Pohlstars

by Frederik Pohl

Contents:
The Sweet, Sad Queen of the Grazing Isles (1984)
The High Test (1983)
Spending a Day at the Lottery Fair (1983)
Second Coming (1983)
Enjoy, Enjoy (1974)
Growing Up in Edge City (1975)
We Purchased People (1974)
Rem the Rememberer (1977)
The Mother Trip (1975)
A Day in the Life of Able Charlie (1976)
The Way It Was (1977)
The Wizard-Masters of Peng-Shi Angle (1984)

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Collections

257 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Frederik George Pohl, Jr. was an American science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career spanning over seventy years. From about 1959 until 1969, Pohl edited Galaxy magazine and its sister magazine IF winning the Hugo for IF three years in a row. His writing also won him three Hugos and multiple Nebula Awards. He became a Nebula Grand Master in 1993.

Reviews

[Dan]

There are some dark, creepy, disturbing stories here. Good thing I like dark, creepy, and disturbing! I don't know why I'd never even heard of "The Sweet, Sad Queen of the Grazing Isles;" it's a great piece with strong world-building, flamboyant characters, and a long novel's-worth of plot that fits nicely into 75 pages of lyrical yet subtly disturbing prose. "Growing Up in Edge City" and "We Purchased People" are short, sharp shocks, especially the latter. It would have stood out in "Dangerous Visions" (not to disparage "The Day After the Day the Martians Came"). Unfortunately I have to rate this collection at four stars rather than five due to the failed experiment of "The Wizard-Masters of Peng-Shi Angle." Pohl discovered one of his stories published in China, then had it "untranslated" back into English by the eccentric F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre. The result is unfortunately unreadable. It may have been bearable as a 10-page comic piece, but here's it's 40 pages of torture.

[Pangs]

A really solid group of short stories with wonderful lead-in descriptions by the author of each story and the circumstances surrounding its writing and/or publication. The last story was particularly interesting (The Wizard-Masters of Peng-Shi Angle) as it is presented after having been translated from the original story (The Wizards of Pung's Corners) for the Chinese market and now translated back to English.

[Hugh Gamble]

Thought provoking & high brow, but not heavy & still fun. Don't miss the 50 year old story translated to Chinese and then back 25 years later at the height of the cold war.

[Zachary Miller]

Lots of fun little stories in this book. The opening one is a bit slow in my opinion, but there are 4 stories I really loved, and the rest were decent. Entertaining nonetheless.

The last story is one that was translated to Chinese and then retranslated back into English and makes no sense. Had to stop after maybe about 5 pages. Not fun to read without having context of the original I take it.

[Chris]

I do not remember reading any of these stories, but I know I finished it so it wasn't horrendous. Check it out?

[Paolo Di Lello]

The long story is very good. The shorts some good and some not so much.

[Trevor McGuire]

Meh, I don't think Pohl is the author for me. A couple of the stories were good, but the main ones were just not my taste.

[Adam Bayley]

All the stories are fun to read except the last one. It is a cute addition but difficult to follow.

[Matteo Pellegrini]

Come scrittore e curatore, Frederik Pohl è sulla breccia da quasi cinquant'anni - il suo debutto risale infatti al 1937 - e gode di una fama e di un prestigio ben meritati. Anche questa nuovissima raccolta, con un romanzo breve e dieci racconti, dimostra come il grande Pohl sia in grado di destreggiarsi da maestro fra navi grandi come isole che brucano lente per i mari, lotterie i cui premi richiedono molto altruismo da parte dei vincitori, un Cristo che ritorna dallo spazio, un subdolo alieno in cerca di vendetta e tante altre cose che, insomma, possono aspettarci dietro l'angolo, forse domani.

INDICE

LA DOLCE E TRISTE REGINA DELLE ISOLE GALLEGGIANTI
SCUOLA GUIDA
UN GIORNO ALLA FIERA
SECONDO AVVENTO
QUESTA E' VITA!
UN BAMBINO A EDGE CITY
COMPRATI E VENDUTI
REM IL SOGNATORE
IL COMPLESSO DELLA MAMMA
UN GIORNO DELLA VITA DI ABLE CHARLIE
STAN ED EVANIE
LE STELLE DALLA LUNGA CAPIGLIATURA - Nell'anno di Halley, tra mito e realtà le comete tornano a solcare i cieli e ad affascinare l'uomo - La scienza

MARZIO TOSELLO

MONUMENTO ALLA TERZA INTERNAZIONALE
Monument to the Third International (1984)

RUDY RUCKER