Poul Anderson (1926–2001)

The set up here is that each contributing author has a short narrative to begin, and they must finish the story from there - the given narrative has a character going into a government administered euthanasia center and accepts his fate. But what fate? The best of the stories comes from [[Poul Anderson]], a surprise for me because I haven't otherwise enjoyed his work. Anderson takes the character through multiple, ever-changing iterations of an after-life - the purpose, to learn from these varying waters how to keep the destabilizing world on track. [[Harlan Ellison]]'s take was near undigestible altogether. The other three were passable, if a little strained for working too hard at the tasking. On balance, I expected more from these luminaries.

2 bones!!… (mer)

Humanoid aliens have conquered the Earth. They are a highly advanced, peace-loving people with a secret agenda. Our hero is one of the invaders who has been surgically modified to pass for human. His mission is to infiltrate the human resistance and act as an agent provocateur to end racism by creating a common enemy. This clever take on McCarthy-era fear of brainwashing and communist spies would have made a good Twilight Zone episode.
The cover price on the April 1951 issue of Galaxy, in which Inside Earth was a featured novella, was 25 cents. It is now free on Project Gutenberg.… (mer)