Customer Reviews

100 Astounding Little Alien Stories

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A fine collection of very short stories, most averaging about six pages. The selections span stories culled from both leading and relatively unknown short story publications and collections of the twentieth century. While most stories are from the latter half of the twentieth century, a few earlier classics from H. P. Lovecraft are included as well as as several gems from the Golden Age. Stories included are: All Cats Are Gray by Andre Norton, And So On, and So On by James Tiptree, Jr., A Bad Day for Vermin by Keith Laumer, The Beautiful Doll Caper by William F. Nolan, Beyond Lies the Wub by Philip K. Dick, The Big Trek by Fritz Leiber, Blood Lands by Alfred Coppel, Brave New Hamburger by Philip Sidney Jennings, Capsule by Rosalind Greenberg, The Client from Hell by Richard Curtis, Collector's Fever by Roger Zelazny, The Crawling Chaos by Elizabeth Neville Berkeley and H. P. Lovecraft, Crazy Annaoj by Fritz Leiber, A Cup of Hemlock by Lee Killough, The Dark and the Damp by John DeChancie, Dear Pen Pal by A. E. van Vogt, The Demon and the Flower by Clark Ashton Smith, Disguise by Donald A. Wolheim, Dog Star by Jack Reynolds, Doing Alien by Gregory Benford, Down the Digestive Tract and into the Cosmos with Hantra, Tantra, and Specklebang by Robert Sheckley, Dry Spell by Bill Pronzini, Dueling Clowns by Barry Longyear, Emergency Refueling by James Blish, Eripmav by Damon Knight, Evensong by Lester del Rey, Exile by Edmond Hamilton, The Exterminator by A. Hyatt Verrill, The Eyes Have It by Philip K. Dick, Feeding Time by James E. Gunn, The Finest Hunter in the World by Harry Harrison, The Flame Midget by Frank Belknap Long, Jr., Gift of U'Thang by Basil Wells, The Good Neighbors by Edgar Pangborn, The Grapes of Rath by jan howard finder, The Great God Awto by Clark Ashton Smith, The Great Slow Kings by Roger Zelazny, The Green Meadow by Elizabeth Neville Berkeley and H. P. Lovecraft, The Grof by Philip Sidney Jennings, The Happy Traitor by Morris Hershman, The Harvest by Tom Godwin, How Now Purple Cow by Bill Pronzini, The Hurkle Is a Happy Beast by Theodore Sturgeon, An Incident on Route 12 by James H. Schmitz, Interstellar Way-Station by Bob Tucker, Into Your Tent I'll Creep by Eric Frank Russell, Itself! by A. E. van Vogt, Kindergarten by James E. Gunn, The King of the Beasts by Philip Jose Farmer, Landscape with Sphinxes by Karen Anderson, The Last Men by Frank Belknap Long, Jr., Last Warning by Mack Reynolds, Later Than You Think by Fritz Leiber, The Life Hater by Fred Saberhagen, Linkage by Barry N. Malzberg, Listen, Love by George Zebrowski and Jack Dann, Mail Supremacy by Hayford Pierce, Man of Destiny by John Christopher, The Man Who Came Back by Brian M. Stableford, The Martians and the Leadfoot by William F. Nolan, A Matter of Taste by Esther M. Friesner, The Mission by Arthur Tofte, Mister Magister by Thomas F. Monteleone, Mr. Iper of Hamilton by Carl Jacobi, Open, Sesame! by Stephen Grendon, The Opening by Bruce Boston, The Other Tiger by Arthur C. Clarke, The Pair by Joe L. Hensley, Paths by Edward Bryant, Punch by Frederick Pohl, The Rebel Slug by Basil Wells, The Remorseful by Cyril M. Kornbluth, Ripples by Ray Russell, Roadside Rescue by Pat Cadigan, Roog by Philip K. Dick, Sequence by Carl Jacobi, The Sky's an Oyster; the Stars Are Pearls by David Bischoff, Slow by Ramsey Campbell, The Spy by Theodore L. Thomas, Starting from Scratch by Robert Sheckley, Steel by Alan Brennert, A Stranger from Atlanta by Hugh B. Cave, Strangers to Straba by Carl Jacobi, A Tale of the Lonely Larva by Del Stone, Jr., That Strain Again by Charles Sheffield, They Live Forever by Lloyd Biggle, Jr., They're Playing Our Song by Harry Harrison, Three Fingers in Utopia by Philip Sidney Jennings, To Serve Man by Damon Knight, Too Many Eggs by Kris Neville, Top Secret by Donald A. Wollheim, Tu Quoque by John DeChancie, The Twerlik by Jack Sharkey, Upstart by Steven Utley, Varieties of Technological Experience by Barry N. Malzberg, Very Much Like a Game by Adam Niswander, The Voice from the Curious Cube by Nelson Bond, A Walk in the Wet by Dennis Etchison, What's He Doing in There? by Fritz Leiber and Zoo by Edward D. Hoch.

The 100 stories in this book have been selected by two criteria: they are science fiction stories and they are very, very brief. It shows a bit that quality, constrained by the goal to collect 100 stories, came in third as a selection factor. There is a mixture of very good and very so-so stories, and a mixture of known and relatively unknown authors.

My favorites from among the very good are:

Rosalind Greenberg's "Capsule" delivers a dose of tongue-in-the-cheek humor in the brief, corny style that Isaac Asimov--absent from this collection!--made famous.

Edmond Hamilton's "Exile" explains the prolific output of a science fiction writer and is in the fine camp-fire story tradition of last-line zingers.

Roger Zelazny's "The Great Slow Kings" gives us an look at the slow process of government when there are two kings working at their own pace.

Arthur Tofte's "The Mission" shows us two visitors to a primitive planet following their rules for noninterference in the development of backward cultures.

Charles Sheffield's "That Strain Again" tells of alien visitors who hold themselves responsible for Earth's fall.

This collection might be useful to parents wanting to introduce their children to science fiction through bedtime storytelling. It might be good source material for campfires or other oral story settings. It is a reasonable introduction to science fiction for those who want to dip their toes into those waters for brief periods. I would check it out from the library or pick it up at a yard sale. My stronger recommendation goes to a collection by Isaac Asimov assembled under almost identical constraints, 100 Great Science Fiction Short Short Stories.

Some great authors and some great stories. I really like the short short story and these authors do it well. I recommend this book to all fans of spec fic or short stories.