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Young Mutants
A collection of short stories by a variety of authors about children with one common characteristic--they are all mutants.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
3 people are currently reading
131 people want to read
About the author
Isaac Asimov
4,338 books27.7k 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 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 21, 2014
This is part of the young readers series of Asimov editor anthologies which in this case follows the theme of mutants. There are so very well known and established authors who have works in this book. And as such now as then I think its a brilliant showcase on what genre can create and offer in so few pages. I know I will never be an author but it does not stop me respecting and admiring what they can do and short stories to me - is the pinnacle of their creative art.
November 5, 2018
Not a bad little collection of stories. Apparently meant for younger readers (8 upwards it says on the back), though there's one story in particular I would personally have considered a little too disturbing at that age. I'm not so sure I don't still!
The title is a little deceptive, as not a single story in the collection is by Asimov, but he always did have an eye for a good story, and he gathered some excellent ones here.
The title is a little deceptive, as not a single story in the collection is by Asimov, but he always did have an eye for a good story, and he gathered some excellent ones here.
August 26, 2022
Antología de historias sobre mutantes niños o adolescentes. En España fue editada en dos volúmenes, dentro de una colección de literatura infantil y juvenil.
Se trata de una relectura. Recordaba varios de los relatos, pero he podido apreciarlos todos mucho mejor que cuando era adolescente. Algunos de los que más me han gustado:
- Bienvenida y adiós (Ray Bradbury): la trágica pero poética historia de un niño que no crece y que tiene que ir saltando de familia en familia cuando salta la liebre. Tiene ya cuarenta años de edad y su trabajo es hacer felices a parejas sin hijos.
- El caballo prodigioso (George Byram): un veterinario y un jockey acaban como propietarios de un potro mutante, cuyas capacidades para correr superan con mucho a las de los demás caballos.
- ¡Fuera de aquí! (Fredric Brown): una sustancia misteriosa permite a los humanos adaptarse para vivir en Marte. Pero las cosas no siempre salen como esperamos.
- ¿Para qué son los amigos? (John Brunner): una pareja encarga un hijo con mutaciones a la carta, para que sea un superhombre. Cuando el niño se vuelve disruptivo, alquilan un Amigo, un robot de paciencia infinita que se encargará de educarlo. Me parece de los mejores relatos del volumen, por la descripción a través de diálogos de la psicología de los padres y de su influencia en el comportamiento del niño.
- No puedo evitar decir adiós (Ann Mackenzie): relato corto y muy perturbador sobre una niña que no puede evitar decir adiós de forma muy solemne a las personas que sabe que van a morir. Está escrito desde la perspectiva de la niña, es decir, en párrafos cortos sin signos de puntuación, lo que aumenta mucho la sensación de angustia.
Se trata de una relectura. Recordaba varios de los relatos, pero he podido apreciarlos todos mucho mejor que cuando era adolescente. Algunos de los que más me han gustado:
- Bienvenida y adiós (Ray Bradbury): la trágica pero poética historia de un niño que no crece y que tiene que ir saltando de familia en familia cuando salta la liebre. Tiene ya cuarenta años de edad y su trabajo es hacer felices a parejas sin hijos.
- El caballo prodigioso (George Byram): un veterinario y un jockey acaban como propietarios de un potro mutante, cuyas capacidades para correr superan con mucho a las de los demás caballos.
- ¡Fuera de aquí! (Fredric Brown): una sustancia misteriosa permite a los humanos adaptarse para vivir en Marte. Pero las cosas no siempre salen como esperamos.
- ¿Para qué son los amigos? (John Brunner): una pareja encarga un hijo con mutaciones a la carta, para que sea un superhombre. Cuando el niño se vuelve disruptivo, alquilan un Amigo, un robot de paciencia infinita que se encargará de educarlo. Me parece de los mejores relatos del volumen, por la descripción a través de diálogos de la psicología de los padres y de su influencia en el comportamiento del niño.
- No puedo evitar decir adiós (Ann Mackenzie): relato corto y muy perturbador sobre una niña que no puede evitar decir adiós de forma muy solemne a las personas que sabe que van a morir. Está escrito desde la perspectiva de la niña, es decir, en párrafos cortos sin signos de puntuación, lo que aumenta mucho la sensación de angustia.
March 26, 2025
Very interesting collection of short stories, all beautifully composed. But why did someone always die at the end??😭😭😭
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 27, 2009
It's a little hard to judge this as a young adult anthology, as I first read it as full adult. But still, Young Mutants is very good and I think I'd recommend it to just about anyone.
My favorite stories from this anthology include: "Keep Out" by Fredric Brown, because human egocentrism is such a very dangerous thing; "I Can't Help Saying Goodbye" by Ann Mackenzie, the single best story here and not just because of the total lack of punctuation; "The Children's Room" by Raymond F. Jones, only partially because of the mysterious library books; and "The Lost Language" by David H. Keller,M.D., for such a lovely declaration of love.
"The Wonder Horse" by George Byram is another of my favorites, but I'd read it before in the Horses anthology, and I have a hard time thinking of it as a mutant story instead of as a horse story, even though it is decidedly both.
I love the range of stories that Asimov et al. selected for this anthology. As with the Young Extraterrestrials anthology, which was the first in this Young anthology set that I've read, the stories that make up this anthology were not written by direct request. While Young Mutants was published in the early 1980s, the stories themselves were first published in the 30s, 40s, 50s, and 70s. Asimov has really selected the best stories along the mutant theme to include here.
Favorite typo: "couln't" [p. 162, ISBN 0060201568:]
My favorite stories from this anthology include: "Keep Out" by Fredric Brown, because human egocentrism is such a very dangerous thing; "I Can't Help Saying Goodbye" by Ann Mackenzie, the single best story here and not just because of the total lack of punctuation; "The Children's Room" by Raymond F. Jones, only partially because of the mysterious library books; and "The Lost Language" by David H. Keller,M.D., for such a lovely declaration of love.
"The Wonder Horse" by George Byram is another of my favorites, but I'd read it before in the Horses anthology, and I have a hard time thinking of it as a mutant story instead of as a horse story, even though it is decidedly both.
I love the range of stories that Asimov et al. selected for this anthology. As with the Young Extraterrestrials anthology, which was the first in this Young anthology set that I've read, the stories that make up this anthology were not written by direct request. While Young Mutants was published in the early 1980s, the stories themselves were first published in the 30s, 40s, 50s, and 70s. Asimov has really selected the best stories along the mutant theme to include here.
Favorite typo: "couln't" [p. 162, ISBN 0060201568:]
July 31, 2022
Overall a very interesting, impressive collection, though I did wonder if some were really suitable for children. I had read the collection before, as a child (I'm not sure at what age), and the only story that had stayed with me was He That Hath Wings. It was memories of that story that made me hunt down this collection for a reread.
The stories were:
1 - Ray Bradbury - Hail and Farewell 3 stars
2 - Fredric Brown - Keep Out 3 stars
3 - John Brunner - What Friends are For 4 stars
4 - George Byram - The Wonder Horse 3 stars
5 - Edmond Hamilton - He That Hath Wings 3 stars
6 - Alan E. Nourse - Second Sight 3 stars
7 - Ann Mackenzie - I Can't Help Saying Goodbye 2 stars
8 - Idris Seabright - The Listening Child 2 stars
9 - Raymond F. Jones - The Children's Room 3 stars
10 - David H. Keller, M.D. - The Lost Language 2 stars
11 - Mack Reynolds - Prone 2 stars
12 - Zenna Henderson - Come On, Wagon! 2 stars
The stories were:
1 - Ray Bradbury - Hail and Farewell 3 stars
2 - Fredric Brown - Keep Out 3 stars
3 - John Brunner - What Friends are For 4 stars
4 - George Byram - The Wonder Horse 3 stars
5 - Edmond Hamilton - He That Hath Wings 3 stars
6 - Alan E. Nourse - Second Sight 3 stars
7 - Ann Mackenzie - I Can't Help Saying Goodbye 2 stars
8 - Idris Seabright - The Listening Child 2 stars
9 - Raymond F. Jones - The Children's Room 3 stars
10 - David H. Keller, M.D. - The Lost Language 2 stars
11 - Mack Reynolds - Prone 2 stars
12 - Zenna Henderson - Come On, Wagon! 2 stars
Read
August 31, 2007A collection of short stories by a variety of authors about children with one common characteristic--they are all mutants.
My favorite story was "He Who Hath Wings" about a young man born with hollow bones, like a bird, and who had large wings on his back. A sad story about acceptance, he would try hard to fit in. He would cut his wings so he wouldn't have to hide them. When he finally grew up to be a young man, he returned to the home of his birth where his mother reminded him that he must not deny who he is. With this he climbed upstairs to his old room, opened the window, remembering his life thus far, spread his wings, and flew away.
The young boy who was hundreds of years old, just trying to live a normal life, but new he would have to move whenever he ran into someone from his past who recognized how he hadn't aged a day...
My favorite story was "He Who Hath Wings" about a young man born with hollow bones, like a bird, and who had large wings on his back. A sad story about acceptance, he would try hard to fit in. He would cut his wings so he wouldn't have to hide them. When he finally grew up to be a young man, he returned to the home of his birth where his mother reminded him that he must not deny who he is. With this he climbed upstairs to his old room, opened the window, remembering his life thus far, spread his wings, and flew away.
The young boy who was hundreds of years old, just trying to live a normal life, but new he would have to move whenever he ran into someone from his past who recognized how he hadn't aged a day...
March 6, 2012
The quality of this collection really caught me off guard. There are only two big-name writers, Ray Bradbury and John Brunner, but almost every story is great. It reminded me of being twelve and choosing my own books at the library for the first time. If you're feeling nostalgic for Golden Age science fiction, you should definitely check it out.
Read
August 23, 2008isbn,original
Want to read
January 25, 2010self-imposed obligatory sci-fi read
October 1, 2012
i think my book was a very unique group of short stories. they teach you about different morals of life
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 15, 2016
I thought this book was just amazing! My teacher said it was a classic which I just thought was really cool.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews