Galactic Cluster

Galactic Cluster by James Blish, 1959

Collection of science fiction short stories. A bit tricky to assess at this point, while they contain a lot of neat ideas they're also ideas I've seen used a lot since, and in many cases a lot better. Blish is pretty good at executing a story and his prose is competent, but there's not enough humor, raw creativity or bite to his descriptions to make his short fiction stand the test of time like an Asimov or a Philip K. Dick. While I liked Blish's A Case of Conscience quite a deal, this particular anthology left me much colder, and is probably part of the reason I didn't get around to read it until four years after I bought this volume.

Still, if I was reading this in 1959 I'm sure I would have had my mind blown several times, and none of the stories stand out as bad, or even boring. I was most found of Beep. Overall, I'd say this collection was worth the look.

Similar to and better than: Fritz Leiber's Gather, Darkness!
Similar to and worse than: Isaac Asimov's The Early Asimov