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Stellar #4
Stellar #4: Science Fiction Stories
Stellar #4. The fourth in the Stellar anthology series. Stellar Science Fiction short stories. Delightfully entertaining science-fiction short stories, written by the stars of the field. Science Fiction in the grand tradition. Stories to read and enjoy. Boasting a truly stellar list of contributors, a story collection that guarantees you hours of mind-spinning entertainment. A good collection of "good old fashioned SF stories", that have more-or-less stood the test of time, designed to counter-balance some of the weird, pretentious New Wave SF anthologies...being good old-fashioned stories that are fun to read.
Contents;
* We Who Stole the Dream (1978) / novelette by James Tiptree, Jr.
* Animal Lover (1978) / novella by Stephen R. Donaldson
* Snake Eyes [Pip & Flinx • 5] (1978) / novelette by Alan Dean Foster
* The Last Decision (1978) / novelette by Ben Bova
* The Deimos Plague [Burmeister and Carver • 2] (1978) / short story by Charles Sheffield
* Assassin (1978) / novelette by James P. Hogan
* About the Authors (Stellar #4) • essay by Ediitor
.
Contents;
* We Who Stole the Dream (1978) / novelette by James Tiptree, Jr.
* Animal Lover (1978) / novella by Stephen R. Donaldson
* Snake Eyes [Pip & Flinx • 5] (1978) / novelette by Alan Dean Foster
* The Last Decision (1978) / novelette by Ben Bova
* The Deimos Plague [Burmeister and Carver • 2] (1978) / short story by Charles Sheffield
* Assassin (1978) / novelette by James P. Hogan
* About the Authors (Stellar #4) • essay by Ediitor
.
243 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 11, 2021
This is fourth volume of the original anthology series edited by Judy Lynn Benjamin del Rey in which her stated goal was to present old-time sense-of-wonder stories with the character depth and literary quality of the New Wave movement. I didn't think this one was as strong as the earlier volumes I'd read; the authors seemed to be limited to those strongly associated with the publisher and there wasn't as much range in the stories. I liked the Flinx story by Alan Dean Foster particularly, and the ones from Ben Bova and Charles Sheffield were enjoyable.
Want to Read
October 5, 2023Contains the stories:
We Who Stole The Dream by James Tiptree Jr. - 4/5 - aliens steal a spaceship to escape human oppressors
Animal Lover by Stephen R. Donaldson
Snake Eyes by Alan Dean Foster
The Last Decision by Ben Bova
The Deimos Plague by Charles Sheffield
Assassin by James P. Hogan
We Who Stole The Dream by James Tiptree Jr. - 4/5 - aliens steal a spaceship to escape human oppressors
Animal Lover by Stephen R. Donaldson
Snake Eyes by Alan Dean Foster
The Last Decision by Ben Bova
The Deimos Plague by Charles Sheffield
Assassin by James P. Hogan
July 9, 2023
RATED 100% POSITIVE.
STORY SCORE 4.3 OF 5
6 STORIES : 2 GREAT / 4 GOOD / 0 AVERAGE / 0 POOR / 0 DNF
It is that rarest of all things on this blog, a 100% positive anthology. It is certainly easier with only 6 stories, but it is high risk as well. Only 1 poor story can get you down to an 83%
The Stellar Science Fiction Anthology series published original short stories in seven volumes between 1974 and 1981. I was able to grab the entire series - plus the volume of “short novels - for a song on eBay recently.
The series was envisaged as a follow-up to Star Science Fiction Stories ed Frederik Pohl 1953-1959, also published by Ballantine. However, Stellar, while entertaining, concentrated more on straightforward adventure, with the emphasis on Hard SF, and less on the Satire typical of Pohl's series
-The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
I jumped into Stellar 4 first for two reasons. 1) The stories were all published in my birth year; I’ve tried magazines from 1978 with poor results and was hopeful for something better. (IASFM 57%, Galaxy 75%). 2) A recommendation from the Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Short Fiction Group on Facebook for the Tiptree story that “haunted me for years.” They weren’t wrong.
Two Stories Join the Best of All Time List: https://www.shortsf.com/beststories
We Who Stole the Dream • novelette by James Tiptree, Jr. A brutally brilliant story about oppression, liberation, sacrifice, and a shockingly clear perspective on the nature of humanity. An alien race makes horrendous sacrifices to escape from the barbaric Terran colonizers and return home to their people, but aren’t prepared for what they learn.
The Last Decision • novelette by Ben Bova. The elderly Emperor of the Hundred Worlds has to decide if he is going to take the advice of a young female science with an original plan to save the old backwater planet of Earth. Wonderful examine of courtly intrigue and political tradecraft. Enthralling stuff.
***
We Who Stole the Dream • novelette by James Tiptree, Jr.
Great. A brutally brilliant story about oppression, liberation, sacrifice, and a shockingly clear perspective on the nature of humanity. An alien race makes horrendous sacrifices to escape from the barbaric Terran colonizers and return home to their people, but aren’t prepared for what they learn.
Animal Lover • novella by Stephen R. Donaldson
Good. A police cyborg who loves animals is sent to investigate a hunting preserve that is resulting in the deaths of more hunters than prey. A long, fun, and enjoyable novella.
Snake Eyes • [Pip & Flinx • 5] • novelette by Alan Dean Foster
Good. A prospector has discovered a batch of stones that look like a human eye and are going to make him rich. But only if he can survive the onslaught of criminals, aliens, and animals that want to take it from him. Vibes of the old west.
The Last Decision • novelette by Ben Bova
Great. The elderly Emperor of the Hundred Worlds has to decide if he is going to take the advice of a young female science with an original plan to save the old backwater planet of Earth. Wonderful examine of courtly intrigue and political tradecraft. Enthralling stuff.
The Deimos Plague • short story by Charles Sheffield
Good. A man has to get off planet quickly or die. He ends up sleeping among the pigs that are being transported in the spaceship. When the rest of the crew start to sicken and die, he must try to complete the transport without falling sick himself.
Assassin • novelette by James P. Hogan
Good. A brilliant assassin is nearing the crucial moment of a plan that was 10 years in the making. He is going to kill a defector from the Martian Federation to Earth. Things seem to be going too easily.
STORY SCORE 4.3 OF 5
6 STORIES : 2 GREAT / 4 GOOD / 0 AVERAGE / 0 POOR / 0 DNF
It is that rarest of all things on this blog, a 100% positive anthology. It is certainly easier with only 6 stories, but it is high risk as well. Only 1 poor story can get you down to an 83%
The Stellar Science Fiction Anthology series published original short stories in seven volumes between 1974 and 1981. I was able to grab the entire series - plus the volume of “short novels - for a song on eBay recently.
The series was envisaged as a follow-up to Star Science Fiction Stories ed Frederik Pohl 1953-1959, also published by Ballantine. However, Stellar, while entertaining, concentrated more on straightforward adventure, with the emphasis on Hard SF, and less on the Satire typical of Pohl's series
-The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
I jumped into Stellar 4 first for two reasons. 1) The stories were all published in my birth year; I’ve tried magazines from 1978 with poor results and was hopeful for something better. (IASFM 57%, Galaxy 75%). 2) A recommendation from the Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Short Fiction Group on Facebook for the Tiptree story that “haunted me for years.” They weren’t wrong.
Two Stories Join the Best of All Time List: https://www.shortsf.com/beststories
We Who Stole the Dream • novelette by James Tiptree, Jr. A brutally brilliant story about oppression, liberation, sacrifice, and a shockingly clear perspective on the nature of humanity. An alien race makes horrendous sacrifices to escape from the barbaric Terran colonizers and return home to their people, but aren’t prepared for what they learn.
The Last Decision • novelette by Ben Bova. The elderly Emperor of the Hundred Worlds has to decide if he is going to take the advice of a young female science with an original plan to save the old backwater planet of Earth. Wonderful examine of courtly intrigue and political tradecraft. Enthralling stuff.
***
We Who Stole the Dream • novelette by James Tiptree, Jr.
Great. A brutally brilliant story about oppression, liberation, sacrifice, and a shockingly clear perspective on the nature of humanity. An alien race makes horrendous sacrifices to escape from the barbaric Terran colonizers and return home to their people, but aren’t prepared for what they learn.
Animal Lover • novella by Stephen R. Donaldson
Good. A police cyborg who loves animals is sent to investigate a hunting preserve that is resulting in the deaths of more hunters than prey. A long, fun, and enjoyable novella.
Snake Eyes • [Pip & Flinx • 5] • novelette by Alan Dean Foster
Good. A prospector has discovered a batch of stones that look like a human eye and are going to make him rich. But only if he can survive the onslaught of criminals, aliens, and animals that want to take it from him. Vibes of the old west.
The Last Decision • novelette by Ben Bova
Great. The elderly Emperor of the Hundred Worlds has to decide if he is going to take the advice of a young female science with an original plan to save the old backwater planet of Earth. Wonderful examine of courtly intrigue and political tradecraft. Enthralling stuff.
The Deimos Plague • short story by Charles Sheffield
Good. A man has to get off planet quickly or die. He ends up sleeping among the pigs that are being transported in the spaceship. When the rest of the crew start to sicken and die, he must try to complete the transport without falling sick himself.
Assassin • novelette by James P. Hogan
Good. A brilliant assassin is nearing the crucial moment of a plan that was 10 years in the making. He is going to kill a defector from the Martian Federation to Earth. Things seem to be going too easily.
December 28, 2020
Really enjoyed everything in here, but Animal Lover is the most stupid fun I’ve had reading a short story/novella in a long time
March 2, 2026
We Who Stole the Dream
James Tiptree Jr.
James Tiptree Jr. is actually Alice Sheldon, an experimental psychologist and writer.
We Who Stole the Dream is a very thinly veiled transposition of the transatlantic chattel slavery trade across an intergalactic canvas, complete with pidgin-English-speaking slaves. The story is unimaginative and trite, relying on shallow characterizations and heavy-handed metaphors. I found this story to be a little like driving in a brad nail with a twenty-five-pound hammer. Slavery is bad and dehumanizes people — what a novel take. There is no point in writing a thesis-driven work of fiction; just tell us what you want to tell us and save me some time.
1 / 5 stars. Stupid made-up names, a transparent narrative, and nothing remotely interesting.
⸻
Animal Lover
Stephen R. Donaldson
Interesting because the speculative fiction database has it first published about 10 years later than this version, so this edition might be different since it’s so early — or it might just be a clerical error. After reading We Who Stole the Dream, I thought that Animal Lover was going to be another cheesy and slightly gross story, but it was not. It is great. The tone is a little wavy since it starts off more hard-boiled and noir and ends as action-adventure, but I love the world that was built using so little exposition.
It’s set in 2011 (lol), and in that future the economy has gotten so bad that the government has legalized marijuana and volunteer death-race racing to pacify the masses. Hunting has been reserved for the ultra-rich and takes place on reserves. One of these reserves has had 45 casualties in the past year, which is a crazy number, so a local cyborg detective goes to check it out.
They lead with “they’re hunting people!” but quickly take a left turn into “the animals have been genetically altered to use M-16s and grenades and have been vivisected with human hands to pull the trigger.” Stellar twist. 10/10, no notes.
This short story occurred early in Stephen R. Donaldson’s career, and it read like it, but the story overall is great. He has written A LOT, so I will keep an eye out for his name next time I am at a book sale.
⸻
Snake Eyes
Alan Dean Foster
I could not read this. Too many made-up names, nothing grounded in anything resembling reality, so I’m not sure how they can call it science fiction if it’s just completely make-believe. I read about four paragraphs and was repulsed.
⸻
The Last Decision
Ben Bova
On the surface, it was kind of a boring story. It’s about whether an intergalactic civilization chooses to save Earth or not, despite Earth being relatively primitive, but the themes were very relevant. There is a ruling class that takes rejuvenation treatments to always stay young, and they’re not willing to make the sacrifices needed to progress society.
I thought that was really poignant and relevant to today, with a lot of people trying to enter the workforce but not being able to because an older generation is selfishly “holding onto” their jobs or careers. The story has an interesting element where the emperor of the civilization is not allowed to take rejuvenation drugs, with the idea being that if a generation doesn’t die out, you’re not going to have any kind of progress. But all of his counselors vote against taking action to save Earth because they wouldn’t see the benefits in their lifetime.
The story and writing were average but not boring, and the themes were really, really good.
⸻
The Deimos Plague
Charles Sheffield
Short, fun story with clever, albeit a little bit clunky, writing. I liked this one as well. It’s about a fugitive lawyer who alters his identity and takes a one-way trip to Mars, and everyone on the ship falls ill with a mysterious disease. He’s in charge of watching over two pigs that will eventually be the protein supply for Mars once they have babies and breed, and it all comes together nicely at the end, which I really appreciate.
⸻
Assassin
James P. Hogan
This story starts off tedious, which I think is kind of a symptom of the subject matter, and because it’s only a short story, I’m OK reading 120 pages of tedious procedural material. But when it switches up and you get the twist, which is then compounded by two more twists, it does get very interesting, and it makes me want to read more short stories by James P. Hogan.
I’ve heard his name before, so I know he’s an established author, but I don’t know if I could do 300 pages if it’s not as fast-paced as the ending of this story. This would be my second favorite one behind Animal Lover, and I think it was probably the best written.
James Tiptree Jr.
James Tiptree Jr. is actually Alice Sheldon, an experimental psychologist and writer.
We Who Stole the Dream is a very thinly veiled transposition of the transatlantic chattel slavery trade across an intergalactic canvas, complete with pidgin-English-speaking slaves. The story is unimaginative and trite, relying on shallow characterizations and heavy-handed metaphors. I found this story to be a little like driving in a brad nail with a twenty-five-pound hammer. Slavery is bad and dehumanizes people — what a novel take. There is no point in writing a thesis-driven work of fiction; just tell us what you want to tell us and save me some time.
1 / 5 stars. Stupid made-up names, a transparent narrative, and nothing remotely interesting.
⸻
Animal Lover
Stephen R. Donaldson
Interesting because the speculative fiction database has it first published about 10 years later than this version, so this edition might be different since it’s so early — or it might just be a clerical error. After reading We Who Stole the Dream, I thought that Animal Lover was going to be another cheesy and slightly gross story, but it was not. It is great. The tone is a little wavy since it starts off more hard-boiled and noir and ends as action-adventure, but I love the world that was built using so little exposition.
It’s set in 2011 (lol), and in that future the economy has gotten so bad that the government has legalized marijuana and volunteer death-race racing to pacify the masses. Hunting has been reserved for the ultra-rich and takes place on reserves. One of these reserves has had 45 casualties in the past year, which is a crazy number, so a local cyborg detective goes to check it out.
They lead with “they’re hunting people!” but quickly take a left turn into “the animals have been genetically altered to use M-16s and grenades and have been vivisected with human hands to pull the trigger.” Stellar twist. 10/10, no notes.
This short story occurred early in Stephen R. Donaldson’s career, and it read like it, but the story overall is great. He has written A LOT, so I will keep an eye out for his name next time I am at a book sale.
⸻
Snake Eyes
Alan Dean Foster
I could not read this. Too many made-up names, nothing grounded in anything resembling reality, so I’m not sure how they can call it science fiction if it’s just completely make-believe. I read about four paragraphs and was repulsed.
⸻
The Last Decision
Ben Bova
On the surface, it was kind of a boring story. It’s about whether an intergalactic civilization chooses to save Earth or not, despite Earth being relatively primitive, but the themes were very relevant. There is a ruling class that takes rejuvenation treatments to always stay young, and they’re not willing to make the sacrifices needed to progress society.
I thought that was really poignant and relevant to today, with a lot of people trying to enter the workforce but not being able to because an older generation is selfishly “holding onto” their jobs or careers. The story has an interesting element where the emperor of the civilization is not allowed to take rejuvenation drugs, with the idea being that if a generation doesn’t die out, you’re not going to have any kind of progress. But all of his counselors vote against taking action to save Earth because they wouldn’t see the benefits in their lifetime.
The story and writing were average but not boring, and the themes were really, really good.
⸻
The Deimos Plague
Charles Sheffield
Short, fun story with clever, albeit a little bit clunky, writing. I liked this one as well. It’s about a fugitive lawyer who alters his identity and takes a one-way trip to Mars, and everyone on the ship falls ill with a mysterious disease. He’s in charge of watching over two pigs that will eventually be the protein supply for Mars once they have babies and breed, and it all comes together nicely at the end, which I really appreciate.
⸻
Assassin
James P. Hogan
This story starts off tedious, which I think is kind of a symptom of the subject matter, and because it’s only a short story, I’m OK reading 120 pages of tedious procedural material. But when it switches up and you get the twist, which is then compounded by two more twists, it does get very interesting, and it makes me want to read more short stories by James P. Hogan.
I’ve heard his name before, so I know he’s an established author, but I don’t know if I could do 300 pages if it’s not as fast-paced as the ending of this story. This would be my second favorite one behind Animal Lover, and I think it was probably the best written.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 11, 2022
Classic Science fiction. A slim volume, and worth reading just for the Bove piece, really.
October 16, 2014
The stories in this collection are wide-ranging in mood and style: from the non-stop violent action of Animal Lover, to the tongue-in-cheek humor of The Deimos Plague, to the amazing plot twists in The Assassin, to the ethereal beauty and optimism of The Last Decision, one of the best short stories I have read in ANY genre. A thoroughly enjoyable collection.
Read
August 9, 2011an interesting collection; the cover story is actually one in which humans are the brutal oppressors, and the aliens are the victims turned victors...only to learn that their race, too, is more than merely innocent.
June 30, 2009
A collection edited by Judy-Lynne del Rey, fourth wife of Lester del Rey and co-founder of Del Rey Books. Fair. Nothing very special.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews