The Best Australian Science Fiction: A Fifty Year Collection

by Rob Gerrand (Editor), Frank Bryning (Contributor), Lee Harding (Contributor)

The best writing is speculative, and the best science fiction flies far beyond the boundaries of outer space in this collection of top Australian science fiction from the past fifty years. Stories include: * a cautionary tale of greed and diamonds by Jack Dann * what it means to be civilized by A. Bertram Chandler * proof that manned flight was invented in the Middle Ages Other contributors include: Peter Carey, Greg Egan, Pip Maddern, Norma Hemming, George Tuner, Jack Wodhams, David Lake, Erle Cox, Lucy Sussex,Randal Flynn, John Baxter, Frank Bryning and many more.

Genres: Anthologies, Short Stories, Science Fiction, Fantasy

650 pages, Paperback

First published May 10, 2005

Reviews

[Freya Marske · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection was published in 2005, with its most recent story dating from 2001; it's been sitting on my shelf for something like a decade and I really think I should have devoured it fresh, because despite the glad novelty of seeing some Aussie-set and Aussie-penned sci-fi....most of these pieces are so very, very And Here Is A Straight White Dude! that set against the spectacularly diverse short stories coming out of today's SFF community, they seemed tired and disappointing and alienating. There are some good ideas in here, and some stories that briefly interested me as historical artefacts of the genre, but I can count on one hand the ones I enjoyed enough that I'd revisit them: "The Boy Who Didn't Yearn" by Margo Lanagan, "Angel Thing" by Petrina Smith, and "The Soap Bubble" by Sean Williams.

[Duncan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably a 3.5 but I am not rounding this one up. One of the key attractions is the historical nature of the early stories, particularly in the way they reflect life in 1950s and 1980s Australia.

The authors are Australian but the voices rarely seem to be. The action tends to be set in a pretty generic everywhere, even when we’re told it’s Melbourne.

Some enjoyable stories in there - The Paradigm by Randal Flynn was thought-provoking, Inhabiting the Interspaces by Philippa Maddern had a great ending, The Caress by Greg Egan has interesting ideas, Red Ochre had a genuinely Aussie feeling to it.

Otherwise an entertaining collection of well-written stories, def not a waste of time, and some great authors in there (Peter Carey a fun discovery).

[Daniel Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

My best friend bought this book for me because he was impressed with how well I was doing in every area of my life. Years before, when the book was first released, another best friend had read it and recommended it to me.

The short stories collected are arranged in chronological order and this gives insight into the issues that were "hot" at the time the stories were written. For example, during the Hawke years of the 1980s and the focus on unemployment, work is a common topic in these stories. The stories also show that science fiction allows you to indulge your interest in other genres. Martin Loran's "The Case of the Perjured Planet" is an old-fashioned detective story. Stephen Dedman's "A Walk-On Part in the War" is a combination of historical fiction and Greek mythology.

Any anthology struggles to have every story hit the mark with every reader. What makes this anthology exceptional is that the stories I don't like are simply unsuited to my personal tastes; they're not badly written.

Lovers of science-fiction will find many happy reads in this anthology and will discover many new writers whose works they will want to pursue.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this anthology, it has a diverse mix of sci-fi short stories from the last 50 years all written by Australian authors. Settings range from the Tojan War to the distant future, from Melbourne to far away galaxies. You don't have to be Australian to enjoy this book but those of us who are will delight in the subtle references to places we know and love. I would recommend this to sci-fi fans and general readers alike as a number of the works could fit into other sub-genres. A great collection.

[Suzanne Singman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read short story collection. I'm not sure why some of the stories were classified as Sci-Fi. They were just stories to me. I also didn't get a distinctly Australian flavor. Some stories were based in England and others in America, and some in space.
Regardless, it was a fun read and quicker than i expected based on the number of pages and physical size of the book.

[Paul Hancock · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this collection but didn't finish many of the stories. There are some really good stories but many are no good. I was pleased that the last story was one of the best.

[Anomilie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this anthology, but I had to skip over a lot of stories because they just weren't enjoyable to read. Most of these just felt like word vomit with imagery that was all over the place.

Some stories I persevered through and they ended up having a decent plot or point, others had neither.

I think the editor did a good job linking similar themes together. Except the two stories back to back that both had a Helen as a main character.

I did walk away having discovered three new Aussie SciFi authors that I enjoy:
A. Bertram Chandler
Greg Egan
Margo Lanagan

[Jid Ofole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmm

[Jeff Macpherson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating to read science fiction over a long span of years

[Goldenwattle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well I finished this thick book, although I didn't finish a few individual stories. I had hoped that The Best Australian Science Fiction of fifty years would have been better. I found the more recent stories more readable. The earlier stories were dingy, for want of a better word. I hadn't read science fiction for some years and reading the earlier stories brought the dingy atmosphere back to me. Why did the writers of the 1950s and 60s see science fiction this way? The later stories have moved on from this stereotype and are better for that. My favourite was the last story in the collection, "Tower of Wings" by Sean McMullen.