Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Doubleday & Company, Inc. (Garden City, N.Y., 1973). Book club edition (gutter code 17P). 538 pages.
Description
A must-read for any science fiction fan, The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume Two (published in two volumes, A & B) is a compilation of twenty-two of the best novellas published between 1895 and 1962. The two volumes were originally published in 1973 (Two-A) and 1974 (Two-B) after the stories were selected by a vote of the membership of the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA, now known as the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America). Volume Two-B has complete novellas by the following authors: Isaac Asimov, James Blish, Algis Budrys, Theodore Cogswell, E. M. Forster, Frederik Pohl, James H. Schmitz, T.L. Sherred, Wilmar H. Shiras, Clifford D. Simak, and Jack Vance.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Stevil2001
After my lukewarm reaction toward Volume Two A, I was somewhat worried about this installment in the The Science Fiction Hall of Fame series, but I needn't've worried; this was a return to the heights of Volume One. I can't say that I disliked any of the stories, but Isaac Asimov's The Martian Way
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and James Blish's Earthman Come Home both left me fairly cold. All the other stories in this volume were gold, however. It would be nearly impossible for me to pick a favorite, but one contender might be Aldis Bugrys's Rogue Moon, a strange tale ostensibly about an alien artifact on the moon but more about the bizarre psychology of those who dare to investigate it-- absolutely captivating. Another is T. L. Sherred's E for Effort, a fun story about a past-observing machine in the line of Orson Scott Card's Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus and Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter's The Light of Other Days, but with a far more cynical worldview. And there was also Jack Vance's The Moon Moth, a brilliant piece of anthropological (and even ethnomusicological) sf with a truly unusual yet seemingly plausible alien culture, as well as a cracking mystery. Oh, and a little jewel was Wilmar H. Shiras's In Hiding, which has a fairly bog-standard premise of a precocious superchild, but executes it perfectly. Other highlights included E. M. Forster's prophetic The Machine Stops and Theodore Cogswell's The Spectre General, an unremittingly fun story of the sort I was hoping for in but denied by Brian W. Aldiss's Galactic Empires collections. Definitely recommended; now I have to seek out Volumes Three and Four. Show Less
LibraryThing member azyre
Classic set of sf short stories. I obtained the first 4 volumes back in high school and have read them several times.
LibraryThing member datrappert
Pretty much every story a classic. Would be a great gift for a new science fiction reader. (Along with its companion volume.)
LibraryThing member ikeman100
What can I say? This is part two of the best classic SF Novells as voted on by SF Writers of America. Of course the stories are good.
I was pleasantly surprised by:
The Witches of Karres - James H. Schmitz and The Machine Stops - E. M. Forster.
Book includes:
The Martian Way - Isaac Asimov
Earthman,
Rogue Moon - Algis Budrys
The Specter General - Theodore R. Cogswell
The Machine Stops - E. M. Forster
The Midas Plague - Frederik Pohl
The Witches of Karres - James H. Schmitz
E for Effort - T. L. Sherred
In Hiding - Wilmar H. Shiras
The Big Front Yard - Clifford D. Simak
The Moon Moth - Jack Vance
I was pleasantly surprised by:
The Witches of Karres - James H. Schmitz and The Machine Stops - E. M. Forster.
Book includes:
The Martian Way - Isaac Asimov
Earthman,
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Come Home - James BlishRogue Moon - Algis Budrys
The Specter General - Theodore R. Cogswell
The Machine Stops - E. M. Forster
The Midas Plague - Frederik Pohl
The Witches of Karres - James H. Schmitz
E for Effort - T. L. Sherred
In Hiding - Wilmar H. Shiras
The Big Front Yard - Clifford D. Simak
The Moon Moth - Jack Vance
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Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1973
Physical description
xi, 527 p.