Vectors

by Charles Sheffield

A collection of Sheffield’s short stories, written from 1977 to 1979.


Contents:

• What Song the Sirens Sang
• Introduction
• Fixed Price War
• Marconi, Mattin, Maxwell
• Power Failure
• Killing Vector
• Dinsdale Dissent
• We Hold These Truths to Be Self-Evident
• Skystalk
• How to Build a Beanstalk
• Transition Team
• Bounded in a Nutshell
• The Long Chance
• The Treasure of Odirex
• The Dalmatian of Faust

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

432 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 1, 1979

About the author

Charles A. Sheffield (June 25, 1935 – November 2, 2002), was an English-born mathematician, physicist and science fiction author. He had been a President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and of the American Astronomical Society.

His novel The Web Between the Worlds, featuring the construction of a space elevator, was published almost simultaneously with Arthur C. Clarke's novel about that very same subject, The Fountains of Paradise, a coincidence that amused them both.

For some years he was the chief scientist of Earth Satellite Corporation, a company analysing remote sensing satellite data. This resulted in many technical papers and two popular non-fiction books, Earthwatch and Man on Earth, both collections of false colour and enhanced images of Earth from space.

He won the Nebula and Hugo awards for his novelette "Georgia on My Mind" and the 1992 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for his novel Brother to Dragons.

Sheffield was Toastmaster at BucConeer, the 1998 World Science Fiction Convention in Baltimore.

He had been writing a column for the Baen Books web site; his last column concerned the discovery of the brain tumour that led to his death.

He was married to writer Nancy Kress.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good collection of Sheffield's short fiction (and one essay: How to Build a Beanstalk) from the late 1970s. It includes several stories that are part of series such as his Darwin, MacAndrew, and Burmeister/Carver stories. (The latter are especially amusing.) Sheffield wrote good, hard-sf, in the tradition of Hal Clement, and always leaves the reader with the idea they've been educated as well as entertained. As his career progressed he wrote more and more at the novel length, but these earlier stories demonstrate his ability to focus on one interesting concept and explore the consequences of it to a well-drawn cast of characters.

[Peter Tillman · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of Sheffield's better collections. ToC from http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?5...
Story ratings by memory. It's been awhile. Might be time for a reread? Free samples at Baen. Links still work 2/2/20.

First published in 1979. My, how time flies! Sheffield's best work was at short lengths, I think. His best stories have aged well.

1 • What Song the Sirens Sang • (1977) • short story, http://www.baen.com/Chapters/97816182...
18 • Fixed Price War • [Merle Walters • 1] • (1978) • short story *** http://www.baen.com/Chapters/97816182...
39 • Marconi, Mattin, Maxwell • [Burmeister and Carver • 1] • (1977) • short story, http://www.baen.com/Chapters/97816182...
59 • Power Failure • (1978) • novelette
104 • Killing Vector • [McAndrew Chronicles • 1] • (1978) • short story ****
Online at http://www.baen.com/Chapters/06715785...
130 • Dinsdale Dissents • [Burmeister and Carver • 4] • (1977) • short story
147 • We Hold These Truths to Be Self-Evident • (1977) • novelette
185 • Skystalk • (1979) • novelette by Charles Sheffield
214 • How to Build a Beanstalk • (1979) • essay by Charles Sheffield
243 • Transition Team • (1978) • novelette by Charles Sheffield
273 • Bounded in a Nutshell • [Merle Walters • 2] • (1978) • short story
303 • The Long Chance • (1977) • novelette by Charles Sheffield
334 • The Treasure of Odirex • [Erasmus Darwin] • (1978) • novella by Charles Sheffield
409 • The Dalmatian of Faust • [Burmeister and Carver • 6] • (1978) • short story *****. This might be my fave of the Waldo Burmeister Martian misadventures.