This particular group of Instrumentality stories doesn't include some of my favorites, so, to me, is weaker. Has a similar timeline and introductory essay by Pohl, however.

Instrumentality Of Mankind : No No Not Rogov! - Cordwainer Smith
Instrumentality Of Mankind : War No. 81-Q - Cordwainer Smith
Instrumentality Of Mankind : Mark Elf - Cordwainer Smith
Instrumentality Of Mankind : The Queen Of The Afternoon - Cordwainer Smith
Instrumentality Of Mankind : When The People Fell - Cordwainer Smith
Instrumentality Of Mankind : Think Blue Count Two - Cordwainer Smith
Instrumentality Of Mankind : The Colonel Came Back From Nothing-At-All - Cordwainer Smith
Instrumentality Of Mankind : From Gustible's Planet - Cordwainer Smith
Instrumentality Of Mankind : Drunkboat - Cordwainer Smith
Instrumentality Of Mankind : Western Science Is So Wonderful - Cordwainer Smith
Instrumentality Of Mankind : Nancy - Cordwainer Smith
Instrumentality Of Mankind : The Fife Of Bodhidharma - Cordwainer Smith
Instrumentality Of Mankind : Angerhelm - Cordwainer Smith
Instrumentality Of Mankind : The Good Friends - Cordwainer Smith

Soviet science couple's brain needle journey.

4 out of 5

Licence to kill, robots, anyway.

4 out of 5

Manhunter not too helpful for old timer.

3.5 out of 5

Suspended animation Underpeople awakening gives girl an Instrumentality role.

3.5 out of 5

Chinese Venusian megadrop.

3 out of 5

I am sailing, I am spoiling, across the stars, should be freezed.

3.5 out of 5

Lost soul pinlighting.

4 out of 5

I wish they'd duck off.

3.5 out of 5

Rage through space, really fast to dreams out of space.

4.5 out of 5

Fascinated Martian chat.

3 out of 5

Virus life.

4 out of 5

Dainty noise weapon.

2.5 out of 5

Funny voice medium.

3 out of 5

No party mission.

3 out of 5

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2008/12... ( )

This was the first book that I ever read by Cordwainer Smith. Other than seeing his name show up on some book rating sites (he had two out of the top 10 science fiction titles at "Beyond Reality" a scifi & fantasy book rating site I used to followed regularly), I knew nothing about him. It turns out he was quite an interesting man, with a very limited output of scifi stories (3 collections and 1 novel). The website his daughter maintains is well worth a visit.

The stories in this volume are varied and very impressive. Smith had an amazing imagination, and the ability to seemlessly weave the fantastic into the everyday. There were five stories in this collections that I individually rated a 9 or a 10: "Mark Elf" which is perhaps the most original post-apocalyptic story I've ever read; "Think Blue, Count Two," a people-in-deep-space-with-control-over-sleeping-passengers-try-to-avoid-going-bonkers story; "Drunkboat," in which a technological breakthrough in space travel is tested on an unwilling first test-pilot; "The Good Friends." another psychological stress-of-deep-space-travel yarn; and "From Gustible's Planet," a very funny story that still makes me chuckle every time I think of it--It will remind you of one of the famous works of Jonathan Swift.

Since reading this collection I have gone on to read every bit of science fiction ever published by Smith, and he has indeed become one of my favorite authors. ( )