Author's Choice Monthly, Issue 5

This issue of Author's Choice Monthly (February 1990) presents science fiction writer Jack Williamson reflecting on his eight-decade career in the field. The collection includes Williamson's autobiographical introduction "Into the Eighth Decade," where he recounts publishing from 1928 onward and his experiences during science fiction's formative decades, his World War II service, academic career, and collaborations with Frederik Pohl. The featured stories are: "With Folded Hands" (1947), a novelette about humanoid robots appearing in a small town and undercutting protagonist Underhill's android sales business with their superior capabilities and mysterious origins; "The Happiest Creature" (1953), involving psionics and observation by an elder human civilization; "Jamboree" (1969), reflecting Williamson's work at the Milford Science Fiction Conference; and "The Mental Man" (1988), a recent short story written for Amazing Stories' anniversary issue, inspired by his first published story "The Metal Man."