Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories 16: 1954

Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories #16

by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, Angus McKie (Illustrator)

Contents:

9 · 1954 Introduction · Martin H. Greenberg · in
13 · The Test · Richard Matheson · ss F&SF Nov ’54
34 · Anachron · Damon Knight · ss If Jan ’54
54 · Black Charlie · Gordon R. Dickson · ss Galaxy Apr ’54
72 · Down Among the Dead Men · William Tenn · nv Galaxy Jun ’54
100 · The Hunting Lodge · Randall Garrett · nv Astounding Jul ’54
138 · The Lysenko Maze · Donald A. Wollheim · ss F&SF Jul ’54
151 · Fondly Fahrenheit · Alfred Bester · nv F&SF Aug ’54
174 · The Cold Equations · Tom Godwin · nv Astounding Aug ’54
203 · Letters from Laura · Mildred Clingerman · ss F&SF Oct ’54
211 · Transformer · Chad Oliver · ss F&SF Nov ’54
227 · The Music Master of Babylon · Edgar Pangborn · nv Galaxy Nov ’54
258 · The End of Summer · Algis Budrys · nv Astounding Nov ’54
289 · The Father-Thing · Philip K. Dick · ss F&SF Dec ’54
304 · The Deep Range · Arthur C. Clarke · ss Star Science Fiction Stories #3, ed. Frederik Pohl, Ballantine, 1954
315 · Balaam · Anthony Boucher · ss 9 Tales of Space and Time, ed. Raymond J. Healey, Holt, 1954
332 · Man of Parts · Horace L. Gold · ss 9 Tales of Space and Time, ed. Raymond J. Healey, Holt, 1954
349 · Answer · Fredric Brown · vi Angels and Spaceships, Dutton, 1954

Genres: Science Fiction, Anthologies

350 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 5, 1987

About the author

Works 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...

Reviews

[Les]

I’ve owned several volumes in this anthology series for years and, embarrassingly enough, never read them. A few weeks ago, I decided to remedy the situation and randomly pulled #16 from my bookcase and began reading. Why on Earth did I wait this long? The stories are amazing.

The volume opens with a story by Richard Matheson (who, by the way, wrote some of the best episodes of The Twilight Zone TV series) called, “The Test.” Though the storyline was somewhat predictable, the emotion of the characters nonetheless drew me in – and the ending was a real gut punch.

William Tenn’s contribution was “Down Among the Dead Men.” The story was imaginative and haunting – in more than one way. I am confident John Scalzi read the story before he wrote “Old Man’s War.” The plots are not the same, but…

Almost all of the stories were excellent. There were a few I’d read before, like “The Cold Equations” (tom Godwin) and “The Deep Range” (Arthur C. Clarke), but many I had not and should have. The best example was from Chad Oliver, an under-appreciated writer whose collective works are among the most creative of the Golden Age. I have thought about his fantasy-ish “Transformer” every day since I finished the book.

There are great stories by Philip K. Dick, Damon Knight, Gordon R. Dickson, Algis Budrys, and more.

Get. This. Book. Now.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I took this book off the shelf because I wanted to quote a passage that I remembered. Of course, I then proceeded to reread much of it. I have read only a few of the many books in this series but I think that these come close to being indispensable for readers seeking a historical perspective that includes some of the best science fiction stories of all time.

Not all the stories in this volume are science fiction. Even the two editors agree that Chad Oliver's story "Transformer" is fantasy. Mildred Clingerman's "Letters from Laura" is also unquestionably fantasy and, depending on one's feelings about religion, Anthony Boucher's "Balaam" as well might be considered fantasy.

Two of the stories are always included in discussions of the greatest and most influential science fiction tales ever written, "Fondly Fahrenheit" by Alfred Bester and "The Cold Equations" by Tom Godwin. (Godwin is, I think, the least well known of all the authors here.)

"The End of Summer" by Algis Budrys was nominated for a 1956 Hugo Best Novelette Award. (Why 1956? The Hugo Awards used to have very strange standards for when entries were eligible for awards.)

My favorites are "The Test" by Richard Matheson, "Down Among the Dead Men" by William Tenn, "The Music Master of Babylon" by Edgar Pangborn, "The Father-Thing" by Philip K. Dick, and "Balaam" by Anthony Boucher. I also like two of the comic stories, Mildred Clingerman's "Letters from Laura" and H. L. Gold's "Man of Parts."

Fredric Brown's "Answer" is only one page long and barely qualifies as a story rather than an anecdote. Whatever it is, it is certainly memorable.

The introduction to the book is, as usual for this series, poorly written:

People began to worry about the disposal of radioactive waste in 1954, but Picasso painted "Sylvette," and William Goldman published THE LORD OF THE FLIES, which might qualify as science fiction.

The individual story introductions are variously fine, irrelevant, pretentious, and irritating.

I enjoy Angus McKie's cover for the 1987 DAW paperback edition, which perfectly represents the spirit of 1954 science fiction.

[Lewis Carnelian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another enjoyable collection. It's interesting to note the difference between this, published in 1987, and The Best Science Fiction Stories and Novels: 1955, published in 1955, which covered the same year, 1954: no overlap whatsoever. Of course, this is a question of editorship (the of course highlighted Isaac Asimov and Martin Greenberg) while the at-the-time collection was edited by T. E. Dikty. There is also the benefit of hindsight, but very interesting there is no overlap! Highlights of this collection, for me, include "Black Charlie" by Gordon R. Dickson—a fascinating portrait of art-in-context that has a surprising amount of empathy, and "Balaam" by Anthony Boucher—a wonderful "religious" science fiction story. There are of course others, including the very fun Douglas Adams precedent and short-short story ending this volume, "Answer" by Fredric Brown.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though this anthology isn't perfect it has enough great stories to deserve a 5-star rating. 1954 was an outstanding year for science fiction and these stories prove it:

- "The Cold Equations" by Tom Godwin
- "Fondly Fahrenheit" by Alfred Bester
- "The End of Summer" by Algis Budrys
- "The Music Master of Babylon" by Edgar Pangborn
- "Down Among the Dead Men" by William Tenn
- "Transformer" by Chad Oliver
- "The Lysenko Maze" by Donald Wollheim
- "The Father-Thing" by Philip K. Dick
- "Answer" by Fredric Bown
- "The Test" by Richard Matheson

[S M H · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy read, for all the authors in it are good at concocting short and snappy stories. Though you will not find anything deeper here than this for all of these stories are as shallow as a puddle, but quite entertaining.

[Ben Arispe · Rating 3 out of 5]

REALLY old sci-fi here. Not bad stories but they are very dated to the time they were written. (We had such dreams of going beyond the moon once we got there)

[Garrett Headley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional group of sci-fi and fantasy stories with great commentary on both the authors, their contributions, and context of what the world was like in 1954

[Pete · Rating 4 out of 5]

This may be the weakest book in this anthology series so far. Five of the 17 stories suggest that 1954 was not a good year for SF. While not bad, I would call these stories forgettable. One of the best stories, The Cold Equations is rightfully a classic, but it does not bear repeated reading. Three stories, Down Among the Dead Men, Fondly Fahrenheit and The Music Master of Babylon are rich enough that I would certainly read them again (this is probably the third time that I have read Fondly Fahrenheit). A few others stand out for the central idea and/or execution including The Test, The Hunting Lodge, The Lysenko Maze, The Father-Thing and The Answer.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greenberg and Asimov's series of best-of-the-year picks focuses on 1954 in this 16th volume. Some of the titles were obscure to me, perhaps because of the rapid expansion the magazine field enjoyed in the digest era's beginning. Included are good stories from Clarke, Fredric Brown, Edgar Pangborn, Philip K. Dick, and many others (each author has only a single title in this volume), and I can't decided upon a favorite between the Bester (Fondly Fahrenheit), the Budrys (The End of Summer), and the classic Godwin (The Cold Equations).