Grecia Vidal Vidal itibaren Znada, Fas itibaren Znada, Fas

I've only read a couple of the stories within these page, but really... good stuff so far! (Edit: after the first two stories, this read "great stuff!") Looking forward to reading the rest of it. I'll try to write short reviews of the stories as I read them, starting at the beginning, of course. Oh, and it might be worth noting that each of these stories start with a short introduction by Niven himself. We are talking... very short, but still, nice to have. Becalmed in Hell (13 pages) is, as far as I see it, a hard science fiction story about an intelligent ship which may or may not have some psychological problems. I am not a hard sci-fi fan, but there was something strangely appealing about this story although I am sure that most of the ideas were probably lost on me. I liked it. (3 stars) Bordered in Black (19 pages) is what I'd call a sci-fi horror story, yet, it wasn't as horrific as I would have liked. There is, however, a nice little revelation by the end! (That I had seen coming, but still nice) I am not sure, though, that I would ever sent a spaceship into unknown space with only two crewmembers... seems too risky. It had potential for more horror, which would have made it a 4 star story. (3 stars) Neutron Star (18 pages) is the story of a neutron star (not entirely sure what this is, though), a dead couple and a man named Shaeffer who was forced to risk his life for money. It has a few elements of hard science fiction, which my brain finds it hard to understand (being a linguist more than a science nerd), but also has a human aspect that I liked. (2.5 stars) All the Myriad Ways (9 pages) might be "just another parallel univers" story, as Niven calls it, but I really like it. It involves a series of strange deaths and suicides, as well as the Crosstime technology, that allows one to pass into a parallel univers where something is changed (there are essentially trillions of these). This idea could easily have been expanded into a short novel. Recommended. (3.5 stars) The Flight of the Horse (14 pages) is a time travel story in which a man is sent back in time to bring... a horse. Yeah, you could have probably guessed this from the title. The whole time travel aspect is only covered briefly, because this story is all about the twists at the end. I was amused, certainly, but its honestly not all that interesting. This is not hard science fiction, merely a watery light version. (2 stars)

One of Bukowski's favorite books. I loved it, when you put it down for the last time you'll really appreciate Fante's style. The impact of this book didn't hit me until I finished it. Really fast paced and personal.