by Ray Wallace

Impact 20
By William F. Nolan
Gauntlet      


OVERVIEW: Gauntlet's reprint of William F. Nolan's first short story collection, IMPACT 20, plus three additional tales not available in the initial volume.

DETAILS: As widely read as I am I have somehow managed to miss picking up anything by Mr. Nolan along the way. So I had absolutely no idea what to expect from this collection although a preface by Gary Braunbeck and Ray Bradbury's original 1963 foreword had me sufficiently hyped. Surely I wouldn't be disappointed by the stories that ensued, would I? Happily, I was not. In fact, IMPACT 20 has to be one of the most eclectic and inspired collections of the sixties or any other decade for that matter.

The first impact within this volume is a little gem of a tale entitled "The Small World of Lewis Stillman," a perfect story to hook a new reader as it is one of the best presented here. In it a man is forced to live in and travel through the storm drains beneath Los Angeles after a terrible holocaust has consumed the city above and presumably the rest of Earth. Elements of sci-fi and horror are combined here with a conclusion that is sure to stick in the reader's mind long after the last word is read. This story alone makes this collection a must have. Jump ahead to "The End With No Perhaps" in which a man is convinced that the end of the world is about to occur. A good time to tell the boss and anyone else you've had a problem with just what you think of them, huh? Yes, the end times can be rather liberating. You just better make sure that they are, in fact, the end times. A few tales later we come to "Full Quota." Here, the main character is forced to kill an old college chum over and over, with less and less time each go around. Will he be able to keep up the steady stream of murders? Maybe with a little help from the cleaning lady.

And then we come to another one of the collection's classic tales, this one entitled "And Miles to Go Before I Sleep." This is a wonderful, touching sci-fi story in the tradition of many Ray Bradbury tales about a spaceman returning home to his family after a very long time away, about the lengths he will go to in order to keep a secret that would cause his loved ones pain. Some pages later we arrive at "Dark Encounter" which takes the reader into the mind of a very twisted individual as he seduces his prey on a hot summer night in New Orleans. Then it is time for a fun little romp through the jungles of Venus in "Lap of the Primitive." There are no jungles on Venus, you say? Well, with William Nolan as your guide you'll wish there were.

"The Joy of Living" is another moving and poignant sci-fi piece which ponders the relationship between man and machine, the concept of life and what it is that makes us human. In "One of Those Days" we get to see the world through the eyes of a man losing his grip on reality. Or is it reality that's lost its grip? And then there is "To Serve the Ship," another one of the best stories presented here. Set in the distant future it deals with the tragic situation of a man who has dedicated his entire life to a single purpose and how he tries to cope when that purpose is taken away.

This edition of IMPACT 20 includes all twenty (thus the title) of the stories published during its first release and three more that Mr. Nolan felt at the time didn't fit in with the rest of the collection. In an author's note he discusses how he now feels that he was wrong not to include these stories in the original collection. It would be hard to argue with him. These "new" stories do not seem out of place at all. In fact, this collection is so varied in its themes and genres one would be surprised if they did seem out of place. And that is a big part of the joy of reading this collection, not having any idea as to what kind of story it will hit you with next. There is definitely something for everybody here. Kudos to Gauntlet for bringing these impacts to a whole new generation of reader.

BOTTOM LINE: An excellent collection of stories originally published in the 50's and early 60's that seems totally fresh and alive today. Eclectic and entertaining. A joy to read.