3 of 5 stars

It was so hard to give this book only 3 stars as I love Kate Wilhelm’s writing. I only discovered her during the past year but I’ve devoured several of her works and short stories. Her psychological science fiction is simply amazing and some of the best stuff I’ve read. But, this was her first collection of short stories and you can see her working through it. There are glimpses of the greatness to come but either due to length or other reason, many of these failed to strike me. However, if you are a Wilhelm fan (and I heartily encourage that), you probably want to add this to your pile so you can see her development over her science fiction career.

As for the individual stories, I have some short thoughts:

  • The Mile-Long Spaceship: meh.
  • Fear is a Cold Black: good story but a weak ending. Early hints of Wilhelm's motifs
  • Jenny with Wings: no, just no.
  • A is for Automation: an intriguing idea
  • Gift From The Stars: good but not great. Really neat idea that might have developed in a longer format.
  • No Light In The Window: Excellent. What Wilhelm does best. By far my favorite piece in the collection.
  • One for the Road: A riff on the recent anti-science climate. But overall, a weak ending.
  • Andover and the Android: A sly, good read.
  • The Man Without a Planet: meh. Maybe a longer length would have helped this story.
  • The Apostolic Travelers: Too short, not enough time to develop, but intriguing idea.
  • The Last Days of the Captain: meh