What do you think?
Rate this book
A Galaxy of Strangers
Eight science fiction stories by a master of the genre.
- GenresScience Fiction
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
28 people want to read
About the author
Lloyd Biggle Jr.
131 books27 followersBiggle was born in 1923 in Waterloo, Iowa. He served in World War II as a communications sergeant in a rifle company of the 102nd Infantry Division; during the war, he was wounded twice. His second wound, a shrapnel wound in his leg received near the Elbe River at the end of the war, left him disabled for life.
After the war, Biggle resumed his education. He received an A.B. Degree with High Distinction from Wayne State University and M.M. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Michigan. Biggle taught at the University of Michigan and at Eastern Michigan University in the 1950s. He began writing professionally in 1955 and became a full-time writer with the publication of his novel, All the Colors of Darkness in 1963; he continued in the writing profession until his death.
After the war, Biggle resumed his education. He received an A.B. Degree with High Distinction from Wayne State University and M.M. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Michigan. Biggle taught at the University of Michigan and at Eastern Michigan University in the 1950s. He began writing professionally in 1955 and became a full-time writer with the publication of his novel, All the Colors of Darkness in 1963; he continued in the writing profession until his death.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 29, 2021
[Original review, Nov 8 2012]
We have been testing our online speech-enabled conversation partner, but the results are disappointing. Subjects start off feeling motivated, but they rapidly get bored. The tool still isn't engaging enough. After discussing the issues, two camps have formed.
On one side, P, a traditionalist, thinks we have to accept that learning isn't always going to be fun. We need to integrate our software into a normal language teaching curriculum and apply the normal incentives. In particular, she thinks that if students got course credits we would soon see a change of attitude. The real motivator, she argues, is sense of achievement, and course credits are the way to make that into something tangible. On the other side, we have N and C, who think we should make the app into something that's more like a game. We did an initial trial where we added some multimedia to the system; every time you did an example, you could see a video clip of N's wife speaking a similar sentence. It was as simple as could be, but in the pilot test we got three times as many people using the video-enabled version as the plain one. Now we're planning a more elaborate setup, where each turn will be a question/answer pair. The question will be on video, the student will speak the answer, and as before the app will use speech recognition to rate the student's response.
P still isn't convinced. "People just liked watching N's wife because she's hot," she complains. "It proves nothing. If she'd been wearing a bikini, you'd have got ten times as many hits, but the students wouldn't have learned more." This reminded me of something, and eventually I realized that it was And Madly Teach, the lead story in this collection, which you can read online at this page. We're in a dystopian future world where all education is done on TV and teachers are rewarded based on their viewer ratings. Here's the specific passage I recalled:
_________________________
[Update, Sep 28 2021]
The future is here. Well done Lloyd Biggle Jr, I don't think you could have called that much more accurately.
We have been testing our online speech-enabled conversation partner, but the results are disappointing. Subjects start off feeling motivated, but they rapidly get bored. The tool still isn't engaging enough. After discussing the issues, two camps have formed.
On one side, P, a traditionalist, thinks we have to accept that learning isn't always going to be fun. We need to integrate our software into a normal language teaching curriculum and apply the normal incentives. In particular, she thinks that if students got course credits we would soon see a change of attitude. The real motivator, she argues, is sense of achievement, and course credits are the way to make that into something tangible. On the other side, we have N and C, who think we should make the app into something that's more like a game. We did an initial trial where we added some multimedia to the system; every time you did an example, you could see a video clip of N's wife speaking a similar sentence. It was as simple as could be, but in the pilot test we got three times as many people using the video-enabled version as the plain one. Now we're planning a more elaborate setup, where each turn will be a question/answer pair. The question will be on video, the student will speak the answer, and as before the app will use speech recognition to rate the student's response.
P still isn't convinced. "People just liked watching N's wife because she's hot," she complains. "It proves nothing. If she'd been wearing a bikini, you'd have got ten times as many hits, but the students wouldn't have learned more." This reminded me of something, and eventually I realized that it was And Madly Teach, the lead story in this collection, which you can read online at this page. We're in a dystopian future world where all education is done on TV and teachers are rewarded based on their viewer ratings. Here's the specific passage I recalled:
At precisely two o'clock Marjorie McMillan appeared, and Miss Boltz's first horrified impression was that she was disrobing. Her shoes and stockings were piled neatly on the floor. She was in the act of unbuttoning her blouse. She glanced at the camera and recoiled in mock fright.Well, I can see P's point. Though if you speak fluent French, think you look good in a bikini, and would like to participate in some cutting-edge research on speech-enabled educational software, by all means feel free to contact us.
"What are you cats and toms doing in here?" she cooed. "I thought I was alone."
She was a trim blonde, with a flashy, brazen kind of prettiness. Her profile displayed sensational curves. She smiled, tossed her head, and started to tiptoe away.
"Oh well, as long as I'm among friends--"
The blouse came off. So did the skirt. She stood before them in an alluringly brief costume that consisted exclusively of shorts and a halter. The camera recorded its scarlet and gold colors brilliantly. She pranced about in a shuffling dance step, flicking the switch for a closeup of the blackboard as she danced past her desk.
"Time to go to work, all you cats and toms," she said. "This is called a sentence." She read aloud as she wrote on the blackboard. "The - man - ran - down - the - street. 'Ran down the street' is what the man did. We call that the predicate. Funny word, isn't it? Are you with me?"
_________________________
[Update, Sep 28 2021]
The future is here. Well done Lloyd Biggle Jr, I don't think you could have called that much more accurately.
June 17, 2012
These are the kind of sci-fi stories I really like. They are set on Earth, and hinge around something being slightly different than the norm. For example, one is about a travel agency that take people to cities where the financial system works backwards---you get paid for buying things. One is about aliens joining a pro baseball team, and one involves prisoners being forced to perform on stage. I would not say these stories are among the sci-fi greats, but all were enjoyable and I read them all very happily!
January 29, 2023
The overall ideas for the short stories are very unique, however, the actual delivery is quite flat and leaves a lot to be desired.
March 11, 2011
Grade B+. Short stories.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews