Anthologies are a crapshoot: you rifle through a grab-bag of short stories organized around an ostensible theme, hoping to find a couple good stories and maybe an author to investigate further. If you're lucky, the editor is friends with good writers and has a clear conceit in mind. If you're unlucky, you get a book like Alchemy and Academe, which muddles along on mediocre stories and an inexplicable theme. Alchemy and Academe? According to McCaffrey's fulsome introduction, these stories are all about an intellectual/technical approach to fantasy and transmutations thereof. To make matters worse, she's taken a poem by John Updike (a poet whom other poets giggle about) as her guiding principle.

But anthologies are a crapshoot, even anthologies born under an unlucky star. Alchemy and Academe has two stories which redeem its ill-begotten existence: Samuel R. Delany's wonderfully creepy "Night and the Loves of Joe Dicostanzo," and Gene Wolfe's haunting "Morning-Glory." (Gosh, I sure hope those two gentlemen went on to write other stuff!) ( )

A short story collection, edited by Anne McCaffrey. Good, but not memorable. ( )

Excellent collection containing the following: John Updike, Dance of the Solids; Sonya Dorman, A mess of porridge; Carol Emshwiller, The institute; R.A. Lafferty, Condillac's Statue; L. Sprague de Camp, the sorcereres; Norman Spinrad, the weed of time; Samuel R. Delany, Night and the loves of Joe Disconstanzo; Daphme Castell, come up and see me; Joe Hensley, shut the last door; Avram Davidson, big sam; james blish, more light; Joanna Russ, the man who could not see devils; Betsy Curtis, the key to out; Robert Silverberg, Ringing the Changes. ( )

Heh. I see not too many people think much of this anthology. Well, I don't intend to give it more than 3 stars myself, but it is a pretty decent (and workmanlike) anthology of mostly '60s fantasy. I particularly liked the cover (one of Rowena's best, in my opinion). The stories, like I said are 'workmanlike.' What does that mean? They aren't exactly the best the various authors produced, but they are for the most part not the kind of thing that makes one want to pitch the book out the 3rd floor window. I thought the Spinrad was quite entertaining, as well as "More Light." by James Blish (which gives us a look at William Atheling, an SF reviewer from the early '50s - Atheling being a pseudonym for Blish himself). Quite hilarious, I thought. The 'King in Yellow' stuff - a little overcooked, but hey. Play along. You might find it interesting (if you've read 'The King in Yellow,' that is). Okay, so three stars. ( )

Forgettable.

I found a copy in a used-book store, and the friend I was browsing it with tried to dissuade me from purchasing it because, and I quote her, "It's not very good." I should have listened to her. I ended up selling the copy back to the store. ( )