No Future In It, by John Brunner
Random Brunner SF shorts from the 50s and 60s
(Review posted 26 Jul 2004 00:31:51)

Bought for either a quarter or two dollars at a used bookstore somewhere in Vermont, and worth every penny either way. This is one of my favorite kinds of book to find in used bookstores: a collection of vintage SF short stories collected when they were still the latest thing, with no self-conscious backward-looking to it. (And, oddly, not even a table of contents.)

All of the stories are by Brunner, and all originally appeared in one of the SF magazines of the day; Science Fantasy, New Worlds, Galaxy, Analog, F & SF. Each one has a few-paragraph italicized prologue, presumably by Brunner, of the kind that I always recommend reading only after the story.

Having nothing particularly profound to say about them besides noting that I have fond memories of being a kid sitting in a dusty attic reading stories just like this, and more recent memories of being a grownup lying around in less dusty places reading them, I'll just give the titles and a few words for each one.

No Future In It: the title story is a cute pun involving medieval wizardry and time travellers.

Puzzle for Spacemen: a Murder Mystery in Space with some interesting psychological background that feels very 50s but for all we know might turn out to be true.

Fair: a surprisingly powerful (if perhaps endearingly optimistic) story about one possible way out of one sort of dystopia.

The Windows of Heaven: about a moon landing (which, like all the moon-landing stories I can think of, wildly underestimates the communication technology underpinning, and the media interest in, the event) and about the end of the world; another strong story.

Out of Order: one of them funny "computers interpret what you say very literally" stories, among other things.

Elected Silence: a long story about the psychological effects of imprisonment, or something; this one missed me somehow: and I didn't really get the point.

Badman: extremely vintage-flavor story about how people need enemies (and, come to think of it, another "way out of dystopia" story).

Report on the Nature of the Lunar Surface: a joke; nice and short, smile-inducing, and not entirely silly.

The Iron Jackass: warm and interesting, if not entirely convincing, story about culture and humanness and stories (centered around what seems to be an actual tall tale from the steel mills; ref "Joe Magarac").

Protect Me From My Friends: simple and striking story about what being a mind-reader might really be like.

Stimulus: about terraforming and evolution and meddling in the affairs of planets.

Whew!