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The Road to Science Fiction (Vol. 3)
edited by James Gunn

There are many anthologies on Science Fiction stories available, so it is hard to pick out those that are really worth reading. One that has interested me are the ones by James Gunn. This third volume (subtitled "From Heinlein to Here") covers the stories written between the period Robert A. Heinlein and other 'Campbellian' writers entered the SF scene to the present (the early 1980s).

The collection consist of stories by many authors in that time period, prefaced by an introduction (written by Gunn) to the author, a brief bibliography, the author's style and its importance to the SF field in general.

This collection is wonderful in several ways. The stories featured in it (reviewed below) are some of the best in that time period, many of which I now have the chance to read for the first time. The essays by Gunn help to put the stories and the author's style in perspective. The book also serves as an introduction to SF, showing how two words can encompass such a huge variety of writing styles and ways to tell stories.

The stories featured in this collection are:

"All You Zombies-" by Robert A. Heinlein is an impressive Heinlein story (one of the few I have not read before) which proves to be an eye-opener. A story about time travel, this story is full of time-travel paradoxes, yet will make you wonder about free-will and determinism.
"Reason" by Isaac Asimov is one of Asimov's earlier robot stories, yet already shows Asimov's leaning towards rational arguments in his story. A robot with more sophisticated reasoning power doubts that humans create it. It's search for 'the truth' is illuminating on how we use reason and evidence in our search for facts.
"Desertion" by Clifford D. Simak is one of Simak's more powerful short stories. Set on Jupiter, it chronicles the attempt by a group of humans to colonise the planet by 'converting' to Lopers (native life-forms). But those converted have disappeared for no reason, until the leader of the group also converts and learns the truth about the Lopers and about human frailties.
"Mimsy were the Borogroves" by Lewis Padgett (Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore) is an impressive story about how two children find unusual toys that begin to make them think in 'non-human' ways. The truth is revealed in connection with a famous 'nonsense' verse of poetry.
"The Million Year Picnic" by Ray Bradbury is a quiet poetic story about a family that escapes to Mars (as Mars is portrayed in Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles) and sets up a new life there.
"Thunder and Roses" by Theodore Sturgeon is a story set after a nuclear war in a devastated America that still has the power to strike back. But should it? That is the question the story attempts to answer.
"That Only a Mother" by Judith Merill is set in a time where radiation causes high mutation rates. In this world, a mother gives birth of a 'perfect' child. Most of the story is in the form of letters between the mother and her husband and shows that motherly love can overcome all obstacles.
"Brooklyn Project" by William Tenn (Philip Klass) is a funny story about how time machines can change the past, yet leave the present untouched...so to speak!
"Coming Attraction" by Fritz Leiber is one of Leiber's best attempts at portraying the future of a nuclear-ravaged world. In a world where women go masked, a British diplomat tries to help one, only to learn the truth behind masking and the social implications that come with it.
"The Sentinel" by Arthur C. Clarke is his classic story that was later to be the basis for the movie and novel, 2001: A Space Odyssey. On the moon, an expedition leads to the discovery of an artifact and its implications for mankind.
"Sail On! Sail On!" by Philip José Farmer is set in a world where the Catholic Church encourages Roger Bacon's experiments, leading to modern technology in the Middle Ages. But this world is shown to be very different from our own in other ways too.
"Critical Factor" by Hal Clement tells a story of liquid beings living inside the earth. One day, an explorer discovers the Antarctic ice-sheet and sets a plan to melt it so that the water can cover more of the surface and prevent oxygen (a poison to them) from reaching them! Will the plan succeed? What will happen to humanity (which they are not even aware of)?
"Fondly Fahrenheit" by Alfred Bester is a chilling story of murder, an android, its desperate owner, and the relationship between temperature and madness. This story also plays with the concept of self and requires careful reading if you're not to be confused over the sudden changes of 'you' and 'I' in the story.
"The Cold Equations" by Tom Godwin is considered a 'cornerstone' in the hard SF category (Gunn says the 'essence' of hard SF is in this story). It tells the story of a stowaway on a space-ship with barely enough fuel to reach its destination. The resolution is 'cold' indeed and really shows that nature (and its equations) don't care for human feelings.
"The Game of Rat and Dragon" by Cordwainer Smith is an impressive story about how human and cats (yes, cats) can bond telepathically to fight off psychic 'monsters' from the depths of space that threaten humanity's travels in space.
"Pilgrimage to Earth" by Robert Sheckley shows that even in the future, when men have colonised many worlds, some things in life (like true love) can only be found on Earth. But even then, true love can mean different things to different people.
"Who Can Replace a Man?" by Brian Aldiss is set in the future when men have apparently died out and the machines prepare to take over the world. Despite this, as the story shows, some things will never change.
"Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. is a classic tale about a future where everybody is "truly equal". The strong are weighed down by weights, the beautiful have to wear masks, the intelligent have to wear noise generating headphones; all done to make sure people don't use their strength, beauty or intelligence to their advantage. Into this world steps Harrison Bergeron, a man who refuses to bow to equality.
"The Streets of Ashkelon" by Harry Harrison is set on a world where aliens are just learning about science and technology from a trader. In this world steps a priest who wishes to teach them the Truth also. As it turns out, the real truth can be a painful lesson to teach and to learn.
"The Terminal Beach" by J.G. Ballard tells the story of a man wandering the beaches and building blocks of Eniwetok. The story concentrates more on the wanderings into the psyche and feelings of the man than on the physical travels of the man.
"Dolphin's Way" by Gordon R. Dickson tells the story about a scientist's attempts to communicate with dolphins. He believes that once the breakthrough takes places, alien will make contact with humans. The ending takes a neat twist once the breakthrough with dolphins occur.
"Slow Tuesday Night" by R.A. Lafferty is a very fast story. People make and lose two or three fortunes in a night in this story! Yet, it shows that people can still make a living in this world where everything can literally take place in a day or a night.
"Day Million" by Frederik Pohl is a classic story that examines what is meant by love between two people in this future where humanity has been split in many varied species. It is told in a way that makes you examine what you consider to be normal.
"We Can Remember it for You Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick is the story on which the movie Total Recall is based on. A man wishes to be on Mars and settles for second best: false memories of a journey to Mars and a secret agent. But things becomes interesting when it turns out the man has buried memories of being an actual spy on Mars. And there may be more hidden facts to be revealed.
"I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" by Harlan Ellison is Ellison's story of the hate a sentient can have on humanity. Five humans are kept alive in the bowels of the computer, AM, to be tortured and tormented forever. There is only one escape and it must be taken quickly. But will it really end the torture?
"Aye, and Gomorrah..." by Samuel R. Delany tells the story of how spacers (who are made sexless due to radiation hazards of space) relate to the rest of humanity, especially the endless fascination one has with the other.
"The Jigsaw Man" by Larry Niven is a fascinating story of the future where criminals found guilty are used as organ donors. One man tries to escape from such a fate for a crime he will not say. The revelation of the crime shows how a future where people are desperate for organ transplants can lead to a strange form of justice.
"Kyrie" by Poul Anderson tells the story of a psychic connection between a telepath and an energy being. But as the story shows, even telephatic contact between people are subject to the rules of physics.
"Masks" by Damon Knight tells the story of a man who is so badly injured that the only way to save him was to put his brain inside an android body. The attempts he makes to come to terms with his new life make for somber reading.
"Stand on Zanzibar" (extract) by John Brunner shows an apocalyptic vision of the future where law and order have broken down as the population explosion continues unabated.
"The Big Flash" by Norman Spinrad tells the story of a rock band whose videos incorporate images of war, destroyed populations and, especially, the nuclear bomb during the Vietnam era. This interest the military who use the group to gain public support for a nuclear strike on Vietnam. But the final effects of the group's final video may be larger than expected. A really chilling story about how the visual media can be used to control our emotional reactions.
"Sundance" by Robert Silverberg tells the story of a Native American who, on an alien world, tries to bond with the aliens whom he thinks are intelligent. But his fellow workers refuse to believe him. His emotions, especially over how his people were displaced in America, come to a head at the end when the truth is revealed to him - or is it?
"The Left Hand of Darkness" (excerpt) by Ursula K. Le Guin is an incredible story about life on Gethen, where all humans are sexless except during the breeding season when they can become either male or female. Into this society comes an Envoy from the Ekumen who asks them to join the galactic federation. The difference in behaviour in the Gethen society due to their biological difference are bought out in this excerpt.
"When It Changed" by Joanna Russ tells of a colony on a world made up of women (the men have all died in a plague many years ago). Having adjusted to a life without men, a ship comes bearing men for the first time. The changes this makes are many and have to be coped with by the inhabitants.
"The Engine at HeartSpring's Center" by Roger Zelazny is a story of two people who have come to a world to find peace and to die. Instead, they find each other and find a reason to live. A touching story with a quiet ending.
"Tricentennial" by Joe Haldelman is an interesting story about an attempt to reach another civilisation at 61 Cygni. Various political ploys are called in to get a ship launched. The end result is impressive and quite unexpected.

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The Road to Science Fiction (Vol. 3) edited by James Gunn

The Road to Science Fiction (Vol. 3)
edited by James Gunn