Great Tales of Science Fiction

by Robert Silverberg (Compiler), Martin H. Greenberg (Compiler)

A collection of science fiction tales features the writing of Jules Verne, Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Poul Anderson, Theodore Sturgeon, Ursula K. LeGuin, Julian Huxley, Rudyard Kipling, Fritz Leiber, Murray Leinster, and others.

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

529 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

There are many authors in the database with this name.

Robert Silverberg is a highly celebrated American science fiction author and editor known for his prolific output and literary range. Over a career spanning decades, he has won multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards and was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2004. Inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 1999, Silverberg is recognized for both his immense productivity and his contributions to the genre's evolution.
Born in Brooklyn, he began writing in his teens and won his first Hugo Award in 1956 as the best new writer. Throughout the 1950s, he produced vast amounts of fiction, often under pseudonyms, and was known for writing up to a million words a year. When the market declined, he diversified into other genres, including historical nonfiction and erotica.
Silverberg’s return to science fiction in the 1960s marked a shift toward deeper psychological and literary themes, contributing significantly to the New Wave movement. Acclaimed works from this period include Downward to the Earth, Dying Inside, Nightwings, and The World Inside. In the 1980s, he launched the Majipoor series with Lord Valentine’s Castle, creating one of the most imaginative planetary settings in science fiction.
Though he announced his retirement from writing in the mid-1970s, Silverberg returned with renewed vigor and continued to publish acclaimed fiction into the 1990s. He received further recognition with the Nebula-winning Sailing to Byzantium and the Hugo-winning Gilgamesh in the Outback.
Silverberg has also played a significant role as an editor and anthologist, shaping science fiction literature through both his own work and his influence on others. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, author Karen Haber.

Reviews

[Shanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

36 short stories spanning 1849-1975. Nice progression of science fiction through the ages.

5* ~ 4
4* ~ 16
3* ~ 9
2* ~ 4
1* ~ 3

[Zach S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, it was a really great anthology. There were a few authors that I felt underwhelmed with. However, some others were quite surprising and have left me wanting to reread them.

[Batgrl (Book Data Kept Elsewhere)]

Contents:

Mellonta Tauta - Edgar Allan Poe
In the Year 2889 - Jules Verne
Sold to Satan - Mark Twain
The New Accelerator - H.G. Wells
Finis - Frank Lillie Pollack
As Easy as A.B.C. - Rudyard Kipling
Dark Lot of One Saul - M.P. Shiel
R.U.R. - Karel Capek
The Tissue-Culture King - Julian Huxley
The Metal Man - Jack Williamson
The Gostak and the Doshes - Miles J. Breuer
Alas, All Thinking - Harry Bates
The Mad Moon - Stanley G. Weinbaum
As Never Was - P. Schuyler Miller
Desertion - Clifford D. Simak
The Strange Case of John Kingman - Murray Leinster
Misbegotten Missionary - Isaac Asimov
Dune Roller - Julian May
Warm - Robert Sheckley
A Bad Day for Sales - Fritz Leiber
Man of Parts - H.L. Gold
The Man Who Came Early - Poul Anderson
The Burning of the Brain - Cordwainer Smith
The Men Who Murdered Mohammed - Alfred Bester
The Man Who Lost The Sea - Theodore Sturgeon
Goodlife - Fred Saberhagen
The Sliced-Crosswise Only-On-Tuesday World - Philip Jose Farmer
Gehenna - Barry N. Malzberg
A Meeting With Medusa - Arthur C. Clarke
Painwise - James Tiptree Jr.
Nobody's Home - Joanna Russ
Think Only This of Me - Michael Kurland
Capricorn Games - Robert Silverberg
The Author of the Acacia Seeds and Other Extracts From the Journal of the Association of Therolinguistics - Ursula K. Le Guin
Doing Lennon - Gregory Benford

[Cws]

SF-Sil

[G (galen) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ha!! Years ago I rescued this book from a library book sale. Just last week I re-discovered it in my parents home. Nice to revisit some older classics.