Foreign constellations

John Brunner has got the imagination, I'll grant him that much. What he doesn't have is the writing skill. "Foreign Constellations" collects eight of his best-known stories from the 70's, published in various magazines but not previously appearing in book form. His subjects range from the near future to the far far future, and from mass famine to wacky conspiracy theories to child raising. But while he sees intriguing possibilities, he rarely pursues them far enough. In "The Easy Way Out", a spaceship crash on a distant planet leaves only two survivors, a doctor and a spoiled rich boy. One of…