First published 1971. Translated by Michael Kandel, Penguin paperback, 2016, pp 338, c.108,000 words. This is a collection of twelve stories featuring Ijon Tichy, a space explorer. They are inventive genius, often very amusing, and all exploring the nature (and absurdity) of humanity and existence. The philosophy is lightened by the frequent need to outwit […]
Star Diaries, The — Stanislaw Lem Read More »
First published 1961. Panther paperback, 1964, pp 128, c.62,000 words. This is a collection of six stories, original published in magazines between 1952 and 1956. It includes one of the finest SF stories of the period, The Waitabits, that is also included in Edmund Crispin’s collection, Best S|F Six, reviewed elsewhere. Crispin, in his introduction
Far Stars — Eric Frank Russell Read More »
First published 1955. Panther paperback, 1966, pp 186, c.63,000 words. Darkness is an appropriate title for this collection of stories. Most have dark themes, if not true horror. Surprisingly for a collection of SF stories of this date, there is no acknowledgement that these stories had been previously published in magazines, although according to the
Handful of Darkness, A — Philip K Dick Read More »
First published 1974. Futura paperback, 1979, pp 212, c.65,000 words. Niven is best known these days for his Ringworld books, but he was also a prolific short-story writer in Science Fiction’s golden age. This is a collection of seven stories first published in magazines from 1969 to 1972. All the first five feature Svetz as
Flight of the Horse, The — Larry Niven Read More »
First published 1970. Panther paperback, 1973, pp 187, c.65,000 words. This is a collection of fourteen short stories which were first published in magazines between 1965 and 1970. It includes Super-Toys Last All Summer Long which was the inspiration for the Spielberg film AI Artificial Intelligence – originally a Stanley Kubrick film project. Presumably these
Moment of Eclipse, The — Brian W Aldiss Read More »
First published 1957-8. Dell paperback, 1973, pp 223, c.55,000 words. This is a collection of four quite long short stories that were put together as a book some twelve years after being first published elsewhere. Silverberg provides an introduction to the compilation, which is interesting in itself. In it he explains that these stories were
Valley Beyond Time — Robert Silverberg Read More »
First published 1968. Pan, paperback, 1977, pp 222, c.75,000 words. This is a collection of fourteen short stories, loosely connected by the need for the protagonist(s) to escape from a bad situation. Some are set on a future Earth, but many are set on alien planets being visited by humans, often for the first time.
People Trap, The — Robert Sheckley Read More »
First published 2022. Five, paperback, 2022, pp 143, c.30,000 words + many illustrations. This book is a collection of short pieces of prose and poetry by five accomplished artists. The five have known each other for quite some time and have been a support group to each other as they worked on their paintings, sculpture,
Five Artist Writers — June Cluett et al Read More »
First published 1968. Harcourt, paperback, 1990, translated by Louis Iribarne, 1979, pp 206, c,75,000 words. What a good writer Lem was. Here, there are some beautiful descriptive passages, original stories and an engaging hero who is neither a superman nor an idiot. The style is light hearted, but Lem explores some serious themes of space
Tales of Pirx the Pilot — Stanislaw Lem Read More »
First published 1994. Minerva, paperback, 1994, pp 211, c.70,000 words. I’m not a fan of ghost stories, but I do love Alison Lurie’s writing, and as this is the only fiction of hers I haven’t read… well it was time. There are ten unconnected stories in this collection, and they average about twenty pages apiece.
Women and Ghosts — Alison Lurie Read More »