The Best of Cordwainer Smith by Cordwainer Smith

He doesn't adjust, say, his metabolic levels or his cortical response away from anger, but his blood. Moreover, and this is the real trick, we get to see that without the use of jargon. When he saw the table hit the floor, and could tell by the expression on Luci's face that the table must have made a loud crash, he looked down to see if his leg were broken.' So, straight away, we see that Martel whoever he is must be deprived of direct access to senses such as hearing. He stamped across the room by judgment, not by sight. He did not even adjust his blood away from anger. So I was very curious, as I reread Smith's first published story, 'Scanners Live in Vain' (1950), to see how distinctive it remained. (I may be about to do the same.) But strangeness, like newness or transgression, is something cultures are often able to adapt too quickly.

Strangeness is, famously, the defining characteristic of Cordwainer Smith's science fiction, and a good deal of ink is expended in the introductions of the books explaining where that strangeness comes from. Strangeness, said John Gardner, is the one thing in fiction that cannot be faked. As The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith ( Gollancz 9-1, £7.99, 379pp, pb) 1999. The Best of Cordwainer Smith, Cordwainer Smith (Doubleday, 342pp, hc) 1975. Norstrilia, Cordwainer Smith (Ballantine 278pp, pb) 1975. Cordwainer Smith, 1960s The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Short Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith, Cordwainer Smith ( NESFA Press 6-0, $25.00, 672pp, hc) 1993.

The Best of Cordwainer Smith by Cordwainer Smith