FULL SPECTRUM 5

This hitherto splendid series (previous entry 1993) emphasizes diversity in theme and approach. Here, 28 original tales (up from 19 last time), including one translation from the French, are featured. Some of the more eye-catching entries: Jonathan Lethem, with ``The Insipid Profession of Jonathan Hornebom,'' offers a witty genuflection to Robert A. Heinlein's classic ``The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag''; Paul Park's fine ``The Breakthrough,'' about a new treatment for autistic children, while definitely science, barely qualifies as fiction; Tricia Sullivan's eerie alien-contact yarn, ``The Question Eaters,'' explores racial memory and the persistence of language; Emily Devenport weighs in with ``Goddoggit,'' a hysterically funny speculation on the nature of God; and a man in a snowbound cabin receives visitors from the future in Gene Wolfe's ``The Ziggurat.'' High standards maintainedremarkably enough, considering the all-new editorial lineup in this fifth of the series.