The Golden Helix

by Theodore Sturgeon

Tells the stories of colonists traveling to another star, a dying astronaut, a man who is obsessed with the news, a telepath who has amnesia, and alien invaders

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Collections

335 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Theodore Sturgeon (1918–1985) is considered one of the godfathers of contemporary science fiction and dark fantasy. The author of numerous acclaimed short stories and novels, among them the classics More Than Human, Venus Plus X, and To Marry Medusa, Sturgeon also wrote for television and holds among his credits two episodes of the original 1960s Star Trek series, for which he created the Vulcan mating ritual and the expression "Live long and prosper." He is also credited as the inspiration for Kurt Vonnegut's recurring fictional character Kilgore Trout.

Sturgeon is the recipient of the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, and the International Fantasy Award. In 2000, he was posthumously honored with a World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Golden Helix is a collection of nine stories (and one short essay which isn't really worthwhile) by Sturgeon that was published in 1979, but the stories all originally appeared in the 1940s and '50s. Most of them had been previously anthologized but I believe had never been included in one of his collections. It has two novellas, the title story from true pulp magazine Thrilling Wonder Stories and one called "...and my fear is great..." from Beyond, an early-'50s fantasy companion title to Galaxy. The book includes two delightful stories from Unknown magazine from 1941, The Ultimate Egoist and Yesterday was Monday. My two favorites are from F & SF magazine, The Man Who Lost the Sea and And Now the News, which was heavily influenced by Robert A. Heinlein. Also of note are The Skills of Xanadu from Galaxy and The Clinic from Frederik Pohl's Star anthology series. The final story is a chilly little fantasy from a 1953 issue of Fantastic called The Dark Room. Sturgeon included an interesting introduction as well as brief introductory notes to each story. It's a varied and somewhat uneven selection, but overall excellent stuff... the caviar pun applies.

[Baal Of · Rating 3 out of 5]

The tile track The Golden Helix had me thinking for that perhaps I was finally starting to get Sturgeon, similar to the way I responded towards the opening story of the previous collection I read. This story was clever without being smug, and while I had a pretty decent guess from near the bgeinning of what happened to cause them to end up on a world completely different from the one they expected, my guess about who made it happen was off. But then, Sturgeon is never one to explain, rather he likes to imply. I found the characters in this story to have a nicely varied reaction to the situation and I liked that they changed over time in very different ways as well. And the world itself along with the mystery were in the realm of the kind of SF I like, even if the ending is stand Sturgeon-style face-first smack into the mud.

The next couple stories were decent, with one ending having me groaning, and the other snarfing.

And then he unloaded The Clinic which I absolutely hated. After stepping back and thinking about it for a day, I have come around more to appreciate the point I think he was trying to make (there can be no certainty because Sturgeon is always coy). So first off I have a knee-jerk reaction against the introduction of telepathy into any SF/F book mainy because I think it's overused, tired, and lazy, much like time-travel. However this story was written something like 70 years ago, so maybe I can give it a break. I can concede that maybe someone who has lost their telepathy would talk like an idiot, but I think that if they were actually as intelligent as cliamed by every fucking character, they would eventually improve. Not for Sturgeon, and I think that's really what I hated about that story. That and the fact that Sturgeon comes across, as so damn smug all the time, realizing that is my personal interpretation / reaction to the way he writes.

The next few stories were mostly what I now expect from Sturgeon - fascinating ideas presented in a way that rubs my fur backwards. The one I liked best was the one which he wrote in a deliberately different style to his usual, and while I agree with his own assessment that the main character was not at all likeable, he was at least more interesting than some of the others. I also liked The Dark Room except for the typical crappy Sturgeon ending.
The final little fable was shit.

So overall, wildly inconsistent, occasionally irritating, but not boring.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some great five star stories in here.

There are other stories that didn’t make any sense to me.

When Sturgeon is great, he’s a force of nature.

[Thom Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's Ted Sturgeon. 'Nough said.

[Tom Britz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story collection from one of science fiction's finest writers is a solid 4, maybe a 4.5. Each and every story had its moments of beautiful writing, even those one or two stories that I didn't particularly care for. Theodore Sturgeon writes from the heart and is quite capable of taking you along for the ride. In my eyes he is as good at making the common place seem strange and the strange seem commonplace as Ray Bradbury ever was.

[Isaac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic classic sci-fi. This is a fine collection of short stories by Sturgeon, with an introduction by the author to each piece. I'm not sure I could pinpoint a theme that is common throughout the stories, but that's not surprising or a detriment as these span his career. In general, I would say the locus of Sturgeon's stories is human interconnection.

This collection ranges from the poignant ("The Golden Helix") to tongue-in-cheek ("Yesterday was Monday") to horror ("The Dark Room").

[Michael Norwitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A selection of varied stories from Sturgeon, unfortunately not his best. The science is often nonsense, and his humanism, while well-intentioned, doesn't quite meet current expectations in this stock of stories from the 1950s.

One curious tale, "Yesterday was Monday," could have been the inspiration for The Truman Show.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

More like "Twilight Zone" stories. Only about three stories that involve space or space travel/other planets.

[Ernest Hogan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kids, you really should remember Theodore Sturgeon, along with Philip K. Dick, Ray Bradbury, and Kurt Vonnegut. This collection includes the masterpiece, "The Man Who Lost the Sea."

[Jennie Stanhope · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn’t finish this book. Found it while on vacation and thought I would ‘give science fiction a try’ Not for me.

[Keith Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Theodore Sturgeon's short stories are as much psychological fiction as science fiction, but then psychology is also a science of a sort. Most of the stories in this collection are from the 1950's, and a few have not aged well, but some like "The Man Who Lost the Sea" are among Sturgeon's best.

[Lyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deceptively brilliant

[Thom Dunn]

My Review: Ted Sturgeon collection of short stories. What's not to love ?

[Tlaloc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic sci-fi, a wonderful little compilation. The title story itself, The Golden Helix, ranks as one of my all-time favourite short sci-fi works

[William Freedman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uneven anthology, but I see why the man is so influential.

[Ruby Hollyberry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Opened it up in the middle and read one story: "...And his Fear was Great" I think was the title. Pretty interesting but nothing so wise as Heinlein.

[David Ivester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liked it.

[Ron · Rating 2 out of 5]

A collection of short stories - just ok.

[Sven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic SF anthology by great author. "The Skills of Xanadu" is excellent!