
I’ve reviewed a number of Hank Davis anthologies and enjoyed them all. This latest book features Science Fiction stories that have a legal aspect to them. (Of course, my favorite legal SF novel is Pohl & Kornbluth’s Gladator-at-Law). But these short stories present an entertaining way to spend your time during the Stay-At-Home order.
My favorite story in this anthology is Clifford Simak’s “How-2” which is a twist on The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Things get out of hand quickly in this clever tale. “Skulking Permit” is one of my favorite Robert Sheckley comic SF stories. Arthur C. Clarke’s “Moving Spirit” is another comic romp from his Tales from the White Hart. I read Robert Silverberg’s “To See the Invisible Man” decades ago but the impact has stayed with me.
Overruled provides a variety of law stories–some serious, some funny–but you will have to be the judge of that! GRADE: B+
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION: COURT IS NOW IN SESSION… ALL OXYGEN-REDUCING BIPEDS PLEASE RISE! by Hank Davis 1
THE SKETCHER by Tom Kidd 5
JERRY WAS A MAN by Robert A. Heinlein 39
PARADOX & GREENBLATT: ATTORNEYS AT LAW by Kevin J. Anderson 65
THE JIGSAW MAN by Larry Niven 81
SKULKING PERMIT by Robert Sheckley 95
CHECKSUM, CHECKMATE by Tony Daniel 123
THE EXECUTIONER by Algis Budrys 149
LICENSE TO LIVE by Sarah A. Hoyt & Laura Montgomery 189
THE RIOT THAT WASN’T IN PORT NEEKS by Susan R. Matthews 205
LAWYER FIGHT by Larry Correia 225
THE PEOPLE V. CRAIG MORRISON by Alex Shvartsman & Alvaro Zinos-Amaro 237
HOW-2 by Clifford D. Simak 255
MOVING SPIRIT by Arthur C. Clarke 293
VICTIM OF CHANGES by Christopher Ruocchio 307
THE CYBER AND JUSTICE HOLMES by Frank Riley 323
TO SEE THE INVISIBLE MAN by Robert Silverberg 339
LICENSE TO STEAL by Louis Newman 353
WITH THE KNIGHT MALE by Charles Sheffield 363