The Best of All Possible Worlds

by Spider Robinson (Editor)

Used- Good Condition. All Pages, Binding and Cover in Tact. Clean- Kept in Smoke Free Environment.

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

373 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published January 1, 1980

About the author

Spider Robinson is an American-born Canadian Hugo and Nebula award winning science fiction author. He was born in the USA, but chose to live in Canada, and gained citizenship in his adopted country in 2002.

Robinson's writing career began in 1972 with a sale to Analog Science Fiction magazine of a story entitled, The Guy With The Eyes. His writing proved popular, and his first novel saw print in 1976, Telempath. Since then he has averaged a novel (or collection) a year. His most well known stories are the Callahan saloon series.

Reviews

[Lisa H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Niven's classic short story "Inconstant Moon" leads off this anthology, which was compiled in a very interesting way. Spider Robinson picked his favorite story - Niven's - and then asked Niven to pick his favorite, and so on. The result is a diverse collection that includes the duel scene from The Princess Bride (my introduction to that lovely book), Anthony Boucher's "They Bite", Sturgeon's "Need" (if you've never read that one you need to), and a pocketful of other gems.

My favorite part of the book: the foreword, where Robinson defines his role as "bringer-of-wonders." Everyone knows somebody like this, or IS somebody like this - that person who can't resist turning you on to the new book or piece of music they've discovered. And most of the time you find yourself saying, wow, where did you find this? (Although sometimes you say, good god, don't give me *another* book to read, I'm not done with the last one yet!) I can attest to his skill in that role - he waxes rhapsodic about John Koerner's 1969 recording Running Jumping Standing Still, to the point where I went out and bought a copy on CD. It was worth it.

This book was issued as an Ace paperback during that imprint's early 80's heyday and is long out of print. If you spot a copy at the used bookstore, get it.

[Redsteve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting SF short story collection. Spider Robinson selected a lesser known story from some of his favorite authors (Larry Niven, Theodore Sturgeon, William Goldman, Dean Ing, and Robert Heinlein), and they, in turn, selected one of THEIR favorite short stories. I liked most of the stories selected and was only familiar with a couple of them ("The Duel Scene" from Goldman's PRINCESS BRIDE and Sheckley's "The Seventh Victim"), even though I've read works by pretty much all of the authors, so, good call, Spider. I especially liked LaFare's "Spud and Cochise," Theodore Sturgeon's "Need," Boucher's "They Bite," and Goldman's "Duel Scene." Sheckley's "Seventh Victim" is pretty good, but I prefer his novel-length treatment of the "Hunt" universe - i.e. VICTIM PRIME. 3.5 stars.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty fun concept for a short story collection, mainly that Robinson started with a story he really liked and then got that author to recommend the following one. Favorites included "Inconstant Moon" by Larry Niven, "They Bite" by Anthony Boucher, and "The Man Who Traveled in Elephants" by Robert Heinlein, though I liked almost all of them.

[Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was thrilled to find The Best of All Possible Worlds ed. Spider Robinson at a used bookstore this weekend.

It's a collection where Robinson chose his favorite less-publicized (SF) short stories, then asked each author in turn to choose his favorite short story. Robinson's choices include Heinlein & Sturgeon (no surprise to anyone familiar with Spider); the author choices introduced me to Terry Carr and Anthony Boucher. Spider wrote wonderful introductions to the stories he selected - of which two were already favorites: "Inconstant Moon" and "The Man Who Traveled in Elephants" (which I defy anyone to finish dry-eyed).


"Inconstant Moon" - Larry Niven
"Spud and Cochise" - Oliver LaFarge
"Need" -Theodore Sturgeon
"Hop-Friend" - Terry Carr
"Duel Scene" from The Princess Bride - William Goldman
"Seventh Victim" - Robert Sheckley
"Portions of this Program ... " - Dean Ing
"They Bite" - Anthony Boucher
"The Man Who Traveled in Elephants" - Robert A. Heinlein
"Our Lady's Juggler" - Anatole France


This book is out of print, but if you can find it in the local library or can borrow it from a friend (good luck!) I highly recommend it.

[Kirk · Rating 5 out of 5]

The review that appeared when I select this book is for Larry Niven's anthology "The Best of All Possible Wars"--NOT Robinson's anthology "The Best of All Possible Worlds". There are no Kzinti in this book, though it does open with Niven's excellent tale "Inconstant Moon". It is a cryin' shame that "The Best of All Possible Worlds, volume II" never came to pass, but getting all the contracts in place to print these 10 stories may have given Spider his first grey hairs. The concept of printing five stories by five of his favorite living authors--then asking each of the five to select his favorite story--is unigue and wonderful. Thank you, Spider and Jim Baen!

I just realized that Spider mentioned a story in the introduction that he must have been saving for volume II--now I need to find a copy of Edgar Pangborn's Angel's Egg.

[KTK · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book in an RV site in San Francisco, halfway through our travels. Sci Fi books by many of these authors define my early teenage reading habits, and it felt like destiny to find this book thousands of miles from home.

[Jeff]

Some of the best stories, and an excerpt (the Duel Scene) from The Princess Bride, before anyone had really heard of it.

It is a great collection.

[Erica Bartos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading my favorite authors’ favorite short stories, particularly Heinlein’s. A fun compilation!

[Raj · Rating 3 out of 5]

Larry Niven opened up his Known Space universe to others to write about a war between Man and the Kzin, a warlike catlike race. This book contains four of the best of these stories. The first two are by Niven himself to introduce the universe and the war but the second two, by Greg Bear and Jerry Pournelle respectively (both co-authored with S. M. Stirling) are arguably the better, not having to set up the exposition with Pournelle's novella (taking up about half the book) being the best of the bunch. An interesting universe and maybe worth digging into further.

[Isblue · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent collection of sf short stories. Spider choose his favourites by various authors and had them pick a favourite of their own. Spider's introductions, along with the other writers, are key to making this collection work.

BoaPW was my introduction to my own favourite Heinlein short "The Man Who Traveled in Elephants", so for me the book remains a shiny thing even though it's been years since I picked it up.

[Peter Tillman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have sworn I'd written this one up. If I did, it's not here.
Anyway, here's a good review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I'll have to pull out my copy (assuming I can find it) for re-reading.

Also see Red Steve's for the interesting backstory, which GR doesn't have at the top:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Xenophon Hendrix · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was edited by Spider Robinson.

[Art · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read April 6, 1981