The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
mathew's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Clifford Simak wrote science fiction from 1931 right through until 1981. He's best known for his novel "City", which was assembled from various short stories that make their appearance in these collections. The collections of his short stories now being published are not in chronological order, so the style varies considerably. Many of the "golden age" stories are dated in both their themes and their language, as you'd expect — space pirates even make an appearance, though thankfully not with slide rules to use to compute courses on paper charts; he was never quite that pulpy.
Simak lived in Minnesota for most of his life, and many of his stories are set in the rural American midwest, complete with farmers and town drunks dealing with alien invasions. He became known for this "pastoral science fiction", yet his rural America isn't always a pleasant place, and he also believed that SF had to be rooted in scientific fact. This combination gives his writing a distinctive flavor. Sometimes the tales are short plot-driven thought experiments, almost like a Philip K. Dick short; other times they are slow and meditative and more character driven — though given when he wrote most of the stories, you likely won't be surprised to hear that the characters are overwhelmingly white and male.
He also wrote westerns and World War II stories. I'll confess that I just skip straight over those. I'm also not going to write separate reviews of every volume in the collection; I've read about a dozen of them at this point, but since the stories aren't in chronological order, you can take this as a review for any of them.
Simak lived in Minnesota for most of his life, and many of his stories are set in the rural American midwest, complete with farmers and town drunks dealing with alien invasions. He became known for this "pastoral science fiction", yet his rural America isn't always a pleasant place, and he also believed that SF had to be rooted in scientific fact. This combination gives his writing a distinctive flavor. Sometimes the tales are short plot-driven thought experiments, almost like a Philip K. Dick short; other times they are slow and meditative and more character driven — though given when he wrote most of the stories, you likely won't be surprised to hear that the characters are overwhelmingly white and male.
He also wrote westerns and World War II stories. I'll confess that I just skip straight over those. I'm also not going to write separate reviews of every volume in the collection; I've read about a dozen of them at this point, but since the stories aren't in chronological order, you can take this as a review for any of them.
jjarra's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
reddrabbbit's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
daynpitseleh's review against another edition
3.0
I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
3 1/2 stars
I wasn't really familiar with the work of Clifford D. Simak, but I really enjoyed this collection of his short stories. His stories often deal with topics such as robots, nature, and the question of what it means to be human. The stories are very readable and draw you in quickly.
3 1/2 stars
I wasn't really familiar with the work of Clifford D. Simak, but I really enjoyed this collection of his short stories. His stories often deal with topics such as robots, nature, and the question of what it means to be human. The stories are very readable and draw you in quickly.
canspice's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
belovedsnail's review against another edition
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I love Simak and I read a few of these books before. The collection is a bit uneven, as is natural in this kind of collection.
matosapa's review against another edition
4.0
Simak is one of those rare classic sci-fi author whose prose shows few signs of aging over the decades. The stories are very good and I enjoyed the vast majority; the remaining were still good.
Highly recommended for those who like reading a classic sci-fi author and/or those with an interest in unique plots. This looks to be a real gem of a collection.
Highly recommended for those who like reading a classic sci-fi author and/or those with an interest in unique plots. This looks to be a real gem of a collection.
austinbeeman's review against another edition
4.0
In 1977, Clifford D Simak was only the third person to ever be named Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America. He had been writing short science fiction for over 40 years. This book is the first of a 14-volume project by Simak’s estate to collect all of his short fiction.
This collection contains stories originally published between 1943 and 1969, plus one short first published in this 2015 book.
I find this to be a very strong collection, filled with invention, golden age excitement, and better-than-Golden-Age character development. I will definitely read and review more of Simak’s work. I’m also tempted to pick up his two most famous novels City and Way Station.
The Complete Short Fiction of Clifford D. Simak is rated 80%.
7 good / 2 average / 1 poor.
Installment Plan
Good. A business man and his robot team find difficulty on a trade mission to a semi-primitive planet.
I Had No Head and My Eyes Were Floating Way Up in the Air
Good. Original written for the Harlan Ellison collection “Last, Dangerous Visions.” A man comes to exploit a planet, but finds himself the victim of a horrible vengeful forced transformation. A great story full of violent energy.
Small Deer
Good. A man invents a time machine and discovers the real reason the dinosaurs went extinct.
Ogre
Good. Earth audiences are enraptured by the music created by alien singing trees. A group of men try to capitalize on this situation, but find that the alien trees might have plans of their own.
Gleaners
Good. A time-travel company grabbed artifacts from the path for profit. This story details an unusual day in the life of one of the executives that manage this program.
Madness from Mars
Good. A beautiful and haunting story of a spaceship that returns from Mars with a crew that went mad an killed themselves. The reason why and the solution will break your heart.
Gunsmoke Interlude
Poor. A non-scifi western story about a stranger that would give up his gun.
I Am Crying All Inside
Average. Robots and rednecks make moonshine.
The Call from Beyond
Average. A fun little action story of a man who arrives on Mars to discover that people he thought we dead are actually alive. And they are up to no good.
All the Traps of Earth
Good. Wonderful tale of a robot who has been illegally allowed to keep his memories for 600 years, instead of the normal human lifespan. He flees earth and discovers a new purpose and mission to his life.
Originally Posted at ShortSF Reviews
This collection contains stories originally published between 1943 and 1969, plus one short first published in this 2015 book.
I find this to be a very strong collection, filled with invention, golden age excitement, and better-than-Golden-Age character development. I will definitely read and review more of Simak’s work. I’m also tempted to pick up his two most famous novels City and Way Station.
The Complete Short Fiction of Clifford D. Simak is rated 80%.
7 good / 2 average / 1 poor.
Installment Plan
Good. A business man and his robot team find difficulty on a trade mission to a semi-primitive planet.
I Had No Head and My Eyes Were Floating Way Up in the Air
Good. Original written for the Harlan Ellison collection “Last, Dangerous Visions.” A man comes to exploit a planet, but finds himself the victim of a horrible vengeful forced transformation. A great story full of violent energy.
Small Deer
Good. A man invents a time machine and discovers the real reason the dinosaurs went extinct.
Ogre
Good. Earth audiences are enraptured by the music created by alien singing trees. A group of men try to capitalize on this situation, but find that the alien trees might have plans of their own.
Gleaners
Good. A time-travel company grabbed artifacts from the path for profit. This story details an unusual day in the life of one of the executives that manage this program.
Madness from Mars
Good. A beautiful and haunting story of a spaceship that returns from Mars with a crew that went mad an killed themselves. The reason why and the solution will break your heart.
Gunsmoke Interlude
Poor. A non-scifi western story about a stranger that would give up his gun.
I Am Crying All Inside
Average. Robots and rednecks make moonshine.
The Call from Beyond
Average. A fun little action story of a man who arrives on Mars to discover that people he thought we dead are actually alive. And they are up to no good.
All the Traps of Earth
Good. Wonderful tale of a robot who has been illegally allowed to keep his memories for 600 years, instead of the normal human lifespan. He flees earth and discovers a new purpose and mission to his life.
Originally Posted at ShortSF Reviews
metaphorosis's review against another edition
4.0
4 stars - Metaphorosis Reviews
A collection of speculative stories from Clifford D. Simak.
I've been on a little bit of a Clifford Simak kick lately, triggered by a chance reading of All Flesh is Grass, and I've been happy to revisit or discover more of his work. This collection of warm, friendly stories - the first in a projected dozen - kept me feeling that way.
While I tend to think of Simak in terms of small-town, Earth-bound stories, the short stories here are definite SF of the man meets alien variety. Plus a western. They're all good, and they all show the everyday-man touch Simak was so good at. The stories are:
The book is a decent size for quick consumption, though the dozen-volume plan seems ambitious, and I wonder why they didn't choose fewer, bigger books. The stories have short, mildly interesting, but inoffensive forewords that provide a little context, from a long-time Simak associate. What's missing is any explanation of the selection and ordering criteria. I couldn't see any logic to it - not chronological, not thematic (that western). It's a common problem in single-author collections (cf the Roger Zelazny 6 volume set), but an irritant nonetheless.
If you haven't read much Simak, this is a good place to start - a short but solid set of SF stories about people, rather than gimmicks.
A collection of speculative stories from Clifford D. Simak.
I've been on a little bit of a Clifford Simak kick lately, triggered by a chance reading of All Flesh is Grass, and I've been happy to revisit or discover more of his work. This collection of warm, friendly stories - the first in a projected dozen - kept me feeling that way.
While I tend to think of Simak in terms of small-town, Earth-bound stories, the short stories here are definite SF of the man meets alien variety. Plus a western. They're all good, and they all show the everyday-man touch Simak was so good at. The stories are:
- Installment Plan - a nice story about robot-human cooperation. Not a logic-puzzle Asimov story, not evil robots; just coexistence.
- I Had No Head and My Eyes Were Floating Way Up in the Air - a clever story about man's pretensions to superiority. Some great points, but the execution of the end is weak.
- Small Deer - what really happened to the dinosaurs? A thin story with no great surprises.
Ogre - humans tangle with aliens over music. One of my favorites, with some sophisticated concepts under its pulp-incredible surface.- Gleaners - the manager of a time-travel agency runs out of patience. It's hard to do much that's interesting with time travel. Simak pulls it off by focusing on the people involved, and not worrying too much about science.
- Madness from Mars - astronauts bring back a seemingly innocuous Martian creature. Another story where there's real pathos beneath the pulpy plot.
- Gunsmoke Interlude - a gunslinger runs into a tough sheriff. I hadn't actually known that Simak wrote westerns. This one is very good, up until a weak ending.
- I Am Crying All Inside - robots and humans left behind by emigration. The seeds of a really good story are here, but they don't really come out.
- The Call From Beyond - a man looking for solitude finds humans in an unexpected place. A bit long, and the ending could have been stronger, but interesting despite it.
- All the Traps of Earth - a robot at the end of his lifecycle looks for purpose. One of the few stories I'd read before, and for good reason. The ending is a bit trite, but as with Installment Plan, Simak does a great job of treating robots as real characters rather than props.
The book is a decent size for quick consumption, though the dozen-volume plan seems ambitious, and I wonder why they didn't choose fewer, bigger books. The stories have short, mildly interesting, but inoffensive forewords that provide a little context, from a long-time Simak associate. What's missing is any explanation of the selection and ordering criteria. I couldn't see any logic to it - not chronological, not thematic (that western). It's a common problem in single-author collections (cf the Roger Zelazny 6 volume set), but an irritant nonetheless.
If you haven't read much Simak, this is a good place to start - a short but solid set of SF stories about people, rather than gimmicks.