Review: 24 Shorts and 1 Megastory
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 3, 2012
This is the fourth Science Fiction Megapack, following the success of the first three volumes,The Science Fiction Megapack: 25 Modern & Classic Tales by Masters,The Second Science Fiction MegapackandThe Third Science Fiction Megapack.  These 24 stories and one book-length megastory are from science fiction's golden age.One way to get a feel for the collection while investing a minimum of time is to read the five shortest stories.  It may also be satisfying to think of reading them as a protest against Harry Harrison's "Sense of Obligation" which occupies 25% of the book without providing 25% of the enjoyment.  C'mon editor--as with skirts and jail sentences, short is best.  With that in mind, here are the shortest:E. C. Tubb's "Food for Friendship" finds two spacemen stranded on a planet where food is scarce.  They are looking for a way off-planet.  And they keep thinking about their stomachs.*Kurt Vonnegut's "The Big Trip Up Yonder" shows how an increased lifespan can keep families together longer.Cynthia Ward's "Regenesis" explores the scientific, religious, and artistic implications of a new human ability to grow new body parts.James Stewart's "Plato's Bastards" follows a man as he goes about his business while those about him are losing theirs.In David Grinnel's "Top Secret" a Good Samaritan helps a stranger to his feet and is left trying to explain a strange impression.Most of these stories are enjoyable, although they exhibit the signs of "out of date" science and off-target predictions about the future that is now our present.  But it is entertaining to view the universe through the assumptions of the past.  The collection is a fairly good one.  Not great, but good.  It is worth a buck and some of your time.Satisfied readers may wish continue the Megapack series with the next volume,The Fifth Science Fiction Megapack.--*I'll point out in passing that the contrast between his short, simple, brevity-invoking first name and his long, hard-to-spell last name is much like the contrast between the true short stories in this collection and the single lengthy, hard-to-get-through megastory from Mr. Harrison.  Just sayin'...