SEAGULLS UNDER GLASS: And Other Stories
By
A Sci-Fi-Can-Be-Literature collection which falls somewhere between the ambitious and the pretentious. Tate obviously believes that a modishly cool, abrupt manner is the hallmark of distinction, and puts together his narratives in a series of elliptical fits and starts. But there are three or four stories of sustained ingenuity and polish -- notably a startling little number about a fifth-rate poet who is invaded by a parasitic plant bent on conquering new planets, a horrifying tale about a child goaded to murder by the computerized manipulations of an irresponsible parent, and the grim title story, in which a retirement home turns out to be something close to an abattoir.