GALACTIC DREAMS

Another volume of stories (Stainless Steel Visions, 1993) from Dublin's resident fantasy and science fiction veteran. Again, there is no obvious basis for the selection of the 12 stories here. So, after a useful introduction wherein Harrison meditates on his globe-hopping lifestyle, he takes off to a future world that has banished murder; fires off another amiable rant on overpopulation; takes a deceptive trip to Mars; tells the real story of Frankenstein's monster; offers a powerful comment on racism; and, in a more ironic vein, spins a time-travel yarn and tells of the robot who would be a lover. Last, but not least, Harrison's well- known brand of humor features starship troopers, an eavesdropper in time, a skillful seduction, and, previously unpublished, a vacation for Bill the Galactic Hero. Harrison is one of those rare writers whose company is always genuinely agreeable, no matter how trivial or exalted the material.