3 Science Fiction Stories

Three razor-sharp tales from one of science fiction's most underrated satirists. William Tenn uses alien worlds the way a microscope uses a slide: to reveal uncomfortable truths about humanity that we'd rather not see. In "Venus is a Man's World," a male astronaut crash-lands on a Venusian civilization where women hold all the power and men are relegated to domestic servitude, forcing him to confront how arbitrary and cruel gender hierarchies really are. "Project Hush" follows a Cold War scientist developing telepathic soldiers, exploring what happens when the mind becomes just another battleground. "Of All Possible Worlds" asks whether free will exists by examining every branching path a single decision could take. Tenn's prose crackles with wit and intellectual mischief, but beneath the clever premises lies genuine moral seriousness. These are not mere entertainment, though they are wildly entertaining. They are thinking person's SF that refuses to let you comfortable.