SF: Authors' Choice 4

Well, if anything, this book proves the worth of publicists. These Sci Fi shorts have all been selected by their authors. Some authors made better choices from their work than others. Of course Arthur C. Clarke picked a gem, if not a tiny one--"The Forgotten Enemy", only 8 pages long. Brian W.

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Aldiss' "Old Hundredth" tells us of the unimaginable, unhuman future of Earth's inhabitants. John Brunner's "Fair" takes an intelligent beatnik's take on a futuristic Vanity Fair. Gordon R. Dickson tells a lively little tale in his "Warrior", though his introduction to it complicates matters some, unless you have followed all of his work. Thomas M. Disch's "Et In Arcadia Ego" was the stinkingest pile of corprolite I've come across; though I do like the fact that he's somewhat of an insane poet--perverted. Carol Emshwiller's "But Soft, What Light..." was sickening in that it told of the loss of HER virginity through a story that dealt with a "robot" (bloody feminine drivel from the blasted 70s, which the aformentioned story was steeped in as well). The next story is next in the book because it is an answer to all the womens lib clucking. James Gunn's "The Misogynist" is just awesome. Not only did the author have big balls for writing it, but he also read it aloud to his students of the era. George Clayton Johnson's "All of Us Are Dying" has a distinct Twilight Zone feel about it--in fact Rod Sterling purchased the story from the author. "The Fire and the Sword" by Frank M. Robinson came off as amateurish to me. Robert Sheckley's "Bad Medicine" was an excellent criticism of pyschology. Clifford D. Simak's "The Autumn Land is the best of the collection. His prose is hauntingly dark and beautiful, not to mention prophetic. Robert Taylor's "A Sense of Beauty" was bland to me. "The Last Flight of Dr. Ain" was James Tiptree, Jr.s call for extremist environmentalism--and the sick bastard meant it. "Ullward's Retreat" by Jack Vance seeks an answer to overpopulation in quiet privacy. Roger Zelazny's "The Man Who Loved the Faioli" sucked but for the fact the setting was a galactic graveyard. Overall a worthwile look at future's past.

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