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The Random House Book of Science Fiction Stories
Journey to an alternate world of mutant earthlings and aliens from the farthest reaches of the galaxy in this gripping collection by the boldest and most renowned authors in science fiction--Piers Anthony, Arthur C. Clarke, William Temple, Mike Ashley, and more. This is a thrilling treasury that leaves nothing unexplored!
- GenresScience Fiction
402 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1997
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About the author
Mike Ashley
279 books131 followersMichael Raymond Donald Ashley is the author and editor of over sixty books that in total have sold over a million copies worldwide. He lives in Chatham, Kent.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 28, 2026
For a sci-fi anthology aimed at kids (and white American kids from 1996 at that), this had surprisingly few stories written for kids. The rest were culled from magazines which went as far back as 1935 ("Derelict") or from anthology series such as Damon Knight's Orbit ... a series that was definitely adults only.
Although I didn't have any problem with stories from before the first Moon landing, kids today might. The vocabulary and cultural norms were a lot different. Hitting women was okay, smoking was common, and animals had no rights.
I found the anthology dull, since most the stories were so similar ... like variations of Star Trek. There was one story I thought outstanding -- "Halley's Paradise" by Douglas Hill. Runner-up would go to the Arthur C. Clarke story, but that can be found in other, better anthologies. Our Editor was clearly thrilled to find a little-known story by Piers Anthony, according to his Introduction. There was a reason it was little-known.
The dreamy crosshatched black and white illustrations were done by Paul Finn. For the most part, he stuck to drawing kids in spacesuits, or ships crashing. His two attempts to draw aliens were laughable.
Selections:
* "Foreward: Journeys Into Space" by Our Editor. Standard intro, talking down to kids, mentions a few dull details about some authors.
* "Introduction: Space Explorers Starts Here" by Douglas Hill. Yada yada.
* "To See the Stars" by Lawrence Schimel & Mark A. Garland. Very short, predictable piece about a rebellious kid living inside of a Dyson sphere, longing to see the stars.
* "The Long Night" by John Christopher. Might be a bit over modern kids' heads, but a decent story, if a bit long. Two astronauts on the Moon discover a potentially lethal form of life.
* "The Hunters" by Walt Sheldon. Two people are hunted like animals by alien invaders. Nice short, sharp shock.
* "Asteroid 745: Mauritia" by Donald A. Wolhelm. Rather predictable combination of sci-fi and a ghost story.
* "City of Ancient Skulls" by Simon Clark. Bart Simpson, then Laurel and Hardy, have never been more annoying.
* "Derelict" by Raymond Z. Gallum. A very strange story with almost no action. A human flees the destruction of his colony on Ganymede to discover an old damaged craft of an unknown alien species.
* "A Walk in the Dark" by Arthur C. Clarke. This is, perhaps, the best known story in this collection. A human has to walk in an area known for mysterious deaths. Predictable, but good.
* "Protected Species" by H. B. Fyfe. At first, it's dull and unpredictable, but stick with it. Things pick up in the last few pages.
* "The Cage" by A. Bertram Chandler. Human survivors of their crashed spaceship are captured by aliens and placed in a zoo. Very wry bit of writing here.
* "Intelligent Life Elsewhere" by Stephen Bowkett. One of the few stories in this anthologies written for kids, it borrows heavily from the hit 1986 movie Aliens, even using the phrase "bug hunt."
* "Hally's Paradise" by Douglas Hill. A retired mercenary and his alien dog-like pet find an uninhabited planet to spend their final years together. A bit predictable, but one of the happiest sci-fi stories I've ever read.
* "Scrutiny" by William F. Temple. A very interesting and, at one point, horrific little story. However, the ending is abrupt, with a lot of unanswered questions.
* "In the Picture" by Stephen Baxter. Really dull imitation of Star Trek.
* "Quinquepadilion" by Piers Anthony. Before he became famous for writing light fantasy, Anthony wrote hard sci-fi. In this case, "hard" stands for "hard to understand." WARNING: Baby alien murdered.
* "The Lonely Alien" by Sydney J. Bounds. Yet another story that reads like Star Trek fan fiction.
* "Status Extinct" by Eric Brown. And now we go to one of the saddest sci-fi stories I've ever read. Sleep tight, kids.
* "No Home But the Stars" by Peter T. Garratt. Another Space Cadet-type story, only this time it's on a multi-generational ship looking for a planet to colonize.
* "Jewels In an Angel's Wing" by Ian Watson. Okay ... that was weird.
* "The Children" by Chester S. Geier. A planet seems inhabited only by human children ... and a mysterious element.
* "Whooo-ooo Flupper!" By Nicholas Fisk. Another rare story written for kids, told in the voice of a 12 year old boy. And yeah -- there's an alien that vaguely resembles Flipper.
* "The Space Butterflies" by Stephen Baxter. Oh, whee. Yet another Space Cadet story, only with a homicidal officer included.
* "The Bells of Acheron" by E. C. Tubb. These Singing Bells aren't the Singing Bells of a classic Isaac Asimov story. These seed pods seem to speak in voices of the dead. A woman is slapped here.
* "Thoughts That Kill" by John Russell Fearne. Yet another happy topic -- the extinction of homo sapiens.
* "The Chosen" by Samantha Lee. Not to be confused with the Chaim Potok novel. It's creepier than that, set in the far future after global thermal nuclear war.
* "The Dead Planet" by Edmond Hamilton. Three members of the Star Service crash land on a seemingly dead planet. I couldn't help but think these guys were gay. Oh, and they used krypton to power their lamps.
* "Afterword: What's Out There?" By Our Editor. A Kid's Guide to the Universe, or at least our own galaxy. This is dull and skippable, although some reading suggestions are thrown in.
Although I didn't have any problem with stories from before the first Moon landing, kids today might. The vocabulary and cultural norms were a lot different. Hitting women was okay, smoking was common, and animals had no rights.
I found the anthology dull, since most the stories were so similar ... like variations of Star Trek. There was one story I thought outstanding -- "Halley's Paradise" by Douglas Hill. Runner-up would go to the Arthur C. Clarke story, but that can be found in other, better anthologies. Our Editor was clearly thrilled to find a little-known story by Piers Anthony, according to his Introduction. There was a reason it was little-known.
The dreamy crosshatched black and white illustrations were done by Paul Finn. For the most part, he stuck to drawing kids in spacesuits, or ships crashing. His two attempts to draw aliens were laughable.
Selections:
* "Foreward: Journeys Into Space" by Our Editor. Standard intro, talking down to kids, mentions a few dull details about some authors.
* "Introduction: Space Explorers Starts Here" by Douglas Hill. Yada yada.
* "To See the Stars" by Lawrence Schimel & Mark A. Garland. Very short, predictable piece about a rebellious kid living inside of a Dyson sphere, longing to see the stars.
* "The Long Night" by John Christopher. Might be a bit over modern kids' heads, but a decent story, if a bit long. Two astronauts on the Moon discover a potentially lethal form of life.
* "The Hunters" by Walt Sheldon. Two people are hunted like animals by alien invaders. Nice short, sharp shock.
* "Asteroid 745: Mauritia" by Donald A. Wolhelm. Rather predictable combination of sci-fi and a ghost story.
* "City of Ancient Skulls" by Simon Clark. Bart Simpson, then Laurel and Hardy, have never been more annoying.
* "Derelict" by Raymond Z. Gallum. A very strange story with almost no action. A human flees the destruction of his colony on Ganymede to discover an old damaged craft of an unknown alien species.
* "A Walk in the Dark" by Arthur C. Clarke. This is, perhaps, the best known story in this collection. A human has to walk in an area known for mysterious deaths. Predictable, but good.
* "Protected Species" by H. B. Fyfe. At first, it's dull and unpredictable, but stick with it. Things pick up in the last few pages.
* "The Cage" by A. Bertram Chandler. Human survivors of their crashed spaceship are captured by aliens and placed in a zoo. Very wry bit of writing here.
* "Intelligent Life Elsewhere" by Stephen Bowkett. One of the few stories in this anthologies written for kids, it borrows heavily from the hit 1986 movie Aliens, even using the phrase "bug hunt."
* "Hally's Paradise" by Douglas Hill. A retired mercenary and his alien dog-like pet find an uninhabited planet to spend their final years together. A bit predictable, but one of the happiest sci-fi stories I've ever read.
* "Scrutiny" by William F. Temple. A very interesting and, at one point, horrific little story. However, the ending is abrupt, with a lot of unanswered questions.
* "In the Picture" by Stephen Baxter. Really dull imitation of Star Trek.
* "Quinquepadilion" by Piers Anthony. Before he became famous for writing light fantasy, Anthony wrote hard sci-fi. In this case, "hard" stands for "hard to understand." WARNING: Baby alien murdered.
* "The Lonely Alien" by Sydney J. Bounds. Yet another story that reads like Star Trek fan fiction.
* "Status Extinct" by Eric Brown. And now we go to one of the saddest sci-fi stories I've ever read. Sleep tight, kids.
* "No Home But the Stars" by Peter T. Garratt. Another Space Cadet-type story, only this time it's on a multi-generational ship looking for a planet to colonize.
* "Jewels In an Angel's Wing" by Ian Watson. Okay ... that was weird.
* "The Children" by Chester S. Geier. A planet seems inhabited only by human children ... and a mysterious element.
* "Whooo-ooo Flupper!" By Nicholas Fisk. Another rare story written for kids, told in the voice of a 12 year old boy. And yeah -- there's an alien that vaguely resembles Flipper.
* "The Space Butterflies" by Stephen Baxter. Oh, whee. Yet another Space Cadet story, only with a homicidal officer included.
* "The Bells of Acheron" by E. C. Tubb. These Singing Bells aren't the Singing Bells of a classic Isaac Asimov story. These seed pods seem to speak in voices of the dead. A woman is slapped here.
* "Thoughts That Kill" by John Russell Fearne. Yet another happy topic -- the extinction of homo sapiens.
* "The Chosen" by Samantha Lee. Not to be confused with the Chaim Potok novel. It's creepier than that, set in the far future after global thermal nuclear war.
* "The Dead Planet" by Edmond Hamilton. Three members of the Star Service crash land on a seemingly dead planet. I couldn't help but think these guys were gay. Oh, and they used krypton to power their lamps.
* "Afterword: What's Out There?" By Our Editor. A Kid's Guide to the Universe, or at least our own galaxy. This is dull and skippable, although some reading suggestions are thrown in.
July 26, 2021
Some fun stories, pretty low quality writing for most of them. Picked it up without realizing it was made for 10 year olds. I feel like I would have been bored of this by ten. Maybe for 8+ really. Worth a fiver, nothing more.
October 23, 2020
A really good collection of great short science fiction stories. Perfect of middle schoolers.
September 14, 2015
Major influence to me as a kid. Don't know how many times my dad read this to me.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews