DREAMS THAT BURN IN THE NIGHT

This second collection (If All Else Fails. . ., 1980) confirms Strete as a major, original, but wayward talent: of the 24 varied stories here, three are quite brilliant. ""On the Way Home,"" about American Indians (Strete is one) returning after a stint in the army, is grittily unsettling. There's the achingly sad tale of an Indian sorcerer/guardian who invokes aliens from the stars to lift the burden of the white man's oppression. Also: a short, wry, powerful evocation of Old Woman Mountain. As before, then, the Indian stories are stronger than the more standard sf or fantasy. But a raw, satirical edge enlivens the best of the more orthodox pieces: a hilarious stranded astronaut yarn; a future where clothing is obscene; a ghost in a police computer; the dreams rocks dream over the eons. (Among the lesser efforts: horror tales, assassinations, Hitler's last testament, and collaborations with Jim Morrison and Michael Bishop.) Strete, then, is still blazing away in all directions--and scoring an uncomfortable number of hits: strong work from a gifted writer who may, unfortunately, attract more attention with the dreadful, non-fantasy Burn Down the Night (p. 444).