Gods and Golems

by Lester del Rey

Gods and Golems

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction

246 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Lester del Rey was an American science fiction author and editor. Del Rey is especially famous for his juvenile novels such as those which are part of the Winston Science Fiction series, and for Del Rey Books, the fantasy and science fiction branch of Ballantine Books edited by Lester del Rey and his fourth wife Judy-Lynn del Rey.

Also published as:
Philip St. John
Eric van Lihn
Erik van Lhin
Kenneth Wright
Edson McCann (with Frederik Pohl)

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice collection of five novellas originally published from 1952-1964. Though he was known primarily as one of John W. Campbell's golden age Astounding authors, only one of these appeared in that magazine. The other four are from Galaxy, Fantastic Universe, Space Science Fiction (you've got to love those 1950s magazine names!), and Pohl's Star anthology series. Vengeance is Mine is a good robot story, and For I Am a Jealous People is an interesting look at religion. del Rey always provided a thoughtful read.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit dated. Too much telepathy, religion, etc. The first story is exactly to my taste, the next-to-last is brilliant, the writing is solid, the sexism is not too bad....

I really appreciate the concise scene-setting and world-building of classic SF:
"The Sepelora crawled along at her maximum eighty light years an hour, as she had done for the four months since she'd left the university planet of Terra."
From that one opening sentence we know that 1. it's Terra, not Earth, that 2. Earth is still inhabited, but more as a preserve, 3. that humans still value learning, 4. that we still measure things in light years, hours, months, 5. that we have FTL travel but it's not instantaneous like wormholes or jumps, 6. that 80 LY/Hr is slow, and that ships have interesting names. (Sepelora actually has a diacritical over the first 'e' and I can't figure out what it means; can you?)

Anyway, I don't particularly recommend the book, but if you're a fan of classic SF, and can readily find a copy, 'Vengeance is Mine' and 'For I am a Jealous People!,' at least, are worth reading.

[Tyan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first story in this book was wonderful. It followed the growth and mental development of robot who is abandoned by Man in a time of war. The story follows this robot as he starts reading fiction and how it affects his view of the world. Lovely, wonderful, and entertaining. After reading this story I figured I was in for a great read.

Sadly I was disappointed. None of the other stories even came close to the first one. The people were all crazy, aliens were all the epitome of evil, and none of the other characters had much development. I couldn't even finish the last story it was so annoying.

If you have a copy lying around read the first story and skip the rest.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good, definitely some old-school sensibilities on display. I enjoyed Vengeance is Mine and For I Am a Jealous People! quite a bit, Pursuit and Life Watch less so. Interesting author and stories though, and certain moments elevated the whole.

[Clay · Rating 4 out of 5]

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