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Sci-Fi Private Eye
From the Asimov private library, Asimov and Greenberg have chosen their favorite about science fiction private detectives. It contains The Adventure of the Metal Murderer by Fred Saberhagen, Mouthpiece by Edward Wellen, and Getting Across by Robert Silverberg.
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First published January 1, 1993
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About the author
Isaac Asimov
4,337 books27.6k followersWorks of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles,
The Foundation Trilogy
(1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.
Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.
Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).
People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.
Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.
Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...
Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.
Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).
People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.
Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.
Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 12, 2012
Getting Across (1973) by Robert Silverberg 3/5
War Game (1959) by Philip K. Dick 4/5
The Martian Crown Jewels (1958) by Poul Anderson 3/5
Mouthpiece (1974) by Edward Wellen 3/5
Adventure of the Metal Murderer (1980) by Fred Saberhagen 4/5
War Game (1959) by Philip K. Dick 4/5
The Martian Crown Jewels (1958) by Poul Anderson 3/5
Mouthpiece (1974) by Edward Wellen 3/5
Adventure of the Metal Murderer (1980) by Fred Saberhagen 4/5
June 18, 2020
Bu kitaptaki dokuz öykünün ortak tarafı, polisiye bilimkurgu hikayeleri olmaları. Bir suç... Temel bilimle, teknolojinin imkanlarıyla, dedektif ya da polislerin zekâsıyla bulunan çözümler. Ağ gibi örülmüş olay örgüleri ve kendini kanıtlamış yazarlar.
Favori öyküm: Kazanan (Donald Westlake) oldu. Aslında hepsini farklı açılardan sevdim. Örneğin Bir Scarletin Çalışması (Philip Jose Farmer) bulmaca gibi ve eğlenceliydi, Çalan Çan (Isaac Asimov) da sonuyla yalın bir şaşkınlığa uğrattı. Dokuz öyküyü de dikkatle ve keyifle okudum.
Bu kitabı bütün bilimkurgu severlere tavsiye ediyorum! Kitap 1999 basımı ve ne yazık ki yeni baskısı yok. Sahaflarda var. Umarım bir gün yeniden basılır.
Favori öyküm: Kazanan (Donald Westlake) oldu. Aslında hepsini farklı açılardan sevdim. Örneğin Bir Scarletin Çalışması (Philip Jose Farmer) bulmaca gibi ve eğlenceliydi, Çalan Çan (Isaac Asimov) da sonuyla yalın bir şaşkınlığa uğrattı. Dokuz öyküyü de dikkatle ve keyifle okudum.
Bu kitabı bütün bilimkurgu severlere tavsiye ediyorum! Kitap 1999 basımı ve ne yazık ki yeni baskısı yok. Sahaflarda var. Umarım bir gün yeniden basılır.
January 14, 2010
Genre: Science Fiction, Mystery
This is a collection of short-stories, all written between 1950 and 1970. For me the oddest and most interesting thing about the stories is the world-view. I haven't read a whole lot of classic sci-fi, and the gender stereotypes were extremely blatant and hard to swallow. In all the stories the only competent/smart woman among 'em had been born a man. In fact, in the stories it was almost entirely a male world. Very strange. However, despite that the stories were much more readable then I expected. One of 'em completely cheated, by pulling out what would now be classified as a fantasy element as the reason for the murders as well as the method, without the fairness of suggesting that such might be possible in that world. However, other then that, the stories played fair with the mysteries, the sci-fi elements, and did not use techno-babble to solve the crime. Each had an interesting take on the future and future technology. (For all the mentions of slide-rules and room-size computers were amusing, they do not actually distract from the stories).
My (very short takes) on each of the short stories:
Larry Niven's "ARM" - This is the longest story in the book, and had the most interesting (albeit somewhat bleak) view of the future. The story follows the investigation of the murder of an Einstein-like(or more accurately a Thomas Edison-like) famous inventor, by a detective from the ARM branch of government, who's job is to police the population to make sure the reproductive laws are followed (which our hero hates doing), track down organ theft (since in this tech you can apparently easily transplant an arm, etc. from one person to another), and follow the advent/use of fancy new technological weapons - which is the classification that the murder of the inventor seems to fall into.
Isaac Asimov's "The Singing Bell" - I think this was my favorite of the stories, very much a puzzle story without much action; but it was short, played fair and had an apropos resolution.
Wilson Tucker's "Time Exposures" - A completely fair mystery that involves a time-lapse photographer. Except in this universe photography apparently can take pictures _backwards_ in time. Highly satisfying.
Poul Anderson's "The Martian Crown Jewels" - almost feels like a Sam Spade pot-boiler crossed with Retief.
Donald Westlake's "The Winner" - I'm not sure this is a mystery so much as a political statement along the lines of _Brave New World_ or _1984_. Quite readable, despite the agenda.
Robert Silverberg's "Getting Across" - more an exploration of a future society then a mystery. Interesting in a vaguely post-apocalyptic "Mad Max and the Thunder dome" kind of way.
Philip Jose Farmer's "A Scarletin Study" - think Sherlock Holms, if Holms were a genetically engineered intelligent dog.
Tom Reamy's "The Detweiler Boy" - This is the one story I didn't like, and which I felt cheated as a mystery.
Philip K. Dick's "War Game" - This is the first Philip K. Dick story I've actually read, and I remember being pleased with it, but I'm afraid it was unmemorable, as I can't remember anything else about it.
This is a collection of short-stories, all written between 1950 and 1970. For me the oddest and most interesting thing about the stories is the world-view. I haven't read a whole lot of classic sci-fi, and the gender stereotypes were extremely blatant and hard to swallow. In all the stories the only competent/smart woman among 'em had been born a man. In fact, in the stories it was almost entirely a male world. Very strange. However, despite that the stories were much more readable then I expected. One of 'em completely cheated, by pulling out what would now be classified as a fantasy element as the reason for the murders as well as the method, without the fairness of suggesting that such might be possible in that world. However, other then that, the stories played fair with the mysteries, the sci-fi elements, and did not use techno-babble to solve the crime. Each had an interesting take on the future and future technology. (For all the mentions of slide-rules and room-size computers were amusing, they do not actually distract from the stories).
My (very short takes) on each of the short stories:
Larry Niven's "ARM" - This is the longest story in the book, and had the most interesting (albeit somewhat bleak) view of the future. The story follows the investigation of the murder of an Einstein-like(or more accurately a Thomas Edison-like) famous inventor, by a detective from the ARM branch of government, who's job is to police the population to make sure the reproductive laws are followed (which our hero hates doing), track down organ theft (since in this tech you can apparently easily transplant an arm, etc. from one person to another), and follow the advent/use of fancy new technological weapons - which is the classification that the murder of the inventor seems to fall into.
Isaac Asimov's "The Singing Bell" - I think this was my favorite of the stories, very much a puzzle story without much action; but it was short, played fair and had an apropos resolution.
Wilson Tucker's "Time Exposures" - A completely fair mystery that involves a time-lapse photographer. Except in this universe photography apparently can take pictures _backwards_ in time. Highly satisfying.
Poul Anderson's "The Martian Crown Jewels" - almost feels like a Sam Spade pot-boiler crossed with Retief.
Donald Westlake's "The Winner" - I'm not sure this is a mystery so much as a political statement along the lines of _Brave New World_ or _1984_. Quite readable, despite the agenda.
Robert Silverberg's "Getting Across" - more an exploration of a future society then a mystery. Interesting in a vaguely post-apocalyptic "Mad Max and the Thunder dome" kind of way.
Philip Jose Farmer's "A Scarletin Study" - think Sherlock Holms, if Holms were a genetically engineered intelligent dog.
Tom Reamy's "The Detweiler Boy" - This is the one story I didn't like, and which I felt cheated as a mystery.
Philip K. Dick's "War Game" - This is the first Philip K. Dick story I've actually read, and I remember being pleased with it, but I'm afraid it was unmemorable, as I can't remember anything else about it.
April 12, 2012
I rather enjoyed this anthology of crime-related SF stories. I was curious to see just how 'science fictional' these stories would be - i.e. would they just be traditional stories transplanted into space or would the crimes and/or their solutions genuinely require science fiction. Happily, for more than half the stories this is the case. Of the ones for which it isn't, I'll happily forgive The Scarletin Study because its protagonist is a talking dog while The Martian Crown Jewels is a classic locked room mystery with a twist. Of the others, the one that was probably creepiest was The Winner, about a prison with no walls, but a device embedded into the prisoners' bodies ensures that the the further they get from the prison, the more pain they endure... Philip K. Dick's War Game about psychological warfare with toys and games deserves a mention as does Wilson Tucker's Time Exposures whose police photographer captures not so much the 'now' as the 'then' with photographs of the past.
All in all this is a strong collection which I'd be happy to dip into again, even though I now know how all the crimes are solved and loose ends tied up.
All in all this is a strong collection which I'd be happy to dip into again, even though I now know how all the crimes are solved and loose ends tied up.
February 9, 2022
A very enjoyable collection by some of the masters of the genre.
My favourite was 'A Scarletin Study', even when Farmer is not my favourite author, but, seriously! a Sherlock Holmes dog? Count me in *laughs*
'War Game' is a close second, this one by Philip K. Dick, whom I adore and even when I had read this story before it still got me engaged.
'Getting Across' is not much of a mystery but a good story by itself.
'The Martian Crown Jewels' by Pol Anderson it's excellent as both, a mystery and a science fiction story.
'Mouthpiece' it's brilliant, although maybe the more difficult to read.
'The Adventure of the Metal Murderer' it's the one I least enjoyed, even when I loved the concept and I'm always in when it comes to stories set in the Victorian era.
All in all, a great anthology and a wonderful chance to visit old friends :D
My favourite was 'A Scarletin Study', even when Farmer is not my favourite author, but, seriously! a Sherlock Holmes dog? Count me in *laughs*
'War Game' is a close second, this one by Philip K. Dick, whom I adore and even when I had read this story before it still got me engaged.
'Getting Across' is not much of a mystery but a good story by itself.
'The Martian Crown Jewels' by Pol Anderson it's excellent as both, a mystery and a science fiction story.
'Mouthpiece' it's brilliant, although maybe the more difficult to read.
'The Adventure of the Metal Murderer' it's the one I least enjoyed, even when I loved the concept and I'm always in when it comes to stories set in the Victorian era.
All in all, a great anthology and a wonderful chance to visit old friends :D
May 28, 2020
Not unreadable but very dated.
The Singing Bell • (1955) • shortstory by Isaac Asimov - ok, a bit obvious
The Martian Crown Jewels • (1958) • shortstory by Poul Anderson - ok
A Scarletin Study • (1975) • novelette by Philip José Farmer - irritating
The Winner • (1970) • shortstory by Donald E. Westlake - ok but not really a detective story
The Detweiler Boy • (1977) • novelette by Tom Reamy - fantasy, not SF, and poor resolution
Time Exposures • (1971) • novelette by Wilson Tucker - not bad
Getting Across • (1973) • novelette by Robert Silverberg - not really a detective story, more a future road-trip
War Game • (1959) • shortstory by Philip K. Dick - good
ARM • [Gil Hamilton] • (1975) • novella by Larry Niven - convoluted, sexist
The Singing Bell • (1955) • shortstory by Isaac Asimov - ok, a bit obvious
The Martian Crown Jewels • (1958) • shortstory by Poul Anderson - ok
A Scarletin Study • (1975) • novelette by Philip José Farmer - irritating
The Winner • (1970) • shortstory by Donald E. Westlake - ok but not really a detective story
The Detweiler Boy • (1977) • novelette by Tom Reamy - fantasy, not SF, and poor resolution
Time Exposures • (1971) • novelette by Wilson Tucker - not bad
Getting Across • (1973) • novelette by Robert Silverberg - not really a detective story, more a future road-trip
War Game • (1959) • shortstory by Philip K. Dick - good
ARM • [Gil Hamilton] • (1975) • novella by Larry Niven - convoluted, sexist
August 5, 2024
Yani normalde hiçbir kitaba bir yıldız vermek istemem ama bu kitaba vermek zorundayım. O kadar kendimi zorlayarak okudum ki dedim bu ne kadar kötü bir seçki. İnsan bu yazarlardan çok daha iyi öyküler bekliyor.
December 13, 2018
Some of the stories are awesome and some of them are tedious. The Winner is truly an in incredible story despite being one of the shortest in the book.
December 29, 2021
2.5 stars rounded up to 3-stars
I Enjoyed Poul Anderson's and Philip K. Dick's the most - some of the other stories' endings were rather beyond me...
The version I listened to had an introduction and five stories, namely:
01. Getting Across by Robert Silverberg = 2 to 3-Stars I enjoyed the progress of the story but the ending... Maybe just to socio-economical for my tastes...
02. War Game by Philip K. Dick = 4-Stars I think if you've never played the Monopoly board game then the hilarity of this story will be lost on you. ;)
03. The Martian Crown Jewels by Poul Anderson = 5-Stars A Sherlockian Spoof
04. Mouthpiece by Edward Wellen = 2-Stars Very intriguing story surrounding AI, brilliant concept and well written but, in my opinion, not the easiest story to follow.
05. The Adventure of the Metal Murderer by Fred Saberhage = 2 to 3-Stars I liked the time-travelling, Victorian concept, but despite a colourfully written story and parody, it felt flat somehow
I Enjoyed Poul Anderson's and Philip K. Dick's the most - some of the other stories' endings were rather beyond me...
The version I listened to had an introduction and five stories, namely:
01. Getting Across by Robert Silverberg = 2 to 3-Stars I enjoyed the progress of the story but the ending... Maybe just to socio-economical for my tastes...
02. War Game by Philip K. Dick = 4-Stars I think if you've never played the Monopoly board game then the hilarity of this story will be lost on you. ;)
03. The Martian Crown Jewels by Poul Anderson = 5-Stars A Sherlockian Spoof
04. Mouthpiece by Edward Wellen = 2-Stars Very intriguing story surrounding AI, brilliant concept and well written but, in my opinion, not the easiest story to follow.
05. The Adventure of the Metal Murderer by Fred Saberhage = 2 to 3-Stars I liked the time-travelling, Victorian concept, but despite a colourfully written story and parody, it felt flat somehow
November 1, 2011
I found most of these short stories to be entertaining, especially Philip Jose Farmer's "A Scarletin Study", with its speaking canine detective, Ralph von Wau Wau. The most challenging mystery was Larry Niven's ARM. In all, a nice diversion. Nothing like a good who-dunnit from the future.
December 15, 2014
Short stories are not my favorite form. A few of these are memorable but some seem dated.
April 9, 2015
Ne yalan söyleyeyim, elime sadece PKD için aldım -ki doğru kararmış.
January 3, 2017
A collection of interesting short stories. Some brilliant and some not so much. A two related to Sherlock Holmes makes the collection seem silly.
March 29, 2017
Wasn't dazzling. Many(most) of the stories seemed open-ended, were not thrilling, and were not technically challenging. The level of science and developing technology was not a highlight and was below what should have been available for thrilling prescient sc-fi in the 60's and 70's.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews