The Metallic Muse
The Metallic Muse is a collection of science fiction stories by Lloyd Biggle, Jr., published in hardcover by Doubleday Books in 1972. It was reprinted in paperback by DAW Books in 1973. Contents. "Orphan of the Void" was originally published as "The Man Who Wasn't Home." Reception. Theodore Sturgeon noted that Biggle's stories "are usually constructed around an idea or solution withheld until the punchline. . . . a valid technique, except where the reader gets to the punchline first."