GENERAL SCIENCE LAB MANUAL Book

Definitely an enjoyable easy-reading anthology of sci-fi shorts

Clifford D Simak’s thumbnail bio on Wikipedia tells us,

“Clifford Donald Simak was an American science fiction writer. He won three Hugo Awards and one Nebula Award. The Science Fiction Writers of America made him its third SFWA Grand Master and the Horror Writers Association made him one of three inaugural winners of the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement.”

His laid-back, unassuming, folksy, distinctly and identifiably American style of pastoral, uncomplicated story-telling earned him a well-deserved place in the pantheon of science fiction’s Golden Age of celebrated authors. So unless the minds of the editors or publishers of this particular anthology were somewhere else, far, far, away, it’s a sure bet that BEST SCIENCE FICTION STORIES OF CLIFFORD D SIMAK will be a winner. Be assured it doesn’t disappoint. You might have and Joe might have and I might have picked other stories from Simak as better and more worthy of the term “best” but … it is what it is and you won’t be sorry for spending the time on this set of sure-fire winners.

Two asides:

First, Isaac Asimov’s CAVES OF STEEL was first published as a serial in Galaxy magazine, from October to December 1953. ALL THE TRAPS OF EARTH, the particular story featuring robot Richard Daniel’s clearly sentient quest for a safe permanent home and autonomy was published in 1960. Richard Daniel? R Daneel Olivaw? Mighty close, wouldn’t you say? I wonder if Simak was offering a tip of the hat and a small bit of homage to a colleague who made robots and robotics in sci-fi such a rewarding staple!

Second, in NEIGHBOR, also first published in 1960, Simak took a few words to characterize the mental outlook of the USA’s Midwest rural farming population: “I’m afraid that we may be a bit provincial, for it’s fairly hard to get us stirred up much about world happenings … we haven’t got the time to worry about all those outside things. I imagine you’d call us conservative, for most of us vote Republican without even wondering why … ” Hmmm, plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose, n’est-ce pas?

Enjoy!

Paul Weiss