| Date: 14 April 2011, 05:17
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Of the 12 short stories herein, only 1 is a Pip & Flinx story, although others share the Humanx Commonwealth universe. Foster provides a short introduction for each, discussing the story's genesis, as well as an introduction for the entire book. The cover art for this edition is from "Wu-Ling's Folly" - not Pip, in other words.
"Swamp Planet Christmas" (1976) A series of e-mail messages, mostly between a little girl writing to Santa Claus and a government computer across the galaxy, this snafu tale is intended to be in the style of Eric Frank Russell (one of Foster's idols; I recommend his NEXT OF KIN).
"Snake Eyes" (1978) - The only Pip & Flinx story in this volume, set between THE END OF THE MATTER and FLINX IN FLUX.
"Bystander" (1978) Chapman was dispatched as sole crew on the rescue ship sent to evacuate the Abraxis colony to escape its flare-prone star. He's just a backup to the tertiary backups, so when the ship awakens him early, he is himself in mortal peril. As if the upcoming freak flare weren't enough, a mysterious Dhabian spacecraft is pacing his ship - those aliens who ordinarily refuse to have anything to do with humanity.
"What Do the Simple Folk Do?" (1979) Picture a future in which "plot it yourself" stories are mixed with first-class medical technology, where network execs argue that viewers expect realism to include *real* damage - after all, what are actors being paid for? No joke when one's ratings slip...
"Gift of a Useless Man" (1979) Lilliputian overtones here. When Peterson, fleeing for his life, crashed on the tiny planetoid, he was left paralyzed as well as hopelessly stranded. But when a tiny, telepathic alien befriends him, he becomes far more valuable than he ever was in his old life...
"Surfeit" (1982) A Humanx Commonwealth story, although not involving Pip and Flinx, but rather the Monsters of Dis - the dream of surfers across the galaxy.
"The Dark Light Girl" (1981) Haskell Wells decided to take the back country roads from L.A. to Dallas, seeing the untouched part of the country while changing jobs to another newspaper. Now he's seeing more of it than he bargained for, stranded for a day in Agua Caliente, New Mexico by a torn-up tire until the mechanic can get another from the next town...
"Instant with Loud Voices" (1982) Twenty years of hard work - continual design improvements integrated into the growing system - have gone into making DISRA the biggest and best computer in the world, and for 6 years it's been able to solve problems from earthquake to crop failure. The world depends on it - but it has weaknesses that no simpler system can have, and its creator is preparing to ask a dangerous question...
"Communication" (1981) Earth is about to have its first contact with aliens, wish to deal a single world leader, based on their analysis of Earth's communication broadcasts, who seems more popular and durable than any other. Who will it turn out to be?
"The Last Run" (1982) Bill "the Wisp" Switch is a genius at souping up engines, and gets a kick out of street racing (where a mere 150 mph isn't worth the gasoline it costs). But after Wisp defeated a Lambourgini and a Ferrari one night, a new challenger offered him the chance of a lifetime.
"Wu-Ling's Folly" (1982) The old West's gold was bound to attract a dragon or two - hard luck on the Butterfield stagecoach line, in a world that doesn't believe in dragons. Fortunately, "Mad Amos" Malone makes a living solving unusual problems. (See Foster's short story collection MAD AMOS for more of the character.)
"Village of the Chosen" (1983) Harvey Vickers has spent 20 years in Africa for UPI, and while he's been in worse places than Mogadishu, recording the endless cycle of devastation has burned him out. Until he collides with a woman in the street - knocking her veil off to reveal a face as exquisite as an emerald, and about the same color...
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