3.5 stars This dip into the early sci-fi works of Lester Del Rey (Volume I of II) is more a curation
than a collection. As a collection it is kinda weak. Only a few of the stories really deliver
and a couple held so little interest for me that I kept hoping a bus could pick me up and
hurry me to the end of the story (DOUBLED IN BRASS, HABIT). As a curation, it is
much more interesting. Linking the stories is a de facto memoir of the author’s early
days and how he evolved as a writer. While his stories represent what sci-fi was like in
the 30’s and early 40’s, the memoir portions of the book give a feel for the publications
of the day. There is evident growth as the writer moves from the earlier stories to the
later ones with my favorite by far appearing 2nd from the end—MY NAME IS LEGION.
This story is so good that it hints at the possibilities of Science Fiction in a way that
nearly 80 years later it still gives me hope. It uses time travel in a fashion not entirely
dissimilar than the movie LOOPER one of my favorites in recent years. REINCARNATE
and THE SMALLEST GOD are also both good but are weakened by sentimentality
especially at the end. CARILLON OF SKULLS hints at some horror story telling but
softens to Fantasy a genre for which I often have little patience. This certainly succeeds
on the level of making me want to read Volume II but also informs me that I might want
to be a little selective in reading his works overall.