Best SF of the Year, One That is Okay, & Some Old Favorites

Like many fans, I am torn over which “best science fiction of the year” collection(s) to read.  I find myself enjoying short stories more than the door-stopper novels.  That doesn’t mean the long novels are not good it just means that I prefer reading many different stories in the short fiction (novellas, novelettes, short stories) to reading one long novel.  There are exceptions.  “Dune” is one of my favorites and I have read it many times.  But if you look at the novels I mainly read, they are the length I enjoyed reading in the 70s and 80s when I was getting into science fiction.  Look at the length of the typical works of Isaac Asimov, Roger Zelazny, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Michael Moorcock, Jack Vance, E. C. Tubb, and others of that generation.  Even many of Frank Herbert’s novels are not 600 to 1000 pages long.  Take a look at the majority of the novels I am reviewing.  Most are older ones.  Does this mean I don’t want to read newer authors?  No.  I plan on reading books by Alastair Reynolds, Iain M. Banks, Peter F. Hamilton, Robert Sawyer, Eric Brown and others this year.  In the words of Peter David, “But I Digress…”.

Cover by Jack Gaughan

Getting back to the subject of “best of the year” collections, my favorite in the early days were the ones edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Terry Carr.  I plan on starting to re-read them with the first one this year.  Last year I took a good look at the current series.  I chose to buy two (the Gardner Dozois collection and the David Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer one).  From what I have read on other sites, the Dozois is generally considered the top series since it started.  Each year he includes a fascinating overview of the field.  So why did I pick up the Hartwell & Cramer book?  A friend of mine loved this series because it is more focused on traditional science fiction.  When I compared the two, there is very little overlap.  Part of my plan is to go back, read and review all of the Hartwell & Cramer collections.  It will take some time because last year’s edition is the seventeenth.  By reading these, it will give me a chance to read many of the newer authors I have not read or have read very little of.  Which leads me to the first story in last year’s collection…

Short Story Sunday Jan. 30, 2011

Back in the seventies, Gordon R. Dickson's The Childe Cycle was another one of my favorite series.  The Cycle would consist of historical, mainstream, and science fiction novels.  

During my teen years, Dickson's Dorsai novels (the science fiction part of the Cycle) were ones I looked for.  I fondly remember reading Dorsai! and Soldier, Ask Not.  When new stories would appear, it was big news.  I have not returned to the series since I first read them.  Somehow, I missed this story.  It was one of the first times that Dickson wrote about the Dorsai.  Most people thought the Dorsai stories were military science fiction.  Dickson stressed that the Dorsai were not men of the military but men of war.  At the heart of the series is the conflict between the different traits of humanity (courage, faith, and philosophy).  Dickson was a master at creating and developing interesting characters.  I plan on reviewing the Cycle starting with this early story.

The series consists of the following novels:

Dorsai!

Necromancer

Soldier, Ask Not

Tactics of Mistake

The Final Encyclopedia

The Chantry Guild

Young Bleys

Other

Antagonist

and the following short stories:

"Warrior"

"Lost Dorsai"

"Amanda Morgan"

"Brothers"

The final novel (Childe) was not completed at the time of Dickson's death. 

"Act of Creation" by Gordon R. Dickson
First Printing:  Satellite Science Fiction, 1957

Commandant Jiel of the Dorsai must travel to Earth to tell a father about the death of his son.  The father is the creator of the robots used by the military.  When he developed them, his plan was to use them to make life better for humanity.  Then the military stepped in.

When he arrives on Earth, he is greeted by a robot.  It does not bother him but the natives have a different opinion.  Robots are not welcome on Earth.  The natives view the robots as inventions who stole their jobs.

This is similar to the views of the Earth people in Isaac Asimov's "The Caves of Steel".  I wonder if Dickson read Asimov's story and liked the background he developed.

The story becomes the tale of the father.  The meeting between the two main characters turns into a touching interchange.  Dickson does a good job with revealing what the father is like through his talk with the Commandant.

Highly recommended.  This one is different from the rest of the series but makes for a good short story.