Today I conclude my look at 1988 science fiction short stories as they appeared in the anthology Donald A. Wollheim Presents the 1989 Annual World's Best SF, featuring the editor's picks from the previous year. In 1988, Melissa and I lived the whole year with our miniature poodle Taffy at a nice, student-oriented apartment complex just off Williston Road on SE 16th Ave. I mention that because it's the last apartment I have resided in: the next year we would move to our house in far northern Gainesville. When I think today of the different apartment complexes I used to live in, I miss their swimming pools...although curiously I never used one while I lived there...not even the one by my dorm when I went to UF. That how memories can sometimes get clouded by our present priorities, I guess. And now, let's discuss the final four stories in Wollheim's anthology...
WAITING FOR THE OLYMPIANS by Frederik Pohl
I thoroughly enjoy Frederik Pohl's clear and plain writing style, and this alternative history story of the Roman Empire surviving and thriving into our present times doesn't disappoint. Everything's just hunky dory as in this world, technology and opportunities seem boundless...if you're free and not a slave, that is. A spaceship from a galactic-type federation of advanced worlds out there is headed for a first contact with Earth to see if we're worthy of being in their club...suddenly, all communication from the ship ceases. I figured out early on where this story was going, but enjoyed reading through it anyway...
AIN'T NOTHIN' BUT A HOUND DOG by B.W. Clough
An entrepreneur in the mail order trivia business gets a curious string of orders to a remote place in West Virginia. As the orders swell, he decides to make a big delivery in person to the nearly inaccessible address...and gets a big surprise. A kinky, funny tale that reminded me of some of Stephen King's short stories...
ADRIFT AMONG THE GHOSTS by Jack Chalker
It's long been acknowledged that our radio and TV broadcasts are going straight out into space and could potentially be picked up...years and years into the future...by intelligent cultures out there. This is the scenario, not explicitly explained at first, as one of "them" has become quite a connoisseur and expert on all the old shows...this tale is a venture into nostalgia. But at story's end it all comes crashing down with a somber realization...
RIPPLES IN THE DIRAC SEA by Geoffrey A. Landis
Wouldn't you know it, after railing against time travel stories for so long I would encounter two brilliant ones: Stephen King's epic novel 11/22/63 and this short story by Geoffrey A. Landis. Ripples in the Dirac Sea is the best, word-for-word: the author delves into quantum theory and antimatter science to present a plausible explanation for how time travel into the past could well be possible, and without paradox. It's stories like this that make plowing through many forgettable ones worthwhile: a true classic of science fiction, yet it was accomplished in just a few pages...
Next week I continue reviewing 1988 short stories, but I'll be shifting over to Gardner Dozois' excellent anthology series, although for some reason he didn't feel my favorite one from Wollheim's anthology worthy of inclusion: go figure...
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