Clones (Ace Science Fiction)

Rating:
Summary: A good read.
Review: This is another of the themed anthology series put together by Dozois and Dann. This time, as it says on the cover, the nine stories are (mostly) about clones. The collections that I have read so far in this series have varied between good and very good and this book hit the spot too. It did have a couple of weak stories but the stronger ones more than made up for that.

Of course, the stories are all available elsewhere originally published in various places between 1964 and 1990 but, unless you are an avid reader of all the magazines, most of the content will be new to you. Certainly, they were all new to me. As usual, the editors add to the anthology with informed comment on the authors. While that may not be so necessaary for the established big names, some of the authors will be less familiar and it is great to use the editors notes as a starting point for further reading.

The stories that I like the most here are the ones that explore the area of what it might be like to be a clone. How will clones differ from the rest of us. How will society treat them? Will a clone have full human rights? "Nine Lives" by Ursula K LeGuin, "The Phantom of Kansas" by John Varley and "Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang" by Kate Wilhelm all made interesting points about this.

The focus is on bio-tech rather than hard science so the book will not appeal to all sections of the SF community but is an interesting anthology. If you enjoy this book, you will of course want to follow up some of the editor's suggetions for further reading. Also, of course, it's worth checking out the other anthologies from the same editors. My favourite is Nanotech. If you'd like to read more on a similar vein, then check out the Ellen Datlow "Alien Sex" anthologies.