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Isaac's Universe #3
Isaac's Universe Volume Three: Unnatural Diplomacy
As human beings acquire spaceflight, they must enter into an uneasy alliance with the galaxy's elite races in a collection of stories by Karen Haber, Janet Kagan, Rebecca Ore, Harry Turtledove, and others.
258 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 1, 1992
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About the author
Martin H. Greenberg
909 books161 followersMartin Harry Greenberg was an American academic and speculative fiction anthologist. In all, he compiled 1,298 anthologies and commissioned over 8,200 original short stories. He founded Tekno Books, a packager of more than 2000 published books. In addition, he was a co-founder of the Sci-Fi Channel.
For the 1950s anthologist and publisher of Gnome Press, see Martin Greenberg.
For the 1950s anthologist and publisher of Gnome Press, see Martin Greenberg.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 19, 2024
One of the grand works of SF! Isaac Asimov's shared universe concentration executed by some of the great SF writers & edited by Martin Greenberg.
I particularly enjoyed rereading this because I rediscovered a favorite from my youth that I didn't remember until it got to the scene of the handicapped heroine being elected God to handle a crisis. This was the story Fighting Words by Janet Kagan, & I have to say looking for this book is worth it solely for that story, although the others are also very good.
I particularly enjoyed rereading this because I rediscovered a favorite from my youth that I didn't remember until it got to the scene of the handicapped heroine being elected God to handle a crisis. This was the story Fighting Words by Janet Kagan, & I have to say looking for this book is worth it solely for that story, although the others are also very good.
February 20, 2025
I found this book on one of my library shelves and read it in a few days. Eight short stories about 6 sentient civilizations in the universe. I was disappointed they were not written by Isaac Asimov. The introduction by Robert Silverberg was helpful. For me it got off to a good start. I enjoyed the perspective and the imagination of these writers. For me it got bogged down in the middle stories and I could not stay with the longer short stories. And got back into the two at the end. All by different writers. . I might have enjoyed them more if I had read the first two books of short stories. Not a new book - 1992
January 14, 2024
1st Avon Bk July 1992 258 pg
cover ill Martin Andrews
Robert Silverberg ed and intro
Some info about the authors.
Hard science fiction. 7 chapters by 7 authors. There are 6 intelligent races in the universe and their interactions, behavior, and unique communications problems. Just so-so story lines. Confusing characters with the typical weird names, and one exceptionally long tediously boring story by Hal Clement. For hard science fans only.
cover ill Martin Andrews
Robert Silverberg ed and intro
Some info about the authors.
Hard science fiction. 7 chapters by 7 authors. There are 6 intelligent races in the universe and their interactions, behavior, and unique communications problems. Just so-so story lines. Confusing characters with the typical weird names, and one exceptionally long tediously boring story by Hal Clement. For hard science fans only.
July 16, 2013
Overall another good short story collection. More like 3.5 stars than 4. The first two stories, Breakups and One Man's Meat, seemed familiar to me but I'm pretty sure I haven't read this volume before. They were also probably the two strongest stories. Fighting Words and Eyeball Vectors were also good, just not as compelling as their counterparts in previous volumes. Unnatural Diplomacy wasn't bad, either. Liquid Assets was my least favorite.
Breakups by Harry Turtledove was good little story revolving around an artifact discovered in space. We Finally get to meet the Samians! At last, we find out something about the Samians other than they simply look like a big block. It's not a whole lot more, but it's a start.
One Man's Meat by Lawrence Watt-Evans was about a robot used to infiltrate a foreign society when previous attempts using living beings failed.
Fighting Words by Janet Kagan was the follow up to vol. 2's Winging It. Now, there are two Crotonite embassies on LostRoses, but one is in trouble with the homeworld for having undesirables on staff. This causes a crisis for the citizens of LostRoses. Not as emotional as Winging It, but still good.
Water of Life by George Alec Effinger was about a Cephalonian that crashlanded on another planet and it's struggle to get rescued. This involved not just the physical necessities needed to escape to safety, but the moral dilemma of using other intelligent life forms as a resource.
Eyeball Vectors by Hal Clement is the follow up to Phases in Chaos in Volume 2. This time the Cedars are with two Cephalonians caught in a situation in which they need to figure a way to escape, but for which they don't have enough power/speed, and no communications equipment to call for help.
Liquid Assets by Rebecca Ore is about smuggling by an interspecies group. Not my favorite story, it just didn't grab my attention.
Unnatural Diplomacy by Karen Haber revolves around a Crotonian ambassador who goes off the deep end. An interesting take on the stresses of the job.
The paperback version I have sat in a warehouse for twenty years and the pages were quite brittle along the top and many of them broke off. Luckily this didn't involve any of the text. There were a few spelling errors/typos throughout the book, and page 26 is missing nearly an entire line.
Breakups by Harry Turtledove was good little story revolving around an artifact discovered in space. We Finally get to meet the Samians! At last, we find out something about the Samians other than they simply look like a big block. It's not a whole lot more, but it's a start.
One Man's Meat by Lawrence Watt-Evans was about a robot used to infiltrate a foreign society when previous attempts using living beings failed.
Fighting Words by Janet Kagan was the follow up to vol. 2's Winging It. Now, there are two Crotonite embassies on LostRoses, but one is in trouble with the homeworld for having undesirables on staff. This causes a crisis for the citizens of LostRoses. Not as emotional as Winging It, but still good.
Water of Life by George Alec Effinger was about a Cephalonian that crashlanded on another planet and it's struggle to get rescued. This involved not just the physical necessities needed to escape to safety, but the moral dilemma of using other intelligent life forms as a resource.
Eyeball Vectors by Hal Clement is the follow up to Phases in Chaos in Volume 2. This time the Cedars are with two Cephalonians caught in a situation in which they need to figure a way to escape, but for which they don't have enough power/speed, and no communications equipment to call for help.
Liquid Assets by Rebecca Ore is about smuggling by an interspecies group. Not my favorite story, it just didn't grab my attention.
Unnatural Diplomacy by Karen Haber revolves around a Crotonian ambassador who goes off the deep end. An interesting take on the stresses of the job.
The paperback version I have sat in a warehouse for twenty years and the pages were quite brittle along the top and many of them broke off. Luckily this didn't involve any of the text. There were a few spelling errors/typos throughout the book, and page 26 is missing nearly an entire line.
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June 21, 2009Anthology,Science Fiction
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews