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Laughs in Space
Akis Linardos, Alex McNall, Andrew Wallace, Cait Gordon, Dafydd Hopcyn-Kitchener, David Gullen, Emma Levon, Fiona Moore, Gary Couzens, Ian Watson, Ida Keogh, Iris Taylor, Laughs in Space, Lavie Tidhar, Lindsay Comer, Lindz McLeod, Marisca Pichette, Paul Eccentric, Phillip Irving, Richard Dadd, Rick Danforth, Robert Bagnall, Simon Hall
- GenresShort StoriesHumor
324 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 12, 2024
3 people are currently reading
5 people want to read
About the author
Donna Scott
12 books15 followersDonna Scott is a writer, poet, stand-up comic, and editor.
She is the BSFA-Award-winning editor of NewCon Press's Best of British Science Fiction series and founder of The Slab Press.
She is the BSFA-Award-winning editor of NewCon Press's Best of British Science Fiction series and founder of The Slab Press.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 10, 2024
[Disclaimer: I have a story, 'Sundog 4', in this anthology.]
It's great to see funny stories in the spotlight, when so often they're just popped in to lighten the mood between two Very Serious Stories that will probably win awards. There's slapstick, satire, and, of course, attempts to kill Hitler.
My favourites were Emma Levin's 'Copywrongs', 'Statement from the Prime Minister Regarding the Time Travellers' by Andrew Wallace and 'Failed Experiments in Eugenics' by Fiona Moore, which share an all too convincing exasperated-memo style.
As for my story, you might like it if you enjoy Supermarionation and horrible puns. Or you might hate it. Go find out!
It's great to see funny stories in the spotlight, when so often they're just popped in to lighten the mood between two Very Serious Stories that will probably win awards. There's slapstick, satire, and, of course, attempts to kill Hitler.
My favourites were Emma Levin's 'Copywrongs', 'Statement from the Prime Minister Regarding the Time Travellers' by Andrew Wallace and 'Failed Experiments in Eugenics' by Fiona Moore, which share an all too convincing exasperated-memo style.
As for my story, you might like it if you enjoy Supermarionation and horrible puns. Or you might hate it. Go find out!
October 14, 2024
This was another Glasgow Worldcon find. I've read other anthologies edited by Scott, so I was interested to see what she would do with the theme. I confess that I didn't recognise many of the names involved, but that didn't stop me from finding some gems.
It's an interesting collection. I was worried that the humour might be laid on too thick, but reading a few stories at a time worked well. The stories that worked best for me was where the humour was most subtle. The more farcical or where the humour was the the fore worked less well for me. So Lavie Tidhar's opening story, The Schadchen of Venus was interesting, it had the feel of an old Jewish granddad telling a tall tale, but I didn't really get on with the follow-up, Intergalactic Cultural Exchange Programme, by Akis Linardos. I don't particularly find miscommunication humour to be that funny, which was the core of this one.
Copywrongs was fun, even if I could spot the twist coming a mile off, and while Bev the Hacker Does Time wasn't subtle, it was sweet. It's a big collection, so I'm not going to go through all the stories, but while there were some that fell flat for me, I definitely think there were more hits than misses. It's an interesting idea for a themed collection, and I often think that humour in SF is a hard thing to get right. I'm glad that so many authors here were willing to give it a go.
It's an interesting collection. I was worried that the humour might be laid on too thick, but reading a few stories at a time worked well. The stories that worked best for me was where the humour was most subtle. The more farcical or where the humour was the the fore worked less well for me. So Lavie Tidhar's opening story, The Schadchen of Venus was interesting, it had the feel of an old Jewish granddad telling a tall tale, but I didn't really get on with the follow-up, Intergalactic Cultural Exchange Programme, by Akis Linardos. I don't particularly find miscommunication humour to be that funny, which was the core of this one.
Copywrongs was fun, even if I could spot the twist coming a mile off, and while Bev the Hacker Does Time wasn't subtle, it was sweet. It's a big collection, so I'm not going to go through all the stories, but while there were some that fell flat for me, I definitely think there were more hits than misses. It's an interesting idea for a themed collection, and I often think that humour in SF is a hard thing to get right. I'm glad that so many authors here were willing to give it a go.
August 5, 2025
I already know I don't have much sense of humour so feel free to ignore me when I say that most of the stories aren't very funny.
That doesn't mean they aren't good sf stories, most of them are, but after The Shadchen in Space (which is by Nahum Zweig, and is a *very* old story and which is here credited in the contents page to its editor, Lavie Tidhar--and what was there to edit, nu?) there aren't really any laughs tho there are nice twists, ironies, and observations.
What did genuinely bother me was the sexism in some of them: Watson's The Rampage of Rampant Redwood at the Ginger Girls Gala was straight from the nudge nudge wink wink school of humour; Paul Eccentric's Last Laugh seems to approve of sex tourism; Fiona Moore' Failed Experiments in Eugenics would be a lot funnier if it wasn't written in such a way as to assume Beauties can't also be Brains, or have interests outside beauty.
The Intergalactic Cultural Exchange Programme was funny in 1950. Now it feels like an SF version of Mind Your Language (a well meaning and 'hilariously' racist 1970s TV programme) and I just cringed.
Please don't rush to tell me I have no sense of humour and missed the point. You are probably dead right.
Stories I liked:
Gary Couzens, The Umami Invasion;
Philip Irving, The Lots of Us (though it was a rehash of a plot used repeatedly since the 1930s)
Statement from the Prime Minister Regarding the Time Travellers- Andrew Irving -- not really a story just a good piece of dialog.
Killing Time, by Ida Keog
That doesn't mean they aren't good sf stories, most of them are, but after The Shadchen in Space (which is by Nahum Zweig, and is a *very* old story and which is here credited in the contents page to its editor, Lavie Tidhar--and what was there to edit, nu?) there aren't really any laughs tho there are nice twists, ironies, and observations.
What did genuinely bother me was the sexism in some of them: Watson's The Rampage of Rampant Redwood at the Ginger Girls Gala was straight from the nudge nudge wink wink school of humour; Paul Eccentric's Last Laugh seems to approve of sex tourism; Fiona Moore' Failed Experiments in Eugenics would be a lot funnier if it wasn't written in such a way as to assume Beauties can't also be Brains, or have interests outside beauty.
The Intergalactic Cultural Exchange Programme was funny in 1950. Now it feels like an SF version of Mind Your Language (a well meaning and 'hilariously' racist 1970s TV programme) and I just cringed.
Please don't rush to tell me I have no sense of humour and missed the point. You are probably dead right.
Stories I liked:
Gary Couzens, The Umami Invasion;
Philip Irving, The Lots of Us (though it was a rehash of a plot used repeatedly since the 1930s)
Statement from the Prime Minister Regarding the Time Travellers- Andrew Irving -- not really a story just a good piece of dialog.
Killing Time, by Ida Keog
January 4, 2025
An absolute gem of a collection, Laughs in Space is filled with speculative stories with a hilarious bent and effective worldbuilding. The humor ranges from dry to outrageous, so I think there's something for everyone who likes comedy.
The collection starts strong with "The Schadchen of Venus," ends strong with "Killing Time," and doesn't drag in the middle. One of the middle stories, "Shelf Life," was probably my favorite.
Other favorites include "Copywrongs," "Bev the Hacker Does Time," and "Statement From the Prime Minister Regarding the Time Travellers."
The collection starts strong with "The Schadchen of Venus," ends strong with "Killing Time," and doesn't drag in the middle. One of the middle stories, "Shelf Life," was probably my favorite.
Other favorites include "Copywrongs," "Bev the Hacker Does Time," and "Statement From the Prime Minister Regarding the Time Travellers."
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews