Continuum 4

Continuum #4

by Roger Elwood (Editor), Poul Anderson (Contributor), Philip José Farmer (Contributor)

CONTINUUM 4 is the climactic volume in a unique anthology series in which eight world builders, among the greatest authors of the genre, have created their own universes to which they have returned in each story.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Anthologies

186 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 1976

About the author

Roger Elwood was an American science fiction writer and editor, perhaps best known for having edited a large number of anthologies and collections for a variety of publishers in the early 1970s. Elwood was also the founding editor of Laser Books and, in more recent years, worked in the evangelical Christian market.

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

None of these additions are likely to change anyone's mind on the quality of their respective ongoing tales. At the end of the day, I would have to select Poul Anderson's stories as my favorite of the cycle of anthologies, but the margin is narrow and I think plenty of these are worth a read. Was the experiment successful? Probably not as I haven't seen this stunt repeated, but it certainly held my interest. The experience of picking up the next volume with only a vague memory of each little world, and having that memory reignited with each story was very rewarding.

[Josh Issa · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was atrocious on many levels. Apart from the content of the stories, most of it was filled with unreadable prose in an attempt to make the worlds seem foreign. The storylines themselves were by and large terrible and problematic.

Stations of the Nightmare by Philip Jose Farmer: A dude impregnated and transformed by aliens ends up as a vessel for spreading alien babies [2/5]

To Promote the General Welfare by Poul Anderson: Libertarians arguing that immigration is bad because there could be a shift in morality from bootstrap capitalism with strong tokenism [0/5]

Caravans Unlimited by Chad Oliver: Scientists genetically modify a native population by lying to them so they would be better for exploitation [1/5]

The Armageddon Tapes - Tape IV by Thomas N. Scortia: Some guy just straight up committing genocide to purge humanity of those who join the Black Beast [-5/5]

Killashandra - Coda and Finale by Anne McCaffrey: A chilling tale of a woman shattered by hard work in the mines being exploited by a lover and the mining organization until she dies [6/5]

Thag by Gene Wolfe: An attempt at fourth wall breaking like The Neverending Story, but it sucks [2/5]

Mam Sola's House by Edgar Pangborn: An argument between a bartender, an art historian, and an archaeologist over whether women enjoy a man who is rough or tender in bed that features no resolution to the question [2/5]

Making the Connections by Barry N. Malzberg: A waste of time about a robot that kills people for no apparent reason [0/5]

[Candice Nunu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every story paled in comparison to the fact that Killashandra DIES!
I immediately searched the publishing info; as I had read the crystal singers series years ago and had no idea killashandras death hid somewhere in a short story collection
This is how I learned that this short story collection was actually created BEFORE the series was originally written. Was in fact, the initial story that spawned the series. Does that mean killas death in this book isn't Canon? Unsure, but it's intriguing to think about!

[Bill Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting conclusions to the main stories, the minor themes didn't work out so well for me. Still, all in all a good read!