The Good Old Stuff: Adventure SF in the Grand Tradition

by Gardner Dozois (Editor)

Science Fiction routinely explores the future, but it takes the hand of a master to capture the farthest reaches of time -- futures almost unimaginably distant. The Furthest Horizon collects 17 of the most inventive and audacious visions of the future by many acclaimed writers, including:

Brian Aldiss -- Poul Anderson -- Avram Davidson -- Joe Haldeman -- Alexander Jablokov -- Paul J. McAuley -- Ian McDonald -- Michael Moorcock -- Frederik Pohl -- Robert Reed -- Keith Roberts -- Robert Silverberg -- Cordwainer Smith -- James Tiptree, Jr. -- Jack Vance -- Walter Jon Williams -- Gene Wolfe

Contents
xv • Preface (The Good Old Stuff) • essay by Gardner Dozois
1 • The Rull • [Rull] • (1948) • novelette by A. E. van Vogt
27 • The Second Night of Summer • (1950) • novelette by James H. Schmitz
52 • The Galton Whistle • [Viagens Interplanetarias] • (1951) • novelette by L. Sprague de Camp
75 • The New Prime • (1951) • novelette by Jack Vance
99 • That Share of Glory • (1952) • novelette by C. M. Kornbluth
127 • The Last Days of Shandakor • (1952) • novelette by Leigh Brackett
155 • Exploration Team • [Colonial Survey] • (1956) • novelette by Murray Leinster
196 • The Sky People • [Maurai] • (1959) • novelette by Poul Anderson
235 • The Man in the Mailbag • [Dilbia] • (1959) • novelette by Gordon R. Dickson
261 • Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons • [The Instrumentality of Mankind] • (1961) • novelette by Cordwainer Smith
282 • A Kind of Artistry • (1962) • novelette by Brian W. Aldiss
304 • Gunpowder God • [Kalvan] • (1964) • novella by H. Beam Piper
346 • Semley's Necklace • (1964) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le Guin (aka The Dowry of Angyar)
364 • Moon Duel • (1965) • shortstory by Fritz Leiber
375 • The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth • (1965) • novelette by Roger Zelazny
406 • Mother in the Sky With Diamonds • (1971) • novelette by James Tiptree, Jr.

Genres: Science Fiction, Anthologies, Fiction, Short Stories

434 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1998

About the author

Gardner Raymond Dozois was an American science fiction author and editor. He was editor of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine from 1984 to 2004. He won multiple Hugo and Nebula awards, both as an editor and a writer of short fiction.
Wikipedia entry: Gardner Dozois

http://us.macmillan.com/author/gardne...

Reviews

[Peter Tillman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread in progress, 11-24-24. Not sure when I first read this. "The Sky People," a Poul Anderson fallen-civ novella from 1959, rang no memory bells. And it's a great story: 4.5 stars. So if you missed this one, or if it's been awhile (1998 anthology. My, how time flies.): you have a treat in store. Dozois was the leading SFF anthologist of his time, and perhaps ever. Boy is he missed! Dozois makes the point, in his not-to-be-missed volume intro, that "there isn't a story here that I wouldn't buy today." Fortunately, his taste and mine largely coincide, especially for space-opera & planetary-adventure stuff.

ToC and story details: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?...
As always, I like some stories more than others. I'll post a story-by-story review when I finish this reread.

[Andrew Post · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm pretty darn good at picking sci-fi compilations, if I do say so myself. This had a couple of classics in it that I'd already read elsewhere ("Semley's Necklace" and "Exploration Team"), but the rest were complete unknowns to me...and they were all gold. Gardner Duzois has a flair for anthologizing only the most gripping, suspenseful, character-driven, refreshingly different stories, and I'll certainly be reading his collection of more modern (for the 90s) sci-fi tales, The Good New Stuff. I encountered writers with whom I was already familiar (and deeply in love) in the pages of The Good Old Stuff as well as writers I had not yet had the pleasure of knowing, such as H. Beam Piper and Brian Aldiss and James H. Schmitz. Was inspired, on Duzois' word, to seek out new compilations of specific writers' stories, such as those of C.M. Kornbluth and Poul Anderson. Reading is always best when it germinates further reading. I'd highly recommend this work to anyone unsure of whether classic sci-fi is their bag, and are looking to "dip their toes in" as it were. The included stories demonstrate imagination, erudition, accessibility, rollicking adventure, and pure joy/love of the genre.

[Andrew Brooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could only give this anthology 3 stars... Barely! While I've enjoyed stories from all of the authors in this book, most of these stories I couldn't buy into. Except for a couple stories, they kept hitting my BS filters, and I would have to skip to the next. I suppose my crit thinking skills have just become too hard to turn off.

However, Dixon's Dilbia story, Leiber's Moon Duel, and Zelazny's Doors of his Face, Lamps of his Mouth are all top notch!

[Louise Bray · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun anthology of lots of science fiction short stories from the 50s, 60s and 70s. I haven't read much science fiction, so this was a fun way to try out the genre and see what the fuss is about. Definitely some hits and misses in here for me, but it's definitely opened my eyes to what the genre can offer.

[Lyle Blosser · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eclectic mix of "good old adventure SF" (some better than others, as usual) from numerous authors with interesting introductions by the editor for each author including a summary of the work of each.

[Egghead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seeking space cowboys
Found philosophers instead.
Wanted more rayguns.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories are hit and miss; fortunately, more hits than misses. This is a good introduction to now-historical science fiction in the adventure tradition. Some of it is curiously dated and quaint. What I learned after reading this collection is that I enjoy modern science fiction most of all because of its greater attention to provoking thought. But, sometimes, you just want to sit down and tear through an old-fashioned adventure story.

[Ethan · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW! Who knew that Sci-fi was so great in the 50s, 60s and 70s. I especially enjoyed the short story "The Last Days of Shandakor" by Leigh Brackett. She wrote the original screenplay for The Empire Strikes Back. Gardner Dozois does it again. Every book of shorts edited by him that I have read was excellent.
I have discovered a dozen authors that I hadn't even heard of.

[bluetyson]

The Good Old Stuff: Adventure Sf in the Grand Tradition by Gardner R. Dozois (1998)

[Michael Farrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great blast from the past. Some of the stories have held up to age better than others, but the craft really shined through. A great collection, from some of the greats of all time.