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Summary: Cordwainer Smith is what Science Fiction is all about
Review: My philosophy is that, if you are going to make the future up, you might as well pull out all the stops and just make it as crazy, mysterious, and as convoluted as possible. Cordwainer Smith's vision of the future is just that. He has an incredible ability to imagine really wild and unique settings, problems, and solutions. Even better, he writes in the tone of voice of his future, which gets him an extra plus from me. I dislike a lot of scifi because it is too realistic. That is not a problem with this book. Smith's visions are screwed-up, masterful, and so very compelling that you can't help but admire the guy for his ingenuity and creativity. BUY THIS BOOK.
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Summary: Cruel and Beautiful
Review: Probably the single best book in my science fiction collection. Cordwainer Smith (a pen name) didn't write much science fiction - most of what he wrote is contained in this single anthology of his short stories.These stories are loosely bound together through a universe populated with genetically modified humans and animals, sub-races, strange computers, immortality, drugs and ancient, crumbled cities. If you are looking for something different in science fiction you should definitely try this one. I believe that a similar anthology is available in the form of an out-of-print paperback.
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Summary: American Literature's Best Kept Secret
Review: Readers of Cordwainer Smith's work will probably be instantly attracted by titles like "Alpha Ralpha Boulevard" and "The Ballad of Lost C'mell". The stories used to arrive on the desk of Frederik Pohl, who along with then wife Judith Merril were editors of any number of Science Fiction magazines. There were generally no titles on them, just instructions on where to send payment should the stories be accepted. Pohl and Merril actually invented the titles, and only years after publishing the seminal stories got to meet Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger, the real Cordwainer Smith, a career US Government official on an international book tour. You might also haunt the used book stores for two non-SF novels of his, Ria and Carolla, neither of which have seen the light of day in decades. I envy those new to Smith: they are in for a mind-expanding experience.
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Summary: One of the most innovative and imaginative sf writers,.
Review: Smith was a writer's writer, admired by many other writers (hence Harlan Ellison's penname, Cordwainer Bird) and here are all his glorious short stories gathered in one volume. NO ONE wrote like Smith...he intermixed his own poetry (often with Oriental rhyme schemes) with a haunting, unforgettable future. It hangs together...from the animal-derived underpeople who are kept as slaves, to the mysterious and awesome Lords of the Instrumentality. But throughout it all Smith never forgets about what is best for Man...and his whole series is showing Man slowly reclaiming the things that MAKE him human, after ages of a sterile utopia. Fascinating and wonderful, recommended in the strongest possible terms. Just the titles..."The Dead Lady of Clown Town", "Think Blue, Count Two", and "Alpha Ralpha Boulevard"...sing at you. One of the greatest of all sf writers, and one of the most unappreciated...and my personal favorite
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Summary: "...the work of Cordwainer Smith cannot be duplicated."
Review: The wild, wooly world of Cordwainer Smith refuses to die and why should it? His stories, scattered like pearls amongst the genre magazines of his time, now come home to roost in one volume. If you don't know him, you probably won't buy this book but once you enter his world, nothing less will do. Go ahead and opt for a lesser volume of stories - the world is filled with great stuff we don't know about but I hope you don't pass Cordwainer by. You've missed a lot.
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Summary: Better than this - You cannot get
Review: These are not just the best science fiction novelettes ever written, they may well be the best stories ever written. 'The Dead Lady of Clown Town' is the only object in print that has ever made me cry. These are true "miracles of rare device," and if you do not fall in love with C'mell, you have no soul
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Summary: One of the most important works of the twentieth century.
Review: This book was an inspiration to me. A wonderful mixture of ideas that seem to work for the most part. Should be read by everyone.
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Summary: that should be six stars above
Review: This collection includes the greatest science fiction short works ever. Period. His best writing (and much of this collection is) ranks with the best non-SF. The images he paints are quite literally unforgettable.
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Summary: Oh for more Games of Rat and Dragon.
Review: This is a tough one. Linebarger(aka Smith) could invoke more sense of wonder with two or three lines than most writers achieve in a whole career. I first read one of his stories thirty years ago and he is still one of my favorite authors. I think one of the greatest disappointments I have ever had as a reader was the day I found out that he was dead. I realized that these stories were the sum total of the windows into that vast and awesome future of the human race that resided in his imagination. Other men have written of light sailed colony ships that span the stars, genetic engineering that turns animals into ersatz versions of men, planoforming ships that whisper between the stars, "menschenjaggers" that hunt forever, the ultimate abuses of power, and the things men will do to be immortal. But they have seldom touched the depths of nobleness and good that Linebarger could impart to his characters. D'Joan and the E'Tele'Keli are what I hope will someday be, and that by then the whole human race will someday be worthy of them. Then you realize that they are already here, and that most of us are worthy of them most of the time. If you read some of Linebargers notes you realize where he got these wonderful heroes. Read the other reviews, if you don't buy the book visit your local used bookstore and find something of his. Try it, maybe you will be one of the select few for whom the windows will open. Enough trying to convince you to read these stories. I'll let the author speak for himself. "Goodbye for a while. I am glad to report that I expect to type many hundreds or thousands of pages of stories before I, in my turn, stop. If you have enjoyed this collection, don't tell anyone. Keep it a secret. Go on and enjoy it some more. I'd much rather be appreciated by a select few than enjoyed by the bawling milllions. You see, I have enjoyed these stories myself." Canberra, A.C.T.,Australia 15 April 1965 Every time I reread the hundreds, I wish for the thousands that will never be. Charles Lee
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Summary: Science Fiction at its best
Review: When an author can arouse, and play within you, all your emotions-compassion, anger, love, lust, faith, despair and hope-and give them back to you in the form of a story that author has achieved a kind of miracle few writers achieve. This collection of stories will do that to you.
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