The Last Hurrah of the Golden Horde
by Norman Spinrad
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"One of the greatest collections of science fiction short stories ever" -Goodreads.comContentsCarcinoma AngelsThe Age of InventionOutward BoundA Child of MindThe EqualizerThe Last of the RomanyTechnicalityThe Rules of the RoadDead EndA Night in Elf HillDeathwatchThe Ersatz EgoNeutral GroundOnce More, With FeelingIt's a Bird! It's a Plane!SubjectivityThe Entropic Gang Bang CaperThe Last Hurrah of the Golden HordeNorman Spinrad is the award-winning author of dozens of books, and three-time show more past President of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. show lessTags
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Though most of the stories in this collection have the indelible stamp of the 70s on them - both in tone and relationship to technology - they are all readable and enjoyable. The most memorable to me was The Equalizer, about an Israeli scientist who discovers a superweapon and has to grapple with the consequences of potential proliferation. It reminded me of Jorge Luis Borges' short story Deutsches Requiem a little, and there were some other stories like Outward Bound that also touched on the ideas of culture and self-sacrifice vs self-preservation in a similar way. This wasn't a mind-blowing collection though, I guess mainly because it feels like all of these ideas have been picked over to death already. Spinrad wrote a response to show more literary critics after this came out, addressing the charge that he didn't present a single original voice in the collection. While it's true that there's somewhat of a diversity of style here, it's not like each voice is wildly different, and overall for whatever reason this isn't a particularly essential science fiction touchstone. Harsh, I know, but it's not a complete waste of time either. show less
The Last Hurrah of the Golden Horde is a collection of 18 of Norman Spinrad’s short stories published in various magazines and short story collections between 1963 and 1969.
Carcinoma Angels - if you send your thoughts into do battle in uncharted territory be sure to remind them to keep a map so they can find their way back. – 4 stars
The Age of Invention – modern civilization – caveman style – 2 stars
Outward Bound – if your world of interstellar trading is one of hibernation and sub-light speed travel what would you think about the possibility of faster-than-light travel? - 4.5 stars
A Child of Mind – if you are part of an initial planet survey team and you find a planet with a life form that will give you anything you want show more for a price…what will you do? – 3.5 stars
The Equalizer – So we have a conversion bomb – now what? – 2 stars
The Last of the Romany – In a world where no one cares about traveling/exploring the desire to travel/explore must be taught. – I’ve always liked this story particularly the line “In fact, you can only do these things if you’re a little bit stupid. Stupid enough to believe that somewhere, sometime, there still is a Baghdad, and Samarkand is still Far.” – 5 stars
Technicality – how do you fight a militant pacifist? – 5 stars
The Rules of the Road – If you really want to travel to the stars you are going to have to learn how to do it. This story, like Clifford Simak’s “The Big Front Yard” is one of those stories I really wish was fact and not fiction. - 100 stars
Dead End – being taken care of even with absolutely nothing to do beats being in pain with absolutely nothing to do. - 1 star
A Night on Elf Hill – You’re a spacer at the end of your career and you have to pick one planet to call home. You know of one planet that appeals to every emotion and thought you ever had...but... –should you go there or somewhere else? - 3.5 stars
Deathwatch – even if immortality becomes a genetic trait recessive genes will still be a fact of life. – 2.5 stars
The Ersatz Ego – a psychiatric Manchurian candidate. – 3.5 stars
Neutral Ground – a consciousness-expanding drug lets you take voyages through you own mind to other places…and in those other places you get the feeling you are not alone. -3 stars
Once More, With Feeling – two time travelers from different eras meet up in San Francisco in 1967. – 1 star.
It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane – Superman with a psychiatric problem will need a Supershrink. – 1.5 stars
Subjectivity – what happens when drug induced hallucinations become real? – 4 stars
The Entropic Gang Bang Caper – I could never quite decide the point of this short story - unrated
The Last Hurrah of the Golden Horde – a satirical take on drug dealing - .5 stars
Overall I think the short stories in this collection of Mr. Spinrad’s work have aged well. My favorite, of course, is Rules of the Road which I’ve read and re-read more times than I can recall. show less
Carcinoma Angels - if you send your thoughts into do battle in uncharted territory be sure to remind them to keep a map so they can find their way back. – 4 stars
The Age of Invention – modern civilization – caveman style – 2 stars
Outward Bound – if your world of interstellar trading is one of hibernation and sub-light speed travel what would you think about the possibility of faster-than-light travel? - 4.5 stars
A Child of Mind – if you are part of an initial planet survey team and you find a planet with a life form that will give you anything you want show more for a price…what will you do? – 3.5 stars
The Equalizer – So we have a conversion bomb – now what? – 2 stars
The Last of the Romany – In a world where no one cares about traveling/exploring the desire to travel/explore must be taught. – I’ve always liked this story particularly the line “In fact, you can only do these things if you’re a little bit stupid. Stupid enough to believe that somewhere, sometime, there still is a Baghdad, and Samarkand is still Far.” – 5 stars
Technicality – how do you fight a militant pacifist? – 5 stars
The Rules of the Road – If you really want to travel to the stars you are going to have to learn how to do it. This story, like Clifford Simak’s “The Big Front Yard” is one of those stories I really wish was fact and not fiction. - 100 stars
Dead End – being taken care of even with absolutely nothing to do beats being in pain with absolutely nothing to do. - 1 star
A Night on Elf Hill – You’re a spacer at the end of your career and you have to pick one planet to call home. You know of one planet that appeals to every emotion and thought you ever had...but... –should you go there or somewhere else? - 3.5 stars
Deathwatch – even if immortality becomes a genetic trait recessive genes will still be a fact of life. – 2.5 stars
The Ersatz Ego – a psychiatric Manchurian candidate. – 3.5 stars
Neutral Ground – a consciousness-expanding drug lets you take voyages through you own mind to other places…and in those other places you get the feeling you are not alone. -3 stars
Once More, With Feeling – two time travelers from different eras meet up in San Francisco in 1967. – 1 star.
It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane – Superman with a psychiatric problem will need a Supershrink. – 1.5 stars
Subjectivity – what happens when drug induced hallucinations become real? – 4 stars
The Entropic Gang Bang Caper – I could never quite decide the point of this short story - unrated
The Last Hurrah of the Golden Horde – a satirical take on drug dealing - .5 stars
Overall I think the short stories in this collection of Mr. Spinrad’s work have aged well. My favorite, of course, is Rules of the Road which I’ve read and re-read more times than I can recall. show less
surrealistic magic realism..pretty good--for the'60s
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109+ Works 6,752 Members
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- Original publication date
- 1970 (Collection) (Collection); 1967 (Carcinoma Angels) (Carcinoma Angels); 1966 (The Age of Invention) (The Age of Invention); 1963 (Outward Bound) (Outward Bound); 1963 (The Equalizer) (The Equalizer); 1964 (The Last of the Romany) (The Last of the Romany) (show all 18); 1964 (Technicality) (Technicality); 1966 (Subjectivity) (Subjectivity); 1964 (A Child of Mind) (A Child of Mind); 1965 (The Ersatz Ego) (The Ersatz Ego); 1964 (The Rules of the Road) (The Rules of the Road); 1969 (Dead End) (Dead End); 1968 (A Night on Elf Hill) (A Night on Elf Hill); 1965 (Deathwatch) (Deathwatch); 1969 (Once More with Feeling) (Once More with Feeling); 1967 (It's a Bird! It's a Plane!) (It's a Bird! It's a Plane!); 1969 (The Entropic Gang Bang Caper) (The Entropic Gang Bang Caper); 1969 (The Last Hurrah of the Golden Horde) (The Last Hurrah of the Golden Horde)
- Dedication
- Dedicated to The Grand Old Men of Science Fiction
- First words
- Carcinoma Angels
At the age of nine, Harrison Wintergreen first discovered that the world was his oyster when he looked at it side-wise. - Quotations
- The Rules of the Road ---There was nothing to choose from between the two forks. The one on the right curved up, the one on the left down, Otherwise they were identical. A random choice. Okay, thought Lindstrom. He hesitated ... (show all)for only a moment, and then, for no reason in particular, took the right-hand turn. He had only gone a few steps, the intersection was just behind him, when he felt a sudden flash of heat at his back. He whirled in time to see a solid pillar of fire engulf the crotch of the intersection, the spot where he had stood moments ago pondering his choice. Lesson number one, he thought. No Hamlets allowed. When faced with a decision, make it, one way or the other. Don't temporize, or you'll be vaporized. The tunnel wound on for an indeterminable distance. Then it ended. Or from another point of view, took an abrupt ninety-degree turn and became a bottomless, black, circular hole. Lindstrom shined his light into the hole. The beam petered out in the blackness. The hole seemed made of the same material as the tunnel. There was nothing to secure the rope to. Now what? thought Lindstrom grimly. And how much time do I have? He remembered the pillar of fire at the fork. He felt that weird, timeless, floating exhilaration that he only experienced at those times when he knew that death was near, and had the time to contemplate it. The hole was like the tunnel. He must go forward, or ...Not like the tunnel. It was the tunnel. Or at least it should be. Fatalistically he dangled his feet into the hole, until his soles contacted its sides. Then he "stood up" - or rather stood down. Quite suddenly, he was standing upright in what had been the hole. Now it was just more of the same tunnel. The thing actually did have a gravity of its own. Lesson number two, he thought. This place has its own rules. Learn them and obey them. It was highly probable that none of the soldiers had gotten this far. This was a place that demanded a cold mathematical intimacy with death. It was a place where the greatest risk of all was not to take risks. It was no place for a man under orders.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Munching the soggy rice pastry, Jerry trudged off into the setting sun whistling "Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones, now hear de word of de Lord..."
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