'Alfred Bester was one of the handful of. Dazzling, effervescent, sexy, and sardonic, Virtual Unrealities is a historic collection from one of science fictions true pathbreakers. The reprinted material here is uniformally good, and much of it demonstrates why Bester is often cited as a positive influence on the cyerpunks. Alfred Bester took science fiction into hyperdrive, endowing it with a wit, speed, and narrative inventiveness that have inspired two generations of writers. There are also two previously unpublished pieces, ''The Devil Without Glasses'' and a fragment, ''And 31/2 to Go'' both are enjoyable but minor. 'Dazzlement and enchantment are Bester's methods. His stories never stand still a moment.' Damon Knight, author of Why Do Birds Alfred.

Decandido are to be commended for making them once again available. Virtual Unrealities by Alfred Bester, Roger Zelazny: 9780679767831 : Books 'Dazzlement and enchantment are Bester's methods. Most of the 17 stories here have been out of print for years, so editors Robert Silverberg (who contributes an introduction, Byron Preiss and Keith R.A. In such stories as ''The Men Who Murdered Mohammed,'' ''Hobson's Choice'' and ''Disappearing Act,'' Bester (1913-1987 The Stars My Destination The Demolished Man) handled wacky, off-center plots, a pyrotechnic writing style and cutting satire better than just about anyone else in SF. A general must discover how soldiers suffering from shell shock are escaping from and returning to a locked hospital ward. Shop Virtual Unrealities: The Short Fiction of Alfred Bester online at best prices at desertcart - the best international shopping platform in Antigua and. A government statistician must figure out how the nation's population can be increasing during a major war even though far more people are dying than are being born. A scientist, aiming to murder his wife, goes back in time and shoots her parents, as well as George Washington, Christopher Columbus and Mohammed, without noticeably affecting either his wife or the world at large.