My Favorite Science Fiction Story

by Martin H. Greenberg (Editor)

What do today's top science fiction writers read--and why? This question was posed to some of the most influential authors in the field today, and this book is their answer. My Favorite Science Fiction Story collects 17 of the most memorable stories in the genre, each one personally selected by a well-known writer, and each prefaced by that writer's explanation of the choice. The book features a smashing sci-fi lineup, including Harry Turtledove, Arthur C. Clarke, Greg Bear, and Robert Silverberg.
Contents:
* The Man Who Lost the Sea / Theodore Sturgeon;
* The Last Command / Keith Laumer;
* Day Million / Frederik Pohl;
* The Little Black Bag / C.M. Kornbluth;
* A Galaxy Called Rome / Barry N. Malzberg;
* Diabologic / Eric Frank Russell;
* Untouched by Human Hands / Robert Sheckley;
* Black Charlie / Gordon R. Dickson;
* The Ugly Chickens / Howard Waldrop;
* The Mathenauts / Norman Kagan;
* Lot / Ward Moore;
* The Ballad of Lost C'Mell / Cordwainer Smith;
* A Martian Odyssey / Stanley G. Weinbaum;
* Common Time / James Blish;
* The Engine at Heartspring's Center / Roger Zelazny;
* Nerves / Lester del Rey;
* The Only Thing We Can Learn / C.M. Kornbluth.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies, Science Fiction Fantasy

Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 1999

About the author

Martin Harry Greenberg was an American academic and speculative fiction anthologist. In all, he compiled 1,298 anthologies and commissioned over 8,200 original short stories. He founded Tekno Books, a packager of more than 2000 published books. In addition, he was a co-founder of the Sci-Fi Channel.

For the 1950s anthologist and publisher of Gnome Press, see Martin Greenberg.

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being a collection, this obviously had many different stories - some of which I liked and some of which I didn't. The first handful of stories in particular seemed to be more about technique than substance. But it was very interesting to see which stories famous SF authors had picked as their favorites. And it was nice that they included a paragraph describing why. Kudos on a good gimmick.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Some amazing stories from the time when Sci-Fi was just starting to explore the future possibilities of humanity. I reread some of my favourite short stories every once in a while, by far my favourite is "The Last command".

[j.e.rodriguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The universe may be an accident."

[Mary Anne]

I couldn't get through this. I got to page 66 and just kind of gave up. I don't think there's inherently wrong with it; maybe my taste for scifi has changed significantly.

[Janice · Rating 3 out of 5]

As always with a set of short stories, some were better than others. My favorite was the Eric Frank Russell, which doesn't surprise me as it's the primary reason I went ahead and picked the book up.

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first discovered compilations of science fiction short stories when I was in high school, and I've never grown tired of them -- especially those edited by Isaac Asimov and/or Martin H. Greenberg.

This particular compilation differs from most of the others. Each story included in this volume was selected as "my favorite science fiction story" by a particular well-known science fiction author (authors did not choose their own stories.) As a result of this selection process, the stories included exhibit a wide variety of innovative writing styles and subject matter.

My favorites include The Man Who Lost the Sea by Theodore Sturgeon, Black Charlie by Gordon R. Dickson, and The Ballad of Lost C'Mell by Cordwainer Smith.

[Conor · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know an anthology is really good when you're interested in chasing down all the authors involved.

But let me back up a step; this is a collection of stories that were chosen by science fiction writers as their favorite. With the specific goal of producing a collection of stories that were captivating, inspiring, and haunting...and it worked.

A bonus for me was the fact that I've never read many of the authors, but I'd be surprised if I were to research the stories and not find evidence of them being deeply influential. So for me this is an anthology that's a hook into new worlds, and one without any part that feels like filler.I can't ask for much more than that.

[GD · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't really remember there being a bad storiy in here, though the first one, by Theodore Sturgeon, had a kind of annoying narrative voice. Everything in here was creative, well written, and unpredictable. I never really liked science fiction until kind of recently, so all these cool ideas are still kind of new to me. And this book, just like almost every other book I've ever read, is better than anything by Haruki Murakami.

[Emilymcmc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of wonderful midcentury SF, including the original short-story form of "Nerves," by Lester Del Rey, which is a memorable reading experience.

[Kari · Rating 2 out of 5]

Creative, entertaining book that could be used for teaching Common Core Standard RL 8.2.

[Michael Sypes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some very good stories, some completely forgettable, making me wonder why these authors really found them so inspiring. Glad I got to read some authors I hadn't heard of or read before though.