5 of 5 stars

So nice to return to Kate Wilhelm. I’ve saved her books that I haven’t read yet on my shelf to savor sparingly since they’re so wonderful and I will be so sad when I’ve read through them all. I say it each time I read her: I so wish I’d known about her when she was still alive and I could relish a new book coming out. :-( This collection of short stories has some amazing entries, a few okay ones and two that I didn’t like at all.

“The Infinity Box” is still excellent upon a second reading. I first saw it in Tor Double Novel #12. It’s a dark story of male arrogance and assault, a woman fighting back and the very fabric of time and reality shattering. A strong, timeless piece that lets Wilhelm show her best work in her best milieu (psychological and interior).

I’d also read “The Funeral” before as part of Ellison’s anthology “Again, Dangerous Visions”. I was blown away by its haunting prose and story that first time. A second time reading it has not diminished it at all. It is just beautiful, strong, and sad.

“The Red Canary” tears at your heart. It is so dark and I felt trapped in David’s situation. What can you do? It is pure Wilhelm at her best, again.

“April Fool’s Day Forever” is one of her most powerful stories. It’s one of the best short stories I’ve ever read. When she turns to our inner selfs and psychology, she has no peer, she is amazing. She investigates immortality robbing us of our humanity. This is certainly a topic explored by many SF writers, but here it is done with such a deft touch. This story is sublime, like one of Julia’s sculptures.

As for the rest, “The Time Piece” was an interesting idea but it never got moving for me. “The Fusion Bomb” was similar, I kind of skimmed it and felt like “meh” at the end. I didn’t like “Man of Letters”, it kind of felt like an MFA practice piece before MFAs. And, I thought “Where Have You Been, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?” was just awful.