API to directory services (XDS) Book

*Time wants a Skeleton. Clever Time Travel mystery, fun enough; I might look for more by Ross Rocklynne.

*The Weapons Shop. Inspirational. I feel as if it must have been influential as I recognize some of the ideas. Makes me want to find more by Van Vogt, though I confess the name seems familiar to me in a negative way already. I'll check for sure, though.

*Nerves. Better as this novelette; wish that I hadn't tried to read del Rey's novelization prev.

*Killdozer! I doubt it was Sturgeon's intent, but the story works as an argument for a bit of management and bureaucracy... one reason that this team falls apart is because there's no higher up taking charge, no procedure, etc. Also the racism, though supposedly from the perspective of the characters rather from that of the author, is gratuitous and ugly.

*No Woman Born. Worth the whole book. A rebuttal to the Frankenstein story, and so much more. Beautifully written. Also, fairly widely avl.; I'm sure I've read it a couple of times before... I recommend you find it for yourself (try ISFDB.com).

*The Big and the Little. From 'Foundation' and just as lame on this read as it was the first time. Sorry, but even though the idea of a psychohistory is cool, Asimov is just so wrong it reads more like a parody than anything worth reading.

*Giant Killer. Moving and provocative, with an ending that I did not manage to figure out. In the hands of a better writer than A. Bertram Chandler it would be a more famous classic. Character named Weena.

*E for Effort. Interesting concept but I'm not sure the author was writing the story that he meant to when he started. Maybe there was too much editorial intrusion, given the era in which it was written and the ending.

*With Folded Hands. Another that is famous, and has been expanded to a pair of novels. Do read the story. Don't bother with the books. Btw, main character named Underhill, which is a fun coincidence as I just finished FotR.

Overall, two stars for this collection from the 40s because that means "it was ok."