September 2003

Do yourself a favor and read Virtual Unrealities: The Short Fiction of Alfred Bester. Mr. Bester is among the elite of sf writers. I put him on par with Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke, and the other greats of the genre. This particular collection showcases the unique talent of Mr. Bester with some of the best stories I've read--Fondly Fahrenheit, They Don't Make Life Like They Used To, and Galatea Galante. Bester has an eerie style that I've not seen anyone else duplicate. His stories are strongly character-driven, which is a refreshing change from the second-rate sf writing that features flashy technology but cookie-cutter characters.

The Star Pit by Samuel Delany is bound together with Tango Charlie and Foxtrot Romeo in a double. That's a common thing to do with novellas--they are too short to publish by themselves, but too long to be included in a magazine or a short story collection.

The Star Pit is kind of confusing, and Delany isn't my favorite author. However, it is full of interesting ideas. Faster than light space travel is a reality, but only certain special "golden" people can pilot these craft through interstellar space without going stark raving mad. These golden are elevated to an elite status as their services are in so much demand. So they get away with anything. That's not the story, just the backdrop. The story is pretty interesting too, but you should read it just for the ideas, not for the plot.

I don't recommend this story for casual readers of SF. Casual readers should pick up something more easily digestable, like an Asimov or an Anderson or a Clarke novel.

Tango Charlie and Foxtrot Romeo is an OK novella. Not incredibly imaginative, but competently written. The basic gist of the story is that a long-deserted and quarantined space station is discovered to have a survivor on board. The problem then becomes to discover who this survivor is, how he managed to survive, and what to do with him--all this being complicated by the fact that the station is unapproachable due to being under quarantine. Anybody who approaches within 5km will be blasted to pieces by the automatics on the station--and then there is the intriguing issue of why the station is under quarantine anyway...

I don't recommend this story for casual readers of SF. Casual readers should pick up something more easily digestable, like an Asimov or an Anderson or a Clarke novel.