B. G. Wilson. Passenger Trains of the World ( before 1966) & Edmund Hamilton. What’s it Like out there? (1974)

     B. G. Wilson. Passenger Trains of the World ( before 1966) The UK is over represented, taking up about 1/3rd of the total, but otherwise a nice little survey of passenger trains in the late 1950s and early 1960s. No date, as was the British habit back then, and annoying one it was too. Printing is average for the period. The book was aimed at youngsters, so production values had to be kept cheap. ** (2006)

     Edmund Hamilton. What’s it Like out there? (1974) Anthology of Hamilton’s early stories. His early style wasn’t one: wooden, flat, cliched, and overuse of one-sentence paragraphs. With exclamation marks, yet! But he had a powerful imagination, and as his style improved (or wasn’t edited down to the common pulp denominator), his uncomfortable explorations of identity become impressive. His later novels are worth reading by any fan of SF; this collection is of historical interest only, as a precursor of his better work. *½ (2006)