IS THAT WHAT PEOPLE DO?

by Robert Sheckley ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 16, 1984

A huge Sheckley showcase, 1953-82, of 38 tales: imaginative, some playful, others ironic or satirical, all marked by sudden plot twists and an accurate, often mordant wit. The section ""Vintage Sheckley"" contains famous tales from Sheckley's superb early period: ""Shape,"" about plastic, caste-ridden aliens who try to invade Earth, only to succumb to the lure of freedom of form; ""Fool's Mate,"" in which a computer-controlled space battle is decided by a lunatic whose behavior the computers cannot predict; ""Seventh Victim,"" a hunting game whose participants legally strive to murder one another; ""The Prize of Peril,"" a game show offering huge rewards and fatal booby-prizes; ""The Monsters,"" where peaceful aliens who regularly kill their wives are disconcerted by a visit from moralizing Earthmen; and ""The Petrified World,"" about life on a planet where reality is mutable. There's strong work, too, from later in Sheckley's career: ""The Robot Who Looked Like Me,""--in which a courting couple, too busy to show up for dates, send along robot duplicates (the robots fall in love and elope); and ""Can You Feel Anything When I Do This?""--about a lovelorn robot whose beloved is emotionally unresponsive. And ""Uncollected Sheckley"" includes one previously unpubLished piece, several less well-known early yarns, and some New Wave-ish social commentary efforts. True, Sheckley's later output never quite matches the brilliance of his first decade. But this is a major collection from one of sf's most assured and accomplished talespinners.

Pub Date: Aug. 16, 1984

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Holt, Rinehart & Winston

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1984

Categories: FICTION