In “How-2,” machinery has replaced so much human labor, providing such an excess of free time, that people have become ridiculously obsessed with do-it-yourself projects. In this variation they offer to cure all illness and disease, one should be wary of strangers bearing gifts. “Shotgun Cure” employs a familiar Simak motif: benevolent alien “missionaries” who come to solve Earth’s problems. As he always does so well, Simak builds upon this simple premise and takes it to unexpected places.
“The Money Tree” is exactly what it sounds, a story about a tree that grows money. This is a complicated piece in an intricate puzzle, and may require some prior knowledge of the grander City narrative to fully appreciate. It depicts a future in which mankind explores Jupiter by assuming the non-humanoid form of the planet’s native inhabitants. Moving on to the sci-fi, another excellent entry is “Paradise,” which is one of the short stories that would later form part of Simak’s 1952 novel City. “The Gravestone Rebels Ride by Night!,” is a great western mystery thriller with tense action scenes reminiscent of some of Randolph Scott’s better films.
Though Simak is famous for his science fiction, like all volumes in the series, this one contains a western, and this time it’s a full-length novella. The title selection is the shortest entry in the book and the only story that feels like it could have benefited from a little more development. This volume contains only nine stories, as opposed to the usual ten to twelve, but that actually works in its favor because almost all the selections are substantial, fully realized works of fiction. Volume Ten proves to be another exceptional collection. Volume Ten, The Shipshape Miracle and Other Stories, is the seventh book in the series that I have read (I’m not going in order), and I am continually blown away by Simak’s profound speculative imagination and prodigious talents as a writer. Simak series, I have come to expect great things from Simak. More nuggets of genius from a master storytellerĪfter becoming addicted to the Complete Short Fiction of Clifford D.
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