First Contact | |||||||||||||||
edited by Martin H. Greenberg & Larry Segriff | |||||||||||||||
DAW Books, 316 pages | |||||||||||||||
|
A review by Steven H Silver
One of the problems with many theme anthologies being published today
is the inability of the authors writing for them to publish serious
stories on the topics. Over the years many examinations of first contact
have tried to look seriously at what humanity's reaction to aliens might be,
whether in short story form (Murray Leinster's "First Contact") or novel
length (Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End). Unfortunately, the majority
of stories in Greenberg & Segriff's anthology First Contact, are light
fare even when they examine the issue of first contact with a serious attitude. Perhaps this is to be expected from a book whose cover blurb bills that
the book is being published to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of
Roswell, the Mecca for UFO and conspiracy theorists alike. In fact, although
the stories may not be serious, they are, for the most part
well-written. The anthology opens with Kristine Kathryn Rusch's story
of a low-key alien invasion in a remote Oregonian coastal town, one of
the more serious stories, although it only lightly touches on the issue
of how a non-tabloid journalist, in this case a New York Times
reporter, would deal with knowledge of aliens on earth. Josepha Sherman's "A Game of Mehan" explains the existence of the
pyramids. Although Sherman's Imhotep, vizier to Pharoah Djoser, is a
relatively interesting and intelligent character, Azarak, the alien is
so hopelessly inept, the story comes off as a simple demonstration of
why humans are more intelligent than aliens. Gary Braunbeck's "Kite People"
is only a borderline first contact story and tends to ramble, quite a feat
for a 7-page short story. Dean Wesley Smith's entry seems almost to be
more about the illicit thrills of looking up a neigbor's skirt than
actually meeting aliens. Unfortunately, with company like these, the good stories, such as
Rusch's or Marc Bilgrey's "Random Acts" tend to get lost among the
chaff. This is unfortunate because by the time the reader reaches
these more serious stories, they have come to expect the light-hearted
escapism of stories like Gordon Eklund's "Flying Objects (Unidentified)." There is nothing wrong with writing light stories. Escapism certainly
has its place. I would, perhaps suggest, that a steady diet of escapism,
even a diet as short as 316 pages is a little too much at one time. Dip
into anthologies like First Contact, but use them as punctuation
for stories, both novels and short stories, which have a little more
substance to them.
Steven H Silver is one of the founders and judges for the Sidewise Award for Alternate History. He sits on concoms for Windycon, Chicon 2000 and Clavius in 2001 and is co-chair of Picnicon 1998. Steven will be serving as the Programming Chairman for Chicon 2000. In addition to maintaining several bibliographies and the Harry Turtledove website, Steven is trying to get his short stories published and has recently finished his first novel. He lives at home with his wife and 3200 books. He is available for convention panels. |
If you find any errors, typos or other stuff worth mentioning,
please send it to editor@sfsite.com.
Copyright © 1996-2014 SF Site All Rights Reserved Worldwide