Customer Reviews

The Best of Lester Del Rey (Del Rey Impact)

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

 

 

This is a rather dated collection of science fiction tales from the 30's, 40's, and 50's, but still pretty good. "Helen O'Loy" is the oldest tale in the book, and is considered something of a classic, more for its assessment of human nature than for its science, a caveat which is typical of Del Rey overall, who is not by any means a "hard" science writer. Many of these stories wrestle with philosophical issues, often from a robotic or other non-human perspective. The end of the human race is another common theme. There are a number of tales that strike this reviewer as anti-religion, which some may find borderline offensive, although the turning-against-God yarn "For I Am a Jealous People" is probably the most memorable story in the collection.

The earlier stories are generally the more precise, and feature clear moral lessons: the work ethic of "The Coppersmith", the hope for the future evoked in "Into Thy Hands", the release from ignorance in "Superstition". Overall, not a bad collection. Only the plotless dog story, "The Keepers of the House" is a complete failure. Of course many of the ideas in these stories have since been used by other writers in better stories, and while this isn't Lester's fault, it does somewhat undercut this book for modern readers. A sound enough choice for fans of the speculative fiction of this era, but because it's so old-fashioned in style and approach, and because there aren't any stories that are just essential, three stars seems enough.

A very nice collection of stories. The true value of these works is in the freshness and naivete of the dawn of modern SF. Del Rey explores many different ideas, often being one of the first authors to touch upon them.
One thing that struck me about this collection is how memorable these stories are - they have characters and moods that stay with you for a long time. There are just too many good stories here to name them all, but "For I am a Jealous People" and "Vengeance is Mine" stand out. I also liked "Keepers of the House" (dog story that one of the previous reviewers did not like).

This conglomeration of Lester Del Rey's stories was wonderful. I had never him before, but after this book, I was hooked. I couldn't put it down. A must have!