'Callaghan, the film was directed by Joseph Newman.


7.) "The Cosmic Frame" - Paul W. Fairman (aka, Ivar Jorgensen): When a teenage driver (John Carter) accidentally hits an extraterrestrial with his car, the situation gets quickly complicated. Fast-paced, clever story -- excellent.

The resulting film, retitled Invasion of the Saucermen, hit stateside silver screens in June 1957. It was directed by Edward L. Cahn, from a screenplay by Al Martin and Robert Gurney Jr. Steve Terrell played Johnny Carter. Gloria Castillo played Jean Hayden. Frank Gorshin played Joe Gruen. Lyn Osborn played Art Burns.


8.) "The Fly" - George Langelaan: An experiment with a matter "disintegration-reintegration" machine goes mutatively awry for a scientist (André Delambre). Tragic, tightly-written classic work.

Several films resulted from this short story.

The first version, titled The Fly, was released in the United States on July 16, 1958. Produced and directed by Kurt Neumann, the screenplay was written by James Clavell. Vincent Price played François Delambre. Al "David" Hedison played André Delambre. Herbert Marshall played Inspector Charas. Charles Herbert played Philippe Delambre. Kathleen Freeman played "Emma, the Maid".

Two sequels followed: Return of the Fly (released in the U.S. in July 1959); and Curse of the Fly (stateside release month: May 1965).

A remake of the original Fly graced American screens on August 15, 1986. David Cronenberg directed and co-scripted the film. (He also made an appearance in the film, as a gynecologist.) Jeff Goldblum played Seth Brundle (the updated stand-in for André Delambre). Geena Davis played Veronica Quaife. John Getz played Stathis Borans (a role Getz reprised in the 1989 sequel, The Fly II). Charles Edward Pogue co-scripted.


9.) "The Seventh Victim" - Robert Sheckley: Mordant, sly, word-efficacious story about a peacetime human society where government-sanctioned murder is a real-world, deadly game - either for the Hunter, or the Victim, depending on who's luckier and/or more clever. Semi-predictable twist-finish to this one, but still worth reading.

The film version, titled The Tenth Victim (aka, La Decimma vittima), was released in Italy on December 1, 1965. A stateside release followed soon thereafter, on December 20, 1965. Elio Petri directed and co-scripted the film, along with script writers Ennio Flaiano and Tonino Guerra. Marcello Mastroianni played Marcello Polletti. Ursula Andress played Caroline Meredith. Elsa Martinelli played Olga.


10.) "The Sentinel" - Arthur C. Clarke: Smart, interesting first-person narrative about a mysterious alien structure-machine that's been discovered on the moon. (Clarke, with film director Stanley Kubrick's help, later expanded this 1950 story into a novel, 2001: A Space Odyssey.)

The film, bearing the same title as the novel, was directed and co-scripted by Kubrick. It was released stateside on April 6, 1968. Keir Dullea played Dr. Dave Bowman. Gary Lockwood played Dr. Frank Poole. William Sylvester played Dr. Heywood R. Floyd. Douglas Rain voiced HAL 9000. Story and novel author Arthur C. Clarke co-scripted the film, as well.


11.) "The Racer" - Ib Melchior: Willie Connors, a driver in a highly-competitive, sadistic multi-state automotive race, gets a sudden, shocking -- and life-changing -- attack of conscience. Solid, satiric, memorable work.

Two films, loosely adapted from their source story, resulted from this work.

The first, provocatively titled Death Race 2000, graced U.S. movie screens on April 27, 1975. David Carradine played Frankenstein. Simone Griffith played Annie Smith. Sylvester Stallone played Machine Gun Joe Viterbo. Mary Woronov played Calamity Jane. Roberta Collins played Matilda the Hun. Martin Kove played Nero the Hero. Scripted by Robert Thorn and Charles (B.) Griffith; Paul Bartel directed.

The second version, Death Race, was released in America on August 22, 2008. Jason Statham played Jensen Ames. Joan Allen played Warden Hennessey. Ian McShane played Coach. Tyrese Gibson played Machine Gun Joe Mason. Natalie Martinez played Elizabeth Case. Robert LaSardo played Hector Grimm. Paul W.S. Anderson scripted and directed.


12.) “A Boy and His Dog” - Harlan Ellison: 2034. Vic (a “solo,” a single man) and Blood (a “rover,” a mutt) who share a psychic link – as do all solo/rover pairs – find themselves in worlds of trouble when Vic falls in lust with a too-good-to-be-true woman (Quilla June). Classic, black-humored finish.

(This story also appeared in Ellison's excellent 1969 story anthology, The Beast Who Shouted Love at the Heart of the World .)

The resulting film was released in America in November 1975. Don Johnson played Vic. Susanne Benton played Quilla June Holmes. Jason Robards played Lou Craddock. Tim McIntire voiced Blood. L.Q. Jones, who co-scripted the film, also co-produced, directed and played a porn actor within the film.

A remake of the film is scheduled for release in the near future. David Lee Miller, who's co-scripting the film with Harlan Ellison and original film director L.Q. Jones' input, is set to direct it.