Shadow Show - The show of life must go on, even though one of the key actors has passed away. Bayard Lodge, Chief of Life Team 3 with psychologist Kent Forester, must figure out how to keep their play going. Much back and forth debate is given to the question of who did the dead man embody? What was his part? Just who would be missing from the group? Unfortunately, the end was predictable but it was entertaining read all the same. ( )

Indeholder "Target Generation", "Mirage", "Beachhead", "The Answers", "Retrogade Evolution", "The Fence", "Shadow Show".

"Target Generation" handler om ???
"Mirage" handler om tre mænd på Mars, som bliver lovet en stor belønning af seks marsboere, hvis de kan finde en Venerable, som er nødvendig for at marsboerne kan fortsætte slægten. Menneskene har næsten udryddet Venerables, så det er ikke nemt for Richard Webb, Wampus Smith og Lars Nelson. De to onde drager videre, men den gode belønnes. Ren indianere og cowboys fortælling.
"Beachhead" handler om et udforskningsteam, der lander på en beboet planet og for sent opdager at etellerandet nedbryder forarbejdet metal.
"The Answers" handler om ???
"Retrogade Evolution" handler om ???
"The Fence" handler om ???
"Shadow Show" handler om ???

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Not the best collection by Simak. The plot of Immigrant is too thin and obvious, Skirmish makes the strange assumption that THE average earth inhabitant would be a US citizen. Target Generation is the usual story of a starship travelling through thousand years, with all passengers believing the ship is the universe, bar one, of course: the story's hero. And generally, most of these stories end in an unassuming nirvana, that does not come across very credible. Kindergarten being a prime example of this.
Now that we have vented this, there is actually some enjoyable text too. The dense atmosphere in Mirage, with a wholly credible Mars culture that presses in unrelentingly, is marvellous and makes up for much that is too predictable in much of the other stories. And Skirmish is quite funny, in fact. Two highlights in an otherwise not too exiting context. ( )