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Most of my reading weekend, taking place while watching NFL playoff football, was taken up finishing Jeff Vandermeer’s short story collection, The Third Bear, which I will review separately. I did manage to squeeze in a few more short stories, however, that I am happy to share with you here.

1. “The Cosmic Expense Account” ~C.M. Kornbluth

—Fantasy & Science Fiction, January 1956
–8,435 words
–17 pages (in PDF format)
–8/10, Very good

“Professor Konrad Leuten, author of the bestselling book Functional Epistemology is on a dangerous mission to undo the work of one reader who has taken his theories a little too far. His defense? Stand on one leg and thumb his nose.”

With wry wit and clever storytelling, Kornbluth takes two men on a journey to discover the consequences of what can happen when just one person takes a book to heart. The story opens with two men on a train. This seemingly normal setting takes a quick turn towards the absurd when each man pulls what at first appear to be a series of pranks on the other, resulting in a strange but similar “defense”. While at first confusing, this interplay quickly takes on an important significance once the men leave the train to continue their journey by motorcar. This story is by turns comical and satirical and it ratchets up my expectations for the Best of C.M. Kornbluth collection I recently purchased at a used bookstore.

One of my favorite lines in “The Cosmic Expense Account” is “Not even my extensive experience with lady novelists had equipped me to deal with the situation.” If you are a fan of the clever wit of authors like P.G. Wodehouse, regardless of the way you feel about science fiction, I suspect you will enjoy this story.

“The Cosmic Expense Account” can be read for free online by clicking here. Choose a download format on the right hand side of the website and enjoy the fun.

This was last week’s short story choice for the Classic Science Fiction book club.
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2. “The Gun” ~Philip K. Dick

—Planet Stories, September 1952
–4,773 words
–12 pages
–4/10, Ho-hum

A crew is drawn to a distant planet by the glow of a fission reaction only to discover a world apparently devoid of life, poisoned to the point where no living thing could possibly survive. Disappointed and determined to return home, the crew flies over what might have been the ruins of a city, only to be shot down without warning. Damaged and assuming they cannot lift off after repairs without risk of being shot down again, three crew members go out to investigate and find a weapon that, to their eyes, appears to have a life all its own.

I have read and enjoyed short stories by PKD in the past, which is why I decided to pick this one out of several recent stories posted on Best Science Fiction Stories. This one was somewhat lackluster in its execution, largely because of the kind of characterization issues that are often leveled against short stories by those who are not fans of the medium. It frustrated me that the three characters who went to investigate seemed to have instant understanding of what they found without doing any real “investigation”. There was no logic in their assertions, it simply had to be that way to serve the story. And while their discoveries were interesting and the ending had a nice ‘twilight zone’ twist, it wasn’t enough to salvage a ho-hum story.

“The Gun” can be read for free at Project Gutenberg by clicking here.
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3. “What Makes the Grass Grow” ~David Monette

–posted 2010
–3,185 words
–6 pages
–7/10, Good

Pvt. Kitten Prayner, encased in the bulk of his protective battle suit, awakes confused and alone in utter darkness, trying to piece together the events that led to his current circumstances. He doesn’t have much time for contemplation, as his suit announces that visitors are coming fast–and these aren’t the kind of visitors you invite to sit down to afternoon tea.

David Monette is an illustrator and concept artist who wrote this short story, based on Robert A. Heinlein’s novel Starship Troopers, to accompany an illustration that Monette had created. I’ll admit that I often choose to pass over non-published work, partially because of the mountain of published work that I have waiting to read and partially because of stereotypical prejudices associated with the work of ‘amateurs’. Cin over at Best Science Fiction Stories felt so strongly about this story that I decided to go ahead and give it, and David Monette, a chance. She was right, there is an enjoyable story here, made all the more so by the fact that I read Heinlein’s fantastic novel earlier last year.

“What Makes the Grass Grow” could use a tweak here or there and could possibly be expanded to give the reader more time to connect with the protagonist, but given the word count and the limits of the setting, David Monette has created a character with dimension, encapsulates some very strong emotion, and tells a story that gets the blood pumping. While your overall feelings of the story may be affected by your familiarity with and feelings about Starship Troopers, I suspect that even a Heinlein virgin would see the potential here.

The story can be read free on David Monette’s blog by clicking here.
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4. “The Tunnel Under the World” ~Frederick Pohl

–Galaxy Science Fiction, 1955
–11,197 words
–23 pages
–8/10, Whoa!

He wakes up screaming.

With echoes of a dream of an explosion reverberating through his waking moments, Guy Burckhardt sets out on what should be an ordinary June 15th. Except it is anything but. Strange advertisements for products Burckhardt has never heard of tug at the edges of his awareness and he feels, deep in his bones, that the entire day is just off, somehow. This feeling grows as day turns into night. Sleep comes.

And then it is the morning of June 15th, all over again.

My final entry for this Short Story Weekend is this 1950’s novelette about a man who discovers that he is living a similar, yet different, variation of June 15th over and over and over again. Lest you think you’ve experienced this story before, in the form of the Bill Murray flick, Groundhog Day, trust me–you haven’t.

The brilliance of Frederick Pohl’s story is that it takes place entirely within its own time frame, so there is no distraction from dated references that one usually finds in classic science fiction. The 1950’s, Cold War era claustrophobia of this setting gives “The Tunnel Under the World” a palpable atmosphere that feeds the growing suspicion and paranoia that Burckhardt experiences.

This is a good one, and like the others read today can be read free online. You can find “The Tunnel Under the World” at the Project Gutenberg site by clicking here. Thanks to Best Science Fiction Stories for reviewing this one as well.
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Well, that is all for today. The playoffs have ended for this weekend and I will be continuing my short story reading, but doing so with the February 2011 issue of Asimov’s, which I will review separately once I have finished it.

I’d love to hear about what you’ve read over the weekend, be it science fiction or anything else. If you’ve posted about short stories feel free to leave a link in the comments. I hope that you all have a great week ahead, reading-wise and otherwise.

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UPDATE!!!

After visiting Jim Black’s site and reading the review of his short story selection for today, I went online to see if I could find it anywhere and discovered it listed in the Table of Contents of a book I had in my basement. So, I managed to sneak another one in today. And it was a good one!

5. “Override” ~George R.R. Martin

—Analog, September 1973
–31 pages (Nightflyers collection)
–8/10, Great story!

This GRRM novelette introduces the reader to Kabaraijian, a “corpse handler” who mines for jewels called swirlstones on the lush, quiet world of Grotto. In “Override”, the dead continue to be made useful by an unexplained method of electronic animation, which allows the controller, or handler, to maintain a cloudy psychic link with his workers while they perform menial tasks. The story opens as Kabaraijian comes to the close of a profitable work day, visiting the local bar for a bottle of wine before turning in for the night. His relaxation is cut short when a much-hated local arrives to announce that he has bought out the swirlstone mining contract and all the corpse handlers will be out of work at month’s end. Kabaraijian, a protagonist who immediately seems to the reader to be the “right sort,” awakens the next day with plans of working hard with the time that remains on his contract while trying to discover a way stay employed on Grotto. He soon discovers that working with corpses might just be a quick way to wind up dead.

“Override” begins with a languid pace that matches the mood of Kabaraijian after a hard day’s work. The pace builds beat by beat as Martin tells a story in which the reader just knows something is going to go awry, and is looking for it around every dark corner. I thoroughly enjoyed this suspenseful tale and marvel at Martin’s ability to make me like a character in such a brief amount of time. I would read more about this character if GRRM ever chose to write more stories in this universe. Sticklers may have an issue with the completely unrealistic “science” of animating corpses. I’m not a stickler. It made for an interesting premise, and an occasional cold chill up the spine if I thought to much about it.

Unfortunately I cannot find this free online anywhere. If anyone else can find it, please let me know and I’ll update the post with the link.