How to Save the World

by Charles Sheffield (Editor)

There's no question mark in this book's title. The stories gathered under it won't politely request permission to play with your head. They're not asking you, they're telling you! In the gutsy tradition of the best science fiction speculation, they'll confront your assumptions and force you to discard the thoughtless certainties of everyday life. In thirteen stimulating tales, some of SF's brightest thinkers entertainingly challenge you to stretch your mind around the answers that might shape your future.

Genres: Science Fiction, Anthologies, Fiction, Short Stories

Hardcover

First published September 1, 1995

About the author

Charles A. Sheffield (June 25, 1935 – November 2, 2002), was an English-born mathematician, physicist and science fiction author. He had been a President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and of the American Astronomical Society.

His novel The Web Between the Worlds, featuring the construction of a space elevator, was published almost simultaneously with Arthur C. Clarke's novel about that very same subject, The Fountains of Paradise, a coincidence that amused them both.

For some years he was the chief scientist of Earth Satellite Corporation, a company analysing remote sensing satellite data. This resulted in many technical papers and two popular non-fiction books, Earthwatch and Man on Earth, both collections of false colour and enhanced images of Earth from space.

He won the Nebula and Hugo awards for his novelette "Georgia on My Mind" and the 1992 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for his novel Brother to Dragons.

Sheffield was Toastmaster at BucConeer, the 1998 World Science Fiction Convention in Baltimore.

He had been writing a column for the Baen Books web site; his last column concerned the discovery of the brain tumour that led to his death.

He was married to writer Nancy Kress.

Reviews

[Craig]

This is a very ambitious (dude, check out the title!) anthology of original stories that offer edgy solutions to current problems. It's all good, pure science fiction in its pure form. One can't agree with all of the ideas presented, but they're certainly thought-provoking, which was Sheffield's goal. I particularly liked James P. Hogan's Zap Thy Neighbor and Higher Education by Jerry Pournelle in collaboration with Sheffield himself. My favorite piece is The Meetings of the Secret World Masters by Geoffrey A. Landis.

[David]

This is a thoughtful anthology, although like all anthologies the quality of the individual stories varies significantly. I found "Zap thy Neighbor" and "Choice" to be the most striking stories. I was disappointed by Niven's contribution - it seemed to meander overmuch. The premise of the anthology is that these are various SF approaches to making the world a better place - not all of the stories stick to this, but Zap and Choice certainly do, and their presence makes this a fun, high quality SF read.

[David]

DNF, about two-thirds of the way through. Typically one tends to keep slogging along through the bad stories in the forlorn hope of coming up against something worth reading even in an anthology so obviously written to mediocre spec, but in this case I couldn't stomach it any longer. Most of the authors are obscure and hopefully will remain that way. Although there is a smattering of creativity to be found, apparently the most popular way to save the world is to engage in some related sexual manipulation. Hey so you learn something new everyday.

[Eric]

Feeling depressed? After reading my fair share of dystopian novels, “How to Save the World” fit the bill and pulled me out of my funk. Even the most dire of sci fi circumstances have an uplifting resolution in this collection of short stories.

[David Fandel]

Short stories from 1995

[Kitap Yakıcı]

We have no friendly advisor looking over our shoulder. We will have to make do with the next best thing: humans who are close observers of the actions of our species, but who are not directly involved in trying to run the affairs of humanity.

This of course is exactly what writers are and have been through recorded history.... Even among writers, I argue that the writers of science fiction form a special sub-group. They tend to be interested in global problems, in the impact of science and technology, and in the long-term future of humanity. They are observers of events at the largest scale. (pp. 12–13)

This then is a collection of these observations, examining themes as far ranging as the failure of public education in the US to the breakthrough in space exploration to the cure for patriarchy to an ugly dilemma inherent in the feminist rhetoric of "reproductive choice." For those of us who (often) feel motivated to save the world, this book provides an entertaining meditation on the shadow side of the utopian and of the unknowable consequences of our wholly benevolent intentions.

Sheffield writes, "Some of the stories in this book may offend. I certainly hope so." None of the stories offended this reader, but disappointingly most didn't make much of an impression either way. The unevenness of the stories was a definite let-down, particularly considering the devastatingly understated (or, as Sheffield puts it, "unduly modest") title. After all, what self-respecting Christian anarchist bodhisattva utopian would pass up the manual on how to save the world?

So here are some thoughts on the stories that impressed a little SF wisdom on me, providing visions of possible futures and of some pitfalls that might face us along the way. They also all rocked as stories.

- "Zap Thy Neighbor" by James P. Hogan. I'd read this one almost a decade ago in an anthology of Hogan's stories and science writing called Rockets, Redheads & Revolution , and enjoyed rereading it. Hogan has envisioned a world in which everyone has a listing in a big directory, and that anyone with a grudge or grievance, if she can find two willing accomplices, can "call your number." It's a simple system with a twist that ensures that it really works as promised—in creating a more civil society.

- "Choice" by Lawrence Watt-Evans. In college anthropology I was first introduced to the dilemma faced by many feminists in Asia (and other locales) regarding abortion. It is, in short, that the rhetoric of "reproductive choice" that has dominated liberal discourse on the issue for almost two generations (i.e., that a woman's choice to terminate a pregnancy is absolute and absolutely hers) stands in uncomfortable company with third-world cultural realities which lead most women with free access to contemporary reproductive technologies to abort only female fetuses. Watt-Evans presents a "culturally pure" (read: third world) society, presumably in the Middle East, where poverty, disease, overpopulation, etc. have been become things of the past. How? By allowing women to make their free choices, aborting females and keeping males until the ratio of men to women is over 10 to 1. This, as we see in the story, poses its own interesting problems.

- "The Meetings of the Secret World Masters" by Geoffrey A. Landis. This story reminded me of the film The Last Supper except that instead of serving individuals poisoned meals, a handful of scientists genetically engineer myriad changes to the human race. A pretty chilling story about way too much power being in the wrong hands--or in any hands.

- "The Invasion of Space" by James Kirkwood. Reminisces about the crucial "Big Bang" moment in deep space exploration and how it was a poet (and an inadvertent martyr), and not a scientist, who was needed to get humanity's mythological juices flowing in the direction of outer space. Because without that, you can only get so far off the earth.

- "Buyer's Remorse" by Kathe Koja and Barry N. Malzberg. Why is this story here? I absolutely hated, hated, hated, hated this story. Completely pretentious short story told in the form of letters to an advice columnist about life in the far future and the columnist's responses. Confusing and didn't say much to me, which means I probably need to re-read it a couple of times until I finally get it. (That or simply forget about it).

- "My Soul to Keep" by Jerry Oltion. In the near-future US, religion is seen as a dangerous, infectious neurological disorder and so free exercise of said infection is therefore no longer enshrined in the US Constitution. When the Pope is injured while on a clandestine trip to the US, and the contagion is released, all hell (ahem) breaks lose. One scientist begins to regain her faith, and so her fellows protect her from the illness. For her own benefit, of course.

[Darren]

I'm not a huge fan of post-1970s science fiction, unless it's space opera or published by Baen, but I thought I would give this anthology a try when I found it in my local library. It was ok - not great.

Rating by story:
Zap Thy Neighbor - James P. Hogan - this one was clever, with a good twist. 4 stars
Choice - Lawrence Watt-Evans - terrifying look at what "choice" in reproduction really means in a patriarchal culture. 5 stars
The Meetings of the Secret World Masters - fun look at scientific ethics. Does "we can" = "we should"? 4 stars
The Invasion of Space - Kirkwood Research Inc. - reminded me of early Heinlein or Asimov. 4 stars
The South Los Angeles Broadcasting System - Larry Niven - stupid, no story, didn't go anywhere. 1 star
Buyer's Remorse - Kathe Koja and Barry Malzberg - DNF. Transhumanism in the form of advice columns. 1 star
Souls on Ice - Arlan Andrews - very interesting look at the economics and politics of cryofreezing, wrapped in a mildly interesting story. 3 stars
Raw Terra - Nick Pollotta - took a while to get started, had a weird end, exploration of nanotech applied to pollution. 2 stars
The Product of the Extremes - B.W. Clough - genetic engineering leads to extermination of human race. Light-hearted and mildly interesting. 3 stars
My Soul to Keep - Jerry Oltion - what happens when the US (as did the USSR) defines religion as mental illness, to be cured? I have some atheist friends who would probably see the story as a good idea; I don't. 2 stars
Defense Conversion - Doug Beason - what happens when the DoD and private business combine? In this story, free energy for everyone! In real life, I'm not so sanguine. 3 stars
The Guatemala Cure - Mary Turzillo - interesting idea (to solve problem of world violence, get rid of men). Badly written story - needed to be either expanded into a novella or edited to remove several subplots that were never explained well enough. 1 star
Higher Education - Jerry Pournelle - incisive look at what happens to public education if it keeps on the same trajectory as in the 90s (when the story was written). Who saves the day? Private business! Yeah, right, that's not going to happen. 3 stars for the story, which was interesting.