Spaceworlds: Stories of Life in the Void, is the latest volume in the British Library Science Fiction Classics series edited by Mike Ashley. The stories selected by Ashley were published between 1940 and 1964. The most famous story in this collection is Anne McCaffrey’s “The Ship Who Sang” about an intelligent starship and the bond with its Captain.
My favorite story, Jack Vance’s “Sail 25” (aka, “Gateway to Strangeness”), involves the testing of young recruits in space by an eccentric teacher. I also enjoyed E. C. Tubb’s “Umbrella in the Sky” where anti-matter asteroids threaten to trigger our Sun to send out waves of heat that would fry the Earth. The project to shield the Earth is stalled and an agent is sent to find out why.
Jame White wrote many stories and several novels about the massive Sector General Hospital space station that treats all life-forms. It’s an entertaining series revolving around medical mysteries somewhat like House except with exotic alien maladies. “O’Mara’s Orphan” shows how clever White can be with unusual diagnoses. John Brunner’s underrated “Lungfish” explores the dilemmas a generation space ship faces when it finally reaches its destination. As with all of the Mike Ashley anthologies I’ve reviewed, Spaceworlds: Stories of Life in the Void delivers solid story-telling and some thrilling adventures! GRADE: B+
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION by Mike Ashley — 7
Umbrella in the Sky — E. C, Tubb — 19
Sail 25 (aka, “Gateway to Strangeness”) — Jack Vance — 47
The Longest Voyage — Richard C. Meredith — 87
The Ship Who Sang — Anne McCaffrey — 113
O’Mara’s Orphan — James White — 139
Ultima Thule — Erie Frank Russell — 185
The Voyage That Lasted 600 Years — Don Wilcox — 207
Survival Ship — Judith Merril — 251
Lungfish — John Brunner — 267
Story Sources — 317