Kicking off the anthology is Fritz Leiber's “The Cat Hotel”—a catty story with a catty mystery. Matching witches with felines in the modern world, the main character is a cat who needs to get to the bottom of some strange, veterinary behavior. Building its own, unique setting, “Slow Birds” by Ian Watson tells of a family feud in a future/fantasy world in which sailing races on glass are a prominent social feature. Needing fleshing out (novella-length would have been better), Watson nevertheless puts in place the skeleton of the idea regarding humanity's blindness in the moment vs. ideology.
The best story about baseball I've yet to read, John Kessell's “Judgment Call” is a slipstream story about a swaggering young minor leaguer with a high opinion of his chances in the majors. Celebrating success in a bar one night, he makes a bet with a colleague about bedding a nearby, attractive woman. His opinions taken to task, the man is never the same. About hubris, “The Aliens Who Knew, I Mean, Everything” by George Alec Effinger tells of an alien visitation to Earth, and the result of their 'critical observations'. A thumbs up for soft skills and emotional intelligence, it's also a nicely satirical take on our social circles. The shortest story in the collection but still one of its most powerful, “The God Machine” by Damon Knight tells, as its title hints, of a machine able to grant every religion's theology in a straight shot to the brain. Humanity does, what humanity does, after. While a Philip K. Dick premise, Thomas Disch handles memory erasure with a bit more delicacy in “Understanding Human Behavior: A Romance of the Rocky Mountains”. About a man who voluntarily chooses to have his memory wiped, he discovers something about himself in the process. But in spite of knowing, he doesn't stop himself from making a major life decision.
A break for a more standard bit of fantasy, “A Rarebit of Magic” by John Morressy tells of the encounter of two magicians, and what they do to help one another. A dark, morbid story (with a strong element of real-world relativity), “In Midst of Life” by James Tiptree Jr. sees a depressed man decide to end it all. But what he discovers on the other side is surprising. A simple premise, but effectively and movingly rendered. One of the longest stories in the anthology, but more importantly interesting commentary on Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan, is Judith Moffett's “Surviving”. About a young woman discovered in the jungle after her missionary family is killed in a plane crash, her return to normal life brings with it more surprises for those who go on to befriend her than perhaps the girl herself. Reflecting on Burroughs' stories, it makes for interesting, gendered storytelling. (Worth noting is the story was published years before the gender discussion part of today's Culture Wars, which makes for a less obvious, more genuine story.)
A YA horror story with a strong 80s vibe (one can almost see Biff from Back to the Future occupying the villain role...), “Cage 37” is sharp and defined but juvenile and simplistic. An experimental piece, “Eidolons” by Harlan Ellison is quietly one of his best stories. A mosaic, it hints at impermanence and transience through multiple facets of human existence—almost Daoist. The details of these facets, and their warp and weft is superb. While technically an alien story, and alieness pervades, Karen Joy Fowler's “Face Value” is, as so much great science fiction is, a story about human nature. About a couple studying aliens, Fowler accomplishes a lot in the area of introversion vs extroversion. Buffalo in the title but Coyote (capital 'C') in the story, “Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight” by Ursula Le Guin tells of a young girl who ends up in the trickster's world. While not a laser focused story, it entertains getting to its moral.
While the story goes off on an odd tangent in the final pages, “The Boy Who Plaited Manes” by Nancy Springer nevertheless uses light eroticism to tell a feminist tale that is both tragic and heroic. Featuring the same setting as Lucius Shepard's R&R, “Salvador” is the story of John Dantzler, an American soldier fighting in El Salvador. Led by a maniacal captain named DT, Dantzler pops pills to take the existential edge off combat, distract himself from the exigencies of war, and focus on the killing. His unit dysfunctional, things come to a head camped on a hillside one evening. A short but affecting piece with strong echoes of the Vietnam War, Shepard slowly spins hallucination and reality into an ever tightening spiral of high-high quality story.
A short story deserving of novella-length treatment, “State of the Art” by Robert Charles Wilson works with a semi-common sf theme: the fast iterations of technology. About a man who wants a new pair of cyber eyes, he gets his wish, and much more when his desires snowball. Switching from cyberpunk to naval fantasy, Kim Stanley Robinson's “Black Air” features a young “sailor”, press-ganged into joining the Portuguese navy and its attack on England. The supernatural slowing pressing in as their armada closes in on the Isle of Wight, the aftermath proves a major game-changer for the young man. (Robinson's story is also deserving of longer treatment.) And closing the anthology is a semi-cheap horror story, Michael Shea's “Uncle Tuggs”. About farm equipment that comes alive and attacks humans, its only saving grace is Shea's style. Adding color to a meaningless device, I kept waiting for some deeper layer of story to emerge, but it never did.
Regardless of the closing note, this is a solid anthology. Many anthologies of yesteryear have not aged well, but this one has not eroded much. Not every selection is a gem, but it strings together several sequences of good stories. Which is interesting. In the 80s, fantasy and science fiction were trying to find themselves. Gibson and Sterling built momentum with cyberpunk, but such a singular movement was unable to sustain the larger apparatus. The quality here does not belie that, however. John Kessel, Damon Knight, Thomas Disch, James Tiptree Jr., Judith Moffett, Harlan Ellison, Karen Joy Fowler, and Lucius Shepard all have worthwhile offerings. Worth looking into if the opportunity arises.
The following are the twenty-to stories brought together in The Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine: A 40th Anniversary Anthology:
The Cat Hotel by Fritz Leiber
Slow Birds by Ian Watson
Judgment Call by John Kessel
The Aliens Who Knew, I Mean, Everything by George Alec Effinger
The God Machine by Damon Knight
Understanding Human Behavior: A Romance of the Rocky Mountains by Thomas Disch
A Rarebit of Magic by John Morressy
In Midst of Life by James Tiptree, Jr.
Surviving by Judith Moffett
Cage 37 by Wayne Wightman
While You're Up by Avram Davidson
Eidolons by Harlan Ellison
Face Value by Karen Joy Fowler
Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight by Ursula Le Guin
The Boy Who Plaited Manes by Nancy Springer
Out of All Them Bright Stars by Nancy Kress
Salvador by Lucius Shepard
State of the Art by Robert Charles Wilson
Black Air by Kim Stanley Robinson
Uncle Tuggs by Michael Shea
No comments:
Post a Comment