Welcome to Litsy!

3.75?
Most of the stories were good and fit the stated theme of strange places in new corners of the galaxy, though not the last two. These were "The Live Coward" by Poul Anderson, which read a legal conundrum dressed up as sci-fi, but if you set the parameters of the problem yourself, there's little credit in talking your way out of it. Also, the attempt at humour didn't work for me. The last story was "Still Life" by Eric Frank Russell, a ⬇️

J. F. Bone's story, “Insidekick“, from the February 1958 edition of Galaxy magazine, is a light-hearted interplanetary spy caper, which deals with heavy subjects involving corporate tax fraud and the capitalist/colonial exploitation of indigenous communities. Throw into the mix an alien symbiont and the development of agent Albert Johnson's psionic powers, and you get a fun, interesting journey. Good one 😊

Imagine, if you can, what interstellar colonisation might look like if it was organised by an authoritarian, sexist global government that considered only men capable of doing the work of settlement, while women, with their weak bodies being susceptible to adverse alien environments, only allowed into colonies once *one million* men have established themselves, when *one* woman will be sent as a planetary Eve. If that's hard ⬇️

Second story, "Big Sword" by Paul Ash (aka Pauline Ashwell, actually Pauline Whitby) was a really enjoyable First Contact scenario with a unique and well thought out alien species.
Human/alien and human/human miscommunication leads to interesting situations involving potential extinction, reproduction, gender, evolution and intergenerational relationships.

The first story in the collection, "The Red Hills of Summer" by Edgar Pangborn, had its initial publication in the September, 1959 edition of the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and I think the cover art illustrates this story.
300 colonists from a dying 21st century earth, many of whom have grown up aboard ship, arrive at the planet Demeter, a pilot mission of four crew landing to check habitability, with no rescue option available ⬇️

Holiday reading 🚀🌌
If the stories are as groovy as the cover on this 1966 sci fi short story collection, I'll be ok! 😎