The Lighter Side

KLIATT - Liz LaValley; Independent Reviewer, Mattapoisett, MA
This collection of whimsical stories highlights human behavior through science. A good example is Goobereality, about the employee of a vast megacorp who invents an Environmental Simulator. His plan is to allow historians to reconstruct crime scenes and fill in major events in history from available data. Instead, the CEO appropriates his machine for use as yet another advertising tool to determine consumer trends. When things go hideously wrong, he improvises an entertaining solution to save the world. The Queue bitingly explores what happens among people who wait years in a paperwork line and what a descendant does with his free time once he reaches the Window. The Body Builders is an early argument on the drawbacks of living through virtual reality. The Devil You Don't presents a flustered Satan seeking help in ridding Hell of an alien invasion. Of particular contemporary relevance is The Planet Wreckers, a reality-TV program run by extraterrestrials, who set off natural disasters to achieve high ratings for an interstellar entertainment program. Earth's only defense is a single employee of the interstellar Game & Wildlife Service, which puts the humans in the position of the spotted owl! Published between 1964 and 1970, the stories have the George and Judy Jetson flavor of early SF and may be a bit too wordy for teen readers, but the social themes still strike sparks. Category: Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror. KLIATT Codes: SA-Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults.