The Wind from the Sun: Stories of the Space Age

A solid collection of Clarke's short story output during the 1960s. As a collection, it's not as solid as The Nine Billion Names of God, which was more of a "best of" collection; nonetheless, it's a lot of fun to read through, and nicely demonstrates Clarke's skill at sci-fi, whether it's epic in scope or even light and fun. There's a lot of Clarke's "stinger" stories here (stories with that closing last line that either twists everything or provides the whopper of a conclusion), and they're fun, but more impressive are some of his more luxurious, relaxed stories. The title story, for instance, details a remarkable race on solar winds, and Clarke's patience and grasp not only of pacing but also of the beauties of his world give the story a remarkable feel. The collection ends with "A Meeting with Medusa," a story that reminded me a lot of Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness" - not as a horror tale, but more as an exploration of an utterly alien land, with loving detail that truly creates an image for the reader. If you can find The Nine Billion Names of God, it's a better collection, but you could do far worse than this for a demonstration of why Clarke is such an essential name in science fiction.

The sixth collection of Clarke stories. He points out that at the rate he was writing them now, he might never have another one, and could just add the odd stray to a re-release of this volume. Not sure he wrote one since this at all, anyway, so no editing likely was needed. He again chooses to put the best story at the end, but given this is a later collection, uses the award winning 'A Meeting With Medusa' rather than The Sentinel as in several other cases. A couple of amusing joke stories here, too. A few subpar examples it seems to me in this lot, so perhaps his decline in production is related to having done all that he wanted, or had come up with, not to mention the many novel era and a move away from this style of story more, in general. Just a 3.32 average for this lot, but 'Medusa' is pretty cool. Wind from the Sun : The Food of the Gods - Arthur C. Clarke Wind from the Sun : Maelstrom II - Arthur C. Clarke Wind from the Sun : The Shining Ones - Arthur C. Clarke Wind from the Sun : The Wind from the Sun - Arthur C. Clarke Wind from the Sun : The Secret - Arthur C. Clarke Wind from the Sun : The Last Command - Arthur C. Clarke Wind from the Sun : Dial F for Frankenstein - Arthur C. Clarke Wind from the Sun : Reunion - Arthur C. Clarke Wind from the Sun : Playback - Arthur C. Clarke Wind from the Sun : The Light of Darkness - Arthur C. Clarke Wind from the Sun : The Longest Science-Fiction Story Ever Told - Arthur C. Clarke Wind from the Sun : Love That Universe - Arthur C. Clarke Wind from the Sun : Crusade - Arthur C. Clarke Wind from the Sun : The Cruel Sky - Arthur C. Clarke Wind from the Sun : The Neutron Tide - Arthur C. Clarke Wind from the Sun : Transit of Earth - Arthur C. Clarke Wind from the Sun : A Meeting with Medusa - Arthur C. Clarke Making synthetics. 3 out of 5 Cheap travel solution floating pickup. 4 out of 5 Giant squid scientists. 3.5 out of 5 Seven to the fore in this stairsailor space race. 3.5 out of 5 Lunar life extension upset. 3.5 out of 5 No point blowing anything else up. 2.5 out of 5 Phone exchange Is Alive. 3.5 out of 5 We can fix you, pasty boys. 2.5 out of 5 Regressing memory. 2.5 out of 5 African tyrant blinding. 3.5 out of 5 Recursive rejection. 4 out of 5 Talking to the Galactic Core. 3 out of 5 Metal life condition investigation. 3 out of 5 Levitator mountain climb escape. 3.5 out of 5 Battlecruiser crushing groaner. 3.5 out of 5 Marsnaut's useful ending. 3.5 out of 5 Jovian airship's robojock first contact radio days. 4 out of 5 3.5 out of 5

Clarke's stories are an examination of how people will deal with future technologies. They are largely open ended and create a scene around the science, a framework into which the reader can immerse himself. It's a very unique style, and one that can take getting used to. The overall effect is very wistful.The stories here cover sailboat racing (aluminum sails in the solar wind); marooned ships (after launching from the Moon); voyages of discovery to Jupiter, using fusion powered hot air balloons. This is classic SF from a master, showing us how different things will be regardless of which direction the future takes, while the human factors will remain the same. Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose...These stories are quick, thought-provoking and not burdened with angst or attempts at deep meaning. They are stories of people living their lives, or dying, against backgrounds somewhat familiar and strikingly strange. Every student of classic SF should have this in their library.

Although it's not Arthur C. Clarke's best short story collection, there are some good stories here. A lot of them are merely harmless, playful ditties that Clarke probably had some fun coming up with (The Food of The Gods, Love That Universe, Dial F For Frankenstein, The Longest Science-Fiction Story Ever Told, Herbert George Morley Robert Wells, esq., etc.) that don't, perhaps, have that much lasting literary value, but they are still ACC, and good. A lot of these stories are notable and fun to read due to their surprise endings. You will marvel at Clarke's ability to do this. Some of the best cuts from this book include the title story (which has launched quite a scientific following), Reunion, and the multitple award-winning novella A Meeting With Medusa which is an undeniable Clarke classic that almost makes the book worth buying on it's merit alone. A Clarke fan will want to own this book.

I love to read a good short story. My favorite is the type where the end is so surprising that it changes your point of view about the entire story. A second reading shows the story in a totally different light. This book is filled with such stories, and is a rare pleasure to read.