Book Review: Lambda I

Book Review: 'Lambda I and Other Stories' edited by John Carnell

3 / 5 Stars

'Lambda I and Other Stories' (175 pp.) was published by Berkley Books in February, 1964. The cover illustration likely is by Richard Powers.

The seven stories in this anthology first saw print in the UK magazine New Worlds during the interval from 1961 - 1963. In his Introduction, editor Carnell (best known as the editor of the New Writings in SF series) remarks that this anthology is an opportunity to acquaint the American readership with new material coming out of the UK. Accordingly, the stories represent the status of sci-fi writing just prior to the advent of the New Wave. 

By my experience with these Carnell anthologies, despite their advancing age, there usually are in each volume a couple of stories that remain effective examples of the genre. 

My capsule summaries of the contents:

Lambda I (novelette), by Colin Kapp: in the near future, instantaneous teleportation through the physical obstacle of the Earth has replaced most forms of travel. But what the teleportation companies don't like to talk about are the problems that sometimes arise.......the initial pages of this novelette show promise, but the narrative too quickly becomes burdened by melodramatic prose and contrived plot developments. 

Basis for Negotiation (novelette), by Brian W. Aldiss: it's July 1st, 1970, and the Third World War is about to start between the Communist Bloc and the U.S. Vacillating British politicians resolve to keep their country neutral, a fact that enrages Sir Simon Challington, an academic, and a staunch supporter of a united West. 

There is much argumentation among the lead characters, a vehicle through which the author pontificates upon geopolitics; the sci-fi content takes its time emerging, but when it does, it concludes the story on an unexpected note. All in all, a slow-moving, but competent, tale from Aldiss.

Quest, by Lee Harding: Mr. Johnston is alienated by the unrelenting steel and concrete of the Future City, and resolves to find the final redoubt of untrammeled Nature...... this story is perhaps a bit too earnest and allegorical to be effective.

All Laced Up, by George Whitley: Peter and Sally, a young British couple, decide to install a decorative piece into their home; it turns out the piece has very unusual properties. A humorous tale that well stands the passage of 60 years.

Routine Exercise, by Philip E. High: when Captain Harvey's nuclear missile submarine surfaces, he discovers that the ocean his vessel is traversing is not the North Atlantic........an action-centered story with well-written naval combat sequences. 

Flux, by Michael Moorcock: a near-future European Union is danger of collapsing due to squabbling among its party states, a calamity with implications for the welfare of the entire planet. Ace troubleshooter Max File is recruited to travel a decade forward in time, and learn if a proposed solution does, indeed, work. A reasonably effective homage to H. G Wells and The Time Machine by Moorcock.    

The Last Salamander, by John Rackham (pseudonym of John Phillifent): in a coal-fired UK power plant, the workers make a startling discovery. An imaginative story from author Phillifent and the best entry in the anthology.

Summing up, like any anthology, 'Lambda I' has its underwhelming selections, but the stories by Whitley, High, Moorcock, and Rackham qualify this book for a solid three-star rating.