Pretty good novel amid so-so shorter stories (3/5)
The cute alliterative
title to the collection would make one believe that the collection is based on
White’s Sector General series when, in fact, it’s wholly outside of it. This is
a good thing as the series tends to get tedious quite quickly with its
repetitive gags, alien classifications, tepid love story, and predictable
conclusions to minor emergencies.
Though White is know
for his Sector General series, it’s been his other material that has impressed
me. His novel Escape Orbit [var: Open Prison] (1964) seems to
have been fashioned on the short story “Dogfight” (1959) found in this
collection; Escape Orbit is a great step-by-step procedural of how
planet-bound captives plan their escape. Four other notable non-Sector General
novels are The Watch Below (1966), Tomorrow is Too Far (1971), The
Dream Millennium (1974), and The Silent Stars Go By (1991). Each
mark the more serious side to the writer than the camp delivery of most of the
Sector General series.
Monsters &
Medics is a
five-story collection that includes a full novel—Second Ending—along
with two novelettes and two short stories. The novel in the collection is,
thankfully, the best among the bunch. It’s a grim look at being the last man on
earth and how to cope with looking forward to humankind’s prospective return to
the planet is it’s at all possible… and if it’s not, then how? The other four
stories are well-written but lack the punch or maturity as with Second
Ending.
Second Ending (novel, 1962) – 4/5
Ross was diagnosed with incurable leukemia in 2017
and placed in Deep Sleep until a cure could be found. When he finally awakens,
there isn’t anyone there to greet him but only a stationary facsimile of his
old doctor colleague to inform him that he’s been cured. As he snoops around
the empty hallways, he discovers that the current year is 2308. When he comes
across the robotic Ward Sister, his knowledge of the world becomes singular:
he’s the last person left, five miles safely underground, and king of the
barren wasteland that was once Earth. 91 pages
Counter Security (novelette, 1963) – 3/5
In the basement of the department store Hardware
and Dobbs, something strange is happening: each night, someone goes into the
toy storage and mutilates one of the dolls in the same manner. This is Mr.
Steele’s main grievance but the missing power tools and god in the stairwell
also irk him. Tully is the security guard charged with staking out the
entrances and exits and to ultimately find the culprit. Being a heavy science
fiction reader, his mind is prone to extreme circumstances, which may just save
him this time, actually. 22 pages
Dogfight (novelette, 1959) – 3/5
When Earth humans first engaged in war with the
humanoid Semrans, the alien’s war computer tended to be much more powerful than
the human’s R1. Proceeding models—R2 to R6—just didn’t meet the needs of the
military as too many casualties had be wrought. In charge of the newest and
most victorious computer RK9, Henson is actually a spy for the Semrans yet even
he doesn’t know the secret to the great machine’s success, yet he does know
that it’s progressively senile. 25 pages
Nuisance Value (shortstory, 1975) – 3/5
Barlcay may be in his sixties, but he’s still on a
perpetual quest to find the truth behind his father’s death fifty years prior.
The story went that his astronaut father took a plane over the sea without
enough fuel yet another rumor said that he defected to the Russians. When
modern society went to pot and anarchy reigned, Barclay maintained his hunt. He
made allegiance and followed leads—which led to some state secrets—and
ultimately to the receptive administrator named Citizen Conlon. 21 pages
In Loving Memory (shortstory, 1956) – 4/5
The planet of Phoenix was discovered by to a recent
human survey ship and named as such because of its long, fiery summer on its
approach around the sun. It’s soon discovered that the planet is inhabited by
an ancient colony of evolved humans who have adapted to the dramatic seasons,
only the planet is doomed as it’s bound for the sun. Ever the altruists, the
humans offer each of the inhabitants a shot to standardize them to galactic
norm, yet one lovely girl refuses, breaking the heart of her human lover and
linguist. 13 pages
No comments:
Post a Comment