Universe 7

by Terry Carr (Editor), Fritz Leiber, Brian W. Aldiss

Each volume in Terry Carr's Universe series is an eagerly awaited event in science fiction: the best new stories by famous authors and tomorrow's stars. This latest collection features:

Fritz Leiber's A Rite of Spring, a full-length novelette in which a young genius discovers an unknown cosmos;

Brian W. Aldiss's My Lady of the Psychiatric Sorrows, a tale of humanity struggling to adjust to a strange future;

R. A. Lafferty's Brain Fever Season, the wacky story of a time when everyone in the world became an Intellectual.

Plus stories of time travel, future art-forms, gremlins from another dimension, and more, by Gene Wolfe, Julian Reid, Robert Chilson, George Alec Effinger, and Carter Scholz.

Stories include: A Rite of Spring, by Fritz Leiber (nominated, 1977 Nebula Award); My Lady of the Psychiatric Sorrows, by Brian W. Aldiss; Probability Storm, by Julian Reid; People Reviews, by Robert Chilson; Ibid., by George Alec Effinger; The Marvelous Brass Chessplaying Automaton, by Gene Wolfe; Brain Fever Season, by R. A. Lafferty; The Ninth Symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven and Other Lost Songs, by Carter Scholz (nominated, 1977 Nebula Award, 1978 Hugo Award). 

Genres: Science Fiction, Anthologies, Fiction

184 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Carr was born in Grants Pass, Oregon. He attended the City College of San Francisco and the University of California, Berkeley from 1954 to 1959.

Carr discovered science fiction fandom in 1949, where he became an enthusiastic publisher of fanzines, which later helped open his way into the commercial publishing world. (He was one of the two fans responsible for the hoax fan 'Carl Brandon' after whom the Carl Brandon Society takes its name.) Despite a long career as a science fiction professional, he continued to participate as a fan until his death. He was nominated five times for Hugos for Best Fanzine (1959–1961, 1967–1968), winning in 1959, was nominated three times for Best Fan Writer (1971–1973), winning in 1973, and was Fan Guest of Honor at ConFederation in 1986.

Though he published some fiction in the early 1960s, Carr concentrated on editing. He first worked at Ace Books, establishing the Ace Science Fiction Specials series which published, among other novels, The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin and Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin.

After conflicts with Ace head Donald A. Wollheim, he worked as a freelancer. He edited an original story anthology series called Universe, and a popular series of The Best Science Fiction of the Year anthologies that ran from 1972 until his death in 1987. He also edited numerous one-off anthologies over the same time span. He was nominated for the Hugo for Best Editor thirteen times (1973–1975, 1977–1979, 1981–1987), winning twice (1985 and 1987). His win in 1985 was the first time a freelance editor had won.

Carr taught at the Clarion Workshop at Michigan State University in 1978, where his students included Richard Kadrey and Pat Murphy.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

The seventh volume of Carr's Universe series of original short speculative fiction contained eight stories. The Fritz Leiber and Carter Scholz stories are quite good, and I also enjoyed the ones written by George Alec Effinger and Robert Chilson. I don't remember the one by Julian Reid, but thought the ones by Gene Wolfe, R.A. Lafferty, and Brian W. Aldiss were representative of their distinctive styles. Universe was a consistently satisfying series.

[Cuauhtemoc · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like anthologies because they're an opportunity to sample authors prior to committing to reading a full novel. My favorite stories were "The Ninth Symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven and Other Lost Songs" by Carter Scholz, "Probability Storm" by Julian Reid, "Ibid" by George Alec Effinger. The story by R. A. Lafferty "Brain Fever Season" does not make much sense to me (Lafferty is always a 50/50 gamble).

[Timothy · Rating 3 out of 5]

8 sf stories from 1977:

*** A Rite of Spring • Fritz Leiber
** My Lady of the Psychiatric Sorrows • Brian W. Aldiss
** Probability Storm • Julian Reid
*** People Reviews • Rob Chilson
** Ibid. • George Alec Effinger
**** The Marvelous Brass Chessplaying Automaton • Gene Wolfe
** Brain Fever Season • R. A. Lafferty
*** The Ninth Symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven and Other Lost Songs • Carter Scholz

Notes:

The Wolfe story is the highlight - one of his, say, top 20 stories ... Unfortunately, the quirky and humorous stories - Leiber, Reid, Lafferty - overstay their welcome and get tiresome

[Ben · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mostly unrealized potential or complete lack of potential with the exception of the Gene Wolfe story, which was, as you'd expect, quite good.

[Richp · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a better than average SF collection, between 3 and 4 stars. The stories are typical for the time, 1977. The better stories make this worth reading for any SF fan.

[Richard Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some pretty good stuff here.