Novelets Of Science Fiction - Edited by Ivan Howard

NOVELETS OF SCIENCE FICTION

As we all know, a qualifying factor for choosing to buy a science fiction book - or any book, really - is the cover design. When it comes to science fiction, in fact, it's the cover art that can add to its collectability, meaning people often buy science fiction books just for the cover art alone and not to actually read. And that's fair enough. I say this because the cover art was the reason for me picking up a copy of Novelets Of Science Fiction, it being a collection of eight short stories that according to the blurb on the back are 'superlative' and the writers all 'modern masters of science fiction'.

No aficionado of the genre I, but the names are recognizable: Blish, Simak, Anderson, Arthur C Clarke, etc. All writers I'm familiar with though not au fait. So, a good place to start with them, I guess? First published in 1951 but this particular paperback copy published in 1954, and 'The Book Of The Year' according to the blurb on the back cover again though somehow I doubt that's actually true.

On Googling the title, there are images available of the cover from being on sale on AbeBooks and eBay but no actual reviews so here's a world first, or Internet first at least.

Eight short stories by eight different writers so let's go through them one by one shall we, taking no prisoners:

Ultrasonic God by L Sprague de Camp. A good title but it reads like something written by a 12 year-old for 12 year-olds and to be honest, not worth the paper it's written on.

The Chapter Ends by Poul Anderson. Nicely written, imaginative and concise, being about the evacuation of Earth before it being taken over by an alien race in some grand cosmic deal. 

A Is For Android by Milton Lesser. Passable. Narrated in a private detective/Humphrey Bogart fashion, being about an alien android take-over by stealth.

And The Truth Shall Make You Free by Clifford S Simak. This is a good one. Succinct and to the point, dealing with the questions of Ultimate Truths. The punchlines being 'The universe has no purpose. The universe just happened. Life has no significance. Life is an accident'. It's the kind of stuff I want from science fiction and based on this short story I'll be seeking out other books by Simak.

Night Fear by Frank Belknap Long. Just five pages long but for all that it has a nice twist, even if it's a very simple one. The twist being all.

I Am Tomorrow by Lester del Ray. The longest story in the book, clocking in at forty-six pages but what it's actually about is anyone's guess. I gave up half-way through from boredom.

Testament Of Andros by James Blish. This one's excellent. All about the end of the world by solar flare, and if this is an example of Blish's writing then like Simak I'll be seeking out other books written by him.

And then finally The Possessed by Arthur C Clarke. It being about an alien 'swarm' seeking out planets in a bid to find suitable hosts to possess through genetic coding. It's pretty good and if only all Arthur C Clarke stories were this short.

The problem I see with short story collections is that a lot of writers bang out these short stories as if they were but a scribble on a doctor's doodle pad with little consideration for quality or precise mechanics. I suspect it's probably easier for some to write a sprawling 600-page book that's average than to write a 30-page story that is brilliant. Do the research, I say. It's not hard to read a substantial variety of short stories that will give a reader a good schooling in the art - and yes, it is an art. Writing a good short story is a skill not an exercise. In fact, I'm not one to give advice on such things but read The Dead by James Joyce in his short story collection, The Dubliners, and right there is all you will ever need to know about short story writing. It being - in my opinion, of course - a thing of beauty and the greatest short story ever written where Joyce zooms into the detail of the finite then out to the infinite; weaving time, heartache, exaltation and memory into a seamless narrative. 

Novelets Of Science Fiction isn't bad but it's not brilliant either. I expect and demand better.

John Serpico