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The Year's Best Science Fiction #3
The Year's Best Science Fiction No. 3
This anthology of science fiction short stories has an introduction by Harry Harrison and an afterword by Brian W. Aldiss.
Contents:
Introduction / Harry Harrison
The Muse (1968) / Anthony Burgess
Working in the Spaceship Yards (1969) / Brian W. Aldiss
The Schematic Man (1969) / Frederik Pohl
The Snows Are Melted, the Snows Are Gone (1969) / James Tiptree Jr.
Hospital of Transplanted Hearts (1969) / D.M. Thomas
Eco-Catastrophe! (1969) / Paul R. Ehrlich
The Castle on the Crag (1969) / Pg Wyal
Nine Lives (1969) / Ursula K. Le Guin
Progression of the Species (1967) / Brian W. Aldiss
Report Back (1969) / John Cotton
The Killing Ground (1969) / J.G. Ballard
The Dannold Cheque (1969) / Ken W. Purdy
Womb to Tomb (1969) / Joseph Wesley
Like Father (1969) / Jon Hartridge
The Electric Ant (1969) / Philip K. Dick
The Man Inside (1969) / Bruce McAllister
Now Hear the Word of the Lord (1969) / Algis Budrys
Afterword - An Awful Lot of Copy / Brian W. Aldiss
Contents:
Introduction / Harry Harrison
The Muse (1968) / Anthony Burgess
Working in the Spaceship Yards (1969) / Brian W. Aldiss
The Schematic Man (1969) / Frederik Pohl
The Snows Are Melted, the Snows Are Gone (1969) / James Tiptree Jr.
Hospital of Transplanted Hearts (1969) / D.M. Thomas
Eco-Catastrophe! (1969) / Paul R. Ehrlich
The Castle on the Crag (1969) / Pg Wyal
Nine Lives (1969) / Ursula K. Le Guin
Progression of the Species (1967) / Brian W. Aldiss
Report Back (1969) / John Cotton
The Killing Ground (1969) / J.G. Ballard
The Dannold Cheque (1969) / Ken W. Purdy
Womb to Tomb (1969) / Joseph Wesley
Like Father (1969) / Jon Hartridge
The Electric Ant (1969) / Philip K. Dick
The Man Inside (1969) / Bruce McAllister
Now Hear the Word of the Lord (1969) / Algis Budrys
Afterword - An Awful Lot of Copy / Brian W. Aldiss
206 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1970
2 people are currently reading
50 people want to read
About the author
Brian W. Aldiss
833 books674 followersPseudonyms: Jael Cracken, Peter Pica, John Runciman, C.C. Shackleton, Arch Mendicant, & "Doc" Peristyle.
Brian Wilson Aldiss was one of the most important voices in science fiction writing today. He wrote his first novel while working as a bookseller in Oxford. Shortly afterwards he wrote his first work of science fiction and soon gained international recognition. Adored for his innovative literary techniques, evocative plots and irresistible characters, he became a Grand Master of Science Fiction in 1999.
Brian Aldiss died on August 19, 2017, just after celebrating his 92nd birthday with his family and closest friends.
Brian W. Aldiss Group on Good Reads
Brian Wilson Aldiss was one of the most important voices in science fiction writing today. He wrote his first novel while working as a bookseller in Oxford. Shortly afterwards he wrote his first work of science fiction and soon gained international recognition. Adored for his innovative literary techniques, evocative plots and irresistible characters, he became a Grand Master of Science Fiction in 1999.
Brian Aldiss died on August 19, 2017, just after celebrating his 92nd birthday with his family and closest friends.
Brian W. Aldiss Group on Good Reads
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 20, 2014
This features the brightest and best work published during 1969 with the usual round-up of the year from Harrison as a prologue, and an afterword from Brian Aldiss. It’s interesting to look at this from a historical perspective. John W Campbell, for instance, was still the editor of Analog at the time and sharing the genre with such revolutionary publications as New Worlds.
In Brian Aldiss’s afterword he gives us his thoughts on SF in general and has a sideswipe at the Tolkien clones of the time before trying to convince us all that SF doesn’t actually exist. If one has a serious interest in the history of SF this series is worth getting just for Harrison’s and Aldiss’s overviews of the contemporary SF world.
The Muse – Anthony Burgess (The Hudson Review, 1968)
A very memorable and somewhat grotesque piece from Burgess in which a researcher travels back in time to find Shakespeare. Burgess writes so well that this piece (which in many other writer’s hands would have been labelled ‘predictable’) becomes original, compelling, fascinating, haunting and in some places darkly amusing.
Working in the Spaceship Yards – Brian W Aldiss (Punch, 1969)
Another stylist, Aldiss provides this intelligent and witty account of a young worker, part of a team that works on the FTL engines for Q-class starships. Despite the narrator’s good humour and obvious intelligence and education, there is a bleakness pervading the environment. The starships are sent out and never heard from again, created by artificial intelligences which give amusing answers to questions due to their rather literal interpretation of the language.
Obsolete androids beg on the street and are beaten up if discovered by their newer-model brethren.
Suicide is rife, and the narrator begins his tale by recounting his pleasure in the well-written nature of some of the suicide notes he’s found lying around the shipyard.
It’s a brilliant piece of work, especially considering that nothing much really happens and yet, cleverly, Aldiss manages to cram more background and depth into these few pages than many others do in entire novels.
The Schematic Man – Frederik Pohl (Playboy 1969)
The idea of recording one’s consciousness is a theme Pohl picked up later in his Heechee novels. A mathematician begins to construct a mathematical model of himself within a computer, and then starts to forget things. Like ‘The Muse’, this is a ‘predictable’ piece which is raised to a far higher level by Pohl’s gift seemingly effortless prose and characterisation.
The Snows Are Melted, The Snows Are Gone – James Tiptree Jr (Venture Science Fiction magazine 1969)
A post-apocalyptic tale, set in a future Ethiopia where technologically advanced humans (but presumably descended from those affected by radiation and deprived of limbs) kidnap healthy humans living a more primitive existence, presumably for breeding purposes or their clean genes. Like many of the stories in this anthology there is a polished poetic edge to the vision.
The Hospital of Transplanted Hearts – DM Thomas (New Worlds 1969)
The poet has constructed a grid in which the heart of a certain category of patient on one axis can be read against the body of another category of person on another axis. Thus, one can look up the heart of a sadist in the body of a whore and find an apt or witty description inserted therein.
Eco-Catastrophe – Dr Paul, Ehrlich (Ramparts 1969)
A chillingly prophetic future history seen from the perspective of 1969 where mass use of pest killers and fertilisers and the pollution pumped out by world industry sees the beginnings of a process which leads to the death of all life in the oceans. It is perhaps the most relevant and important piece in this book and although Dr Ehrlich’s nightmare scenario has not come to fruition as quickly as he imagined or in exactly the same way much of what he envisages is already taking place. This short but effective piece neatly encapsulates the greed of big business and the stupidity and shortsightedness of governments who fail to address issues such as pollution and population control.
The Castle on The Crag – P. g. Wyal (Fantastic, 1969)
An interesting and poetic tale which makes the same point as that of Ozymandias, the forgotten ruler on whose crumbled works we mighty should look and despair, its moral being that everything eventually will be gone and forgotten.
Nine Lives – Ursula K Leguin (Playboy 1969)
The Welsh Pugh and his colleague Martin have been posted alone on the bleak planet Libra to make a geological survey. After they discover a rich vein of uranium, a ten-part clone, John Chow (five male and five female) arrive to set up a process for extracting the uranium. However, an earthquake leaves nine dead and the surviving clone member has to learn (with the help of Pugh) how to live as a single human being.
It’s a story of extraordinary depth and feeling, rich with background detail and characterisation and still reads, as one or two in this collection do not, as fresh and new.
Progression of The Species – Brian W Aldiss (Holding Your Eight Hands 1969)
A poem from the poetry anthology ‘Holding Your Eight Hands’ (Ed. Edward Lucie-Smith) examining gentic engineering and the modification of human DNA.
Report Back – John Cotton (Holding Your Eight Hands 1969)
A poem, again from the poetry anthology ‘Holding Your Eight Hands’. This is a report back from a distant star in the form of a poem with two distinct voices.
The Killing Ground – JG Ballard (New Worlds 1969)
In this Ballard dystopian nightmare, we follow a group of English rebels in a world where the Vietnam War has spread around the globe. The US is battling with guerilla forces everywhere. Like practically all of Ballard’s work there is far more going on than a first reading might indicate.
The Dannold Cheque - Ken W Purdy (Playboy 1969)
A beautifully written, somewhat whimsical piece by the then editor of Playboy. Cleverly structured, it introduces the characters and the setting with a wealth of poetic, almost incidental detail. From there, the story unfolds like origami gift-wrap.
An artist wishes to collaborate with a politician in the latest of a series of collages which each preserve an object, a photograph and a personal piece of text. Mr Dannold, the politician, who is the latest subject, agrees to write a letter (to be part of the collage) detailing the events of the day in the photograph (where he is caught on camera thwarting the assassination of the Prime Minister). The object to be included is a voided cheque for £250,000.
Thus there is a story within the story in which Mr Dannold’s letter explains how the cheque and the photograph are connected.
Is it SF? One could argue otherwise but I for one am happy for such a well-written piece to be included as part of the canon.
Womb to Tomb – Joseph Wesley (Analog 1969)
Harry Harrison’s short blurb makes the point that this story, which harks back to the days of vast fleets of mile-long ‘planet-blaster’ ships, looks at the effects of battle on individual soldiers.
Earth is at war with the Kwartah, a race which has invaded a large number of human worlds.
Admiral Burkens runs a rehabilitation centre for soldiers sent back from the front. Senator Grimes arrives to check up on his son, recently admitted, and learns the awful truth about what price Humanity is paying for victory.
There is an unstated connection here with the Vietnam War, a connection which Ballard broadcasts all too clearly in his story.
Like Father – John Hartridge (New Worlds 1969)
Fingest, a time-traveller, returns to a few million years ago to plant his sperm in the womb of an early hominid, out of a sense of ‘because I can’ it would appear, as much as out of a desire to piss off his scientific colleagues. travelling forward through time he traces the progress of this sadly rather predictable tale.
By 1969 one would have thought the Birth of Man concept had been pretty much mined out. Having said that, Julian May did it far better later – and at great length – in the Pliocene Exiles Saga. It’s the basis for Quatermass and The Pit, at least two Doctor Who stories, ‘2001 – A Space Odyssey’ and countless other earlier tales. One is at a loss to see why this rather weak piece was included here, or published in ‘New Worlds’ of all places.
The Electric Ant – Philip K Dick (Fantasy & Science Fiction 1969)
We’re in familiar Dick territory here with a man who discovers he is an ‘electric ant’, i.e. an artificial human with a tape in his chest which is feeding him all his sensory input. When he interferes with the tape he finds his perception of the world changed. What will happen, he wonders, if the tape breaks or runs out. Despite the familiar theme, there is much food for philosophical thought provided by its limited number of pages.
The Man Inside – Bruce McAllister (Galaxy Magazine 1969)
A very short and very clever story which deals with a young child’s viewpoint of his schizophrenic catatonic father.
Dr Plankt has developed a device which may be able to print out his father’s thoughts. Over a mere two and a half pages McAllister produces one of the best short stories I’ve come across with an ending that is tragic, poetic, symbolic and probably quite a number of other –ics that I haven’t thought of yet.
Now Hear The Word of The Lord – Algis Budrys (Galaxy Magazine 1969)
Budrys is one of the serious masters of SF and seldom disappoints. This is a complex tale which begins with a man who types letters all day in a spartan office and then goes back to an even more spartan hotel. When you begin to think you know what’s going on, you find you don’t.
In Brian Aldiss’s afterword he gives us his thoughts on SF in general and has a sideswipe at the Tolkien clones of the time before trying to convince us all that SF doesn’t actually exist. If one has a serious interest in the history of SF this series is worth getting just for Harrison’s and Aldiss’s overviews of the contemporary SF world.
The Muse – Anthony Burgess (The Hudson Review, 1968)
A very memorable and somewhat grotesque piece from Burgess in which a researcher travels back in time to find Shakespeare. Burgess writes so well that this piece (which in many other writer’s hands would have been labelled ‘predictable’) becomes original, compelling, fascinating, haunting and in some places darkly amusing.
Working in the Spaceship Yards – Brian W Aldiss (Punch, 1969)
Another stylist, Aldiss provides this intelligent and witty account of a young worker, part of a team that works on the FTL engines for Q-class starships. Despite the narrator’s good humour and obvious intelligence and education, there is a bleakness pervading the environment. The starships are sent out and never heard from again, created by artificial intelligences which give amusing answers to questions due to their rather literal interpretation of the language.
Obsolete androids beg on the street and are beaten up if discovered by their newer-model brethren.
Suicide is rife, and the narrator begins his tale by recounting his pleasure in the well-written nature of some of the suicide notes he’s found lying around the shipyard.
It’s a brilliant piece of work, especially considering that nothing much really happens and yet, cleverly, Aldiss manages to cram more background and depth into these few pages than many others do in entire novels.
The Schematic Man – Frederik Pohl (Playboy 1969)
The idea of recording one’s consciousness is a theme Pohl picked up later in his Heechee novels. A mathematician begins to construct a mathematical model of himself within a computer, and then starts to forget things. Like ‘The Muse’, this is a ‘predictable’ piece which is raised to a far higher level by Pohl’s gift seemingly effortless prose and characterisation.
The Snows Are Melted, The Snows Are Gone – James Tiptree Jr (Venture Science Fiction magazine 1969)
A post-apocalyptic tale, set in a future Ethiopia where technologically advanced humans (but presumably descended from those affected by radiation and deprived of limbs) kidnap healthy humans living a more primitive existence, presumably for breeding purposes or their clean genes. Like many of the stories in this anthology there is a polished poetic edge to the vision.
The Hospital of Transplanted Hearts – DM Thomas (New Worlds 1969)
The poet has constructed a grid in which the heart of a certain category of patient on one axis can be read against the body of another category of person on another axis. Thus, one can look up the heart of a sadist in the body of a whore and find an apt or witty description inserted therein.
Eco-Catastrophe – Dr Paul, Ehrlich (Ramparts 1969)
A chillingly prophetic future history seen from the perspective of 1969 where mass use of pest killers and fertilisers and the pollution pumped out by world industry sees the beginnings of a process which leads to the death of all life in the oceans. It is perhaps the most relevant and important piece in this book and although Dr Ehrlich’s nightmare scenario has not come to fruition as quickly as he imagined or in exactly the same way much of what he envisages is already taking place. This short but effective piece neatly encapsulates the greed of big business and the stupidity and shortsightedness of governments who fail to address issues such as pollution and population control.
The Castle on The Crag – P. g. Wyal (Fantastic, 1969)
An interesting and poetic tale which makes the same point as that of Ozymandias, the forgotten ruler on whose crumbled works we mighty should look and despair, its moral being that everything eventually will be gone and forgotten.
Nine Lives – Ursula K Leguin (Playboy 1969)
The Welsh Pugh and his colleague Martin have been posted alone on the bleak planet Libra to make a geological survey. After they discover a rich vein of uranium, a ten-part clone, John Chow (five male and five female) arrive to set up a process for extracting the uranium. However, an earthquake leaves nine dead and the surviving clone member has to learn (with the help of Pugh) how to live as a single human being.
It’s a story of extraordinary depth and feeling, rich with background detail and characterisation and still reads, as one or two in this collection do not, as fresh and new.
Progression of The Species – Brian W Aldiss (Holding Your Eight Hands 1969)
A poem from the poetry anthology ‘Holding Your Eight Hands’ (Ed. Edward Lucie-Smith) examining gentic engineering and the modification of human DNA.
Report Back – John Cotton (Holding Your Eight Hands 1969)
A poem, again from the poetry anthology ‘Holding Your Eight Hands’. This is a report back from a distant star in the form of a poem with two distinct voices.
The Killing Ground – JG Ballard (New Worlds 1969)
In this Ballard dystopian nightmare, we follow a group of English rebels in a world where the Vietnam War has spread around the globe. The US is battling with guerilla forces everywhere. Like practically all of Ballard’s work there is far more going on than a first reading might indicate.
The Dannold Cheque - Ken W Purdy (Playboy 1969)
A beautifully written, somewhat whimsical piece by the then editor of Playboy. Cleverly structured, it introduces the characters and the setting with a wealth of poetic, almost incidental detail. From there, the story unfolds like origami gift-wrap.
An artist wishes to collaborate with a politician in the latest of a series of collages which each preserve an object, a photograph and a personal piece of text. Mr Dannold, the politician, who is the latest subject, agrees to write a letter (to be part of the collage) detailing the events of the day in the photograph (where he is caught on camera thwarting the assassination of the Prime Minister). The object to be included is a voided cheque for £250,000.
Thus there is a story within the story in which Mr Dannold’s letter explains how the cheque and the photograph are connected.
Is it SF? One could argue otherwise but I for one am happy for such a well-written piece to be included as part of the canon.
Womb to Tomb – Joseph Wesley (Analog 1969)
Harry Harrison’s short blurb makes the point that this story, which harks back to the days of vast fleets of mile-long ‘planet-blaster’ ships, looks at the effects of battle on individual soldiers.
Earth is at war with the Kwartah, a race which has invaded a large number of human worlds.
Admiral Burkens runs a rehabilitation centre for soldiers sent back from the front. Senator Grimes arrives to check up on his son, recently admitted, and learns the awful truth about what price Humanity is paying for victory.
There is an unstated connection here with the Vietnam War, a connection which Ballard broadcasts all too clearly in his story.
Like Father – John Hartridge (New Worlds 1969)
Fingest, a time-traveller, returns to a few million years ago to plant his sperm in the womb of an early hominid, out of a sense of ‘because I can’ it would appear, as much as out of a desire to piss off his scientific colleagues. travelling forward through time he traces the progress of this sadly rather predictable tale.
By 1969 one would have thought the Birth of Man concept had been pretty much mined out. Having said that, Julian May did it far better later – and at great length – in the Pliocene Exiles Saga. It’s the basis for Quatermass and The Pit, at least two Doctor Who stories, ‘2001 – A Space Odyssey’ and countless other earlier tales. One is at a loss to see why this rather weak piece was included here, or published in ‘New Worlds’ of all places.
The Electric Ant – Philip K Dick (Fantasy & Science Fiction 1969)
We’re in familiar Dick territory here with a man who discovers he is an ‘electric ant’, i.e. an artificial human with a tape in his chest which is feeding him all his sensory input. When he interferes with the tape he finds his perception of the world changed. What will happen, he wonders, if the tape breaks or runs out. Despite the familiar theme, there is much food for philosophical thought provided by its limited number of pages.
The Man Inside – Bruce McAllister (Galaxy Magazine 1969)
A very short and very clever story which deals with a young child’s viewpoint of his schizophrenic catatonic father.
Dr Plankt has developed a device which may be able to print out his father’s thoughts. Over a mere two and a half pages McAllister produces one of the best short stories I’ve come across with an ending that is tragic, poetic, symbolic and probably quite a number of other –ics that I haven’t thought of yet.
Now Hear The Word of The Lord – Algis Budrys (Galaxy Magazine 1969)
Budrys is one of the serious masters of SF and seldom disappoints. This is a complex tale which begins with a man who types letters all day in a spartan office and then goes back to an even more spartan hotel. When you begin to think you know what’s going on, you find you don’t.
March 17, 2024
Highlights: A reread of PKD’s “Electric Ant”. Always blows my mind. Really enjoyed Ballard’s world war angle n “The Killing Ground” and Joseph Wesley’s “Womb to Tomb” is a must read for “Starship Troopers” fans, though minus the bugs. For those keeping score, cover art by Paul Lehr.
September 3, 2016
Reading the introduction of this anthology gives me great hope for the stories within. Harry Harrison talks a lot about all the bad pulp fiction out there, and especially of the thing that he thinks make all the difference, which is... of course... language. He even gives a few examples of bad language. This is a new for me, since most science fiction anthologies normally focus on the Idea and the Science.
Language is my cup of tea, and when you mix it with an original idea and some solid science... you know you have something special and worth the read. So with that in mind, lets get to the stories!
The Muse (by Anthony Burgess, 18 pages)
Time machines. Yes, you've probably heard it all before, and yet... you really haven't. This wonderful story gives a really unique and strange take on the whole time machine theme, and I bet you can't figure out how it is going to end! The story is simple, a literary historian is going back to the era of William Shakespeare, to find out how he wrote his stories. Only, time machines work a bit different from what we normally imagine, since humans can only travel in a straight line, even with a time machine, the Earth that the scholar will be going back to is, quite possibly, a little bit different from what he had imagined. Great idea, original science and written with great attention to the details. Highly recommended! (5 stars)
Working in the Spaceship Yards (by Brian W. Aldiss, 6 pages)
A man gets a job at the Spaceship Yards, building the Q spaceships of impossible size. This job affords him the great luxury of thinking about the world, especially about what it means to be human, in a world where androids are common business and try hard to be human. Not a favorite story of mine, mostly because it is such a short story that tries to build such a big setting. It feels quite... incomplete, which is a shame. (2.5 stars)
The Schematic Man (by Frederik Pohl, 6 pages)
A man of mathematics and computers gets an idea one day, of making a mathematical model of himself, within a computer. It's a big task, but certainly not an impossible task. The question is... is it a worthwhile task? I love the theme of this story, especially in this day and age, where computers are such a big part of our lives. The language of this story is spot on, to the point and the idea is clear all the way through. I won't even mention the science, because... well... you'll see. (4 stars)
The Snows Are Melted, the Snows Are Gone (by James Tiptree, Jr., 13 pages)
A girl without arms and a very intelligent wolf are the two protagonists of this story. They live in a world that seems like it has experienced some terrible tragedy and yet, we get no real insight into any of this. One day they find a small human settlement and manage to lure one of the big humans into a trap of theirs, but the question remains... why? This story has a very interesting voice that doesn't give any of its secrets away. We clearly follow the girl and the wolf, but we don't really get any insight into their minds. Why are they here? What are they trying to accomplish? And perhaps most impossible... who are they talking to on the radio? This story demands that you read it again, and for that reason... I will recommend it. (3 stars)
Hospital of Transplanted Hearts (by D.M. Thomas, 5 pages)
An interesting (and different) poem that creates a setting not unlike the one we live in today. How would you feel about getting a new heart from a gardener or a whore? This might not have been everyday when he wrote the poem, but today it is. Does it even make a difference? (3 stars)
Eco-Catastrophe! (by Dr. Paul Ehrlich, 14 pages)
This "story" was clearly not written by a true author, and as such, doesn't even feel much like a story. It is about, yeah, you guessed it... an eco-catastrophe, and while it might be extremely relevant and all that, it shouldn't have been included in this anthology. (0.5 star)
The Castle on the Crag (by P.G. Wyal, 5 pages)
This is the story of a castle. It is also the story of mankind, and how everything is, in fact, pointless. I was not impressed, and I would argue that the only thing here that should never have been is... this story. (1 star)
Language is my cup of tea, and when you mix it with an original idea and some solid science... you know you have something special and worth the read. So with that in mind, lets get to the stories!
The Muse (by Anthony Burgess, 18 pages)
Time machines. Yes, you've probably heard it all before, and yet... you really haven't. This wonderful story gives a really unique and strange take on the whole time machine theme, and I bet you can't figure out how it is going to end! The story is simple, a literary historian is going back to the era of William Shakespeare, to find out how he wrote his stories. Only, time machines work a bit different from what we normally imagine, since humans can only travel in a straight line, even with a time machine, the Earth that the scholar will be going back to is, quite possibly, a little bit different from what he had imagined. Great idea, original science and written with great attention to the details. Highly recommended! (5 stars)
Working in the Spaceship Yards (by Brian W. Aldiss, 6 pages)
A man gets a job at the Spaceship Yards, building the Q spaceships of impossible size. This job affords him the great luxury of thinking about the world, especially about what it means to be human, in a world where androids are common business and try hard to be human. Not a favorite story of mine, mostly because it is such a short story that tries to build such a big setting. It feels quite... incomplete, which is a shame. (2.5 stars)
The Schematic Man (by Frederik Pohl, 6 pages)
A man of mathematics and computers gets an idea one day, of making a mathematical model of himself, within a computer. It's a big task, but certainly not an impossible task. The question is... is it a worthwhile task? I love the theme of this story, especially in this day and age, where computers are such a big part of our lives. The language of this story is spot on, to the point and the idea is clear all the way through. I won't even mention the science, because... well... you'll see. (4 stars)
The Snows Are Melted, the Snows Are Gone (by James Tiptree, Jr., 13 pages)
A girl without arms and a very intelligent wolf are the two protagonists of this story. They live in a world that seems like it has experienced some terrible tragedy and yet, we get no real insight into any of this. One day they find a small human settlement and manage to lure one of the big humans into a trap of theirs, but the question remains... why? This story has a very interesting voice that doesn't give any of its secrets away. We clearly follow the girl and the wolf, but we don't really get any insight into their minds. Why are they here? What are they trying to accomplish? And perhaps most impossible... who are they talking to on the radio? This story demands that you read it again, and for that reason... I will recommend it. (3 stars)
Hospital of Transplanted Hearts (by D.M. Thomas, 5 pages)
An interesting (and different) poem that creates a setting not unlike the one we live in today. How would you feel about getting a new heart from a gardener or a whore? This might not have been everyday when he wrote the poem, but today it is. Does it even make a difference? (3 stars)
Eco-Catastrophe! (by Dr. Paul Ehrlich, 14 pages)
This "story" was clearly not written by a true author, and as such, doesn't even feel much like a story. It is about, yeah, you guessed it... an eco-catastrophe, and while it might be extremely relevant and all that, it shouldn't have been included in this anthology. (0.5 star)
The Castle on the Crag (by P.G. Wyal, 5 pages)
This is the story of a castle. It is also the story of mankind, and how everything is, in fact, pointless. I was not impressed, and I would argue that the only thing here that should never have been is... this story. (1 star)
December 5, 2007
Eco-Catastophe by Ehrlich is a classic.
August 21, 2023
The Year's Best Science Fiction #3.
A collection of dull and uninspiring stories. I had high hopes as I enjoy Harry Harrison as an author and thought he would choose good stories. The only one I liked was 'The schematic man' where a man creates a computer modal of himself but begins to lose his memory as the process goes on.
A collection of dull and uninspiring stories. I had high hopes as I enjoy Harry Harrison as an author and thought he would choose good stories. The only one I liked was 'The schematic man' where a man creates a computer modal of himself but begins to lose his memory as the process goes on.
March 18, 2017
I gave it a 4 star because some of the stories were not as great IMO. There were some wonderful stories there, like "The Electric Ant" by Philip K. Dick and "Nine Lives" by Ursula K. LeGuin. It is an anthology, so, not every story will be liked by everyone.
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May 1, 2017Sphere (1970)
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews