I miss Mike Resnick, who died three years ago. He was a writer with serious themes, a passion for African culture, deep knowledge of science fiction history, and a wry sense of humor. As an editor, he had a keen eye for new talent and found creative ways to put together thematic anthologies. Robert J. Sawyer, for example, got early encouragement from him.
Resnick’s 1994 novella, Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge, won the Nebula, the Hugo, and a raft of smaller awards. Millennia after galaxy-spanning humanity has gone extinct, a team of alien archaeologists visit Olduvai Gorge to study how such an aggressive race got its start. The small naked apes, they discover, were often self-destructive yet easy to underestimate.
To Mike, I present four old skulls with strangely similar damage. ( )

The anti-Campbellian point was interesting and worth making, but depressing as all get out. I don't care for depressing SF.

The main narrative, including the various alien characters, really seemed just a framework to hold the vignettes. Disappointing.


Suggested in conjunction with [b:The Creature from Cleveland Depths|7042379|The Creature from Cleveland Depths|Fritz Leiber|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347797698s/7042379.jpg|7270914] ( )

I enjoyed it. It was fun.

Strange that this may be the first thing that I have read by this prolific author.

This novella won a Hugo and a Nebula. Having noted that, the writing is a bit stiff, not always surefooted, in the way that many SF writers can and do get away with-prose that is serviceable but not delicious. I feel like the plot elements are all in place but some are just too I-don't-know-what...plug and play? I guess I feel like all the elements are in place for what could have been, in different hands, the right hands, a sublime story.

Also, the author ended the story one line too late for me. That last line fell like a very loud wind instrument blatting on the last note of a symphony. ( )

I really like this look at mankind through the eyes of an alien archaeology team. ( )

A rather dismal portrayal of hominids. ( )