The Stranger

by Gordon R. Dickson

A collection of fourteen stories, including "The Stranger," "MX Knows Best," "IT, Out of Darkest Jungle," "The Green Building," and "Cloak and Stagger".

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories

254 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Gordon Rupert Dickson was an American science fiction author. He was born in Canada, then moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota as a teenager. He is probably most famous for his Childe Cycle and the Dragon Knight series. He won three Hugo awards and one Nebula award.

Reviews

[Mary JL · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of short stories by Sf pro Gordon R. Dickson.

This is a good representative sample of his early work. It has one superb story "God Bless Them" and 12 average, well written Dickson tales. The 14th story "It, Out of Darkest Jungle" I sincerely hope is meant as a spoof, as it is pretty sad..

Still, 13 out of 14 stories rated good or better makes this collection well worth picking up.Dickson has been writing Sf since the 50's and I find most, not all, of his work very enjoyable.

Recommended for Sf fans; particularly if you are interested in classic Sf.

[TheWearyWanderer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. Many of the stories had a “Twilight Zone-esque” feel to them, that seem to build toward a climax, but never delivered. I was left wondering if I had missed something along the way or if the message of the story was beyond me. There were a couple of decent reads. Particularly, “MX Knows Best” and “Cloak and Stagger”. The first is an interesting, 1950’s take on AI and the second, humanities attempt to join alien, space-faring races and deal with our ingrained prejudices.

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of Dickson short stories.

[Timothy Morrison]

making a friend with an alien

[Forked Radish · Rating 2 out of 5]

Never help a stranger, or anyone else for that matter. This isn't a church meeting, it's a pirate ship's gore splattered poop deck.

[Tony Ciak · Rating 5 out of 5]

great story

[Troy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This collection of short stories did not hold my interest at all. I simply did not care about the characters, and many of the stories just weren't interesting. Upon finishing a story, I found myself wondering what the point of even writing it was. Perhaps it is because I read these stories 20-30 years after they were written, and now they just don't have the same effect as they perhaps once did. Unfortunately, this one was a dud for me.

[Helga Ganguly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love 80% of his novels but would not reccomend his short stories.

[SciFiOne]

Short stories.

[Marianne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Several solid story tidbits, that almost feel like exercises for a class or something to bring interest to a larger series. Readable, but not very compelling on their own.