Robert Silverberg’s Deep Space anthology aims to distance
science fiction from its terrestrial roots, where stories on Earth tend to feel
dated due to the progress scientific advancement. Composed of eight stories set
in deep space, these stories aim to probe the “inexhaustible treasure trove of
virtually unbound possibility” (8) which lay in the “uncharted and
all-encompassing realm of infinity known as deep space” (8).
I had read this anthology five years ago and kept it on my shelves
because I gave it a 4-of-5 rating, yet I couldn’t recall any of the stories in
the collection. To refresh my memory and rediscover the wonders of stories set
in deep space, I read some of the stories like the first time yet others
beckoned a distant memory like a forgotten flavor or familiar tune. There aren’t
any out-right duds in this collection, where Silverberg’s own story is among the
weakest and Chad Oliver with the best.
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Chad Oliver: Blood’s a Rover (1952 - novella) – 4/5 – With a great
machine guiding the fate of mankind and his galaxy, Conan Lang is an Agent who
abides by its directives. He is sent to a planet named Sirius Ten to lift the
underdeveloped humanoids there by planting fertile seeds of fruits and
corrupted seeds of the resulting agricultural society. Only a pawn in the
greater game, his wizened age brings about questions which only the machine can
answer. 60 pages
Jack Vance: Noise (1952 - shortstory) – 4/5 – Howard Evens has been
rescued from solitude on a planet with his lifeboat as shelter. His existence on
the planet is characterized by the passage of untimed days, the revolutions of
a number of suns with varying colors, and the wispy figures which haunt his
vision. Alone, besides his visions of specters and villages, rescue was once his
hope, not his fate. 17 pages
Harlan Ellison: Life Hutch (1956 - shortstory) – 4/5 – His ship
disabled and knocked out early in the fleet’s battle with an alien space
flotilla, Terrence seeks shelter in an asteroid’s “life hutch” where he’ll
await rescue, but the robotic attendant strikes him down as he enters. The smallest
movement beckons the brutal force of the robot even after three days. His broken
ribs make him suffer, awaiting death on the floor listening to the bussing of
the robot’s circuitry. 15 pages
Damon Knight: Ticket to Anywhere (1952 - novelette) – 3/5 – Falk is a stowaway
on a frigid freighter bound for the surface of Mars. Convinced that the world
was going to pits and everyone with an “analogue program” was going to become a
maniac, Falk looks to the alien relic on Mars—an interstellar transportation
system. The hollow cuboid of topaz diamond has been testes but deemed
unreliable, yet it’s still Falk’s desire to travel the stars alone. 32 pages
Robert Silverberg: The Sixth Palace (1965 - shortstory) – 3/5 – Bolzano stole
a computer and gave it to Lipescu for the sole reason of loading as much
information onto the machine as possible. With this hoard of answers, Lipescu
steadies himself to approach the robotic guardian of a fabulous treasure which
many have died in front of. After answering eighteen questions flawlessly, he
is killed, so Balzano’s turn is next, where he answers with Zen-like
detachment. The gate opens, the treasure is his… 15 pages
Gordon R. Dickson: Lulungomeena (1954 - novelette) – 4/5 – The conflictual
Kid accuses his elder of dishonesty about his history of gambling and, more
painstakingly, about his home of Lulungameena. To intermediate, a Dorsai man
places himself between the two but concedes the mediator position to a visitor
to the asteroid where they are on their ten year stay—a naturally honest member
of the Hixabrod species. This conflict may tear them apart or resolve it all
together. 24 pages
Terry Carr: The Dance of the Changer and the Three (1968 - shortstory) –
3/5 – The distant planet of Loarra is filled with exotic metals which
Earth-based company Unicentral would really like to take advantage of. Loarra
is also home to an energy-based lifeform whose pulses of light and color can be
filtered for a sort of translation. The mediator/translator for the mining
expedition recants a famous Loarra tale of sacrifice and avenging, yet also
tells how the company lost forty-two of its men. 21 pages
A.E. van Vogt: Far Centaurus (1944 - shortstory) – 4/5 – In 2180, the
first interstellar ship leaves Earth for Alpha Centauri with four men aboard
with each using “Eternity”, which keeps them in stasis for scores of years at a
time. But one man has perished within fifty years of the 500-year journey. The
group psychology shifts even though each man awakes by himself for a period of
less than a day. On arrival, radio signals are detected and an escort is sent.
Their hosts are generous yet unwilling. 28 pages
Ah yes, we gave Silverberg's story the same rating (just reviewed his collection Needle in a Timestack) -- it's one of his 60s pulp one -- rather dull -- heads-up: it's the Sixth Palace not place.
ReplyDeleteArgh, damn vowels. The story didn't really ring of originality not did it really belong in the collection in the first place. Odd ball. I'm trying to finished up Book #105 before Monday: Brunner's collection in From This Day Forward. More stories and more diversity than Entry to Elsewhere (and no stinkers like "No Other Gods But Me".
ReplyDeleteDitto what I said above in your Brunner post! LOL!
ReplyDeleteThis too looks great. I read a Chad Oliver story in a Best of Fantasy and Science Fiction anthology a few years back and thought it was fantastic then promptly forgot to try to track any more of his work down.
Thanks for another great review, onto the list it goes.
Should also mention that I like the covers on this one and the Brunner collection.
I picked this collection up from my library's discard pile for 25 cents. Given the quality of the anthology, this was a hell of a deal.
ReplyDeleteThe Chad Oliver story was great, but my favorite was Vance's remarkable story - haunting, impressionistic, and altogether very much ahead of its time in 1952. I would probably put that on my top ten list of 1950's SF short stories.
25 cents IS a hellava price for this anthology! If all classic paperbacks were a mere quarter, I'd have to mortgage another room for my condo, somehow earn an easy million dollars, and live my life thumbing through those said paperbacks.
DeleteJack Vance was a lyrical genius and Noise is perhaps my favorite SF short story.
Delete