5 of 5 stars

Kate Wilhelm comes into her own in this collection of stories (both sci-fi and not). I read some of her later works and have now been working from her earliest to latest pieces. In “The Mile-Long Spaceship”, her collection of stories from the late 1950s and early 1960s, you had hints of her style: deep, psychological, strongly written characters, but only hints. With her late 1960s book “The Killer Thing” (1967), she seemingly had come into her own, with strong writing and good storytelling. With this collection of stories from the late 1960s, you can see she’s confident, strong, and all the Wilhelm-esque techniques and styles are in place. A fantastic read, never wavered from a 5 * rating for me. As for the individual stories, I have a few light comment below. My favorite pieces were “Baby , You Were Great”, “When The Moon Was Red”, “How Many Miles To Babylon?”, “Countdown”, “A Time To Keep”, “The Most Beautiful Woman In The World”, and “Windsong”. I know, a lot of favorites, but Kate Wilhelm IS that good.

  • Unbirthday Party: early Wilhelm. Interesting but not emotionally fulfilling like her later work.
  • Baby, You Were Great: dark Wilhelm. Not as subtle as she will become but this is her feel and utterly enjoyable.
  • When the Moon Was Red: really good, dark Wilhelm. The style I fell in love with with her later work. Best story so far.
  • Sirloin and White Wine: unusual story, well written psychology, her trait.
  • Perchance to Dream: cute. Kind of like an Alfred Hitchcock 30 min light drama. Ended too quickly and too neat, though. Lots of paths to “Wilhelm” it that weren’t taken. Still, fun.
  • How Many Miles to Babylon?: dark, disturbing.
  • The Downstairs Room: good writing but I wasn’t interested in story.
  • Countdown: good development, strong final two words. Was initially thinking not that great but the Zeitgeist nails it.
  • The Plausible Improbable: meh
  • The Feel of Desperation: again, good writing but final twist at end seems like a ploy.
  • A Time to Keep: haunting story, great Wilhelm. A joy to read her words.
  • The Most Beautiful Woman in the World: wow. Surface level great and then the deeper meaning as the story becomes clear in the end. Just wow.
  • The Planners: an intriguing story with dark underlying tones. Won ‘69 Nebula award for best short story
  • Windsong: excellent. Probably the most sci-Fi of the bunch but deeply psychological and thoughtful. Wilhelm was a gifted writer and storyteller. Great way to end this collection.