Back then, American SF was very much reacting to the perceived threat of communism. Reading the tales I had 1950s America feel. The stories focus largely on the what if… with only marginal consideration of how the 'then what' would play out at the very personal level. It is heavy on philosophy (though not dense) and to my mind unfortunately light on real personal drama. This is very much 'grand style' science fiction, which is to say it is entirely focussed on fictionalising the science, pushing that to where it might go. This is seriously good writing, and highly entertaining reading.Ī Guardian review quoted on the cover describes it as SF in the grand style – and if I have a caveat that would be it. I'm sure the cynics are already expecting me to counter that last sentence, with a 'but'…sorry to disappoint. Add to that the intrigue of seeing how the concepts are approached by someone from China which – to be polite – has a somewhat different world-view in many ways to much of the rest of the planet…and add to that an author who is not only a best-seller in his home country but has the distinction of having produced the first translated work of SF ever to win the Hugo Award…this has got to be good! So when you pick up a collection of Sci-fi shorts, you know that it will have just as much depth and thought-provoking philosophy as any similar novel. One genre that has always been a stalwart supporter and encourager of the short form is Sci-fi. If anyone thought that the short story as a form had been relegated to the pages of women's magazines (no disrespect) – think again. If you see SF as space-opera this isn't for you – if you're interested in the real what if you'll love it. The scientific premise is played for real in these stories and it is that, rather than the human interactions that takes centre stage. Summary: A serious collection of SF shorts that are all highly entertaining, running the gamut from the fun to the apocalyptic, any one of them is likely to show up as film script in a studio near you in the near future.
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