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Science Fiction Masterpieces
This anthology contains: Message to Myself by Diana L. Paxson; In the Country of the Blind No One Can See by Melisa Michaels; Keepersmith by Randall Garrett and Vicki Ann Heydron; A Delicate Shade of Kipney by Nancy Kress; Born Again by Sharon N. Farber; Good-Bye Robinson Crusoe by John Varley; A Bait of Dreams by Jo Clayton; Dance Band on the Titanic by Jack Chalker; Bystander by Alan Dean Foster; Time and Hagakure by Steven Utley; Ghosts by Keith Minnion; A Simple Outside Job by Robert Lee Hawkins; The Last Defender of Camelot by Roger Zelazny; Lost and Found by Michael A. Banks and George Wagner; Hellhole by David Gerrold; The Man Who Took the Fifth by Michael Schimmel; The Adventure of the Global Traveler by Anne Lear; Backspace by F. M. Busby; On the Q167 File by John M. Ford; Horseless Carriage by Michael A. Banks; Piece de Resistance by Jesse Bone; Lipidleggin' by F. Paul Wilson; Omit Flowers by Dean McLaughlin; One Rejection Too Many by Patricia Nurse; But Do They Ride Dolphins? by Frederick S. Lord; When There's No Man Around by Stephen Goldin; Guilt by James Gunn; Proud Rider by Barry B. Longyear; Lorelie at Storyville West by Sherwood Springer; On the Way by Conway Conley; Darkside by Gary D. McClellan; No Room in the Stable by A. Bertram Chandler; African Blues by Paula Smith; Coming of Age in Henson's Tube by William Jon Watkins; Star Train by Drew Mendelson; Softly Touch the Stranger's Mind by E. Amalia Andujar; Joelle by Poul Anderson; Quarantine by Arthur C. Clarke; Cautionary Tales by Larry Niven; Air Raid by Herb Boehm; A Many Splendored Thing by Linda Isaacs; Boarder Incident by Ted Reynolds; Low Grade Ore by Kevin O'Donnell; Heal the Sick Raise the Dead by Jesse Peel; A Time for Terror by Frederick Longbeard; Perchance to Dream by Sally A. Sellers; The Small Stones to Tu Fu by Brian W. Aldiss; To Sin Against Systems by Garry R. Osgood; Louisville Slugger by Jack C. Haldeman II; and Good Taste by Isaac Asimov.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1986
10 people are currently reading
81 people want to read
About the author
Isaac Asimov
4,341 books27.8k 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 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 16, 2021
Oh the classic anthology problem rises again. An editor pulling in stories for a collection would want to balance the amount of classic tales with some discoveries, make sure that the page count satisfies the buyer that they are getting value, and all while staying within budget. The result is often a thin ratio of worthwhile tales to filler.
With an editor of as much influence and prominence as Asimov one would hope that the ratio would tilt the other way. Well the result is not-so-much. Because the 59 stories compiled here and taken from the pages of Asimov's own sci-fi magazine, one can imagine the pitch meeting of the Galahad Press editors to Asimov was essentially, here's a chance for you to promote your magazine, sell books on your reputation, and make bank enough to carry you on through your retirement. With that premise in mind, we can explain why this volume feels....cheap.
Let's be realistic: Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine has always been a second tier publication. Founded in 1977 during a particularly dim era of science fiction, it has always traded on the fame of a man who stopped being a significant sci-fi author in the early 1960s, and sadly this collection was published when Asimov was dealing with significant health issues and was only a few years away from dying.
The collected stories here do include a few gems, some thoughtful tales that escape the simplistic gungho escapism of the Campbell legacy while also not falling into the solipsism that was so trendy throughout the eighties. Aside from those there are only a few clunkers, a couple of hero tales by the old warhorses, but mostly the bulk of the volume is given to tales that echo the flash of humor/twist ending adventure tale favored by Asimov in his own writing. The collection isn't bad, but neither were these tales especially worthy of collection. Really this volume works best as a time capsule of what mid-tier science fiction was like just before William Gibson blew the doors off the stale old genre with Neuromancer.
With an editor of as much influence and prominence as Asimov one would hope that the ratio would tilt the other way. Well the result is not-so-much. Because the 59 stories compiled here and taken from the pages of Asimov's own sci-fi magazine, one can imagine the pitch meeting of the Galahad Press editors to Asimov was essentially, here's a chance for you to promote your magazine, sell books on your reputation, and make bank enough to carry you on through your retirement. With that premise in mind, we can explain why this volume feels....cheap.
Let's be realistic: Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine has always been a second tier publication. Founded in 1977 during a particularly dim era of science fiction, it has always traded on the fame of a man who stopped being a significant sci-fi author in the early 1960s, and sadly this collection was published when Asimov was dealing with significant health issues and was only a few years away from dying.
The collected stories here do include a few gems, some thoughtful tales that escape the simplistic gungho escapism of the Campbell legacy while also not falling into the solipsism that was so trendy throughout the eighties. Aside from those there are only a few clunkers, a couple of hero tales by the old warhorses, but mostly the bulk of the volume is given to tales that echo the flash of humor/twist ending adventure tale favored by Asimov in his own writing. The collection isn't bad, but neither were these tales especially worthy of collection. Really this volume works best as a time capsule of what mid-tier science fiction was like just before William Gibson blew the doors off the stale old genre with Neuromancer.
May 24, 2022
Finally read after 20 years sitting looking at me on the bookshelf...
What makes a masterpiece? Well, not too many of the 59 stories herein. Most of them were new to me - a couple of the better ones have been anthologised elsewhere (Chalker's Dance Band on the Titanic; Zelazny's Last Defender of Camelot - also the basis of a Twilight Zone episode written by George RR Martin) but while some of the others are enjoyable others are less so. A couple of authors have more than one entry - Asimov's four being wildly variable, one is less than a page long; two of Jack C Haldeman II's three concern an interplanetary baseball tournament, the prize being even more bizarre than the concept...
However the gem for me is in a Lord Darcy story from Randall Garrett I'd not previously read. The Napoli Express is a fine homage to Christie's Orient Express and man ages to twist her twist ending even further. I must dig out the rest of the Darcy stories...
(I need to comment that one author's name is spelled incorrectly on the back cover - oddly the second book this month with a similar error... The hefty volume is glue-bound and showing its age after 36 years, not intended as a heritage item!)
What makes a masterpiece? Well, not too many of the 59 stories herein. Most of them were new to me - a couple of the better ones have been anthologised elsewhere (Chalker's Dance Band on the Titanic; Zelazny's Last Defender of Camelot - also the basis of a Twilight Zone episode written by George RR Martin) but while some of the others are enjoyable others are less so. A couple of authors have more than one entry - Asimov's four being wildly variable, one is less than a page long; two of Jack C Haldeman II's three concern an interplanetary baseball tournament, the prize being even more bizarre than the concept...
However the gem for me is in a Lord Darcy story from Randall Garrett I'd not previously read. The Napoli Express is a fine homage to Christie's Orient Express and man ages to twist her twist ending even further. I must dig out the rest of the Darcy stories...
(I need to comment that one author's name is spelled incorrectly on the back cover - oddly the second book this month with a similar error... The hefty volume is glue-bound and showing its age after 36 years, not intended as a heritage item!)
April 3, 2024
Lately I have been reading a lot of short story anthologies. This one is perhaps the most disappointing. The stories are not bad but not very memorable. The only story I can think of that made an impression on me was Poul Anderson's "Joelle". I run hot and cold on Mr Anderson- I loved his book Tau Zero but hated Orion Rises. The short story in this book is very good- well written and hard hitting. All the other stories are acceptable but very forgettable. Most I would describe as whimsical, or sentimental, or clever. None are frightening or eerie, exciting or emotional... they are all blah. There are a LOT of famous authors in this book, but none of their most memorable stories appear. Perhaps a positive to this book is the fact that I don't recall ANY of these stories appearing in in any other anthologies. You would think that with 59 short stories a few would be exceptional. Again, other than the Poul Anderson's tale, I can't think of any.
January 11, 2025
On the one hand, this is a massive collection of quality fiction.
There are a few caveats however:
Asimov was known to be a little loose on his definition of SF, & therefor there are a number of stories, quality though they may be, that are simply Fantastic, not SF, despite the title.
Asimov was NOT known for modesty, & there are half a dozen of his own stories.
There are a number of works under unknown pen names; i.e. works whose listed author wrote little or nothing else, and neither the story nor supposed author were even nominated for any awards. Again, quality stories, but... How can you call something a masterpiece work when it has no recognition anywhere?
There are also a half dozen stories that I found incomprehensible & by definition that would make them no masterpieces either.
In the end though, I still have to call 30+/- excellent stories a five star book.
There are a few caveats however:
Asimov was known to be a little loose on his definition of SF, & therefor there are a number of stories, quality though they may be, that are simply Fantastic, not SF, despite the title.
Asimov was NOT known for modesty, & there are half a dozen of his own stories.
There are a number of works under unknown pen names; i.e. works whose listed author wrote little or nothing else, and neither the story nor supposed author were even nominated for any awards. Again, quality stories, but... How can you call something a masterpiece work when it has no recognition anywhere?
There are also a half dozen stories that I found incomprehensible & by definition that would make them no masterpieces either.
In the end though, I still have to call 30+/- excellent stories a five star book.
October 25, 2019
Kind of surprised how not-sciency this science fiction actually is in practice most of the time. It's a cosmopolitan (multiversalist?) collection of many points of view - some ridiculous and hopelessly outdated, others eerily prescient. Quality fiction, a great find.
February 2, 2013
a great anthology of great storys
Want to read
July 16, 20139/2/93. No library.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews