Customer Reviews

Instrumentality Mankind

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Cordwainer Smith was one of the pioneers of early science fiction from the 1950's and early 1960's, whose works inspire and influence many science fiction writers to this day. He penned mainly short stories that made their way into a variety of pulp science fiction magazines that were popular in his day. After his untimely death in 1966, Ballantine Books eventually collected all of his works into a series of books, with his longer writings appearing in "Norstrilia" and "The Quest for the Three Worlds," and his short stories appearing in "The Best of Cordwainer Smith" and "The Instrumentality of Mankind." This last volume - "The Instrumentality of Mankind" - is the subject of this review.

In Smith's science fiction universe, the Instrumentality of Mankind (IOM) is the organization that becomes the guiding force behind human evolution, driving humanity from behind the scenes for both good and evil. Some of the stories in this collection were selected based on the background information that they provided on the IOM, and - ironically - it is these stories that succeed the least within this collection. The two stories that describe the founding of the IOM ("Mark Elf," "Queen of the Afternoon") are turgid, unwieldy, and somewhat contrived, with Smith cramming too many ideas about his universe into them at the same time. Later stories about the IOM - particularly "Drunkboat" - portray the Instrumentality as a bunch of overbearing windbags, making for some rather tiresome reading. If you plan on perusing the totality of Smith's work, you should go ahead and read these stories for the background information that they provide; however, don't expect them to be especially entertaining.

That said, there are a few stories in this collection that really do stand out and demand to be read. Perhaps the best story in this collection is "No, No, Not Rogov!" This is a period piece set in the Soviet Union of Stalin's regime, in which a scientist attempts to create a device that will allow Soviet spies to telepathically see what their enemies are seeing. The machine actually works too well, allowing the scientist to bridge vast distances not only in space, but also in time. As a result of his experiments with the device, the scientist inadvertently glimpses into the mind of a human being thousands of years into the future. The future that the scientist sees is so stunning and bewildering that he goes mad. Almost perfectly executed, "No, No, Not Rogov!" highlights Smith's poetic grasp of the English language, provides some interesting parallels and twists to the Eden story of the Old Testament, and develops a rich cast of characters. It is the only story in this collection where the female characters are well developed, with motivations that are at times far from ideal.

"Western Science Is So Wonderful" is another great story, allowing Smith to display his more comic side as he recounts the unfortunate communications mishaps of a telepathic, shape shifting Martian who has been exiled to China. Telepathy proves to be insufficient outside of context - a point that Smith undoubtedly absorbed during his youth, when he became fluent in a number of different languages, including Chinese. "From Gustible's Planet" is another great comic piece from Smith, while "Think Blue, Count Two" is a psychological drama that stands the test of time. As far as I know, "Think Blue, Count Two" is also the earliest science fiction story to use the concept of the solar sail as a means of interstellar travel.

Die-hard fans of Cordwainer Smith won't need my recommendation, as they will almost certainly plow ahead and read all of the stories in this collection, from cover to cover. The same could probably be said of those who want to read Cordwainer Smith, so they can better understand his considerable influence on the science fiction genre. However, if you don't fit into either of these groups, I would recommend reading this collection of stories selectively, and spend more time on the other books in the series.