Today I continue looking at short stories I've read from the year 1988 as they appear in the Gardner Dozois anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction, 6th Annual Collection. I'm not sure why, but as far sports are concerned, I have few memories of '88 even though I was a Florida Gator and Miami Dolphins football fan, and both the Winter and Summer Olympics happened then, in Calgary and Seoul, respectively. I do remember, though, the Dolphins, with Marino as QB and Shula as coach, finishing in last place, failing to win a single game within their division...tsk, tsk. And that year's Super Bowl, held following the 1987 season in January of '88, featured former Bucs quarterback Doug Williams delivering perhaps the greatest championship game performance ever with his first half play for Washington versus Denver. But enough of sports, back to those stories...
HOUSE OF BONES by Robert Silverberg
A man is selected as part of a science experiment to travel back in time to the Cro Magnon era, where he is taken in and assimilated into the nearby tribe. One day he is given an assignment that challenges his personally held ethics...and discovers something new about his new friends deep in the past...
DO YA, DO YA, WANNA DANCE? by Howard Waldrop
Not a part of the sixties-era counterculture, I was always amused hearing of others bewailing its decline and end. This story plays into that narrative as a 20-year high school reunion in 1989 promises to bring back an old rock band to restore the old spirit. What's sci-fi is the story's ending...
THE GROWTH OF THE HOUSE OF USHER by Brian Stableford
Reminding me of an old Star Trek Next Generation episode titled Tin Man, it's a few centuries into the future as architecture is evolving to use special bacteria in structures, making buildings more durable and adaptable to change. One architect, though, has taken "living buildings" to an entirely new level as a guest discovers...
GLACIER by Kim Stanley Robinson
Glaciers are quickly descending southward through America...a Canadian family has already been driven from Toronto to Boston, where they encounter social resistance to their presence. Alex hears of his father's employment struggles while trying to befriend their skittish adopted cat and exploring the massive glacier close to his home with bullies always lurking around. A good description of what a real glacier would be like...
Next week I conclude my look at science fiction short stories from 1988...
No comments:
Post a Comment