Customer Reviews

The Masque Of Manana

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a wonderful collection of short stories by one of science fiction's cleverest storytellers. Most are very short indeed - about 10-12 pages - and they range widely in subject matter and setting. Some (the AAA Ace stories) are very funny, while others are more in the nature of cautionary tales: "Something for Nothing" seems all too topical, given the effects we are now experiencing from too-easy credit. If I had to choose one word to describe most of these stories, that word would be "whimsical" -- although a minority are sober, even somber, in tone.

Adding to the enjoyment of these stories is Sheckley's skill as a writer. Time and again, I found myself savoring a clever turn of phrase. Few other writers that I can think of have Sheckley's talent with the English language. If you enjoy clever, thought-provoking speculative fiction, this collection of short stories will delight you!

I think Robert Sheckley is one of the most underrated writers in US. The rest of the world loves his books, while in US most of his publications are out of print. Check this book out. while the stories are fun, they also make you think about lots of things in very unusual ways.

If I could I would give him ten stars out of five.

Over forty works of short fiction by Robert Sheckley pack a presentation spiced with the science fiction artwork of Bob Eggleton, making MASQUE OF MANANA a 'must have' for any Sheckley fan and many a newcomer. From 'Squirrel Cage' to 'Seventh Victim', this gathers many writings from the 1950s through later years and represents a notable retrospective any serious science fiction holding must have.

Diane C. Donovan

California Bookwatch

Sheckley is a master storyteller. Though these stories were written more than half a century ago, they are as current as today because they are about human nature rather than the tools humans use, and human nature never changes.

The Watchbirds is about autonomous flying attack drones. Keep in mind this was written in 1950's. Unintended consequences cause them to escape control. That's one soon coming to a street near you.

I generally prefer more serious SF, but these stories work on two levels, both serious and satirical. I agree that his stories were better than his novels, by the way, but if you love well crafted SF short stories, then you must read this.

This collection of Robert Sheckley's short stories is one of the better examples of sci-fi from its golden age, before everyone started copying ideas and fitting every story into the same template which you see now-days.

Sheckley brought fresh ideas onto paper, with a touch of sarcasm and plenty of wit. His stories make unbelievable believable.

Some compare Sheckley to D. Adams. I found Sheckley to be much better writer with a better use of humor - Sheckley mastered using humor as a literary device is sci-fi to show irony and satire, where as Adams relied on it as a pure nonsense.

The only bad thing is that the book includes just 45 of his stories, and not all hundreds that he wrote. Of course the book is almost 600 pages, so to fit all other stories it would need to be split into multi-volume boxed set. One notable ommission is Watchbird (which was the first of Sheckleys stories I've read).

If you are a fan of great short-story collections such as Bradburry's Illustrated Man and Martian Chronicles, or Asimov's I Robot collection, you'll love this one.

(PS I purchased the book from one of Amazon resellers. It set me back $5 "used" and arrived in brand new condition, vs $29 it was on Amazon)

45 short stories by the brilliant satirist, famous in Russia but almost completely forgotten in his native country. Unfortunately, my favorite story of his, "Watchbird", is not there. I once stepped into a discussion in the Russophone blogosphere about whether the indigenous population of Kosovo are the Serbs or the Albanians. I noted that no anatomically modern humans are indigenous to Europe since we all came from Africa. The story "Sarkanger" makes it clear that wild cabbage predates both the Albanians and the Serbs.

This book was not what I expected when I read somebodies recommedation for it. It was presented to me as though Sheckley was an icon of early scifi. Maybe he was, but scifi in it's early stages must have been alot different. The collection of stories were all satirical and silly. They were like watching an episode of "My Favorite Martian" as far as seriousness. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy comedic stories, but I uess this just wasn't my style. Others may enjoy it though