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The Science Fiction Century
The Science Fiction Century
"Science fiction is the characteristic literary genre of the century. It is the genre that stands in opposition to literary modernism." So says David G. Hartwell in his introduction to The Science Fiction Century, an anthology spanning a hundred years of science fiction, from its birth in the 1890s to the future it predicted.
David G. Hartwell is a World Fantasy Award-winning editor and anthologist who has twice before redefined a genre--first the horror field with The Dark Descent, then the subgenre of hard science fiction with The Ascent of Wonder, coedited with Kathryn Cramer. Now, Hartwell has compiled the mother of all definitive anthologies, guaranteed to change not only the way the science fiction field views itself but also the way the rest of literature views the field.
Contents
17 • Introduction (The Science Fiction Century) • (1997) • essay by David G. Hartwell
21 • Beam Us Home • (1969) • shortstory by James Tiptree, Jr.
31 • Ministering Angels • (1955) • shortstory by C. S. Lewis
39 • The Music Master of Babylon • (1954) • novelette by Edgar Pangborn
57 • A Story of the Days to Come • (1899) • novella by H. G. Wells
112 • Hot Planet • (1963) • shortstory by Hal Clement
127 • A Work of Art • (1956) • novelette by James Blish
139 • The Machine Stops • (1909) • novelette by E. M. Forster
161 • Brightness Falls from the Air • (1951) • shortstory by Margaret St. Clair
166 • 2066: Election Day • (1956) • shortstory by Michael Shaara
177 • The Rose • (1953) • novella by Charles L. Harness [as by Charles Harness ]
232 • The Hounds of Tindalos • (1929) • shortstory by Frank Belknap Long
242 • The Angel of Violence • (1978) • shortstory by Adam Wisniewski-Snerg
252 • Nobody Bothers Gus • [Gus] • (1955) • shortstory by Algis Budrys
261 • The Time Machine • (1954) • shortstory by Dino Buzzati
265 • Mother • (1953) • novelette by Philip José Farmer
285 • As Easy as A.B.C. • (1912) • novelette by Rudyard Kipling
304 • Ginungagap • (1980) • novelette by Michael Swanwick
327 • Minister Without Portfolio • (1952) • shortstory by Mildred Clingerman
333 • Time in Advance • (1956) • novelette by William Tenn
352 • Good Night, Sophie • (1973) • novelette by Lino Aldani (aka Buonanotte Sofia 1963 )
369 • Veritas • (1987) • novelette by James Morrow
382 • Enchanted Village • (1950) • shortstory by A. E. van Vogt
393 • The King and the Dollmaker • (1970) • novella by Wolfgang Jeschke (aka Der König und der Puppenmacher 1961 )
435 • Fire Watch • [Time Travel] • (1982) • novelette by Connie Willis
462 • Goat Song • (1972) • novelette by Poul Anderson
486 • The Scarlet Plague • (1912) • novella by Jack London
518 • Drunkboat • [The Instrumentality of Mankind] • (1963) • novelette by Cordwainer Smith
539 • Another World • (1962) • novelette by J. H. Rosny aîné (aka Un Autre Monde 1895 )
558 • If the Stars Are Gods • [Bradley Reynolds] • (1974) • novelette by Gordon Eklund and Gregory Benford
585 • I Still Call Australia Home • (1990) • shortstory by George Turner
598 • Liquid Sunshine • (1982) • novelette by Alexander Kuprin (aka Zhidkoe solntse 1913 )
632 • Great Work of Time • (1989) • novella by John Crowley
683 • Sundance • (1969) • shortstory by Robert Silverberg
694 • Greenslaves • (1965) • novelette by Frank Herbert
716 • Rumfuddle • (1973) • novella by Jack Vance
754 • The Dimple in Draco • (1967) • shortstory by R. S. Richardson [as by Philip Latham ]
765 • Consider Her Ways • (1956) • novella by John Wyndham
805 • Something Ending • (1973) • shortstory by Eddy C. Bertin
812 • He Who Shapes • (1965) • novella by Roger Zelazny
869 • Swarm • [Shaper/Mechanist] • (1982) • novelette by Bruce Sterling
886 • Beggars in Spain • [Sleepless] • (1991) • novella by Nancy Kress
939 • Johnny Mnemonic • (1981) • shortstory by William Gibson
952 • "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman • (1965) • shortstory by Harlan Ellison
961 • Blood's a Rover • (1952) • novella by Chad Oliver
993 • Sail the Tide of Mourning • [Bentfin Boomers] • (1975) • shortstory by Richard A. Lupoff
The story The Angel of Violence by Adam_Wiśniewski-Snerg was translated from Polish to English by Thomasz Mirkowicz for this anthology.
The story Good Night, Sophie by Lino Aldani was translated from Italian to English by L. K. Conrad.
The story Liquid Sunshine by Alexander Kuprin was translated from Russian to English by Leland Fetzer.
David G. Hartwell is a World Fantasy Award-winning editor and anthologist who has twice before redefined a genre--first the horror field with The Dark Descent, then the subgenre of hard science fiction with The Ascent of Wonder, coedited with Kathryn Cramer. Now, Hartwell has compiled the mother of all definitive anthologies, guaranteed to change not only the way the science fiction field views itself but also the way the rest of literature views the field.
Contents
17 • Introduction (The Science Fiction Century) • (1997) • essay by David G. Hartwell
21 • Beam Us Home • (1969) • shortstory by James Tiptree, Jr.
31 • Ministering Angels • (1955) • shortstory by C. S. Lewis
39 • The Music Master of Babylon • (1954) • novelette by Edgar Pangborn
57 • A Story of the Days to Come • (1899) • novella by H. G. Wells
112 • Hot Planet • (1963) • shortstory by Hal Clement
127 • A Work of Art • (1956) • novelette by James Blish
139 • The Machine Stops • (1909) • novelette by E. M. Forster
161 • Brightness Falls from the Air • (1951) • shortstory by Margaret St. Clair
166 • 2066: Election Day • (1956) • shortstory by Michael Shaara
177 • The Rose • (1953) • novella by Charles L. Harness [as by Charles Harness ]
232 • The Hounds of Tindalos • (1929) • shortstory by Frank Belknap Long
242 • The Angel of Violence • (1978) • shortstory by Adam Wisniewski-Snerg
252 • Nobody Bothers Gus • [Gus] • (1955) • shortstory by Algis Budrys
261 • The Time Machine • (1954) • shortstory by Dino Buzzati
265 • Mother • (1953) • novelette by Philip José Farmer
285 • As Easy as A.B.C. • (1912) • novelette by Rudyard Kipling
304 • Ginungagap • (1980) • novelette by Michael Swanwick
327 • Minister Without Portfolio • (1952) • shortstory by Mildred Clingerman
333 • Time in Advance • (1956) • novelette by William Tenn
352 • Good Night, Sophie • (1973) • novelette by Lino Aldani (aka Buonanotte Sofia 1963 )
369 • Veritas • (1987) • novelette by James Morrow
382 • Enchanted Village • (1950) • shortstory by A. E. van Vogt
393 • The King and the Dollmaker • (1970) • novella by Wolfgang Jeschke (aka Der König und der Puppenmacher 1961 )
435 • Fire Watch • [Time Travel] • (1982) • novelette by Connie Willis
462 • Goat Song • (1972) • novelette by Poul Anderson
486 • The Scarlet Plague • (1912) • novella by Jack London
518 • Drunkboat • [The Instrumentality of Mankind] • (1963) • novelette by Cordwainer Smith
539 • Another World • (1962) • novelette by J. H. Rosny aîné (aka Un Autre Monde 1895 )
558 • If the Stars Are Gods • [Bradley Reynolds] • (1974) • novelette by Gordon Eklund and Gregory Benford
585 • I Still Call Australia Home • (1990) • shortstory by George Turner
598 • Liquid Sunshine • (1982) • novelette by Alexander Kuprin (aka Zhidkoe solntse 1913 )
632 • Great Work of Time • (1989) • novella by John Crowley
683 • Sundance • (1969) • shortstory by Robert Silverberg
694 • Greenslaves • (1965) • novelette by Frank Herbert
716 • Rumfuddle • (1973) • novella by Jack Vance
754 • The Dimple in Draco • (1967) • shortstory by R. S. Richardson [as by Philip Latham ]
765 • Consider Her Ways • (1956) • novella by John Wyndham
805 • Something Ending • (1973) • shortstory by Eddy C. Bertin
812 • He Who Shapes • (1965) • novella by Roger Zelazny
869 • Swarm • [Shaper/Mechanist] • (1982) • novelette by Bruce Sterling
886 • Beggars in Spain • [Sleepless] • (1991) • novella by Nancy Kress
939 • Johnny Mnemonic • (1981) • shortstory by William Gibson
952 • "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman • (1965) • shortstory by Harlan Ellison
961 • Blood's a Rover • (1952) • novella by Chad Oliver
993 • Sail the Tide of Mourning • [Bentfin Boomers] • (1975) • shortstory by Richard A. Lupoff
The story The Angel of Violence by Adam_Wiśniewski-Snerg was translated from Polish to English by Thomasz Mirkowicz for this anthology.
The story Good Night, Sophie by Lino Aldani was translated from Italian to English by L. K. Conrad.
The story Liquid Sunshine by Alexander Kuprin was translated from Russian to English by Leland Fetzer.
1005 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1997
About the author
David G. Hartwell
111 books82 followersDavid Geddes Hartwell was an American editor of science fiction and fantasy. He worked for Signet (1971-1973), Berkley Putnam (1973-1978), Pocket (where he founded the Timescape imprint, 1978-1983, and created the Pocket Books Star Trek publishing line), and Tor (where he spearheaded Tor's Canadian publishing initiative, and was also influential in bringing many Australian writers to the US market, 1984-date), and has published numerous anthologies. He chaired the board of directors of the World Fantasy Convention and, with Gordon Van Gelder, was the administrator of the Philip K. Dick Award. He held a Ph.D. in comparative medieval literature.
He lived in Pleasantville, New York with his wife Kathryn Cramer and their two children.
He lived in Pleasantville, New York with his wife Kathryn Cramer and their two children.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
March 31, 2021
Science fiction, the despised genre that ended up practically eating the movies and a lot of the rest of pop culture. The revenge of the nerds. This is a vast 1000 page 1920s to 1990s omnibus, it's not bad but I think there are nicer ones. Some non-genre big names pop up -Kipling, Jack London, EM Forster - like it was dress-down Friday at the office. I hate that - they had the whole house to play in, what do they want to bother with our little sandpit?
Some of my favourites are included - Enchanted Village by Van Vogt, Drunkboat by the very weird Cordwainer Smith, Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress - but overall this gets a could do better from me.
Some of my favourites are included - Enchanted Village by Van Vogt, Drunkboat by the very weird Cordwainer Smith, Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress - but overall this gets a could do better from me.
July 4, 2013
I have been reading this book for a very long time, mainly because it is a very large book so, rather than carry it around with me, I've kept it by my bed and read a bit before sleeping some nights, when I wasn't reading something else, or when I wasn't too tired. Most collections of stories have one or two fantastic stories, four or five horrible ones, and a bunch of mediocre stories. I felt like the ratio was by far in favor of fantastic stories in this one, which makes sense because Mr. Hartwell had a century to draw from. This is an incredible collection of all kinds of science fiction from all sorts of writers. I highly recommend it.
March 15, 2011
Little did I know the treasure I was finding when I picked up The Science Fiction Century, a massive anthology of 45 science fiction short stories edited by David Hartwell. Almost all of the selections included were outstanding, but I especially enjoyed the stories noted with an asterisk below. Each selection opens with a brief biography of the writer and their work, which I really appreciated.
Highly Recommended; http://shetreadssoftly.blogspot.com/
Table of Contents
Introduction
* Beam Us Home - James Tiptree Jr.
Ministering Angels - C. S. Lewis
* The Music Master of Babylon - Edgar Pangborn
A Story of the Days to Come - H. G. Wells
Hot Planet - Hal Clement
* A Work of Art - James Blish
* The Machine Stops - E. M. Forster
Brightness Falls from the Air - Margaret St. Clair
2066 Election Day - Michael Shaara
The Rose - Charles Harness
* The Hounds of Tindalos - Frank Belknap Long
* The Angel of Violence - Adam Wisniewski-Snerg
Nobody Bothers Gus - Algis Budrys
The Time Machine - Dino Buzzati
Mother - Philip Jose Farmer
As Easy as A.B.C. - Rudyard Kipling
* Ginungagap - Michael Swanwick
* Minister Without Portfolio - Mildred Clingerman
Time in Advance - William Tenn
Good Night Sophie - Lino Aldani
* Veritas - James Morrow
Enchanted Village - A. E. van Vogt
The King and the Dollmaker - Wolfgang Jeschke
Fire Watch - Connie Willis
Goat Song - Poul Anderson
* The Scarlet Plague - Jack London
Drunkboat - Cordwainer Smith
Another World - J. H. Rosny-Aîné
If the Stars Are Gods - Gregory Benford and Gordon Eklund
* I Still Call Australia Home - George Turner
Liquid Sunshine - Alexander Kuprin; trans. by Leland Fetzer
Great Work of Time - John Crowley
* Sundance - Robert Silverberg
Greenslaves - Frank Herbert
* Rumfuddle - Jack Vance
The Dimple in Draco - Philip Latham
* Consider Her Ways - John Wyndham
Something Ending - Eddy C. Bertin
He Who Shapes - Roger Zelazny
Swarm - Bruce Sterling
* Beggars in Spain - Nancy Kress
Johnny Mnemonic - William Gibson
Repent Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman - Harlan Ellison
Blood's a Rover - Chad Oliver
Sail the Tide of Mourning - Richard A. Lupoff
October 17, 2021
This book is almost 1,000 pages. I could never capture my opinion here - there's a detailed review on my blog, though!
July 28, 2013
My rating is completely based off of how many stories found worth reading divided by the total number of stories. The percentage came to about 42%, so I rounded down to two stars.
If you want the Reader's Digest version of this very long anthology, here are the stories I'd recommend:
"Ministering Angels" by C.S. Lewis
"A Work of Art" by James Blish
"2066: Election Day" by Michael Shaara
"The Rose" by Charles Harness
"Nobody Bothers Gus" by Algis Budrys
"Ginungagap" by Michael Swanwick
"Time in Advance" by William Tenn
"Veritas" by James Morrow
"The King and the Dollmaker" by Wolfgang Jeschke
"Fire Watch" by Connie Willis
"I Still Call Australia Home" by George Turner
"Great Work of Time" by John Crowley
"Sundance" by Robert Silverberg
"Greenslaves" by Frank Herbert
"Rumfuddle" by Jack Vance
"Something Ending" by Eddy C. Bertin
"Beggars in Spain" by Nancy Kress
"'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman" by Harlan Ellison
"Blood's a Rover" by Chad Oliver
If you want the Reader's Digest version of this very long anthology, here are the stories I'd recommend:
"Ministering Angels" by C.S. Lewis
"A Work of Art" by James Blish
"2066: Election Day" by Michael Shaara
"The Rose" by Charles Harness
"Nobody Bothers Gus" by Algis Budrys
"Ginungagap" by Michael Swanwick
"Time in Advance" by William Tenn
"Veritas" by James Morrow
"The King and the Dollmaker" by Wolfgang Jeschke
"Fire Watch" by Connie Willis
"I Still Call Australia Home" by George Turner
"Great Work of Time" by John Crowley
"Sundance" by Robert Silverberg
"Greenslaves" by Frank Herbert
"Rumfuddle" by Jack Vance
"Something Ending" by Eddy C. Bertin
"Beggars in Spain" by Nancy Kress
"'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman" by Harlan Ellison
"Blood's a Rover" by Chad Oliver
September 7, 2017
For an omnibus collection of science fiction spanning the globe and 1895 to 1996, this set of forty-five short stories and novellas is representative of the genre. If these are the best, the rest must have been pretty poor. There is some great writing here amid much that is merely fine. Ideas overpower character development, with cardboard-character males predominant. Still, this might work for an introductory survey course in the field.
July 11, 2018
The author bios are truly a gift in the case of the lesser known writers. As with any collection you'll find some you don't care for, but as for the rest, well . . .
May 23, 2020
"Beam Us Home," by James Tiptree, Jr. (1969): 7.25
- I know I need to take into account the time this was written and the actual context, that is The Vietnam war and the many ways in which people were dealing with the fallout back home. That said, it still strikes me as a bit weird to hang such an ominous story, with both high stakes narrative and contemporary implications, on a Star Trek connection. Partially the reason that it doesn't work is that the protagonist is so shoddily sketched out, with little evidence given for any of his many many possible character motivations, before it's just explained to us at the end. At the same time, she does about as good as she can with such a weak original concept, building up its realistically messed up world, in which foreign relations have gone bad, but not in the most evidently disastrous way that many genre writers would create, and painting a picture, if you would like to read the story this way, I've just a young person adrift in the world and I only have sure if what they want to do once they see how much they've messed up.
"Something Ending," by Eddy C. Bertin (1971): 6.75
- These ones are a bit sad; some people really want to join a club. It's of a piece with the story from the German writer: they look like an SF story, the walk and talk and quack like one. But they're just missing something--and that something's, no matter how small, the difference between a cringe and an 'hmm, okay.' Our story: a man meets -- three times, in the parable way the worst of these older stories ape -- another, older man who insists that nothing around him is real, i.e. that it's all an illusion manufactured just for him to give the semblance of other consciousness. A generous reader could say that Bertin is laying out a conte philosophique -- or a small fable-like story intended to illustrate or serve as a platform to interrogate one or more philosophical 'problems' -- in that he's dealing with [in the Illusion thought] one actual theory of consciousness. That's giving this a lot more credit than warranted, I believe, as, even if that was the intention, it's quite lazy, in simply placing the description in the exposition-spewing mouth of the drunkard. And also, come on, it's not doing that.
"Ministering Angels," by C.S. Lewis (1955): 6
- It is an unexpected pleasure, after first being so familiar with the stereotypes of the Bad Old SF -- namely, that it was racist, sexist, libertarian, callously colonialistic, and much more -- and second reading so much of it, to find, now so deep into the thing, that the single worst culprit of the claims, the story that, more than any other, actually and unapologetically embodies those expectations, is one by fucking CS Lewis. Just priceless. The piece: scientists on a years-long mission to Mars are surprised when a relief ship appears before their allotted time is up. They're there not to wrap things up, but instead to drop off two women to act as government-mandated Relief Women (otherwise ... what? space madness or some shit). The two women are, simply, grotesqueries: one, the "Fat Woman" constantly ridiculed in the prose for her girth and lasciviousness and disgustingness and complete indifference to her lack of desirability; and the other, the "Thin Woman," clearly meant to be a priggish, stern lesbian, only there because of her sincere devotion to science (as a Uni prof) and otherwise completely androgynous to the crew (they didn't initially know she was a woman). Other than the Thin Woman, they're all given cockney accents (!), and the classism seeps through. It's really quite remarkable stuff; the genuine hatred for women just seeps off the page. In short, some of the men escape, rather than have to live with/fuck these women, and the others are ready to revolt -- all except one: the saintly Monk, who is happy that he's able now to minister to the Fat Woman. Unfuckingbelievable. It's like a fair and Lewis is lining up all the socio-cultural developments he hates and just shooting wildly at them in the stupidest most puerile way possible. Every megachurch simp who ever talks about MERE CHRISTIANITY should likewise be required to teach this at Sunday School, although of course they would cause they'd love it. I mean, more, it's just real funny that I'm sure there are like really considered, labored annotatations of this tripe in some necktie Christians stupid Collected CS Lewis and they're giving space and thought to this reactionary drivel. Just really amazing stuff.
"He Who Shapes," by Roger Zelazny (1966): 9
- Zelazny wades in a world of literary possibility. Peep the drunken dreamvision scene: allusive language, some studiously non-purple purple prose, and some essential measure of authorial emotional remove, leavened, nonetheless, by what can only be called an excessive amount of sentimental emotional investment (that last line: “And he was afraid”). None of this is to say, however, that he’s doing any of this particularly well. Indeed, the joys to be found here (and they’re here aplenty) are largely the joys of well-done speculative fiction (very much of a very certain era, bear in mind): i.e. the noirish crackle, the explicit, psychoanalytically influenced philosophizing around the central SF conceit, the techno-utopianism. What bridges both of these modes, however, is his knack at the turn of phrase—at conveying an emotion or scene in the 85th rather than 30th percentile. Zum Beispiel: “Knowing she verged upon beauty, Jil took great pains to achieve it.”
"Fire Watch," by Connie Willis (1982): 8.25
- don't think I bought into the transcendent message (experience as a way of living on) as much as she would have liked, but enjoyable nonetheless. btw, what kind of history department is this??
“The Music Master of Babylon,” by Edgar Pangborn (1954): 8.5
- An ultimately overlong story, whose length nonetheless flits between necessary world ethos construction and dilatory reflection. The tone is, however, touchingly (but not cloyingly) sentimental and solitary—something that, in this circumstance, fits. It is also relatively propulsive for a last man alive story, impressively (for a short story) accustoming his audience to the silences of the mans days, as well as his fixations. Thus leading to the drag, for all this comes crashing to an abrupt stop by the turn towards that knee-jerk veneration of the mythical Artistic Genius in the wilderness that so much Golden Age sf found somehow irresistible.
"A Work of Art," by James Blish (1956): 8.5
- A story done in, strangely, by commitment to its premise -- to its overweening assumption of the mantle of a storyteller telling this story with these characters -- rather than by any of the many more common mistakes by in 1950s short SF fiction. The story: Richard Strauss is, ostensibly, brought back to life in the 2160s and goes about creating a new opera. Strauss is intermittently confused by these circumstances and thrilled to be given the chance to create again. And, he does create--an opera, to be exact, which he premieres in front of rapturous audiences, even as he's himself finally become convinced of the staid futility of his retreaded work, with further revelations to ensue. It's all fine and good -- and same with the prose. Smooth, over-involved, albeit often appealingly elegent (especially for the period and genre), it nonetheless overcommits to our Strauss-ness and misses the story for the character.
- I know I need to take into account the time this was written and the actual context, that is The Vietnam war and the many ways in which people were dealing with the fallout back home. That said, it still strikes me as a bit weird to hang such an ominous story, with both high stakes narrative and contemporary implications, on a Star Trek connection. Partially the reason that it doesn't work is that the protagonist is so shoddily sketched out, with little evidence given for any of his many many possible character motivations, before it's just explained to us at the end. At the same time, she does about as good as she can with such a weak original concept, building up its realistically messed up world, in which foreign relations have gone bad, but not in the most evidently disastrous way that many genre writers would create, and painting a picture, if you would like to read the story this way, I've just a young person adrift in the world and I only have sure if what they want to do once they see how much they've messed up.
"Something Ending," by Eddy C. Bertin (1971): 6.75
- These ones are a bit sad; some people really want to join a club. It's of a piece with the story from the German writer: they look like an SF story, the walk and talk and quack like one. But they're just missing something--and that something's, no matter how small, the difference between a cringe and an 'hmm, okay.' Our story: a man meets -- three times, in the parable way the worst of these older stories ape -- another, older man who insists that nothing around him is real, i.e. that it's all an illusion manufactured just for him to give the semblance of other consciousness. A generous reader could say that Bertin is laying out a conte philosophique -- or a small fable-like story intended to illustrate or serve as a platform to interrogate one or more philosophical 'problems' -- in that he's dealing with [in the Illusion thought] one actual theory of consciousness. That's giving this a lot more credit than warranted, I believe, as, even if that was the intention, it's quite lazy, in simply placing the description in the exposition-spewing mouth of the drunkard. And also, come on, it's not doing that.
"Ministering Angels," by C.S. Lewis (1955): 6
- It is an unexpected pleasure, after first being so familiar with the stereotypes of the Bad Old SF -- namely, that it was racist, sexist, libertarian, callously colonialistic, and much more -- and second reading so much of it, to find, now so deep into the thing, that the single worst culprit of the claims, the story that, more than any other, actually and unapologetically embodies those expectations, is one by fucking CS Lewis. Just priceless. The piece: scientists on a years-long mission to Mars are surprised when a relief ship appears before their allotted time is up. They're there not to wrap things up, but instead to drop off two women to act as government-mandated Relief Women (otherwise ... what? space madness or some shit). The two women are, simply, grotesqueries: one, the "Fat Woman" constantly ridiculed in the prose for her girth and lasciviousness and disgustingness and complete indifference to her lack of desirability; and the other, the "Thin Woman," clearly meant to be a priggish, stern lesbian, only there because of her sincere devotion to science (as a Uni prof) and otherwise completely androgynous to the crew (they didn't initially know she was a woman). Other than the Thin Woman, they're all given cockney accents (!), and the classism seeps through. It's really quite remarkable stuff; the genuine hatred for women just seeps off the page. In short, some of the men escape, rather than have to live with/fuck these women, and the others are ready to revolt -- all except one: the saintly Monk, who is happy that he's able now to minister to the Fat Woman. Unfuckingbelievable. It's like a fair and Lewis is lining up all the socio-cultural developments he hates and just shooting wildly at them in the stupidest most puerile way possible. Every megachurch simp who ever talks about MERE CHRISTIANITY should likewise be required to teach this at Sunday School, although of course they would cause they'd love it. I mean, more, it's just real funny that I'm sure there are like really considered, labored annotatations of this tripe in some necktie Christians stupid Collected CS Lewis and they're giving space and thought to this reactionary drivel. Just really amazing stuff.
"He Who Shapes," by Roger Zelazny (1966): 9
- Zelazny wades in a world of literary possibility. Peep the drunken dreamvision scene: allusive language, some studiously non-purple purple prose, and some essential measure of authorial emotional remove, leavened, nonetheless, by what can only be called an excessive amount of sentimental emotional investment (that last line: “And he was afraid”). None of this is to say, however, that he’s doing any of this particularly well. Indeed, the joys to be found here (and they’re here aplenty) are largely the joys of well-done speculative fiction (very much of a very certain era, bear in mind): i.e. the noirish crackle, the explicit, psychoanalytically influenced philosophizing around the central SF conceit, the techno-utopianism. What bridges both of these modes, however, is his knack at the turn of phrase—at conveying an emotion or scene in the 85th rather than 30th percentile. Zum Beispiel: “Knowing she verged upon beauty, Jil took great pains to achieve it.”
"Fire Watch," by Connie Willis (1982): 8.25
- don't think I bought into the transcendent message (experience as a way of living on) as much as she would have liked, but enjoyable nonetheless. btw, what kind of history department is this??
“The Music Master of Babylon,” by Edgar Pangborn (1954): 8.5
- An ultimately overlong story, whose length nonetheless flits between necessary world ethos construction and dilatory reflection. The tone is, however, touchingly (but not cloyingly) sentimental and solitary—something that, in this circumstance, fits. It is also relatively propulsive for a last man alive story, impressively (for a short story) accustoming his audience to the silences of the mans days, as well as his fixations. Thus leading to the drag, for all this comes crashing to an abrupt stop by the turn towards that knee-jerk veneration of the mythical Artistic Genius in the wilderness that so much Golden Age sf found somehow irresistible.
"A Work of Art," by James Blish (1956): 8.5
- A story done in, strangely, by commitment to its premise -- to its overweening assumption of the mantle of a storyteller telling this story with these characters -- rather than by any of the many more common mistakes by in 1950s short SF fiction. The story: Richard Strauss is, ostensibly, brought back to life in the 2160s and goes about creating a new opera. Strauss is intermittently confused by these circumstances and thrilled to be given the chance to create again. And, he does create--an opera, to be exact, which he premieres in front of rapturous audiences, even as he's himself finally become convinced of the staid futility of his retreaded work, with further revelations to ensue. It's all fine and good -- and same with the prose. Smooth, over-involved, albeit often appealingly elegent (especially for the period and genre), it nonetheless overcommits to our Strauss-ness and misses the story for the character.
September 2, 2017
This is a very strong collection of 20th century science fiction stories. It includes a good selection of familiar classics, less familiar stories that deserve more exposure and even a couple of non-English-language stories that have been translated especially for this anthology. While like any anthology some stories are going to be better than others (and some more to your taste than other) the overall quality is high.
Science fiction is very much a genre of its time. Even when the story is set long ago, far away or in the (author's) distant future it often tells you at least as much about the author's own time and place as it does about the distant world the author thinks they are creating. The future has a bad habit of catching up with us all. For example, Roger Zelazny set his story "He Who Shapes" in the late-nineties. (Ironically Zelazny died in 1995.) He wrote the story in 1967, placing it 30 years in his future. He lets us know the date by having a character reviewed a medical history with hospital admission dates running from 1996-1998. This put the story twenty years in my past. The temptation is to break down the setting based on what we know - to get distracted by Zelazny's misses, such as the ubiquitous smoking in public places that we know you would not have been allowed to smoke in the late nineties. Even in stories set in the far future mid-twentieth century attitudes have a habit of sneaking in. Or in the case of C.S. Lewis's "Ministering Angels", the chauvinism isn't even all that sneaky and may not have even been all that acceptable in its own time. I say all this not to discourage any reader but to warn them that these stories have to be read on their own terms.
This book was actually originally published in two volumes. As a single, hardback volume of 1000+ pages it is unwieldy, physically and literarily. I don't know if it is available as an e-book, but if it isn't it may be more practically to read it in its original two-volume format.
Science fiction is very much a genre of its time. Even when the story is set long ago, far away or in the (author's) distant future it often tells you at least as much about the author's own time and place as it does about the distant world the author thinks they are creating. The future has a bad habit of catching up with us all. For example, Roger Zelazny set his story "He Who Shapes" in the late-nineties. (Ironically Zelazny died in 1995.) He wrote the story in 1967, placing it 30 years in his future. He lets us know the date by having a character reviewed a medical history with hospital admission dates running from 1996-1998. This put the story twenty years in my past. The temptation is to break down the setting based on what we know - to get distracted by Zelazny's misses, such as the ubiquitous smoking in public places that we know you would not have been allowed to smoke in the late nineties. Even in stories set in the far future mid-twentieth century attitudes have a habit of sneaking in. Or in the case of C.S. Lewis's "Ministering Angels", the chauvinism isn't even all that sneaky and may not have even been all that acceptable in its own time. I say all this not to discourage any reader but to warn them that these stories have to be read on their own terms.
This book was actually originally published in two volumes. As a single, hardback volume of 1000+ pages it is unwieldy, physically and literarily. I don't know if it is available as an e-book, but if it isn't it may be more practically to read it in its original two-volume format.
October 28, 2023
VERDICT: ~ 3.25 stars; a pretty good collection overall, with tales from the 1890s thru 1990s.
Most of these were 2.0 to 3.5 star tales, with a handful closer to 4 stars. Some--but definitely not all--of the older stories hold up suprisingly well. This 1,005-page book would make a good gift for a voracious SciFi reader.
Most of these were 2.0 to 3.5 star tales, with a handful closer to 4 stars. Some--but definitely not all--of the older stories hold up suprisingly well. This 1,005-page book would make a good gift for a voracious SciFi reader.
October 23, 2022
Sci-fi isn't where I often go but this fell into my hands along with another sci-fi tome I read earlier this year & I have to say I enjoyed most of the stories & there were some true gems, writers I should really pursue more of...but so little time with an ever-expanding to-read list!
January 22, 2023
Some very interesting stories in nice small units.
March 24, 2012
This is a very, very long book because it has a tremendous number of stories, many of them longer lengths that are hard to find in other anthologies. I'm a particular fan of the short form of science fiction, and this looked right up my alley. It's a survey of significant works over the hundred years from mid-1890s to mid-1990s, but "significant" doesn't necessarily mean that they're award winners or even in the best of their genre when they were published. They might be significant because it's an early story for an author showing their bent, or the first story to tackle a particular subject, and so on.
A lot of the older and mid-range stories were not all that well written, at least by the standards that I've been used to for the last couple of decades at least. They were all readable--but quite a few in the middle of the book I read simply because the editor thought that they were notable in some way and so I thought it was be good for me to read them, but found my interest flagging. Towards the end, the quality seemed to pick up and I enjoyed the stories more.
I was frustrated that the editor's comments almost never said when the stories were first published, and the order of the stories in the book seemed arbitrary to me. I think I'd have liked to see them in chronological order rather than what felt random.
There are several gems here and several not. If you like to add to your knowledge of various writers and subgenres and your understanding of how science fiction or writers have evolved, you'd probably like most of this book. At 1000 pages, expect reading to take a while. And you can, of course, pick and choose those stories that you like and skip others.
A lot of the older and mid-range stories were not all that well written, at least by the standards that I've been used to for the last couple of decades at least. They were all readable--but quite a few in the middle of the book I read simply because the editor thought that they were notable in some way and so I thought it was be good for me to read them, but found my interest flagging. Towards the end, the quality seemed to pick up and I enjoyed the stories more.
I was frustrated that the editor's comments almost never said when the stories were first published, and the order of the stories in the book seemed arbitrary to me. I think I'd have liked to see them in chronological order rather than what felt random.
There are several gems here and several not. If you like to add to your knowledge of various writers and subgenres and your understanding of how science fiction or writers have evolved, you'd probably like most of this book. At 1000 pages, expect reading to take a while. And you can, of course, pick and choose those stories that you like and skip others.
May 17, 2007
When I was eight years old, I picked up a collection of science fiction for children, and it's not an exaggeration to say that it changed my life. However, if I had picked up this book or "The Hard SF Renaissance" instead, I would certainly not have been defining myself as a SF fan today.
Again with the Idea stories with no humans in them, and the Man vs. Nature adventure stories helmed by generic Heroes whose chief quality seems to be durability.
Eventually I began giving each story two pages. If at the end of two pages I hadn't encountered a person whose fate I cared about, I skipped the story. Saved me a lot of time.
Stories I did enjoy:
James Tiptree, Jr.: "Beam Us Home." But I'd read this one elsewhere.
James Blish: "A Work of Art." The one where artists of the future appear to have brought back Richard Strauss to write more music.
Connie Willis, "Fire Watch." In her time-travel universe, the one where the student is accidentally sent back to WWII to prevent the burning of a cathedral.
George Turner, "I Still Call Australia Home." The one where the explorers spend 30 years trying to find a human-habitable planet, come home to an Earth where 600 years have passed, and are forbidden to stay. Could have been better, more detailed, longer, but still well done.
Again with the Idea stories with no humans in them, and the Man vs. Nature adventure stories helmed by generic Heroes whose chief quality seems to be durability.
Eventually I began giving each story two pages. If at the end of two pages I hadn't encountered a person whose fate I cared about, I skipped the story. Saved me a lot of time.
Stories I did enjoy:
James Tiptree, Jr.: "Beam Us Home." But I'd read this one elsewhere.
James Blish: "A Work of Art." The one where artists of the future appear to have brought back Richard Strauss to write more music.
Connie Willis, "Fire Watch." In her time-travel universe, the one where the student is accidentally sent back to WWII to prevent the burning of a cathedral.
George Turner, "I Still Call Australia Home." The one where the explorers spend 30 years trying to find a human-habitable planet, come home to an Earth where 600 years have passed, and are forbidden to stay. Could have been better, more detailed, longer, but still well done.
March 8, 2008
I read this over the summer of 1998. It is a very comprehensive science fiction anthology. I think it makes a very good work if you want to get a historical overview of where the genre comes from and where it is going. The stories do vary in quality, so odds are good you may find some you like more than others. Overall, a book you can read cover to cover, or just to browse. It has been a while since I read it, so I may have to revisit this book sometime.
Want to read
August 6, 2015… for "The Machine Stops," by E M Forster. A hundred years ago he imagined texting and the internet as well as networks of friends who would never meet.
But, of course, dipping my toe in for that single short story may well lead to reading other novelettes in this big anthology of forty-six pieces.
But, of course, dipping my toe in for that single short story may well lead to reading other novelettes in this big anthology of forty-six pieces.
Currently reading
May 23, 2024"Minister Without Portfolio" by Mildred Clingennan - Mrs. Chriswell chats with an alien who gives her pictures of his green sisters but she can't recall anywhere on Earth where the people are green.
"Brightness Falls from the Air" by Margaret St. Clair - Kerr attempts to help an aviary species that humanity has relegated to gladiatorial amusement.
"Brightness Falls from the Air" by Margaret St. Clair - Kerr attempts to help an aviary species that humanity has relegated to gladiatorial amusement.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 23, 2009
This is a fantastic collection that I am so happy I stumbled upon. It is a long, long read, but well worth it. I don't know that I'd ever read any of the stories contained within before, but I am better for having read each one.
May 22, 2007
good compilation of lesser known science fiction stories of the 20th Century. Great read, intensely entertaining.
January 6, 2016
An excellent collection of SF short stories.
April 26, 2008
ugly and hopeless; the worst scifi has to offer
Read
August 22, 2008The Science Fiction Century (1997)
August 4, 2011
This is a collection any real science fiction fan should own.
April 6, 2024
Picked up as a remainder in a bookshop at some point.
Shelved as 'hiatus'
September 8, 2018I like to dip at leisure into my home library's short-story collections, rather than reading straight through. And so, by its nature, a book like this occupies the "unfinished" shelf. Like its title suggests, this book's authors encompass the 20th century. They represent a wide range of genres and focuses within the field of "science fiction." This book is sure to occupy my interest for some time to come.
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