I really like this collection. These are from the 1950s and they truly fit in with the best of the stories written in the Golden Age of SF.

I had read one other book by this Northern Irish SF writer which I didn't like. I may have picked the wrong one. White was a successful novel and short story writer who had his greatest success in the late 1960s through the 1970s. His most famous books were the "Sector General" series which was about a place that provides medical treatment for aliens. He was nominated for two short story HUGOs and one of his novels was nominated for a NEBULA.

Like Arthur C. Clark his writing was generally region-less. His stories were about the future so they didn't sound English, Irish or American. This is helpful when publishing in multiple countries. ( )

I actually liked this anthology better this time around. Every story had something to recommend it.

The title of this anthology is particularly apt now, since it consists of almost a dozen stories about "the future" that were written from three to five decades into what is now our past. Of course this makes all of them dated to one degree or another, such as the discussions of room-sized computers and the like, but in most cases they are not directly about the technology anyway, but about the human factors that we have been dealing with since "technology" was a sharp rock. Things like jumping to the wrong conclusions, and overcoming your innermost fears, and making really sure you've thought things through before you make world-altering decisions. The first story, "Spacebird" ( described on the back cover ), is set in the world of White's most popular series, "Sector General," but the rest are stand alone shorts.

Including the following short stories:
"Spacebird," "Commuter," "Assisted Passage," "Curtain Call," "Boarding Party," "Patrol," "Fast Trip," "Question of Cruelty," " False Alarm," "Dynasty of One," and "Outrider."

From the back cover:
"The big birdlike creature, found floating in the vastness of space by the Scoutship Torrance, was obviously sick.

A strange -- and perhaps deadly -- rash that covered its body may well have caused the creature's companions to abandon their helpless friend.

But the crew couldn't leave the beast to die. First they would have to find a way to tow it... and then the doctors and nurses at Sector General could find a cure!" ( )

NIL