BAEN BOOKS deserves praise for reprinting Poul Anderson’s tales of the Psychotechnic League. Several science fiction writers have developed Future Histories. Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov clearly influenced Poul Anderson in his construction of his Future History in these Psychotechnic League stories. Anderson projects a Third World War that sends humanity into the Second Dark Ages. Out of the ashes, the Psychotechnic Institute tries to protect civilization with its advanced social science. Volume 3 of The Complete Psychotechnic League collects four short stories never included in previous collections. My review of Volume 1 can be found here and my review of Volume 2 can be found here. If you’re a fan of classic SF, I highly recommend The Complete Psychotechnic League. GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Forward by Sandra Miesel 1
The Acolytes (WORLDS BEYOND, 1951) 3
The Green Thumb (SCIENCE FICTION QUARTERLY, 1953) 21
Virgin Planet (VENTURE, 1957) 43
Teucan (COSMOS SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY, 1954) 115
The Pirate (ANALOG, 1968) 137
Entity (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, 1949) 167
Symmetry (aka, “The Stranger Was Himself,” FANTASTIC UNIVERSE, 1954) 183
The Chapter Ends (DYNAMIC SCIENCE FICTION, 1953) 195
Chronology of Future 217

Gardner Dozois died of an infection on May 27, 2018. Dozois edited the Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine from 1984-2004 winning the Best Editor Award four times. Dozois also won two Nebula Awards for Best Short Story twice. But I suspect Gardner Dozois’s legacy will center around his 35 year series of The Year’s Best Science Fiction volumes. As the years went on, the volumes grew in size. Dozois also included an essay in each volume where he assessed the year and its trends. Anyone interested in the history of Science Fiction will refer to these books.

This last volume includes a variety of stories. I enjoyed Alastair Reynolds’s “Night Passage,” Aliette de Bodard’s “The Dragon that Flew Out of the Sun,” Tobias Buckell’s “Zen and the Art of Spaceship Maintenance,” and Robert Reed’s “The Residue in Fire.” This is the end of an era. GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
THE MOON IS NOT A BATTLEFIELD, Indrapramit Das
MY ENGLISH NAME, R.S. Benedict
AN EVENING WITH SEVERYN GRIMES, Rich Larson
VANGUARD 2.0, Carter Scholz
STARLIGHT EXPRESS, Michael Swanwick
THE MARTIAN OBELISK, Linda Nagata
WE WHO LIVE IN THE HEART, Kelly Robson
WINTER TIMESHARE, Ray Nayler
DEAR SARAH, Nancy Kress
NIGHT PASSAGE, Alastair Reynolds
THE DRAGON THAT FLEW OUT OF THE SUN, Aliette de Bodard
WAITING OUT THE END OF THE WORLD IN PATTY’S PLACE CAFE, Naomi Krtizer
THE HUNGER AFTER YOU’RE FED, James S.A. Corey
ASSASSINS, Jack Skillingstead and Burt Courtier
THE MARTIAN JOB, Jaine Fenn
THE ROAD TO THE SEA, Lavie Tidhar
UNCANNY VALLEY, Greg Egan
THE WORDLESS, Indrapramit Das
PAN HUMANISM: HOPE AND PRAGMATICS, Jessica Barber and Sara Saab
ZIGEUNER, Harry Turtledove
THE PROVING GROUND, Alec Nevala-Lee
ZEN AND THE ART OF SPACESHIP MAINTENANCE, Tobias Buckell
THE INFLUENCE MACHINE, Sean McMullen
CANOE, Nancy Kress
THE HISTORY OF THE INVASION TOLD IN FIVE DOGS, Kelly Jennings
PRIME MEREDIAN, Silvia Moreno-Garcia
TRICERATOPS, Ian McHugh
MINES, Eleanor Arnason
THERE USED TO BE OLIVE TREES, Rich Larson
WHENDING MY WAY BACK HOME, Bill Johnson
DEATH ON MARS, Madeline Ashby
ELEPHANT ON TABLE, Bruce Sterling
NUMBER 39 SKINK, Suzanne Palmer
A SERIES OF STEAKS, Vina Jie-Min Prased
THE LAST BOAT-BUILDER IN BALLYVOLOON, Finbarr O’Reilley
THE RESIDUE OF FIRE, Robert Reed
SIDEWALKS, Maureen F. McHugh
NEXUS, Michael F. Flynn

Whitney Houston died in a hotel bathtub on February 11, 2012. She was 48. Whitney Houston set records during her too brief career. She sold over 200 million records. Whitney Houston released seven studio albums and two soundtrack albums, all of which have been certified diamond, multi-platinum, platinum, or gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Whitney Houston is the only artist to have seven consecutive number one Billboard Hot 100 songs.

Despite Houston’s wonderful voice, she made several Bad Decisions. One of the members of her entourage interviewed for this documentary says, “People around Whitney considered her an ATM.” Her career rocketed into the stratosphere after her role in The Bodyguard became iconic. But Whitney’s success grated on her husband, Bobby Brown. He abused her verbally and physically. He may have contributed to her drug addictions. Director Kevin Macdonald doesn’t grill some of the principal characters in Whitney’s destruction; Macdonald takes a more subtle approach by letting these characters reveal their parts in the calamity of Whitney Houston’s life. For example, the President of Arista Records L. A. Reid looks into the camera and says he never knew Whitney used drugs. The audience laughed at this blatant lie. One of Whitney’s brothers says there were no drugs used by the Houston family while he’s obviously addled by drugs on screen.

Great music weaves its way through this film from Whitney’s debut television appearance on THE MERV GRIFFIN SHOW to her electrifying rendition of “The Star Bangled Banner” at Super Bowl XXV in 1991. The highs are impressive, but Whitney’s lows are heartbreaking. Do you have a favorite Whitney Houston song? GRADE: A

Mike Reiss worked on The Simpsons for 30 years. He was head writer during the period when The Simpsons won four Emmy Awards. Springfield Confidential is a mashup of memoir and “How To Write a Great Comedy Script.” Reiss shows how the episodes were put together: it takes 23 steps to produce a finished episode–about nine months. He shares a lot of writing tips. Reiss provides a personal history of The Simpsons with insider information–like why the Simpsons are yellow. Mike Reiss also wrote children’s books: How Murray Saved Christmas, Santa Claustrophobia, and The Boy That Looked Like Lincoln.. If you’re a fan of The Simpsons you’ll love this book! If you’re a casual watcher of the program, there’s enough humor and information here to keep you interested. Do you have a favorite episode of The Simpsons? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
FORWARD by Judd Apatow xiii
Opening credits.
Burning question: Where is Springfield? — 5
Act one.
It begins … ; 9
A brief history of me ; 23
Funny for money — 37
Act two.
Meet the writers ; 51
Simpsons songs : who writes them, how are they written, and why are there so goddamn many? ; 89
Meet the showrunners ; 91
Meet the characters ; 99
Meet the cast ; 111
Burning question: Do you read what fans post on websites? ; 139
Four episodes that changed the world (kinda) ; 141
Burning question: What do you think of Family Guy? ; 161
Meet the fans ; 163
Burning question: What do you say to people who say the show has gone downhill? ; 175
Seeing the world with The Simpsons ; 177
Burning question: Why has the show lasted so long? — 191
Act three.
On comedy ; 197
How Krusty became The Critic ; 209
Burning question: What’s the biggest reason The Critic failed? ; 221
A development deal with the devil ; 223
Burning question: What is the secret of The Simpsons’ success? ; 229
Doing animated films for cash (not credit) ; 233
The sleazy, nasty world of children’s books ; 241
Gay for pay ; 247
Writing for humans again! ; 255
Back to the old tire fire — 261
The tag.
It never ends … ; 275
The final burning question: Why are the Simpsons yellow? 279
CLOSING CREDITS
Glossary 283
Answers to NPR Puzzles 289
Acknowledgements 291
Image Credits 295
About the Authors 297

Robert Silverberg is known for his prolific career writing science fiction. Silverberg was also a masterful editor of science fiction collections. One of these SF collections from 1975 is Strange Gifts. In this themed anthology, each story presents a “gifted” character that disrupts the status quo. For example, in Philip K. Dick’s “The Golden Man,” mutants are hunted down by a Government agency. But some humans try to help the mutants survive. The Golden Man presents a huge problem for the Government because of his powers. Alfred Bester’s “Oddy and Id” follows the pattern with children with awesome powers. Silverberg’s own “To Be Continued” explores what it would be like to be able to live thousands of years. What problems would a vastly increased life-span present? The most surreal story in Strange Gifts is “Humpty Dumpty Had A Great Fall” where a child is able to tap into alternate dimensions. Kris Neville’s “Bettyann” explores what it would be like for an alien child to be raised as a human. All in all, I enjoyed these stories of strangeness. Perfect Summer reading material! GRADE: B+
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Robert Silverberg. Introduction 11
Dick, Philip K. The golden man. (IF, April 1954) 13
Dickson, Gordon R. Danger-human! (Astounding Science Fiction, December 1957) 49
Lafferty, R. A. All the people. ( Galaxy Magazine, April 1961) 71
Bester, Alfred. Oddy and Id. (Astounding Science Fiction, August 1950) 84
Gold, H. L. The man with English (STAR SCIENCE FICTION STORIES, 1953) 102
Silverberg, Robert. To be continued. (Astounding Science Fiction, May 1956) 113
Long, Frank Belknap. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. (Startling Stories, November 1948) 128
Neville, Kris. Bettyann. ( New Tales of Space and Time, 1951) 158

Paul Rudd returns as ex-convict Scott Lang (aka, Ant-Man). Scott is serving a sentence at home wearing an electronic ankle bracelet. Scott has a strange dream and contacts his former associates, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and his daughter, Hope (Evangeline Lilly). Pym believes his missing wife of 30 years, Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer), is communicating through Scott. She’s stuck in the Quantum Void. Pym has a plan to rescue his wife, but his plan is disrupted by another quantum casualty, Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and a group of gangsters who want the quantum technology. Plenty of micro and macro special effects power this funny and involving movie. If you’re looking for something better than the average super-hero movie, give Ant-Man and The Wasp a try. GRADE: A-

I’m a fan of caper novels and Lionel White was one of the great practitioners of a “heist gone wrong.” Hostage for a Hood (1957) starts with a perfect crime: stealing $250,000 from an armored truck. The gang’s scheme goes awry when part of the crew crash into another car. The gang takes the woman and her little dog hostage. The clean escape blows up and the gang hunkers down while the police dragnet increases. The woman’s husband figures out his wife has been kidnapped and takes action. The suspense in Hostage for a Hood ratchets up until the explosive conclusion.

The Werriweather File (1959) centers around a wife who believes someone is trying to kill her. She hires a lawyer to protect her life (he’s skeptical about the death threat but agrees to represent her). But when a body shows up in the trunk of the family car, this twisty novel picks up speed and tension. Lionel White is a master of clever plotting and The Merriweather File puts unpredictable events on display. If you’re in the mood for fast-paced suspense both of these novels deliver. You can read my reviews of STARK HOUSE’s editions of Lionel White’s Marilyn K/The House Next Door here and The Snatchers/Clean Break here. GRADE: B+

Kathleen Kent, best known for historical novels, shows some gritty chops in The Dime (2017) where Detective Betty Rhyzyk investigates the Mexican drug cartel. Rhyzyk grows up in New York City in a “cop” family. She moves to Dallas with her girl friend and finds a job on the Narcotics Squad. Rhyzyk’s lesbianism causes friction with her male colleagues. Shootouts with the cartel thugs, personal threats, and a surprising twist in the plot halfway into the book keep The Dame moving fast. My only quibble is the number of flashbacks Kathleen Kent uses to fill in Rhyzyk’s back story. GRADE: B

Nick Offerman plays a widowed father named Frank who was former musician who now owns a vinyl-only record store in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Frank faces several problems. His record store is failing. His mother (Blythe Danner) shows signs of dementia. Frank’s daughter Sam (Kiersey Clemons) is headed for UCLA to become a doctor and Frank doesn’t know where he’s going to find the tuition money. Frank’s bartender friend, Dave (Ted Danson), tries to help him. Leslie (Toni Collette), Frank’s landlady, offers some romantic opportunities. Sasha Lane provides some romantic opportunities for Sam. The gimmick in Hearts Beat Loud is that Frank and Sam write a song and record it in their home studio. Frank uploads the song to Spotify and it becomes a hit. That success gives Frank hope that music might save him from the disasters growing around him. My problems with Hearts Beat Loud center around the music and the plot. The music is bland. The plot is predictable. With a good cast like this, Director Brett Haley should have produced something special. Ted Danson and Toni Collette pretty much just stand around. Marc Basch’s script holds no surprises. GRADE: B-