The Forest on the Asteroid
by Robert Sheckley, Fantasy & Science Fiction (April 2004), 62-71.
Latter career Sheckley, in which the once illustrious writer has dispensed with ‘story’ in any meaningful sense and is more or less just rambling, though with SF trappings and what seems an (unintentionally ironic) authorial ‘how to’ guide woven into the narrative.
A Suppliant in Space
by Robert Sheckley, Galaxy (November 1973), 42-61.
A slight novelette in terms of content (Sheckley takes aim at hidebound military bureaucracy), but couched in sufficient irreverence to make it worthwhile. The alien Detringer, thoroughly untroubled by his exile for ‘acts of incredible grossness’, typifies Sheckley’s casually transgressive, off-the-wall shadings.
The Monsters
by Robert Sheckley
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March 1953; reprinted in “Perilous Planets” ed. Brian Aldiss (Futura, 1980), 104-114.
A slight tale, which Sheckley narrates from the casually parochial perspective of non-human protagonists, thus making the serious point that ‘humanity’ (or ‘normalcy’ in general) is very much species-centric. The prose is suitably lighthearted, the species differences artfully whimsical in their extremity.
Human Man’s Burden
by Robert Sheckley, Galaxy Science Fiction (September, 1956)
reprinted 12 Great Classics of Science Fiction, ed. Groff Conklin (Fawcett, 1963), pp. 57-71.
A disarming little story that, in setting itself up as a comedy, appears to make one point about men, women and the human condition, switches as if to make another, then turns out to have been about robot sentience and master/slave dynamics.
All the Things You Are
by Robert Sheckley, Galaxy (July 1956); UK edition no. 42 (September 1956), 118-128.
A humorous if inconsequential short story from that once-thriving SF subgenre wherein civilised Earth crews in their technologically advanced ships go rocketing about the galaxy, abjectly messing up first contact with more primitive peoples. Funny enough, without rising to any great heights.
Hands Off
by Robert Sheckley
Galaxy Science Fiction (April, 1954); UK No. 18 (September, 1954), pp. 54-63.
SF novelette offering a two-pronged narrative, following the actions firstly of an unscrupulous human pirate crew, and secondly of the principled alien whose near-totally incompatible physical makeup renders it impossible for them to steal his spaceship. A whimsical, waggish tale of comeuppance.
Protection
by Robert Sheckley
Galaxy Science Fiction (April, 1956); UK No. 39 (June, 1956), pp. 54-63.
One of those technically insubstantial Sheckley short stories that nevertheless skims along with sufficient comedic insouciance to qualify as a good read. The protagonist accepts an alien protection service, just because it’s free, but in doing so brings about his own undoing.
A Thief in Time
by Robert Sheckley, Galaxy Science Fiction (July, 1954); UK No. 21 (December, 1954), pp. 4-27.
A light-hearted romp but the time travel paradox isn’t explored so much as indulged in, ad hoc, until (it feels) Sheckley rollicked his word count up to novelette length and the editor had enough pages filled to put a stop to it.
Keep Your Shape
by Robert Sheckley
Galaxy Science Fiction (November, 1953); UK No. 13 (April 1954), pp. 4-20.
Humorous SF invasion short story with philosophical undertones. Sheckley posits a race of shapechangers whose oppressive caste system limits each individual to a prescribed set of forms. Confronted with Earth’s biological diversity, the disgruntled lower echelons exhibit a tendency to go native!
Masters of Science Fiction: Robert Sheckley
ed. John Pelan (Centipede Press, 2021)
A vast collection (33 stories, 700+ pages) in stately hardcover. The selection is representative, capturing Sheckley’s mastery, his near misses, and his distended bouts of abject self-indulgence. Never lacking for voice, Sheckley championed narrative informality and shifted the frontier of satirical SF.