The Best of Gordon R. Dickson Volume 1

Heartrending, to some extent. Here are early Dickson works from the almost-clumsy but ultimately centuries-spanning “Love Song” to the first manifestation of Gorbash and Jim Eckert in The Dragon and the George. As I read, I found myself torn between memory and longing. Some of these I encountered when barely out of boyhood, others in later life. “Dolphin’s Way,” as it did when I first encountered it several decades past, brought me to the edge of tears.

Any of us who have read Dickson’s later, major works will be seized by these early excursions and explorations. Hank Davis has done a fine job editing what he had available. And Baen has done a favor to those readers, like me, who might never again have seen the work that was seminal to our world views.

I cannot do more detail without revealing story lines, and I cannot be more praising . . . my gratitude for the availability of these classic dabblings by a beloved artist is boundless.

Eagerly awaiting Volume II.