SPECTRUM IV

Starting off with some pleasant patter (taped) between the authors and C.S. Lewis, this collection launches into fifteen diversified stories, most of which are well above average while several seem to be vying for the far-outsmanship award. Among the latter (and winner) is The Secrets Song's by Fritz Leiber...there's rhythm but the lyrics are incomprehensible. Representing the best however is one of the most macabre pieces in the medium- A Planet Named Shayol by Cordwainer Smith; an exploration of life among the robots in John Wyndham's Compassion Circuit; man's inhumanity to ? in The Large Ant and a one page stunner- The Choice by Wayland Young. Mostly marvelous.