https://speculiction.blogspot.com/2024/07/review-of-citizen-of-space-by-robert.h... ( )

Although probably too early (1950) to be representative of Sheckley’s best work, still worth the effort to read this small volume. Other than The Accountant, a hilarious take on a boy destined to be a black magic wizard who instead wants to be an accountant, you won’t find many of these in later collections. Most stories will end in a twist, as The Accountant certainly does.

Don’t expect any hard sf here, the settings are typically absurd and like [a:Philip K. Dick|4764|Philip K. Dick|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1264613853p2/4764.jpg] mostly just a setup for the main idea. Think of Twilight Zone sf. It’s great to see intergalactic space travel set in 1991, giving one an idea of the somewhat dated aspect of the stories. ( )

An anthology of magazine pieces like this is a treat when the author is Robert Sheckley. The jewel being "A thief Out of Time", a comedy of mis-conceptions with both humans and an alien using the same space for an encounter that leads to a shaggy dog ending. It's still funny, and the whole book remains a solid entertainment.
The book was originally gathered in 1955, and I've read it twice. ( )

I've enjoyed Robert Sheckley's wry take on science fiction ever since I first read "Dimension of Miracles" over 40 years ago. I am surprised not to have come across this collection, or any of the stories within it, before now. It's his second story collection published in 1955, quite early on in his career. The stories all date from 1953-1955 and although they are typical of US SF of that era many also contain the elements that mark out Sheckley as a distinctive voice. He tackles some themes that were common in SF at the time and brings a unique and amusing vision to them. Enjoyable, and showing the promise to come.

Short notes on each story follow.

The mountain without a name

A work gang are terra-forming yet another world ready for colonists, and not taking much account of the objections of the locals. But everything starts going wrong for them.

The Accountant

In a world of wizards, it's shocking when your son wants to be an accountant. It turns out it's not as dull as it sounds.

Hunting problem

Advanced life-forms are hunting our party of treasure-seeking humans. It doesn't end up the way anyone expects.

A Thief In Time

A novel take on the time-travel paradox story, with scenes and an ending that foreshadow one of Sheckley's finest novels, "Dimension of Miracles."

The Luckiest Man in The World

A short-short. An isolated weatherman has technology and instructional manuals enough to allow him to master anything. He's been a surgeon, plumber and painter and he's very pleased with it all. But the ending brings poignancy.

Hands Off

An unpleasant bunch of space bandits think they've gained control of a valuable alien spaceship on an uncharted planet, It turns out our alien is more different than they planned for. It isn't easy for any of them.

Something for Nothing

A staple of 1950s SF - the machine that can produce anything on demand - appears without warning. There are instructions & warnings, but who reads those? There's a catch, of course. There always is.

A Ticket to Tranai

Somewhere on the edge of the galaxy is a utopian paradise, says the old spacer. Our protagonist finds it. It turns out utopias involve a lot of difficult compromises. This is the tale of him finding them out.

Classic Sheckley, and unusual to see a hero in 1950s SF so pro for female equality.

The Battle

A short-short. Armageddon is here, the military are ready to take on Satan with their robot armies. What could go wrong? Not what you think.

Skulking Permit

The colony has been cut off from Earth for over 200 years. Now an inspector is on the way, and everyone is desperate to prove things are still OK.

A good idea and an amusing telling.

Citiizen In Space

Our hero wishes to find himself in deepest deep space, and scrapes together the money to buy a ship to do it. Naturally, the government needs to keep spying on him and naturally he wants to help them do it. It doesn't go to plan.

Ask A Foolish Question

Someone's already built the machine that was imagined in "The Question." The Answerer knows all the answers, and the creatures that built it are long gone, who knows where. The trouble is we don't know all the questions. Yet again it seems Sheckley is giving Douglas Adams ideas. ( )

Humor and SF tend to have difficult marriages, but if there is one writer who succeeds in pairing these, it's Sheckley.
Some of the plots in these stories are downright hilarious, without getting trite, no mean feat. Sheckley's heroes are anti-heroes mostly, harvesting easily the sympathy of the reader.
Scientific facts from the future are not explained, this is no hard SF anywhere. The emphasis lies on human behaviour, depicted in a recognizable way throughout. Especially interesting are the mores of Sheckley's aliens, always at odds with human understanding. Mostly the humans are unable to adapt to alien ways of thinking, which results in some very unlucky human mistakes indeed.
Time paradoxes are handled to great effect in ''A Thief in Time'', but pride of place goes to ''Hands Off'', where human greed is shown to lead to catastrophe, just because of its singular purpose, the increase of material wealth. The tenor is light, the style deceptively simple, but, nothwithstanding, the points are driven home with conviction. An easy read with unexpected layers. ( )