Subject: Corrected repost -- KINSHIP WITH THE STARS by Poul Anderson

From: [email-masked] (Evelyn C Leeper +1 908 957 2070)
Date: 26 Nov 91 18:40:08 GMT

[Moderator's note:  For some reason, the first time through the inews
software substituted my address for Evelyn's on the "From:" line of this
review.  Here it is corrected.  --djdo]

                     KINSHIP WITH THE STARS by Poul Anderson
                        A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper
			 Copyright 1991 Evelyn C. Leeper

        These nine stories from the 1950s and 1960s are not Anderson's best.
   True, Anderson on an off day is at least as good as many authors on their
   best day.  And you probably already have the best Anderson, given that he
   (and Harlan Ellison) have collected more Hugos than anyone else (at least 
   in the fiction categories)--seven each.  (Interestingly, both have won all 
   of them in the shorter fiction categories.  Zelazny and Leiber have won six
   each--two in novels and four in short fiction.)  And Anderson has not lacked
   for appearances in various anthologies.  It's true you probably don't have
   these, which have been unavailable for years.  (I don't think "Uncleftish
   beholding" was ever widely available.)  But I can't really recommend this
   collection except for die-hard Anderson fans.

        The lead novella, "A Bicycle Built for Brew," is about--as the back
   blurb reveals--a spaceship powered by beer.  My disinterest in beer made 
   me leery of the story, but even teetotalers can enjoy the humorous 
   politicking in the asteroid belt.  Harder to enjoy is the blatant sexism 
   of the story.  
	"Inside Straight," which first appeared in the August 1955 MAGAZINE 
   OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION, postulates a society based on gambling 
   (shades of Jorge Luis Borges's "The Lottery of Babylon").  An outsider who 
   sees the custom as a foolish quirk soon learns not to be so hasty in his 
   judgements.

        "The Critique of Impure Reason" (November 1962 IF) was based, according
   to Anderson, on a cover--and not even a real cover, but a cover invented by
   his wife one day when Anderson asked her, "Tell me a cover."  Her reply
   inspired this tale of robots, literature, and pulp fiction.  "Backwardness"
   (March 1958 MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION) takes a quick look at
   what MIGHT happen if aliens land.

        The first four stories all feature con men, a theme that occurs far
   more frequently in this volume than in Anderson's writing overall.  So it is
   with some relief that we get a change of pace with "Duel on Syrtis" (March
   1953 PLANET STORIES), a story as serious as the previous are, if not
   humorous, at least whimsical.  "Duel on Syrtis" is an all-too-possible story
   of what our contact with aliens COULD be.

        The one truly unusual story is "Uncleftish Beholding."  It seems to
   have had limited exposure before this, perhaps because it is hard to
   classify.  Think of it as a science article from a world in which the
   Norsemen conquered Europe.

        "Escape from Orbit" (October 1962 AMAZING) returns us to the familiar,
   this time to the science fiction puzzle story.  Even Anderson can't make
   this tale of astronauts trapped in orbit--and how they inevitably get out--
   more than average.  The problem, of course, is that there's only one
   unpredictable approach and Tom Godwin used it up years ago (seven years
   before Anderson wrote this, to be precise).

        Anderson returns to the political theme in "Enough Rope"--again,
   predictable, but more entertaining than "Escape from Orbit."  And the final
   story, "The Live Coward" (June 1956 ASTOUNDING) is more politicking and
   diplomacy, albeit a bit too neatly wrapped up for my tastes.

        Readers should be warned that many of the sensibilities of the stories
   are of their time.  (In plain English, this means that the female characters
   are often there for decoration only, and their decorative features are dwelt
   upon at length.)  If you can accept that as an artifact of the time these
   works were written, you might find these stories of some interest.  But
   unless you have exhausted all the better-known Anderson of the period, this
   is not recommended.

   %B      KINSHIP WITH THE STARS
   %A      Poul Anderson
   %C      New York
   %D      October 1991
   %I      Tor
   %O      paperback, US$3.99
   %G      ISBN 0-812-51814-4
   %P      276pp

Evelyn C. Leeper   |   +1 908 957 2070   |   att!mtgzy!ecl or [email-masked]