The Seedling Stars by James Blish

[Anthony G Williams]

A compilation of three novellas ('Seeding Program', 'The Thing in the Attic' and 'Surface Tension') and one short story ('Watershed') all on the same theme: a radical genetic modification programme to produce 'Adapted' humans capable of living in the huge variety of extreme conditions found on other planets. The first story covers the controversial beginning of the project and the first Adapted colony on a satellite of Jupiter. The others move through thousands of years of history as the Adapteds take radically different forms in planets across the Galaxy, with the final short story describing the return to a derelict and abandoned Earth, with suitably modified Adapteds ready to resettle it.

In some respects the assumptions in the stories are outdated or too far-fetched to accept, but they are still great stories. In particular, 'Surface Tension', which concerns the adventures of microscopic pond-living Adapteds, is a classic which all SF fans should know.

The complete review is on my blog.

 

[j d worthington]

Oddly, I've only read "Surface Tension" out of this group; and on that one, I'd agree 100%. It still makes a very enjoyable reading experience... and now I'm going to have to put this on my "to find" list.....

 

[HardScienceFan]

think McFadden Bartell published the seedling stars,with a pretty bad cover.
(i.e.not by Richard Powers)
ST is one heck of a novella
the thing in the Attic isn't bad either

spoiler alert????

anyone who has ever looked at natural water through a microscope.........

 

[j d worthington]

Oh, now you're taking me back a few years, Ben.... Yep. Quite an environment for such as miniature humans/humanoids to survive in....

 

[HardScienceFan]

publisher could have been Signet,as well,i think

 

[manephelien]

It must be nearly twenty years since I read that book, now I'm going to have to borrow it from my father. Fortunately I and my bf are going to visit my parents today, so I'll just have to remember to ask to borrow it.

 

[Anthony G Williams]

The edition I reviewed was published in the UK in 2001 as one of the Gollancz SF Collectors' Editions.