The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories

THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR DEATH AND OTHER STORIES AND OTHER STORIES (yes, it's supposed to be titled that way), first published in 1980, is Gene Wolfe's first collection of short stories. It brings together 14 works published in the 1970's, some of which originally appeared in Damon Knight's "Orbit" anthologies. Like with any collection of short stories it ranges widely, but the volume does contain some of Wolfe's finest pieces.The first story in this book may make the reader wonder why exactly Wolfe receives so much praise, for "The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories" (1970) is a very immature work, an unconvincingly written tale of child whose love of pulp adventure magazines helps him escape a broken home. The next story, "Alien Stones", dates from two years later and shows a dramatic improvement in Wolfe's writing. On the surface it appears to be about a spaceship crew exploring an abandoned alien vessel, but under the surface hints at a darker story. Wolfe, like Larry Niven in his 60's hard science-fiction works, unfortunately underestimates the progress of technology---his spacecraft's computer uses CRT's and manual switches---and his far-future female character seems suspiciously like a stereotypical ditz of the early 1970's. Nonetheless, the strong storytelling and intricate plot more than make up for this."Three Fingers" is a short diversion, an exhibition of Wolfe's droll sense of humour. "Tracking Song" is another of the high points of the volume, the chronicle of a journey on a frozen world where humanity has evolved into myriad diverse forms. The narration is reminiscent of Wolfe's first great novel, THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS.If this collection begins with Wolfe's weakest story, it ends with one of his best. "Seven American Nights" is the record of an Iranian visiting a bizarre post-apocalyptic America for less than honourable purposes, an ironic reversal of the phenomenon of 60's hippies visiting the Middle East for drug tourism. The novella contains the hallmarks of Wolfe's finest writing: unreliable narration, casual revelations, fantastic world-building, the perpetual feeling that the reader isn't getting the whole story, and an ending that shows that all the plot's secrets were really right there in the text all along. This is a powerful work, and it is worth buying the entire collection just for it.While perhaps not ideal for the reader who hasn't read anything but Wolfe yet, this is an excellent work to turn to next if you enjoyed one of his accessible works like The Book of the New Sun, PEACE, or THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS.

This collection is one of Wolfe's best, if not the best. It contains only classics and is a great place for those new to Wolfe to begin. These stories were written mostly in the 70's when Wolfe was writing a lot of short fiction for Damon Knight's Orbit anthos, and many of these pieces come from there. It begins with the title story, a story of a young man whose only escape from his horrible life is comics. But with Wolfe, there is much more than that beneath the surface."Alien Stones" is Wolfe's take on Star Trek, if you can imagine that. You don't have to, for it is here. This one I did not like at first. But when I read it again months later, I loved it."The Hero as Werewolf" is an inside-out, upside-down horror story set in the not-so-distant future. It is also utter genius."Three Fingers" is like a bad acid trip inside a Disney character's head. Lingers long after reading..."Tracking Song" is like reading a mixture of Greek and Norse myth. It feels familiar in many ways, but you will never guess what's next. A powerful and well-written story that is even better the second time."The Toy Theater" is Wolfe at his absolute best. Each and every word in this story is important. If you don't gasp at some point while reading, then maybe you aren't human, hm?"Seven American Nights" takes place not so long from now in the USA. We haven't fared well at all. This one is told through the eyes of a young man from Iran, a country which is now a major power in the story. An absolute must-read whether you like SF or no. Wolfe's depiction of the US in as little as 50-75 years is perhaps the most chilling I have ever read. Not to mention the story is a mystery that will have you up all night solving it. Absolutely amazing.I know I didn't list every story, but I could have. They are all equally great. If you buy one collection this year, buy this one. And that's all for me.

You can't go wrong buying a Gene Wolfe book. Whether you're reading it for the first or the fifth time, there will be something new to discover or recontextualize. This is his first collection of short stories and contains some of his best. They're a bit slippery; once you think you have a grasp of what's going on, it slips out of your fingers into something more bizarre or profound. This book is fantastic in every sense of the word.

A friend had sent me an interview with Mr. Wolfe which claimed that he is one of the greatest writers of Science Fiction still among us. As a lover of science fiction I decided to pick up this collection of his works and sample the goods so to speak. Like any collection of short stories not every single story appealed to me in exactly the same way. While I did enjoy some of them (and I must confess to some of the stories being excellent in the sense that once read they lodge themselves into the imagination and never leave it) some are harder to finish then the others (I haven't finished The Eyeflash Miracles). The stories that made me glad I bought the book were: Le Befana. The Hero as Werwolf, Seven American Nights, and the Island of Doctor Death.However, these stories are from the 1970's and while they are good they do seem a little old fashioned by now. These stories did not make me want to go out there and buy all other books by Wolfe BUT I don't feel as if I wasted my time or money either. So, if you love Sci-Fi and don't mind trying on something which you might really love, go ahead. For younger readers or readers who are looking for a page turner, beware, this book is written in a very different way then what you might associate with sci-fi.

Like eating mushrooms for those who prefer not to have the after effects but want to see the weird and wonderful. A brilliant imagination. Writes the way I wish I could. He’s just plain odd.

The stories are are good, though they're uneven in their quality.I gave this 4 stars because of a curious artifact in the printing. If you look closely at the pages of the book, you can notice small black pixels in the "white" space on the page. This makes the whole page appear a slightly grey colour, and makes the text a bit less distinct to read. This doesn't seem to have been done on purpose, and comes across as some type of error in printing. The text is still totally readable, it just isn't nice.