A valuable resource, with three excellent stories, some so-so stories, but more importantly, valuable essays by the author of each story, regarding their creative processes and narrative decisions. This is a book -- if you can get your hot little hands on it -- that would be a godsend to a science fiction or creative writing class.
Excellent stories: Samuel R. Delany's "We, in Some Strange Power's Employ, Move on a Rigorous Line." Ursula K. Le Guin's "Nine Lives" and Robert Silverberg's "Sundance" Of the other stories, some are ok, but don't blow my socks off. Some are very dated, and (imho) don't survive their datedness as elegantly as the Delany story. However, in the "Got lemons, make lemonade" Dept., I would say that it would make an interesting discussion to ask why some stores can survive datedness, and others sink under the weight of clearly outdated attitudes, style, assumptions, technology ... One or two are very, very bad. (I couldn't get beyond the first page of the story by the editor of the volume -- and yes, it was very naughty of him to include it ...)
But you can probably track down the stories in this volume in any number of places, even online, so the true gold here is, of course, the essays by the authors. So, flawed, but valuable.
Excellent stories: Samuel R. Delany's "We, in Some Strange Power's Employ, Move on a Rigorous Line." Ursula K. Le Guin's "Nine Lives" and Robert Silverberg's "Sundance" Of the other stories, some are ok, but don't blow my socks off. Some are very dated, and (imho) don't survive their datedness as elegantly as the Delany story. However, in the "Got lemons, make lemonade" Dept., I would say that it would make an interesting discussion to ask why some stores can survive datedness, and others sink under the weight of clearly outdated attitudes, style, assumptions, technology ... One or two are very, very bad. (I couldn't get beyond the first page of the story by the editor of the volume -- and yes, it was very naughty of him to include it ...)
But you can probably track down the stories in this volume in any number of places, even online, so the true gold here is, of course, the essays by the authors. So, flawed, but valuable.
