This book of short stories has some of my favorite authors (Pratchett, LeGuin, Douglass Adams), and some of the best known, most established science fiction and fantasy writers (Asimov, Philip K. Dick, Clarke, Lewis, Wells, to name just a few) yet I found it highly irritating and completely unsatisfying. I believe the editor, Haining was trying to make a compendium of every science fiction writer that had ever been considered witty or clever, which is great, but... jeeze, it was painful to read. While Haining tried to keep everything into one of three categories (roughly: Wizards, Space Operas, and Swords) the writing is so varied in tone and tempo that it was impossible to get into a story before it had ended. In most cases Haining's intro (and justification) of each of the stories/authors was as long as the story itself... And I may be a little bitter that the Pratchett piece was roughly 500 words, but... still.
Very wide range of light short stories, so everyone will probably find something just for himself. The ones that made themselves memorable for me are the following: - P. K. Dick's story about the wub's skin and its immortalizing qualities (nice choice of experimental "wubby" texts, e. g. Lucretius) - F. Austey's epic of how a lawyer transported to the world of glass ball saved the princess by defeating the dragon with rat repellent - A. Davidson's deploring the irreparable loss of the last living bog pterodactyle, by mistake devoured by an Australian food savvy
What do You think about The Wizards Of Odd (1997)?
An anthology of "humorous" science-fiction/fantasy stories. It includes "The Twonky." Because alien mind-control devices killing people is hilarious. I mean, "The Twonky" is an okay story, but it's a "comedy" only through comparison with the incredibly dull and humorless backdrop that is mainstream SF. Half of the stories here were genuinely funny, and half were just...stories told with some sardonic twist. All the stories here are from significant figures in the genre, so it serves as a good historical overview. But funny? Not so much.
—Adobe
