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benthewriter's review against another edition
4.0
This collection provides a nice variety of short and mid-length stories from the different eras of 20th century science fiction. A number of the stories aged horribly. There's no other way to put it. They're just bad now. But the beauty of such a collection is you can just skip right over them.
jhouses's review against another edition
2.0
Un recorrido simpático por algunas de las historias representativas de la Ciencia Ficción. Para pasar el rato.
flammewar's review
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
charlibirb's review against another edition
4.0
A lot of good stories, a few mediocre ones. I only skipped through one.
rossbm's review against another edition
3.0
(read as physical book)
What's it about?
It's a collection of short science fiction stories, written in different period. Some dating back to the 50's others written in the 90's.
What did I think?
I like it. Some good stories here. I really like Sandkings by George Martin. Also liked "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman" by Harlan Ellison and All You Zombies by Heinlein.
Some flops in here as well. But read all of them. That's the benefit of short stories.
What's it about?
It's a collection of short science fiction stories, written in different period. Some dating back to the 50's others written in the 90's.
What did I think?
I like it. Some good stories here. I really like Sandkings by George Martin. Also liked "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman" by Harlan Ellison and All You Zombies by Heinlein.
Some flops in here as well. But read all of them. That's the benefit of short stories.
bjones0107's review against another edition
4.0
There are some great stories in here, enough for any SF fan to drool over. My favorites, in no particular order: Inconstant Moon, Robot Dreams, The Nine Billion Names of God, "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktock Man, Sandkings, Rat, The Road Not Taken, A Clean Escape, One.
pumpkincore's review against another edition
4.0
Masterpieces is, as the title suggests, a collection of science fiction short stories from the 20th century. The book breaks the stories down into eras: the Golden Age, New Wave, and the Media Generation.
Card's anthology does a very good job at sampling from both across eras and across sub-genres of science fiction in order to provide the introductory reader with a wide variety. There's both hard, extremely technological science fiction short stories alongside dystopian and social commentaries. I highly recommend this book both for new and old science fiction fans seeking to branch out their knowledge of the genre or just a good read. Although the science fiction genre is still relatively new, it is dense with content and variety, and Masterpieces provides readers with a good starting place for exploring that variety.
Obviously, the use of the word "best" is subjective, as there were several stories in the compilation I didn't think were very good representations of writing within the genre. Although science fiction primarily interested itself with facts and used plot and characters solely to explain the technology, it has since evolved and there are plenty of well-rounded, well-written stories in the genre other than those Card has selected, in my opinion. Personally, my favorite stories from Masterpieces fell in the Golden Age and New Wave eras. I have a particular fondness for social commentary, and especially Ursula Le Guin's "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas," and I'll praise every collection that remembers to include it in its pages. Some other personal favorites from this collection are, "A Saucer of Loneliness" by Theodore Sturgeon, "Robot Dreams" by Isaac Asimov, "The Tunnel Under the World" by Frederik Pohl, and "Dogfight" by William Gibson and Michael Swanwick.
Card's anthology does a very good job at sampling from both across eras and across sub-genres of science fiction in order to provide the introductory reader with a wide variety. There's both hard, extremely technological science fiction short stories alongside dystopian and social commentaries. I highly recommend this book both for new and old science fiction fans seeking to branch out their knowledge of the genre or just a good read. Although the science fiction genre is still relatively new, it is dense with content and variety, and Masterpieces provides readers with a good starting place for exploring that variety.
Obviously, the use of the word "best" is subjective, as there were several stories in the compilation I didn't think were very good representations of writing within the genre. Although science fiction primarily interested itself with facts and used plot and characters solely to explain the technology, it has since evolved and there are plenty of well-rounded, well-written stories in the genre other than those Card has selected, in my opinion. Personally, my favorite stories from Masterpieces fell in the Golden Age and New Wave eras. I have a particular fondness for social commentary, and especially Ursula Le Guin's "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas," and I'll praise every collection that remembers to include it in its pages. Some other personal favorites from this collection are, "A Saucer of Loneliness" by Theodore Sturgeon, "Robot Dreams" by Isaac Asimov, "The Tunnel Under the World" by Frederik Pohl, and "Dogfight" by William Gibson and Michael Swanwick.
iluvbooks13's review against another edition
4.0
This is a very interesting book, with tons of differents Sci-Fi storys from the 20th century. Some of the older ones are pretty strange, but others are good reads if you want something you could just pick up. Orson Scott Card wrote the introduction, but there aren't any shorts by him... There is a very interesting one by Isacc Asimov, or whaterver that guy's name is...
windchime79's review against another edition
4.0
A very worthy collection of science fiction stories - most of which I'm slightly ashamed to say I hadn't read previously, given how many classics are present - ranging from 'The Golden Age' up to more contemporary stories. In any anthology, there are going to be hits and misses for most readers, and this was no exception for me, but the hits made it well worth the time invested, and there were definitely more hits than misses.
The stories are separated into three chronological sections: 'The Golden Age', 'The New Wave', and 'The Media Generation', allowing the anthology to serve as a kind of journey through the history of science fiction. The first section was my favourite of the three, while the section containing the most recent stories actually fell most flat for me - probably the opposite of what I'd expected. Which goes to prove, of course, that those stories are considered classics for a reason.
If you like science fiction and you're not averse to reading shorter-length stories, then this is a must read - unless you've read these stories before, of course!
A list of the included stories can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masterpieces:_The_Best_Science_Fiction_of_the_Century
The stories are separated into three chronological sections: 'The Golden Age', 'The New Wave', and 'The Media Generation', allowing the anthology to serve as a kind of journey through the history of science fiction. The first section was my favourite of the three, while the section containing the most recent stories actually fell most flat for me - probably the opposite of what I'd expected. Which goes to prove, of course, that those stories are considered classics for a reason.
If you like science fiction and you're not averse to reading shorter-length stories, then this is a must read - unless you've read these stories before, of course!
A list of the included stories can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masterpieces:_The_Best_Science_Fiction_of_the_Century
the_dave_harmon's review against another edition
5.0
well these were excellent.
and they tend to get better the further in you get (theyre arranged chronologically) science fiction has come a long way.
and they tend to get better the further in you get (theyre arranged chronologically) science fiction has come a long way.