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Asimov's Choice: Astronauts & Androids
Dale Books, 1977. An anthology of stories first appearing in Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine.
"Lorelei at Storyville West" by Sherwood Springer
"Quarantine" by Arthur C. Clarke
"No Room in the Stable" by A. Bertram Chandler
"A Many Splendored Thing" by Linda Isaacs
"Immigrant to Desert-World" (poem) by Ruth Berman
"Omit Flowers" by Dean McLaughlin
"Louisville Slugger" by Jack C. Haldeman, II
"Minster West" by William E. Cochrane
"Is Physics Finished?" (essay) by Milton A. Rothman
"Good Taste" by Isaac Asimov
"When There's No Man Around" by Stephen Goldin
"In Darkness Waiting" by Stephen Leigh
"Through Time and Space with Ferdinand Feghoot" by Grendel Briarton
"Joelle" by Poul Anderson
"Lorelei at Storyville West" by Sherwood Springer
"Quarantine" by Arthur C. Clarke
"No Room in the Stable" by A. Bertram Chandler
"A Many Splendored Thing" by Linda Isaacs
"Immigrant to Desert-World" (poem) by Ruth Berman
"Omit Flowers" by Dean McLaughlin
"Louisville Slugger" by Jack C. Haldeman, II
"Minster West" by William E. Cochrane
"Is Physics Finished?" (essay) by Milton A. Rothman
"Good Taste" by Isaac Asimov
"When There's No Man Around" by Stephen Goldin
"In Darkness Waiting" by Stephen Leigh
"Through Time and Space with Ferdinand Feghoot" by Grendel Briarton
"Joelle" by Poul Anderson
- GenresScience FictionFiction
220 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
46 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 30, 2021
Not a whole lot to say about this one really. The short stories contained herein are generally fair to good, if somewhat dated. Then again, some of the more entertaining points to be found here are the things described in future-set stories that are not so futuristic to today's reader. Funny to think now that video phone conversations and a "nearly worldwide" computer network were such creative flights of fancy to writers back then. But in the early 1970s, they were indeed. Other than that though, while these stories are reasonably creative and well written, there is nothing particularly memorable here. Asimov lends his name to the project and contributes as editor/MC and includes a story of his own that is no better than the rest of the lot. So Asimov fans can skip over this title without missing much. It's an OK collection, that's all -- nothing to really recommend nor discourage.
January 25, 2018
Asimov's Choice: Astronauts & Androids
This was one of a series of books that Asimov edited that consisted of stories previously published in his magazine “Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine.”
The interesting thing is there are stories here written by people who rarely did science fiction or writing at all and thus besides this are unheard of.
Like all anthologies, there were good and bad stories here. I think the ones I liked the best were Quarantine, Good Taste, and When There's no Man Around. I will not list the bad ones here. Worth reading if you like older science fiction.
Spoilers
Lorelei At Storyville West by Sherwood Springer (http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?1887)
This author has no Wikipedia page but does have a page at Internet Speculative Fiction Database in case you want to read more. The story is an aging musician recalling for an entertainment writer what he knew of a singer named Lorelei at Storyville West. She was big in the clubs for a short period and then disappeared, but everyone who the reporter has interviewed has said she was the best singer they had ever heard. But upon comparing his notes he finds that there are a lot of discrepancies as to descriptions of her voice. The musician confides that despite her insistence of no taping, he did manage to slip a recorder into the sound system once, just imagine today some singer not allowing any taping at all at a concert and how futile it would be to enforce. He plays the song she sang, but it only contains music, no words. The two speculate that because of the things she said and did that it is possible she was from the future and rather than really singing she was using something that gave people the impression that she was singing and that their minds filled it in with whatever voice they found the best. The big question left is was she working for good or bad.
Quarantine by Arthur C. Clarke (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_...)
If you do not know who he is I can not help you. It was written as a challenge, a story that could fit on a postcard. Any summary or description of it would be longer than the story itself, but it was a great one.
No Room in The Stable by A. Bertman Chandler (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Bert...)
Hey, I got to put in some Wikipedia info as they didn't have this one. A story about a man who was ordered by his wife to drown a bunch of kittens (did they really do that?) and instead captures them and puts them out of the house. One of the cats was responsible for the downfall of mankind. It is probably not a story he should have shared while surrounded by fellow refugees.
A Many Splendored Thing by Linda Isaacs (http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?L...)
Another author I could find nothing about except a bibliography. The introduction in the book states she is writing a novel, but none is listed in bibliography so I am guessing she didn't finish. The story is about a girl probably aged 6-9 somehow given a complete high school education through...(computers, magic I don't know never stated) This causes her to be isolated from her peers as she is now too smart for them, feared by adults and not understood by her parents. I didn't like this one as it basically started with the protagonist watching her parents have sex in bed and ended with her upset that she couldn't get her father to leave her mother for her.(EW)
Immigrant to Desert-World by Ruth Berman ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Be...) No introduction from Asimov, very short poem. Doesn't rhyme, didn't like it. Another Wikipedia entry for me.
Omit Flowers by Dean McLaughlin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Mc...)
A short wicked story about a future where when someone dies the people left behind have to decide rather quickly, are they going to bury them, freeze them in hopes for a better future, or sell the organs.
Louisville Slugger by Jack C. Haldeman II (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_C....)
I could swear I've read something by this guy before but his bibliography doesn't show anything I've read. The story is a take it with a grain of salt type. An alien race comes to Earth. They want to eat humans, humans want to eat the aliens. A baseball game is played to decide who eats who.
Minster West by William E. Cochran. I could find nothing on this guy, no bibliography or Wikipedia. Despite having published other short stories and having a novel published, according to his intro, I can not find him. The story sort of reads like a knockoff James Bond story, but set in the future. Some interesting takes on how airport traffic will be handled and how self-driving cars will work, but the story was a bore to read through.
Is Physics Finished by Milton A. Rothman (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_...)
Not a short story but an essay covering what was currently know about physics. A bit of a fascinating read, if a bit dry. He relates it to science fiction in that he talks about what can and can’t be reasonable to see in science fiction with today's understanding of physics.
Good Taste by Isaac Asimov (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_A...)
If I have to explain who Isaac Asimov is why are you reading this? It is a story that ends with a joke based on the title of the story. In the future, one of the colonies of humanity lives inside a planet. All their food is grown using Asimov's patent-pending fungi (he seemed to think we were all going to be eating fungi grown food in the future). They have become so adept at the culinary arts that the whole culture is revolved around cooking and making new recipes. The other colonies look to this world in order to get newest and best food. One of the citizens goes on a grand tour, where he visits the other 50 colonies. After returning he enters the world's cooking competition and wins. His winning ingredient is garlic and his people only eat fungi. He is kicked off world as what he did is not in ….
When There's No Man Around by Stephen Goldin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen...)
Space lesbians. This is set in a world where humanity settled but men died off. Women took over the planet and perpetuated the species through cloning. The central plot is that a spaceship has landed and it is men wanting to bring the planet back into the interstellar civilization. I liked this story and was happy to see alternate families in a book from over 40 years ago.
In Darkness Waiting by Stephen Leigh (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen...)
A story about a guild of assassins who fail a mission due to one of their laws. The failure of the mission puts their integrity up to debate as if they are accused of failing on purpose in order to pick a side. The guild prides itself on its rules which include giving fair warning to the target, a chance for the target to pay more to not be killed, equal types of weapons as the prey and only a specific amount of time to do the kill. A protegee of the leader of the guild argues that they need to break the rules in order to show the world that they can be trusted. The leader argues they need to stick to the rules. They get tested on this when the same target is selected again and it is implied that if he gets free this time a complaint will go to the government that could cost them their legitimacy and right to practice.
Through Time and Space with Ferdinand Feghoot—Twice! by Grendel Briarton (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginal...)
Isaac Asimov was well known for writing stories that ended with a pun or a joke, see “Good Taste” above. This story is actually a collection of shorter short stories where Briarton tries to outdo Asimov. Asimov does a better job of this and I found that most of the puns fell flat.
Joelle by Poul Anderson (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poul_An...)
Another well-known science fiction author. Joelle deals with a future where humans have the ability to link to computers and use their brains to interface with them. It's a newer invention and there are people who can use this invention who are grown up and there is a new wave of younger adults/children who were given access to the invention at a really early age. Having grown up with it, the younger generation has become more adept at it than someone who had to learn it older, wow sort of like how personal computers were introduced in the 90's and internet in the 2000's. The namesake of the story is part of the younger generation, in fact, she was given it at an extremely early age and lived an isolated life. She meets and falls in love with an older user and they have a romantic getaway at a conference. Promises are made and a year later the man shows up at her work as planned. But he has found that she is no longer interested in him. At first, he is worried it is another man who has caught her attention, but he learns that instead, it is the near godhood that she has discovered she has while connected to the computers. He releases her from her promise and promises to stay on the project to help her.
This was one of a series of books that Asimov edited that consisted of stories previously published in his magazine “Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine.”
The interesting thing is there are stories here written by people who rarely did science fiction or writing at all and thus besides this are unheard of.
Like all anthologies, there were good and bad stories here. I think the ones I liked the best were Quarantine, Good Taste, and When There's no Man Around. I will not list the bad ones here. Worth reading if you like older science fiction.
Spoilers
Lorelei At Storyville West by Sherwood Springer (http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?1887)
This author has no Wikipedia page but does have a page at Internet Speculative Fiction Database in case you want to read more. The story is an aging musician recalling for an entertainment writer what he knew of a singer named Lorelei at Storyville West. She was big in the clubs for a short period and then disappeared, but everyone who the reporter has interviewed has said she was the best singer they had ever heard. But upon comparing his notes he finds that there are a lot of discrepancies as to descriptions of her voice. The musician confides that despite her insistence of no taping, he did manage to slip a recorder into the sound system once, just imagine today some singer not allowing any taping at all at a concert and how futile it would be to enforce. He plays the song she sang, but it only contains music, no words. The two speculate that because of the things she said and did that it is possible she was from the future and rather than really singing she was using something that gave people the impression that she was singing and that their minds filled it in with whatever voice they found the best. The big question left is was she working for good or bad.
Quarantine by Arthur C. Clarke (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_...)
If you do not know who he is I can not help you. It was written as a challenge, a story that could fit on a postcard. Any summary or description of it would be longer than the story itself, but it was a great one.
No Room in The Stable by A. Bertman Chandler (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Bert...)
Hey, I got to put in some Wikipedia info as they didn't have this one. A story about a man who was ordered by his wife to drown a bunch of kittens (did they really do that?) and instead captures them and puts them out of the house. One of the cats was responsible for the downfall of mankind. It is probably not a story he should have shared while surrounded by fellow refugees.
A Many Splendored Thing by Linda Isaacs (http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?L...)
Another author I could find nothing about except a bibliography. The introduction in the book states she is writing a novel, but none is listed in bibliography so I am guessing she didn't finish. The story is about a girl probably aged 6-9 somehow given a complete high school education through...(computers, magic I don't know never stated) This causes her to be isolated from her peers as she is now too smart for them, feared by adults and not understood by her parents. I didn't like this one as it basically started with the protagonist watching her parents have sex in bed and ended with her upset that she couldn't get her father to leave her mother for her.(EW)
Immigrant to Desert-World by Ruth Berman ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Be...) No introduction from Asimov, very short poem. Doesn't rhyme, didn't like it. Another Wikipedia entry for me.
Omit Flowers by Dean McLaughlin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Mc...)
A short wicked story about a future where when someone dies the people left behind have to decide rather quickly, are they going to bury them, freeze them in hopes for a better future, or sell the organs.
Louisville Slugger by Jack C. Haldeman II (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_C....)
I could swear I've read something by this guy before but his bibliography doesn't show anything I've read. The story is a take it with a grain of salt type. An alien race comes to Earth. They want to eat humans, humans want to eat the aliens. A baseball game is played to decide who eats who.
Minster West by William E. Cochran. I could find nothing on this guy, no bibliography or Wikipedia. Despite having published other short stories and having a novel published, according to his intro, I can not find him. The story sort of reads like a knockoff James Bond story, but set in the future. Some interesting takes on how airport traffic will be handled and how self-driving cars will work, but the story was a bore to read through.
Is Physics Finished by Milton A. Rothman (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_...)
Not a short story but an essay covering what was currently know about physics. A bit of a fascinating read, if a bit dry. He relates it to science fiction in that he talks about what can and can’t be reasonable to see in science fiction with today's understanding of physics.
Good Taste by Isaac Asimov (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_A...)
If I have to explain who Isaac Asimov is why are you reading this? It is a story that ends with a joke based on the title of the story. In the future, one of the colonies of humanity lives inside a planet. All their food is grown using Asimov's patent-pending fungi (he seemed to think we were all going to be eating fungi grown food in the future). They have become so adept at the culinary arts that the whole culture is revolved around cooking and making new recipes. The other colonies look to this world in order to get newest and best food. One of the citizens goes on a grand tour, where he visits the other 50 colonies. After returning he enters the world's cooking competition and wins. His winning ingredient is garlic and his people only eat fungi. He is kicked off world as what he did is not in ….
When There's No Man Around by Stephen Goldin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen...)
Space lesbians. This is set in a world where humanity settled but men died off. Women took over the planet and perpetuated the species through cloning. The central plot is that a spaceship has landed and it is men wanting to bring the planet back into the interstellar civilization. I liked this story and was happy to see alternate families in a book from over 40 years ago.
In Darkness Waiting by Stephen Leigh (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen...)
A story about a guild of assassins who fail a mission due to one of their laws. The failure of the mission puts their integrity up to debate as if they are accused of failing on purpose in order to pick a side. The guild prides itself on its rules which include giving fair warning to the target, a chance for the target to pay more to not be killed, equal types of weapons as the prey and only a specific amount of time to do the kill. A protegee of the leader of the guild argues that they need to break the rules in order to show the world that they can be trusted. The leader argues they need to stick to the rules. They get tested on this when the same target is selected again and it is implied that if he gets free this time a complaint will go to the government that could cost them their legitimacy and right to practice.
Through Time and Space with Ferdinand Feghoot—Twice! by Grendel Briarton (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginal...)
Isaac Asimov was well known for writing stories that ended with a pun or a joke, see “Good Taste” above. This story is actually a collection of shorter short stories where Briarton tries to outdo Asimov. Asimov does a better job of this and I found that most of the puns fell flat.
Joelle by Poul Anderson (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poul_An...)
Another well-known science fiction author. Joelle deals with a future where humans have the ability to link to computers and use their brains to interface with them. It's a newer invention and there are people who can use this invention who are grown up and there is a new wave of younger adults/children who were given access to the invention at a really early age. Having grown up with it, the younger generation has become more adept at it than someone who had to learn it older, wow sort of like how personal computers were introduced in the 90's and internet in the 2000's. The namesake of the story is part of the younger generation, in fact, she was given it at an extremely early age and lived an isolated life. She meets and falls in love with an older user and they have a romantic getaway at a conference. Promises are made and a year later the man shows up at her work as planned. But he has found that she is no longer interested in him. At first, he is worried it is another man who has caught her attention, but he learns that instead, it is the near godhood that she has discovered she has while connected to the computers. He releases her from her promise and promises to stay on the project to help her.
February 3, 2026
This book didn't age well. Still an interesting view into how the future looked like on the cold war and the race for space. Some of the stories are decent and out there, but about half are average at best and pretty mediocre and downright off putting at best.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews