Stuff I've read lately

"Nebula Awards 26" (James Morrow ed.) - I guess 1990 wasn't a very good year for short stories in science fiction. I didn't like any of them, at all. There was one by Ursala Le Guin, which was just ok. I read "Left Hand of Darkness" about three years ago, and couldn't remember the specifics. The novella by Haldeman was kind of interesting, but was very Hemingway specific, and I didn't really get it.

Stuff I've read lately

I finished the Simak book, the last stories were:

"All the Traps of Earth" (1960) - Very reminiscent of Asimov's "Bicentennial Man", which I guess, wasn't written until 1976... so a point for Simak, there.

"Death Scene" (1957) - Very short, somewhat ominous feeling, but ends well.

"Reunion on Ganymede" (1966) - War heroes overcome their differences by blasting robot animals.

"The Money Tree" (1958) - Alien botanists help out a local thug.

"Party Line" (1978) - Interstellar communication via psychic hot-line/chat room.

"The Answers" (1953) - Man loses his drive to expand after learning life has no purpose.

"The Thing in the Stone" (1970) - Ironically, I picked up Simak because he is listed as a Christian author. The previous stories weren't exactly pinnacles of Christian doctrine. This one at least had a touching ending. The "thing" in the stone is some sort of universal war criminal. The main character meets an energy being attendant, which he first takes as a sort of "loyal pet". But, in the last paragraph, this being is revealed as a "shepherd", waiting for the redemption of the "thing". So, not all bad.

Stuff I've read lately

"Inheritor" (C.J. Cherryh) - The third book in the "Invader" series. It feels like Cherryh has slowed things down a little. The story is taking longer to progress, and the stress for the characters isn't quite as challenging. But, the story is still pretty compelling, and the universe is interesting.

I've also started a collection of short stories by Clifford D. Simak. The collection is called "The Creator amd Other Stories".

The first story (from 1935!) is called "The Creator", about a couple of guys who meet an energy being who claims to be the creator of the universe -- and kill him. Not a high quality story.

"Shotgun Cure" (1960). This is shorter and punchier, but the ending falls flat. Aliens cure the human race of all disease, but we get kind of dumber. How much dumber? Do the aliens come back to harvest us for lunch? It doesn't say...

Stuff I've read lately

"The Last Colony" (John Scalzi) - This is the last book in the "Old Man's War" trilogy. I think it ended strongly. Scalzi's humor remains, and there is some good action. I thought it was interesting that the base colony size is 2500 colonists, the same as Stars.