Some stories in this collection are outstanding and I tend to rate the book higher but 4 stars is a fair rating. I haven't read "The Doctor of Death Island" yet but want to provide the following (spoiler free) review while the memories are still fresh.When you open the book, slow down and take your time. The stories are not fast-paced. Instead you will find an almost overwhelming love for details that contribute a great deal to the atmosphere and, well, weirdness of the stories. If you need help to understand what's going on I suggest to have a look at the Wolfe Wiki. You won't regret it.Let's start!I didn't like the title story "The Island of Doctor Death" very much. It's well written but didn't grab me and the final conclusion was somehow disappointing. 3/5 stars."Alien Stone" is the first highlight. It starts like a normal space adventure but quickly twists in a way I didn't expect. I really enjoyed the ending, it made me lean back and simply say "wow!" 5/5"La Befana" made no impression on me. 2/5"The Hero as Werewolf" has a lot of atmosphere and provides a look at a weird society. Very intensive and well done. 4/5"Three Fingers" made no impression on me. Simply too weird. 1/5"The Death of Dr. Island" is the next highlight. A tremendous story with excellent characters and the only story in the whole collection that not only caught me in an intellectual way but also emotionally. I especially liked the way how the island responses to the feelings of the protagonists and how it helps to ease their mood. This is great stuff. 5/5"Feather Tigers" is nice, reminded me a little bit of [a:Ray Bradbury|1630|Ray Bradbury|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1190744775p2/1630.jpg]. The mix of horror and sf is not my cup of tea though. 3/5"Hour of Trust" is a disturbing look at modern warfare - and how the current elite is about to loose. As usual it contains many clues and hints that must be put together first and the high amount of details demand a second read. 4/5"Tracking Song" comes close to being the next highlight but I think I have to read it at least one more time to understand it better. The atmosphere is great but what is going on there? 4/5"The Toy Theater" is a wonderful short story and although everything looks clear there are some hidden details left for the reader to discover. 4/5"Cues" is a strange story and slowly reveals its quality the more you think about it. 4/5"Eyeflash Miracles" is a story with many references to [b:The Wizard of Oz|236093|The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Oz, Book 1)|L. Frank Baum|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172982142s/236093.jpg|1993810]. It's well written and the characters are great, however, the plot didn't satisfy me. 3/5"Seven American Nights" is the final highlight in this collection. It provides a look at a destroyed, post-war America, where a rich Iranian tourist has disappeared after one week of travelling. From his diary the reader can reconstruct what has happened, but many things are only hinted at and clues are well hidden... After the surprising end I had to read the story immediately again and discovered many things I didn't notice the first time. This is a marvelous and very, very clever story! 5/5In summary I can highly recommend the collection. It's a little bit funny that everyone seems to have other favourites among the stories so you have to read all of them.One word about the book itself: my Orb edition has a rather poor quality. I don't know what kind of ink has been used, it's irritating reflective if the book is read in bright light. In addition, the typesetting in the lower part of a page contains one line that looks uneven. It's hard to describe, maybe it's only an issue with my edition... ( )

Some stories in this collection are outstanding and I tend to rate the book higher but 4 stars is a fair rating. I haven't read "The Doctor of Death Island" yet but want to provide the following (spoiler free) review while the memories are still fresh.When you open the book, slow down and take your time. The stories are not fast-paced. Instead you will find an almost overwhelming love for details that contribute a great deal to the atmosphere and, well, weirdness of the stories. If you need help to understand what's going on I suggest to have a look at the Wolfe Wiki. You won't regret it.Let's start!I didn't like the title story "The Island of Doctor Death" very much. It's well written but didn't grab me and the final conclusion was somehow disappointing. 3/5 stars."Alien Stone" is the first highlight. It starts like a normal space adventure but quickly twists in a way I didn't expect. I really enjoyed the ending, it made me lean back and simply say "wow!" 5/5"La Befana" made no impression on me. 2/5"The Hero as Werewolf" has a lot of atmosphere and provides a look at a weird society. Very intensive and well done. 4/5"Three Fingers" made no impression on me. Simply too weird. 1/5"The Death of Dr. Island" is the next highlight. A tremendous story with excellent characters and the only story in the whole collection that not only caught me in an intellectual way but also emotionally. I especially liked the way how the island responses to the feelings of the protagonists and how it helps to ease their mood. This is great stuff. 5/5"Feather Tigers" is nice, reminded me a little bit of [a:Ray Bradbury|1630|Ray Bradbury|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1190744775p2/1630.jpg]. The mix of horror and sf is not my cup of tea though. 3/5"Hour of Trust" is a disturbing look at modern warfare - and how the current elite is about to loose. As usual it contains many clues and hints that must be put together first and the high amount of details demand a second read. 4/5"Tracking Song" comes close to being the next highlight but I think I have to read it at least one more time to understand it better. The atmosphere is great but what is going on there? 4/5"The Toy Theater" is a wonderful short story and although everything looks clear there are some hidden details left for the reader to discover. 4/5"Cues" is a strange story and slowly reveals its quality the more you think about it. 4/5"Eyeflash Miracles" is a story with many references to [b:The Wizard of Oz|236093|The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Oz, Book 1)|L. Frank Baum|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172982142s/236093.jpg|1993810]. It's well written and the characters are great, however, the plot didn't satisfy me. 3/5"Seven American Nights" is the final highlight in this collection. It provides a look at a destroyed, post-war America, where a rich Iranian tourist has disappeared after one week of travelling. From his diary the reader can reconstruct what has happened, but many things are only hinted at and clues are well hidden... After the surprising end I had to read the story immediately again and discovered many things I didn't notice the first time. This is a marvelous and very, very clever story! 5/5In summary I can highly recommend the collection. It's a little bit funny that everyone seems to have other favourites among the stories so you have to read all of them.One word about the book itself: my Orb edition has a rather poor quality. I don't know what kind of ink has been used, it's irritating reflective if the book is read in bright light. In addition, the typesetting in the lower part of a page contains one line that looks uneven. It's hard to describe, maybe it's only an issue with my edition... ( )

An uneven collection, but there are some fantastic stories: THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR DEATH AND OTHER STORIES AND OTHER STORIES (yes, it's supposed to be titled that way), first published in 1980, is Gene Wolfe's first collection of short stories. It brings together 14 works published in the 1970's, some of which originally appeared in Damon Knight's "Orbit" anthologies. Like with any collection of short stories it ranges widely, but the volume does contain some of Wolfe's finest pieces.The first story in this book may make the reader wonder why exactly Wolfe receives so much praise, for "The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories" (1970) is a very immature work, an unconvincingly written tale of child whose love of pulp adventure magazines helps him escape a broken home. The next story, "Alien Stones", dates from two years later and shows a dramatic improvement in Wolfe's writing. On the surface it appears to be about a spaceship crew exploring an abandoned alien vessel, but under the surface hints at a darker story. Wolfe, like Larry Niven in his 60's hard science-fiction works, unfortunately underestimates the progress of technology---his spacecraft's computer uses CRT's and manual switches---and his far-future female character seems supiciously like a stereotypical ditz of the early 1970's. Nonetheless, the strong storytelling and intricate plot more than make up for this."Three Fingers" is a short diversion, an enhibition of Wolfe's droll sense of humour. "Tracking Song" is another of the high points of the volume, the chronicle of a journey on a frozen world where humanity has evolved into myriad diverse forms. The narration is reminiscent of Wolfe's first great novel, THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS.If this collection begins with Wolfe's weakest story, it ends with one of his best. "Seven American Nights" is the record of an Iranian visiting a bizarre post-apocalyptic America for less than honourable purposes, an ironic reversal of the phenomenon of 60's hippies visiting the Middle East for drug tourism. The novella contains the hallmarks of Wolfe's finest writing: unreliable narration, casual relevations, fantastic world-building, the perpetual feeling that the reader isn't getting the whole story, and an ending that shows that all the plot's secrets were really right there in the text all along. This is a powerful work, and it is worth buying the entire collection just for it.While perhaps not ideal for the reader who hasn't read anything but Wolfe yet, this is an excellent work to turn to next if you enjoyed one of his accessible works like The Book of the New Sun, PEACE, or THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS.

Much as I like Wolfe, I was disappointed by too many of these stories to rate the collection highly. 'La Befana' was the reason that I read this collection: the legendary Italian witch can finally complete her ancient quest by visiting a new planet. The title story is masterly. I enjoyed the unfolding of the relative values of the empaths and the military in 'Alien Stones'. Wolfe enlisted my sympathy for the regressed humans in 'The Hero as Werwolf' and I enjoyed the buzz of recognising the Disney references in 'Three Fingers'. At this point my reading stalled because I could not engage with 'The Death of Dr Island'. I did not care for any of the characters and the allusions to the Genesis stories seemed too overt to be satisfying. ( )

a mixed bag of stories some good some not so ( )