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The Seven Deadly Sins of Science Fiction
Table of Contents
Sloth: Sail 25 / Jack Vance
Lust: Peeping Tom / Judith Merril
Envy: The invisible man murder case / Henry Slesar
Pride: Galley slave / Isaac Asimov
Anger: Divine madness / Roger Zelazny
Gluttony: The Midas plague ; The man who ate the world / Frederik Pohl
Avarice: Margin of profit / Poul Anderson
Covetousness: The hook, the eye and the whip / Michael G. Coney
Sloth: Sail 25 / Jack Vance
Lust: Peeping Tom / Judith Merril
Envy: The invisible man murder case / Henry Slesar
Pride: Galley slave / Isaac Asimov
Anger: Divine madness / Roger Zelazny
Gluttony: The Midas plague ; The man who ate the world / Frederik Pohl
Avarice: Margin of profit / Poul Anderson
Covetousness: The hook, the eye and the whip / Michael G. Coney
269 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
7 people are currently reading
174 people want to read
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 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 23, 2025
Sloth: Sail 25 by Jack Vance [4/5]
Lust: Peeping Tom by Judith Merril [2/5]
Envy: The invisible man murder case by Henry Slesar [2/5]
Pride: Galley slave by Isaac Asimov [4/5]
Anger: Divine madness by Roger Zelazny [4/5]
Gluttony: The Midas plague by Frederik Pohl [5/5]
Gluttony: The man who ate the world by Frederik Pohl [4/5]
Avarice: Margin of profit by Poul Anderson [3/5]
Covetousness: The hook, the eye and the whip by Michael G. Coney [3/5]
I guess if your going to do an anthology you might aswell have a theme. Although it’s probably going to feel forced, which this does.
Also this seven sins themed book has 9 tales spread across 8 sins so their math isn’t great ;) .
Anyway I’ve given a number of these high scores and yet never even conemplated 4 stars. Maybe its just that i can’t imagine rereading any of them.
I’m not the biggest sci-fi or short story reader so your mileage may vary. For me this one was... fine.
Lust: Peeping Tom by Judith Merril [2/5]
Envy: The invisible man murder case by Henry Slesar [2/5]
Pride: Galley slave by Isaac Asimov [4/5]
Anger: Divine madness by Roger Zelazny [4/5]
Gluttony: The Midas plague by Frederik Pohl [5/5]
Gluttony: The man who ate the world by Frederik Pohl [4/5]
Avarice: Margin of profit by Poul Anderson [3/5]
Covetousness: The hook, the eye and the whip by Michael G. Coney [3/5]
I guess if your going to do an anthology you might aswell have a theme. Although it’s probably going to feel forced, which this does.
Also this seven sins themed book has 9 tales spread across 8 sins so their math isn’t great ;) .
Anyway I’ve given a number of these high scores and yet never even conemplated 4 stars. Maybe its just that i can’t imagine rereading any of them.
I’m not the biggest sci-fi or short story reader so your mileage may vary. For me this one was... fine.
January 19, 2020
It is always hard to give an anthology five stars. Not every short story will deserve five stars. But even the weakest story (my personal taste) was worth four stars.
My favorite is "Galley Slave" written by Isaac Asimov in 1957. At first impression, it is a conventional robot story utilizing Asimov's 3 Laws of Robotics. But at the conclusion it is revealed as a cautionary tale of technology displacing humans. It is superior to Kurt Vonnegut's "Player Piano".
My favorite is "Galley Slave" written by Isaac Asimov in 1957. At first impression, it is a conventional robot story utilizing Asimov's 3 Laws of Robotics. But at the conclusion it is revealed as a cautionary tale of technology displacing humans. It is superior to Kurt Vonnegut's "Player Piano".
February 1, 2022
Sail 25 by Jack Vance 3.5/5
Peeping Tom by Judith Merril 2/5
The Invisible Man Murder Case by Henry Slesar 4/5
Galley Slave by Isaac Asimov 3/5
Divine Madness by Roger Zelazny 5/5
The Midas Plague by Frederik Pohl 4/5
The Man Who Ate the World by Frederik Pohl 5/5
Margin of Profit 2.5/5
The Hook, the Eye and the Whip by Michael G. Coney 3/5
Peeping Tom by Judith Merril 2/5
The Invisible Man Murder Case by Henry Slesar 4/5
Galley Slave by Isaac Asimov 3/5
Divine Madness by Roger Zelazny 5/5
The Midas Plague by Frederik Pohl 4/5
The Man Who Ate the World by Frederik Pohl 5/5
Margin of Profit 2.5/5
The Hook, the Eye and the Whip by Michael G. Coney 3/5
October 2, 2019
Some of the stories were really enjoyable so it was definitely worth the read. Although, some really dragged on and got really confusing.
December 31, 2020
I knew the stories would be great but I couldn't imagine how much I would love them.
December 24, 2021
-Gregory Kerkman
August 14, 2023
A great compilation of short stories, I especially loved the Anger one. The way it was written was so interesting.
August 16, 2025
I found each of these stories, though occasionally straying towards convolution, to be deliciously engaging. Each explores interesting moral and ethical issues with a (mostly) healthy degree of nuance; and many, “The Eye, the Hook and the Whip” and “Sail 25” in particular, focus deeply on the sophisticated technical details of fantastic machinery. The degree of detailing can be difficult to follow for someone like myself, lacking relevant mechanical knowledge, but I would highly recommend it to any hankering technophiles out there.
Though these tech details were a bit of a lug for me, there were so many other compensating details that kept me engaged from story to story, from high velocity space-flight thrills to burgeoning murder mysteries to socio-economically distorted dystopias. The bite-sized stories are just long enough to satisfy in single story sittings, leaving room for contemplation between then and your next read; I would have gladly read a collection two or three times the length. I don’t have much else to say about the virtues of the collection beyond, “just go read it.”
So, onto the sins… One of the two pervasively repulsing characteristics of these stories is the literarily cheap moralization of physical appearance. A description of the antagonist in Frederick Pohl’s “The Man Who Ate the World” follows, “He wasn’t much more than five feet tall; but his weight was close to four hundred pounds… quivering jowls obliterated his neck, his eyes nearly swallowed in the fat that swamped his skull, his thick legs trembling as they tried to support him.” In this example, as in many of the other stories, antagonistic characters are described, in contrast to the protagonists, as fat, wrinkled, greasy, hairy, hook-nosed, or of overall pig-like physiognomy. It’s an embarrassing and offensive tool, which draws upon fat-phobic, anti-Semitic, and racist stereotypes. Era be damned, a skilled author should not deign to use such unflattering and rudimentary tools.
The collection’s second sin is casual sexism and misogyny. Many of the stories either abstain from the mention of women entirely, or use them as plot-driving caricatures. The worst offender is Michael G. Coney’s short, which makes a statement on the ease of “accidentally” committing rape. There are some honorable exemptions featured, which either provide intelligent female side-kicks for the male protagonist, or which offer a critical viewpoint of men’s misogyny. If there are positive representations mixed in, then why dock a whole star? Pervasive failures of the Bechdel test and the absence of female primary protagonists. Statistically, out of the 9 stories featured, couldn’t they have found at least one woman protagonist interesting enough to fill 20 pages worth of plot?
Despite these sins however, my overall review is positive, and I would recommend reading with discretion.
Though these tech details were a bit of a lug for me, there were so many other compensating details that kept me engaged from story to story, from high velocity space-flight thrills to burgeoning murder mysteries to socio-economically distorted dystopias. The bite-sized stories are just long enough to satisfy in single story sittings, leaving room for contemplation between then and your next read; I would have gladly read a collection two or three times the length. I don’t have much else to say about the virtues of the collection beyond, “just go read it.”
So, onto the sins… One of the two pervasively repulsing characteristics of these stories is the literarily cheap moralization of physical appearance. A description of the antagonist in Frederick Pohl’s “The Man Who Ate the World” follows, “He wasn’t much more than five feet tall; but his weight was close to four hundred pounds… quivering jowls obliterated his neck, his eyes nearly swallowed in the fat that swamped his skull, his thick legs trembling as they tried to support him.” In this example, as in many of the other stories, antagonistic characters are described, in contrast to the protagonists, as fat, wrinkled, greasy, hairy, hook-nosed, or of overall pig-like physiognomy. It’s an embarrassing and offensive tool, which draws upon fat-phobic, anti-Semitic, and racist stereotypes. Era be damned, a skilled author should not deign to use such unflattering and rudimentary tools.
The collection’s second sin is casual sexism and misogyny. Many of the stories either abstain from the mention of women entirely, or use them as plot-driving caricatures. The worst offender is Michael G. Coney’s short, which makes a statement on the ease of “accidentally” committing rape. There are some honorable exemptions featured, which either provide intelligent female side-kicks for the male protagonist, or which offer a critical viewpoint of men’s misogyny. If there are positive representations mixed in, then why dock a whole star? Pervasive failures of the Bechdel test and the absence of female primary protagonists. Statistically, out of the 9 stories featured, couldn’t they have found at least one woman protagonist interesting enough to fill 20 pages worth of plot?
Despite these sins however, my overall review is positive, and I would recommend reading with discretion.
June 22, 2017
Anthology.
Hurray, I love old sci-fi anthologies and it never fails when i read one I will find at least one or two of the stories that I have read elsewhere.
None of the stories sucked, which for me is a great thing. I am used to reading an anthology and having at least story leave me with an "Oh so that happened, what is next" feeling.
The crux of the anthology is each story is a reflection of the deadly sins, with Gluttony having two stories since it is a glutton.
Included is Sail 25, Peeping Tom, The invisible man murder case, Galley Slave, Divine Madness, The Midas Plague, The man who ate the world, Margin or profit, and The hook, the eye and the whip.
The ones I liked the best were the Midas Plague and the man who ate the world.
Both by Pohl, these along with another would one day be combined to make a novel. They are all centered in a world where energy efficiency and robotic manufacturing have given the world a glut of merchandise to consume. I would heartily recommend these two stories.
Hurray, I love old sci-fi anthologies and it never fails when i read one I will find at least one or two of the stories that I have read elsewhere.
None of the stories sucked, which for me is a great thing. I am used to reading an anthology and having at least story leave me with an "Oh so that happened, what is next" feeling.
The crux of the anthology is each story is a reflection of the deadly sins, with Gluttony having two stories since it is a glutton.
Included is Sail 25, Peeping Tom, The invisible man murder case, Galley Slave, Divine Madness, The Midas Plague, The man who ate the world, Margin or profit, and The hook, the eye and the whip.
The ones I liked the best were the Midas Plague and the man who ate the world.
Both by Pohl, these along with another would one day be combined to make a novel. They are all centered in a world where energy efficiency and robotic manufacturing have given the world a glut of merchandise to consume. I would heartily recommend these two stories.
April 28, 2009
I remember this one fondly, as it was one of the books my dad kept on his bathroom reading shelf. A collection of 9 sci-fi short stories dealing with the 7 deadly sins, by some of the greats of the genre. Most of the stories are great. One or two fall flat.
SLOTH: Sail 25 (1962) by Jack Vance
LUST: Peeping Tom (1954) by Judith Merril
ENVY: The Invisible Man Murder Case (1958) by Henry Slesar
PRIDE: Galley Slave (1957) by Issac Asimov
ANGER: Divine Madness (1966) by Roger Zelazny
GLUTTONY: The Midas Plague by (1954) Federik Pohl
The Man Who Ate the World (1956) by Federik Pohl
AVARICE: Margin or Profit (1956) by Puol Anderson
COVETOUSNESS: The Hook, the Eye and the Whip (1974) by Michael G. Coney
SLOTH: Sail 25 (1962) by Jack Vance
LUST: Peeping Tom (1954) by Judith Merril
ENVY: The Invisible Man Murder Case (1958) by Henry Slesar
PRIDE: Galley Slave (1957) by Issac Asimov
ANGER: Divine Madness (1966) by Roger Zelazny
GLUTTONY: The Midas Plague by (1954) Federik Pohl
The Man Who Ate the World (1956) by Federik Pohl
AVARICE: Margin or Profit (1956) by Puol Anderson
COVETOUSNESS: The Hook, the Eye and the Whip (1974) by Michael G. Coney
June 16, 2009
Short SF stories based upon the seven deadly sins. There is some pretty good stuff here. Maybe 3 and a half stars.
July 13, 2014
It was nice to read some of the older great authors again. Interesting adjectives and complex sentences and....
Also. Pohl's shorts for Gluttony disturbed me deeply.
Also. Pohl's shorts for Gluttony disturbed me deeply.
April 15, 2014
good collection
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews