New Writings in SF - 4

New Writings in SF #4

by John Carnell

Science-Fiction

Genres: Science Fiction, Anthologies, Collections

Paperback

First published January 1, 1965

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Reviews

[Joachim Boaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75/5 (Collated rating: Vaguely Average)

Despite the presence of one of Robert Foster’s best covers (for more on his art: Part I, Part II), New Writings in SF 4, ed. John Carnell (1965) contains only a few glimmers of brilliance—concentrated in Keith Roberts’ short story “Sub-Lim” (1965), a dark tale of crooked people and subliminal stimuli. Isaac Asimov regurgitates something about a SF heist he scribbled on a napkin, Dan Morgan mumbles about alternate universes and tricycles, and Colin Kapp lectures [...]

Full review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...

[Kevin Phyland · Rating 3 out of 5]

SF-4: Normally original fiction, this issue has some reprints, but most are well worth reprinting. The
best of the original fiction is "High Eight, a tale of supernatural goings on at an electricity power station where people are mysteriously being electrocuted. The author is listed as David Stringer but it turns out it was Keith Roberts, who has another story in this volume - a light piece about subliminal advertising. The pick of the stories though is William Tenn's classic "Bernie The Faust" about a slick conman who meets a slick conman - or is it the other way round? :) The Dennis Etchison tale is a reprint of his first publication I think.

[Markos · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting mix of stories written in the 1960s. Some were very dated, but still very readable and with interesting ideas were "Sub-lim" by Keith Roberts, "Parking Problem" by Dan Morgan, "Bernie the Faust" by William Tenn and "Country of the Strong" by Dennis Etchison.

[Chynna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty hit or miss as anthologies go. I really enjoyed "Sub-lim" and "The Country of the Strong" (both horror leaning sf) as well as the more comedic "Parking Problem" and "Bernie the Faust".

[Candice · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with any volume containing a mix of different stories by a myriad of authors, some will be a hard pass for the reader and others quite enjoyable. I found this collection to fall overall into the latter category.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a shaky start, this series of books definitely improved, with some pretty decent post-golden age science fiction. Any science fiction anthology where it's possible to say that the Isaac Asimov story is arguably the weakest has something going for it. Many of the other writers were big names in sf at the time, and sadly have dropped off the radar (surely it's time for a reappraisal/revival of the work of Keith Roberts and Colin Kapp...)

[James Hurley]

Lots of classic SF here, though most of these names probably flashed for their time and faded, it's still a good feel of the pulse of SF in it's heyday. (the 1960s) Asimov is the only writer of name I noticed, and it's a good short story. This book is not heavy reading and will be done in a day if you have the 5 or 6 hours to put into it.

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very strange, but good stories. Defiantly written in the sixties.