Clifford D. Simak "So Bright The Vision"

---------------------------------------------- Clifford D. Simak "So Bright the Vision" (coll) © Ace Double, 1968 --/ fourth place sf collection --/ wonder award --/ style award Scrumptious assortment of vintage Fifties SF morsels from "the master confectioner of them all". Simak's stories will glow in your mind like a warm sunset at the end of a stressful day, will make you want to greet your neighbour with a smile and a friendly pat on the back. review: 25-Jul-06 (read in 1997) ---------------------------------------------- Clifford D. Simak "The Golden Bugs" © F&SF, Jun 1960 So Bright the Vision, 1968 --/ third place sf novella --/ wonder award --/ idea award --/ style award Alien little buggers, who turn out to be quite helpful actually... at first. They clean the household, do the lawn etc. But then the trademarked Simak weirdness begins, unfolding on a perfectly normal "american suburbia" background. With such a subversive, sublime approach Simak seems close to Philip K. Dick's style (whose mental plot structures are far more vicious than the mere "sense-of-wonder" vehicles of Simak's) You never know what may jump at you from a perfectly normal cup of coffee. The only difference is, in Dick's case it will be an agent of different reality telling you that either your reality is toast or you live in a soup yourself, but in Simak's case it will be a cute, but properly weird, well-meaning alien who does not want to disturb your breakfast, but... review: 25-Jul-06 (read in 1997) ---------------------------------------------- Clifford D. Simak "Leg. Forst." © Infinity Science Fiction, Apr 1958 So Bright the Vision, 1968 --/ cool sf story --/ wonder award What is the other attribute of the pastoral life of middle-aged middle-class all-American person in the fifties? Right, stamp collecting. Simak could not leave this important theme out of science fiction treatment, and wrote this curious piece about an alien postal stamp alive and kicking in the most amazing directions and ways... Nothing earth-shaking, though. Hey, check out that pulp's cover though - an alien-head transformation straight out of "Men in Black", totally twisted. review: 25-Jul-06 (read in 1997) ---------------------------------------------- Clifford D. Simak "So Bright The Vision" © Fantastic Universe, Aug 1956 So Bright the Vision, 1968 --/ third place sf novella --/ wonder award --/ idea award --/ style award --/ emotion award Truly inspired novella, possibly the best that appeared between the pages of "Fantastic Universe" pulp. One of the most engaging tales from Clifford Simak, very lyrical and competent, with loads of "sense-of-wonder". It builds upon the idea that only humans possess enough imagination to tell stories in the whole Galaxy, so the industry of story-telling literally replaces all other entertainment for many alien races, and a lot of it is done by automated "writing devices". (Can you notice the concern of the Fifties writers that they will be replaced by computers? Did not happen. And can you sense the premonition of the pulp's decline and diminishing of the importance of written word? Alas, that happened all right). Very high quality science fiction. review: 25-Jul-06 (read in 1985) ---------------------------------------------- Clifford D. Simak "Galactic Chest" © Science Fiction Stories, Sep 1956 So Bright the Vision, 1968 --/ fourth place sf story --/ wonder award --/ style award Nicely told story about the correspondent who begins to believe in "brownies" and "fairies", and discovers them all over the place. Shimmers with wonder and feel-good emotions. review: 25-Jul-06 (read in 1997) ----------------------------------------------

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