Science Fiction Bestiary

Science Fiction Bestiary by SILVERBERG, ROBERT (EDITOR). Paperback edition. ISBN: 9780440981398.

The critters are unbelievable. They look like something from the maudlin pen of a well-alcoholed cartoonist, or say Dr. Seuss on acid--the obvious generalization to be drawn from this intergalactic zoo being that the most fertile human imaginations seem limited to freaky combinations of already familiar forms. Some of the critters, enclosed here in generally superior sf stories, are Sturgeons six-legged blue Hurkle kitten that thrives on DDT & inherits the earth, Dicks mozart bird, beethoven beetle & ferocious wagner animal invented by a professor who wants to preserve civilizations highest achievement but gets savage cacophony instead, & Dicksons teddy bears whove never been to earth but dress & talk like TV cowboys. Most chilling are the brainless all-purpose critters of Simaks "Drop Dead," who bring human visitors the immortality they seek by ironically transforming them into similarly insensate ecosystems. Funniest is Bretnors "The Gnurrs Come from the Voodwork Out," in which the tootling by a little old cuckoo clock foreman on his musical secret weapon summons from the 4th dimension millions of voracious little animals who rapidly consume the enemys trousers. Least successful are stories like Schmitzs "Grandpa" that subordinate the exotica to deadly conventional human-interest plots. The best stick to their business of ingenious speculation, which should enthrall addicts but probably wont hook any dabblers.--Kirkus (edited)