These four-and-twenty stories, though not by any means of equal merit, reach, on the whole, a good level of excellence. "The Chemistry of Anarchy" is in particular a capital tale. A young man entangles himself in some Anarchist plots, and is delivered by a scientific friend who finally frightens the revolu- tionists out of their wits. Somewhat resembling this is "A New Explosive." The recipient of a terrible secret thinks it best that secret and inventor should disappear together...
Mike Kenscott is having a really bad vacation. One minute he's camping in the Sierra Mountains with his brother Andy, and the next minute he's on a different world. Now he's Adric, Lord of the Crimson Tower, of the Rainbow City of Narabedla. He has to cope with his fellow Narabedlans: the Dreamer Rhys, the mysterious veiled Gamine, the dwarf Idris, his brother Evarin the Toymaker (whose Toys are deadly), and Karamy, the golden witch, who is either his lover or his greatest enemy...
Orson Walters is an Andriod (who prefers the term "mechanical human) is going for his first job and needs to stand out among the other robot applicants. Will his creator Joe's advice help him?
Six hundred lightyears away, a dying civilization cries out in desperation. On Earth, a small band of faithful missionaries commit to bringing reproductive technologies and the Christian gospel. But, piracy taints the mission and the self-sacrificing soldiers of God are trapped—until one is smuggled back to Earth. Kita and Molly react to the commission with polar responses—one goes, one stays. When Kita mysteriously returns sterile and claims things that are impossible, Molly goes undercover.
It is rumored that technology might eliminate many useless items from our regulated life of the future--including good, old-fashioned sex. However, let's kibitz for a moment.
That he was a phony Swami was beyond doubt. That he was a genuine prophet, though, seemed. but then, what's the difference between a dictator and a true prophet? So was he....
