Review of 'Worlds Apart'

Worlds Apart by Amabel William-Ellis, and Mably Owen

This anthology features some of the big Science Fiction authors of it's day. It contains the following stories:

• Doctor (Murray Leinster) - A doctor on the starship “Star Queen” realizes a mysterious plague has somehow escaped quarantine and landed on his ship.
• Consider Her Ways (John Wyndham) - A woman wakes up in a future where men no longer exist and women reproduce via parthenogenesis. The society finds talk of her society disturbing as she debates…
• An Eye for a What? (Damon Knight) - Humans unsuccessfully attempt to negotiate with an alien species whose notion of justice is completely unfathomable.
• Captivity (Zenna Henderson) - A teacher attempts to understand a mysterious other-worldly student.
• O'Mara's Orphan (James White) - A man struggles to determine what is wrong with a massive alien baby that has fallen into his care.
• Number Ten Q Street (Helen McCloy) - In a mono-chromatic world of consumerism and bland cuisine a woman strives for illicit flavours at Number 10, Q street…
• Infra Draconis (G. Gurevich) - Space travellers arrive unprepared at a planet of water.
• The Enormous Room (H.L. Gold and Robert Krepps) - A group of people find themselves prisoners in a building that is inside a massive room where they are subject to the whims of giants.
• Last and First Men (Olaf Stapledon) - A disturbing vision of the future of mankind who choose to become machines…with the so-called flesh-based “Third Men” their slaves.
• The Anarchist (Douglas Fawcett) - An anarchist wrecks destruction on the planet from an airship as a man braves the chaos to rescue those he cares about.

Though more than 50 years old, I found these stories quite easy to read and, surprisingly, not terribly dated. They are all very easy to read and despite the thickness of the book, it is quite a short read. The book is full of ideas which was quite common of the SF of the era with less of a focus on people (note the casual sexism throughout).

The story that I particularly remember is “The Enormous Room” as it is quite a puzzle figuring out exactly what is going on (though the ending is, perhaps, a bit disappointing). “Last and First Men” by the master SF author Olaf Stapledon I found much like reading a history which, of course, was Stapledon's intent but it was quite a bit dry though quite interesting. “The Anarchist” felt to me a lot like something that Verne would have written with echoes of Robur the Conqueror (or "The Clipper of the Clouds"), complete with misguided anarchist in both…

Easy to read and featuring some big names in classic SF, “Worlds Apart” is worth a look.

Rating: “Really good but I have some issues”

Review Date: 2025-09-27

Genre: Science Fiction

Publisher: Blackie

Publication Date: 1966