Customer Reviews

Close encounters with the deity: Stories

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I respectfully disagree with the previous reviewer regarding the utility of this book. While it is not on the same level as "A Canticle for Leibowitz" it does address the concept of God/Deity/Cosmos in a SciFi setting much more closely than most sci-fi writers do. So, yes, each story may not be a Hugo or Nebula award winner, but taken together they certainly fulfill the title's description of "close encounters" with the deity. Did I come away awakened in a spiritual sense? No, but this is science fiction and not Dietrich Bonhoeffer, so it is important to recognize this as fiction with a religious bent to it. In that form, it is a great collection, which I recommend to anyone interested in the genre.

Quite a few very unimpressive stories of theological sci fi. If you are interested in this subject, an anthology of exciting stories is that of Perpetual Light edited by Ryan or Wandering Stars edited by Dann. A theological sci fi novel that is well written is Robert Sawyer's Calculating God. If you like Bishop's idea of a verbal dog but in a far more exciting story, read Olaf Stapledon's short novel Sirius. If you prefer an anthology of such stories, read Sirius the Dog Star edited by Greenberg and Potter. Bishop's stories ramble on and on, often with unrelated tangents, and characteristically with boring endings.