Scan barcode
curiously_curious's review
4.0
I will list all I enjoyed
Eric Frank Russell Sole Solution,
About God
Ward Moore Lot
A family at the start of an apocalypse
Clifford Simak Skirmish
Toasters taking over - or aliens?
James Tiptree Jr. And I awoke and Found me here on the cold hills side
Humanity and aliens
Brian Aldiss
Poor little warrior
Time travel holidays
James H.Schmitz Grandpa
Really enjoyed this one, creative well written, the best one in the book?
Isaas asimov Nightfall
A world which is in perpetual daylight reaches a point where the suns go out
Katherine MacLean The Snowball Effect
The power of sociologists!
Bruce Sterling Swarm
Have read before too interesting
Greg Bear Blood music
Altering cells in the human body ; fascinating
Frederic Brown Answer
Is there a God?
William Tenn The Liberation of Earth
Suck air! Suck air
Harry Harrison Alien Agony
Read before
JG Ballard Track
Very good, who knew a kiss could kill?
Kim Stanley Robinson Sexual Dimorphism
Very well written, more about a relationship
Frederik POHL The tunnel under the world
What a good idea! Ad men!
Robert Sheckley The Store of the world's
Enjoyed , can a store make you travel to another world?
Isaac Asimov Jokester
Humour lost forever
John Steinbeck The short story of mankind
Interesting tale
Walter M Miller Jr I made you
A robot in need of repairs
Damon Knight The country of the kind
Ostracism with science behind it
Betram Chandler The Cage
How many days did it take to go to savagery?
Eric Frank Russell Sole Solution,
About God
Ward Moore Lot
A family at the start of an apocalypse
Clifford Simak Skirmish
Toasters taking over - or aliens?
James Tiptree Jr. And I awoke and Found me here on the cold hills side
Humanity and aliens
Brian Aldiss
Poor little warrior
Time travel holidays
James H.Schmitz Grandpa
Really enjoyed this one, creative well written, the best one in the book?
Isaas asimov Nightfall
A world which is in perpetual daylight reaches a point where the suns go out
Katherine MacLean The Snowball Effect
The power of sociologists!
Bruce Sterling Swarm
Have read before too interesting
Greg Bear Blood music
Altering cells in the human body ; fascinating
Frederic Brown Answer
Is there a God?
William Tenn The Liberation of Earth
Suck air! Suck air
Harry Harrison Alien Agony
Read before
JG Ballard Track
Very good, who knew a kiss could kill?
Kim Stanley Robinson Sexual Dimorphism
Very well written, more about a relationship
Frederik POHL The tunnel under the world
What a good idea! Ad men!
Robert Sheckley The Store of the world's
Enjoyed , can a store make you travel to another world?
Isaac Asimov Jokester
Humour lost forever
John Steinbeck The short story of mankind
Interesting tale
Walter M Miller Jr I made you
A robot in need of repairs
Damon Knight The country of the kind
Ostracism with science behind it
Betram Chandler The Cage
How many days did it take to go to savagery?
janwe's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
3.5
vanya_vatsal's review
3.0
"Science fiction is no more written for scientists than ghost stories are written for ghosts." - Brian Aldiss
This, like all anthologies published, struggles with struggles with a collection of stories ranging from the ones exceptionally good to insanely boring ones. That being said, I wouldn't deny that it is among the best science fiction collection out there.
My copy (published in 2007) had 31 stories in it majorly consisting of classics published in 1950s and 1960s and is edited by Brian Aldiss. There were a few outliers, published in 80s & 90s.
I used to love short stories as a kid, but as I grew up I started struggling with those and preferred full length novels over anthologies. In all honesty, it took me three years to complete this book, just because I was putting it off and it has nothing to do with the quality of stories in it. Over the course of three years, I have forgotten some stories but a few stuck with me. These are the stories which make this collection worth buying -
The Tunnel Under The World by Frederik Pohl (1954) - Guy Burckhardt wakes up screaming from dream which seems more real than any dream he jas ever had. This story is too advanced for its time and has a very Black Mirror-ish feel to it.
Nightfall by Issac Assimov (1941) - What happens when the planet illuminated by it's six suns falls into darkness. Slight verbose but really good nonetheless.
Sexual Dimorphism by Kim Stanley Robinson (1999) - The perfect blend of science fiction, fantasy and legends.
Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang (1998) - the short story on which the movie Arrival is based.
Alien Embassy by Garry Kilworth (2006) - This being a much recent story had a very cool vibe. A tropical island has been given to aliens and it has become a much loved tourist destination.
These were a few 5/5 rated stories I found. I'd recommend the collection as a whole.
Overall rating: ⭐⭐⭐ (3 out of 5 stars)
This, like all anthologies published, struggles with struggles with a collection of stories ranging from the ones exceptionally good to insanely boring ones. That being said, I wouldn't deny that it is among the best science fiction collection out there.
My copy (published in 2007) had 31 stories in it majorly consisting of classics published in 1950s and 1960s and is edited by Brian Aldiss. There were a few outliers, published in 80s & 90s.
I used to love short stories as a kid, but as I grew up I started struggling with those and preferred full length novels over anthologies. In all honesty, it took me three years to complete this book, just because I was putting it off and it has nothing to do with the quality of stories in it. Over the course of three years, I have forgotten some stories but a few stuck with me. These are the stories which make this collection worth buying -
The Tunnel Under The World by Frederik Pohl (1954) - Guy Burckhardt wakes up screaming from dream which seems more real than any dream he jas ever had. This story is too advanced for its time and has a very Black Mirror-ish feel to it.
Nightfall by Issac Assimov (1941) - What happens when the planet illuminated by it's six suns falls into darkness. Slight verbose but really good nonetheless.
Sexual Dimorphism by Kim Stanley Robinson (1999) - The perfect blend of science fiction, fantasy and legends.
Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang (1998) - the short story on which the movie Arrival is based.
Alien Embassy by Garry Kilworth (2006) - This being a much recent story had a very cool vibe. A tropical island has been given to aliens and it has become a much loved tourist destination.
These were a few 5/5 rated stories I found. I'd recommend the collection as a whole.
Overall rating: ⭐⭐⭐ (3 out of 5 stars)
edgeworth's review
3.0
As near as I can tell Brian Aldiss published and revised a number of these collections, this being the most recent edition, put out in 2007. Apart from half a dozen more contemporary pieces injected into the mix, it’s mostly the same collection of early sci-fi stories from the 1950s and ‘60s that I remember reading as a battered old paperback when I was a young teenager – possibly, I think, the first short stories I’d ever read.
Many of these don’t hold up, coming as they do from the golly-gee-whiz era of science fiction. (And some of the modern insertions, like Kim Stanley Robinson’s thoughtful Notes on Sexual Dimorphism, stand out against them like a sore thumb.) But highlights include:
Lot by Ward Moore, about a father packing his family into the car and onto a jam-packed highway to try to escape what’s implied to be a nuclear attack on Los Angeles; I must have remembered the tone and urgency of this story, since it’s subconsciously reflected in my own short story West Gate, but as a teenager I missed Moore’s subtle use of the father as an unreliable narrator, a bitter and hen-pecked man who secretly resents his family and fantasises that the collapse of society will finally usher in his time to shine;
The Liberation of Earth by William Tenn, a satirical story about Earth finding itself a battlefield between two opposing alien militaries, constantly taken and retaken and declared “liberated” each time while billions die and entire continents are vapourised;
An Alien Agony by Harry Harrison, about a human missionary arriving on a planet populated by peaceful and very literal-minded aliens;
The Store of the Worlds by Robert Sheckley, in which a man approaches a trader who has developed a drug that allows one to see their heart’s truest desire;
Night Watch by James Inglis, following the journey of a space probe launched off into the galaxy;
Great Work of Time by John Crowley, an 80-page novella capping off the anthology, which is one of the most thoughtful and literary time travel stories I’ve ever read, about a secret society which attempts to alter history to preserve the British Empire and the complications which arise from that. Crowley’s fantasy novel Little, Big is one of the few books I’ve ever given up on shortly after starting it, finding it not to be to my taste, but on the strength of this novella alone I’ll definitely be taking another look at Crowley’s work.
Many of these don’t hold up, coming as they do from the golly-gee-whiz era of science fiction. (And some of the modern insertions, like Kim Stanley Robinson’s thoughtful Notes on Sexual Dimorphism, stand out against them like a sore thumb.) But highlights include:
Lot by Ward Moore, about a father packing his family into the car and onto a jam-packed highway to try to escape what’s implied to be a nuclear attack on Los Angeles; I must have remembered the tone and urgency of this story, since it’s subconsciously reflected in my own short story West Gate, but as a teenager I missed Moore’s subtle use of the father as an unreliable narrator, a bitter and hen-pecked man who secretly resents his family and fantasises that the collapse of society will finally usher in his time to shine;
The Liberation of Earth by William Tenn, a satirical story about Earth finding itself a battlefield between two opposing alien militaries, constantly taken and retaken and declared “liberated” each time while billions die and entire continents are vapourised;
An Alien Agony by Harry Harrison, about a human missionary arriving on a planet populated by peaceful and very literal-minded aliens;
The Store of the Worlds by Robert Sheckley, in which a man approaches a trader who has developed a drug that allows one to see their heart’s truest desire;
Night Watch by James Inglis, following the journey of a space probe launched off into the galaxy;
Great Work of Time by John Crowley, an 80-page novella capping off the anthology, which is one of the most thoughtful and literary time travel stories I’ve ever read, about a secret society which attempts to alter history to preserve the British Empire and the complications which arise from that. Crowley’s fantasy novel Little, Big is one of the few books I’ve ever given up on shortly after starting it, finding it not to be to my taste, but on the strength of this novella alone I’ll definitely be taking another look at Crowley’s work.
More...