HOMEWARD AND BEYOND

Anderson is one of the solidest sf writers as far as scientific details go, but he sticks to serviceable ideas worked out with good humor and determination rather than attempting any startling originality. Among the standbys he reworks: time travel (experiment briefly turns subject into Cro-Magnon ancestor), computer-age retelling of ancient myth (Orpheus-Eurydice, complete with Bacchantes), the cosmic destiny of dead space explorers. The outstanding fi here is the least sci--""The Visitor,"" a moving story of dream perception.