#10. THE REDISCOVERY OF MAN By Cordwainer Smith

Published : 1975
Pages : 377
Overall Mark : 8/10

The strangest future imagined by any SF writer... An interstellar empire ruled by the Lords of the Instrumentality, whose access to the drug stroon from the planet Norstrilia confers on them virtual immortality. A futre in which wealthy humanity is served by the underpeople, genetically engineered animals turned into the semblance of people. A future of woder and myth, and extraordinary imagination.

CORDWAINER SMITH (1913-67)
The pseudonym of Paul M A. Linebarger (1913-67), who spent his formative years in China; his father was legal advisor to the Prime Minister, Sun Yat-sen (Linebarger's godfather). He became a political scientist and expert on psyxhological warfare. The first 'Cordwainer Smith' story appeared in 1950.

VERDICT
In this series of short stories, loosely held together through a future where humans have been split into subgroups, partly made up from genetically engineered animals, an incredibly descriptive future landscape has been designed which is rich in character and design. Every story herein can be read on its own, but it makes for a great read to go through each one and experience the vast parabola of characters and situations that unfold.