CREATURES OF THE COSMOS

by Catherine Crook--Ed. de Camp ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 24, 1977

A generally seedy octet of sci-fi tales involving animals, Of the eight stories, four are by the de Camps, and many just a few decades old are showing their age: Kris Neville's 1951 future scene of cruelty, toward an old man who was a boy in the '50's, no longer works (if it ever did), and Ms. de Camp's ""Million Dollar Dog"" (no date) projects a future New York City that is way off target. The featured animals range from the de Camps' highly intelligent bear, who saves the world from will-destroying spores released by a would-be dictator, to the little girl's robot dog in Ms. de Camp's sentimental trifle. (There is also a highly intelligent dog, John Christopher's ""Socrates,"" who sticks with his cruel master--to the death--out of some inherited canine loyalty, despite the anguish of the narrator, his friend and rightful owner.) The literary level runs from routine to dismal, with Anne McCaffrey's new ""The Smallest Dragonboy"" (actually the flattest formula piece of the lot) thrown in perhaps for a pretense to class. Weak.

Pub Date: Oct. 24, 1977

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Westminster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1977

Categories: FICTION