A collection of the short fiction of Robert Sheckley, all of which appeared in the science fiction magazines of the 1950s. None are particularly memorable; all have some kind of twist, sometimes quite predictable, and a tone of wry humour.

The eponymous story is probably the weakest. It uses the idea, novel at the time, of a race where the prize is an acre of land in an overpopulated Earth. The goal is to reach the land registry office in New York which is supposedly a densely packed criminal underworld - as per the 1970s 'Escape to New York' starring Kurt Russell - but in the event is more like a pantomine landscape complete with heart-of-gold bandit chief's daughters. The final twist is probably the best part of the story.

One of the better stories, 'Restricted Area', tips over into fantasy but is quite amusing. There are three connected tales concerning the misadventures of two old friends who have set up a planetary decontamination business: two stories are about what happens when one of them buys an odd alien gadget, and the last is how they set out to decontaminate a planet which has a reputation for ghosts. Overall, a 2-star rating as nothing held my interest very well. ( )

Indeholder "The People Trap", "The Victim from Space", "Shall We Have a Little Talk?", "Restricted Area", "The Odour of Thought", "The Necessary Thing", "Redfern's Labyrinth", "Proof of the Pudding", "The Laxian Key", "The Last Weapon", "Fishing Season", "Dreamworld", "Diplomatic Immunity", "Ghost V".

"The People Trap" handler om kapløb om jord i en overbefolket verden.
"The Victim from Space" handler om ???
"Shall We Have a Little Talk?" handler om en sprogspecialist der møder et sjovt sprog.
"Restricted Area" handler om ???
"The Odour of Thought" handler om ???
"The Necessary Thing" handler om ???
"Redfern's Labyrinth" handler om ???
"Proof of the Pudding" handler om ???
"The Laxian Key" handler om ???
"The Last Weapon" handler om ???
"Fishing Season" handler om ???
"Dreamworld" handler om ???
"Diplomatic Immunity" handler om ???
"Ghost V" handler om barndommens spøgelser. ( )

This is vintage Sheckley, and I personally find his work from the 50s and 60s to be consistently fun and entertaining (something I can't always say of his later work). These are stories that are well written and often full of witty, dry humor delivered with a wink--but don't expect characters to leap off the pages at you, or any probing of the profound. Aliens tend to look like, act like, and be capable of having relations with people from Earth.

My favorites were "Proof of the Pudding," a story that could have come off as sexist, but was really rather touching instead; "The Odor of Thought," the tale of an insterstellar mailman stranded on a planet populated by telepathic predators; "Fishing Season" which tells of a housing track where people are going mysteriously missing; the haunted planet tale "Ghost V"; "The Victim from Space" about a clueless spacefarer who ingratiates himself with planetary natives with a dark secret; "Shall We Have a Little Talk?" in which a capitalist explorer tries to trick the natives; "The Petrified World" about a man who lives in a world where everything is constantly changing; and "The People Trap" a sort of precursor tale to "The Running Man." In fact, the only tale in this collection that left me disappointed was "Redfern's Labyrinth" a sort of Borgesian excercise in metatext that didn't really work for me. ( )

A collection of short stories...the title piece and "The Laxian Key" being the ones I remember at this time.
• The People Trap • (1968)
28 • The Victim from Space • (1957)
48 • Shall We Have a Little Talk? • (1965)
75 • Restricted Area • (1953)
93 • The Odour of Thought • (1953)(aka The Odor of Thought)
106 • The Necessary Thing • (1955)
119 • Redfern's Labyrinth • (1968)
125 • Proof of the Pudding • (1952)
134 • The Laxian Key • (1954)
146 • The Last Weapon • (1953)
156 • Fishing Season • (1953)
172 • Dreamworld • (1968)
183 • Diplomatic Immunity • (1953)
205 • Ghost V • (1954) ( )

Short note: the cover art on the Pan paperback (UK) (both impressions) is a rework of Chris Foss' first piece of sf artwork, originally produced for an article in the Sunday Times colour supplement in 1969. ( )