Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Orb Books (2005), Edition: First, 576 pages
Description
The definitive collection of the best in science fiction stories between 1929 and 1964.This book contains twenty-six of the greatest science fiction stories ever written. They represent the considered verdict of the Science Fiction Writers of America, those who have shaped the genre and who know, more intimately than anyone else, what the criteria for excellence in the field should be. The authors chosen for The Science Fiction Hall Fame are the men and women who have shaped the body and heart of modern science fiction; their brilliantly imaginative creations continue to inspire and astound new generations of writers and fans.Robert Heinlein in "The Roads Must Roll" describes an industrial civilization of the future caught up in the deadly flaws of its own complexity. "Country of the Kind," by Damon Knight, is a frightening portrayal of biological mutation. "Nightfall," by Isaac Asimov, one of the greatest stories in the science fiction field, is the story of a planet where the sun sets only once every millennium and is a chilling study in mass psychology.Originally published in 1970 to honor those writers and their stories that had come before the institution of the Nebula Awards, The Science Fiction Hall Of Fame, Vol. 1, was the book that introduced tens of thousands of young readers to the wonders of science fiction. Too long unavailable, this new edition will treasured by all science fiction fans everywhere.This collection also includes an introduction by Robert Silverberg and stories by Stanley G. Weinbaum, John W. Campbell, Lester del Rey, Theodore Sturgeon, Lewis Padgett, Clifford D. Simak, Fredric Brown, Murray Leinster, Judith Merril, Cordwainer Smith, Ray Bradbury, C. M. Kornbluth, Richard Matheson, Fritz Leiber, Anthony Boucher, James Blish, Arthur C. Clarke, Jerome Bixby, Tom Godwin, Alfred Bester, Daniel Keyes, and Roger Zelazn… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member Stevil2001
After the mediocrity of Galactic Empires and the boringness of The Early Pohl, I was a little apprehensive about reading another collection of "classic" sf. I needn't've worried. Though the first couple stories in this book were shaky, they soon picked up, and the book carried a consistent quality
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all the rest of the way through. A few obvious ones, such as "Nightfall" by Isaac Asimov, I'd read before, but there were plenty stories (and even some authors) that were entirely new to me. I did consider doing a review of all the individual stories, but I realized it would just be me saying "This story was great" again and again. Highlights included "Mimsy Were the Borogoves" by Lewis Padgett, "First Contact" by Murray Leinster, "Scanners Live in Vain" by Cordwainer Smith, "Mars is Heaven!" by Ray Bradbury (a.k.a. "The Third Expedition" of The Martian Chronicles), and too many more for this list to have much of a point. My favorite was "Surface Tension" by James Blish, the tale of some microscopic aquatic lifeforms' attempt to travel into "space", which entirely captures the triumph and exultation of exploration that typically feels mundane after a century of sf. Everyone gives me funny looks when I try to explain why I like this story so much, but it really is excellent. This is a great, great book for any fan of sf, a collection of unbeatable stories. Show Less
LibraryThing member ojchase
Just read the "Mimzy of the Boreograves" story because of the recent movie which is relatively different
LibraryThing member reverebeach
Nice short story collection, I purchased it for a writing group I joined.
LibraryThing member TadAD
One of, if not the, best collections of science fiction short stories out there.
LibraryThing member Mary_Overton
Every story a classic -- some favorites:
"Mimsy were the Borogoves" and "Little Black Bag" - objects transported through time machines change the lives of those who find them;
"Twilight" - also about time travel - a man of the future leaps forward to the twilight of human kind and finds that "The
"Microcosmic God" - a man does set a universe in motion -- a microcosmic one. He is a modern alchemist who creates an elixir and a race of homunculi;
"Surface Tension" - another microscopic world of humans, seeded in water and left to develop on their own -- will they leap beyond the surface tension of the bubble in which they think the entire universe exists?;
"Nightfall" - in a world where multiple suns always light the sky, a total eclipse every 2000 years reveals the stars which drive people mad -- their version of Revelations;
"The Cold Equations" - beneath the veneer of civilization and its comforts there lie the impersonal truths of life and death;
"Nine Billion Names of God" - Do we really want to know them all?;
"Arena" - gladiator events of the future;
"A Rose for Ecclesiastes" - one's life can fulfill a prophecy, but the consequences will be much larger than one can imagine, and one's own part in it much smaller.
"Mimsy were the Borogoves" and "Little Black Bag" - objects transported through time machines change the lives of those who find them;
"Twilight" - also about time travel - a man of the future leaps forward to the twilight of human kind and finds that "The
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men knew how to die, and be dead, but the machines didn't." Is the universe a machine God set in motion before He died?; "Microcosmic God" - a man does set a universe in motion -- a microcosmic one. He is a modern alchemist who creates an elixir and a race of homunculi;
"Surface Tension" - another microscopic world of humans, seeded in water and left to develop on their own -- will they leap beyond the surface tension of the bubble in which they think the entire universe exists?;
"Nightfall" - in a world where multiple suns always light the sky, a total eclipse every 2000 years reveals the stars which drive people mad -- their version of Revelations;
"The Cold Equations" - beneath the veneer of civilization and its comforts there lie the impersonal truths of life and death;
"Nine Billion Names of God" - Do we really want to know them all?;
"Arena" - gladiator events of the future;
"A Rose for Ecclesiastes" - one's life can fulfill a prophecy, but the consequences will be much larger than one can imagine, and one's own part in it much smaller.
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LibraryThing member hailelib
Technically this is a reread but it has been as long as 35 or more years since I read most of the stories. Even the really famous ones like 'Nightfall' and 'Flowers for Algernon' were extremely fuzzy in my memory so that they read very much like new stories. The stories were originally published
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between 1934 and 1963 but most have held up fairly well with the best ones being very readable still. A good sampling of the best short stories in SF from the decades before the SFWA began giving the Nebulas. Show Less
LibraryThing member zegs
This is a great book for those who want to sample the "golden age" of science fiction. Guarantee upon completion you will be seeking more works by the authors within.
LibraryThing member jwhenderson
I recently read the first five stories collected in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume One, 1929-1964. While I enjoyed "A Martian Odyssey" by Stanley Weinbaum the most, all of the stories were excellent and many of them demonstrated interesting features. In our class discussion the
The third story, "Helen O'Loy" by Lester del Rey, presents a robot that appears to be comparable to Helen of Troy as the story opens with this description of her:
"I am an old man now, but I can still see Helen as Dave unpacked her, and still hear him gasp as he looked her over.
"Man, isn't she a beauty?"
She was beautiful, a dream spun in plastics and metals, something Keats might have seen dimly when he wrote his sonnet. If Helen of Troy had looked like that the Greeks must have been pikers when they launched only a thousand ships; at least that's what I told Dave." (p 42)
And in Robert Heinlein's "The Roads Must Roll" the militaristic depiction of the Road support organization reminded me of the concept of the "Guardians" in Plato's Republic. The dedicated class of cadets who man the roads seemed similar to Plato's idea for his ideal society. Who would have expected allusions like these in tales of the future?
I concluded my traversal of The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume One, 1929-1964 and found myself reflecting on some of the themes. I have previously commented on the intersection of the SF and Horror genres but there are other themes that we noted in our discussion of the stories. One theme is that of extreme situations exemplified in "The Cold Equations" by Tom Godwin where a shuttle space ship (Emergency Dispatch Ship) is unprepared for even and ounce of excess weight when a stowaway is found on board with disastrous consequences. Not unexpectedly many of the stories emphasize the theme of the "other", whether aliens from outer space -- Mars is a popular choice from this era -- or aliens from the future, or aliens among us who, but for the vagaries of biology or psychology, would otherwise be human.
In the famous story by Daniel Keyes, "Flowers for Algernon", Charlie Gordon experiences the feeling of being the "other" both due to his low intelligence and subsequent extreme high intelligence level that he reaches before returning to his original mental state. Through it all his emotional state develops so that there is some hope for whatever future he may have after the story ends.
The theme of monsters who are beyond human control is also prominent. Both "It's a GOOD Life' by Jerome Bixby and "The Country of the Kind" by Damon Knight present monsters that are unsettling in their ability to change the world around them and the humans who survive are challenged beyond what one would expect they could manage.
I found paradoxical the hubris of the scientists in "The Nine Billion Names of God" by Arthur C. Clarke when they attempted to create a computing machine for Tibetan Monks that would catalog all of the names of god. They did not believe they could succeed and the result when they did was astonishing. I challenge the reader of this story to consider the possibility of an infinite number of universes in god's creation (if that is what this is).
The beauty of the prose style of the writers was never more evident than in Roger Zelazny's award-winning story "A Rose for Ecclesiates". In it a scientist on Mars falls in love with a dying civilization and one representative of it whose response is not what he expects. The result of all the stories is and engaging medley that does justice to the "Golden Age" of Science Fiction.
The most important thing about these stories was the questions they raised and the ideas they presented. What will happen to man in the distant future when machines have taken over control of the earth? What happens when one man can create and manipulate human-like life for his own ends in a way that mimics the god of the Old Testament? These and other questions made each of these stories exciting reading for anyone who wonders: "What if?"
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connections with classical literature was noted for several of the stories starting with the Weinbaum story, for as the title suggests it has aspects that appear to be variations on Homer's Odyssey. The main character, Jarvis, goes on a journey outward bound and when he attempts to return his journey is derailed or lengthened by encounters with an amazing variety of aliens, each of whom are unique. The third story, "Helen O'Loy" by Lester del Rey, presents a robot that appears to be comparable to Helen of Troy as the story opens with this description of her:
"I am an old man now, but I can still see Helen as Dave unpacked her, and still hear him gasp as he looked her over.
"Man, isn't she a beauty?"
She was beautiful, a dream spun in plastics and metals, something Keats might have seen dimly when he wrote his sonnet. If Helen of Troy had looked like that the Greeks must have been pikers when they launched only a thousand ships; at least that's what I told Dave." (p 42)
And in Robert Heinlein's "The Roads Must Roll" the militaristic depiction of the Road support organization reminded me of the concept of the "Guardians" in Plato's Republic. The dedicated class of cadets who man the roads seemed similar to Plato's idea for his ideal society. Who would have expected allusions like these in tales of the future?
I concluded my traversal of The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume One, 1929-1964 and found myself reflecting on some of the themes. I have previously commented on the intersection of the SF and Horror genres but there are other themes that we noted in our discussion of the stories. One theme is that of extreme situations exemplified in "The Cold Equations" by Tom Godwin where a shuttle space ship (Emergency Dispatch Ship) is unprepared for even and ounce of excess weight when a stowaway is found on board with disastrous consequences. Not unexpectedly many of the stories emphasize the theme of the "other", whether aliens from outer space -- Mars is a popular choice from this era -- or aliens from the future, or aliens among us who, but for the vagaries of biology or psychology, would otherwise be human.
In the famous story by Daniel Keyes, "Flowers for Algernon", Charlie Gordon experiences the feeling of being the "other" both due to his low intelligence and subsequent extreme high intelligence level that he reaches before returning to his original mental state. Through it all his emotional state develops so that there is some hope for whatever future he may have after the story ends.
The theme of monsters who are beyond human control is also prominent. Both "It's a GOOD Life' by Jerome Bixby and "The Country of the Kind" by Damon Knight present monsters that are unsettling in their ability to change the world around them and the humans who survive are challenged beyond what one would expect they could manage.
I found paradoxical the hubris of the scientists in "The Nine Billion Names of God" by Arthur C. Clarke when they attempted to create a computing machine for Tibetan Monks that would catalog all of the names of god. They did not believe they could succeed and the result when they did was astonishing. I challenge the reader of this story to consider the possibility of an infinite number of universes in god's creation (if that is what this is).
The beauty of the prose style of the writers was never more evident than in Roger Zelazny's award-winning story "A Rose for Ecclesiates". In it a scientist on Mars falls in love with a dying civilization and one representative of it whose response is not what he expects. The result of all the stories is and engaging medley that does justice to the "Golden Age" of Science Fiction.
The most important thing about these stories was the questions they raised and the ideas they presented. What will happen to man in the distant future when machines have taken over control of the earth? What happens when one man can create and manipulate human-like life for his own ends in a way that mimics the god of the Old Testament? These and other questions made each of these stories exciting reading for anyone who wonders: "What if?"
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LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C
I've been reading quite a few science fiction books lately, particularly anthologies, and this one stands out as special. It's comprised of the 26 stories voted into the "Science Fiction Hall of Fame" as the best in the genre under 15,000 words by the Science Fiction Writers of America. Spanning
One sci-fi anthology I read recently I found disappointing was Dangerous Visions, a 1967 anthology of what were supposed to be innovative, daring stories by the "New Wave" writers in contrast to the staid old timers. But I found more stories truly innovative here in style (Matheson's "Born of Man and Woman," Smith's "Scanners Live in Vain," Bester's "Fondly Fahrenheit") and daring and iconoclastic (Boucher's "Quest for Saint Aquin," Clarke's "Nine Billion Names of God," even in its way Vogt's "The Weapon Shop" and Knight's "Country of the Kind") without ever being...well crude.
There was only one story I considered rather weak, and that was Judith Merril's "That Only a Mother." Along with C.L. Moore who co-wrote one story, Merril was the only female writer represented--and I had to wonder if that was part of why Silverberg chose the story, especially since it didn't come in on the "mandatory" first fifteen in the balloting listed in the introduction. (Female science fiction writers were thin on the ground then. Anne McCaffrey was the first to win a Nebula or Hugo in 1968.) On the other hand, that story by Merril--and others given the chronological order--did give an interesting picture of the fears of the post-nuclear age. If I counted stories I loved--truly loved, that would be 21 out of the 26. If I was forced to name a top five...
1) "Nightfall" by Isaac Asimov - One of those stories that made me fall in love with science fiction--this story I had read long before--and absolutely deserves listing as among the best. It came in first in the vote tally. You'll never look at the night sky in the same way again. Trust me.
2) "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes - This isn't simply one of the best science fiction stories I've read, but one of the best short stories period. Later expanded into a novel and made into the film Charly, I love how this tells its story through diary entries--showing the changes in its protagonist directly in the way he writes. A heart-breaking story.
3) "A Rose for Ecclesiastes" by Roger Zelazny - Written in a pitch perfect first person, this is the most lyrical story in the book--fitting given the poet protagonist. And yes, as the title promises, the story is poignant and haunting. (Campbell's time-travel story "Twilight" had a similar quality.)
4) "Mimsy Were the Borogoves" by Lewis Padgett - Padgett is the pseudonym of the husband and wife writing team of C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner. Moore is a favorite author of mine--I own a collection of her short stories. This one wasn't in there, and I began it skeptical it could possibly top "Vintage Season" in quality. Well, it didn't top it--but it did match it. And that's quite a feat. One of the rare stories with convincing child characters, it would have made a great Twilight Zone episode--which could be said of quite a few stories in this book. (See, for instance "Mars is Heaven!," "The Little Black Bag" or "It's a Good Life.")
5) "Surface Tension" by James Blish - I just loved the way this created a completely unique world--one where humanity spans a world the size of a puddle with protozoa allies and rotifer enemies and the challenge of...surface tension. "Microcosmic Gods" was another standout in that regard.
That's not even to mention the pleasures of reading Brown's "Arena," which was a basis for an episode of Classic Trek. Or of Leinster's "First Contact" the most light-hearted of the stories. Or the phantasmagorical "A Martian Odyssey" by Weinbaum. Or Godwin's "The Cold Equations," a favorite of Robert Heinlein--or an early story by Heinlein himself, "The Roads Must Roll" I had never read. Or... Truly, if you like or are curious about science fiction at all, I'd call this one not just a must-read but a must-buy. In hardcover no less. Which is what I have, and will remain on my bookshelves forever more, amen. I only wish I had volumes that would cover as well the years since 1965 in the genre.
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from 1934 to 1963, these are all stories from before the group established their yearly Nebula Awards and are from the "Golden Age of Science Fiction." I think that gave the voters some perspective, a little distance from politics and personalities, because this is about as strong a group of science fiction stories as you can get in one volume. Nine of the twenty-six were also nominated for or won Hugo Awards, the other major award in the field. One sci-fi anthology I read recently I found disappointing was Dangerous Visions, a 1967 anthology of what were supposed to be innovative, daring stories by the "New Wave" writers in contrast to the staid old timers. But I found more stories truly innovative here in style (Matheson's "Born of Man and Woman," Smith's "Scanners Live in Vain," Bester's "Fondly Fahrenheit") and daring and iconoclastic (Boucher's "Quest for Saint Aquin," Clarke's "Nine Billion Names of God," even in its way Vogt's "The Weapon Shop" and Knight's "Country of the Kind") without ever being...well crude.
There was only one story I considered rather weak, and that was Judith Merril's "That Only a Mother." Along with C.L. Moore who co-wrote one story, Merril was the only female writer represented--and I had to wonder if that was part of why Silverberg chose the story, especially since it didn't come in on the "mandatory" first fifteen in the balloting listed in the introduction. (Female science fiction writers were thin on the ground then. Anne McCaffrey was the first to win a Nebula or Hugo in 1968.) On the other hand, that story by Merril--and others given the chronological order--did give an interesting picture of the fears of the post-nuclear age. If I counted stories I loved--truly loved, that would be 21 out of the 26. If I was forced to name a top five...
1) "Nightfall" by Isaac Asimov - One of those stories that made me fall in love with science fiction--this story I had read long before--and absolutely deserves listing as among the best. It came in first in the vote tally. You'll never look at the night sky in the same way again. Trust me.
2) "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes - This isn't simply one of the best science fiction stories I've read, but one of the best short stories period. Later expanded into a novel and made into the film Charly, I love how this tells its story through diary entries--showing the changes in its protagonist directly in the way he writes. A heart-breaking story.
3) "A Rose for Ecclesiastes" by Roger Zelazny - Written in a pitch perfect first person, this is the most lyrical story in the book--fitting given the poet protagonist. And yes, as the title promises, the story is poignant and haunting. (Campbell's time-travel story "Twilight" had a similar quality.)
4) "Mimsy Were the Borogoves" by Lewis Padgett - Padgett is the pseudonym of the husband and wife writing team of C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner. Moore is a favorite author of mine--I own a collection of her short stories. This one wasn't in there, and I began it skeptical it could possibly top "Vintage Season" in quality. Well, it didn't top it--but it did match it. And that's quite a feat. One of the rare stories with convincing child characters, it would have made a great Twilight Zone episode--which could be said of quite a few stories in this book. (See, for instance "Mars is Heaven!," "The Little Black Bag" or "It's a Good Life.")
5) "Surface Tension" by James Blish - I just loved the way this created a completely unique world--one where humanity spans a world the size of a puddle with protozoa allies and rotifer enemies and the challenge of...surface tension. "Microcosmic Gods" was another standout in that regard.
That's not even to mention the pleasures of reading Brown's "Arena," which was a basis for an episode of Classic Trek. Or of Leinster's "First Contact" the most light-hearted of the stories. Or the phantasmagorical "A Martian Odyssey" by Weinbaum. Or Godwin's "The Cold Equations," a favorite of Robert Heinlein--or an early story by Heinlein himself, "The Roads Must Roll" I had never read. Or... Truly, if you like or are curious about science fiction at all, I'd call this one not just a must-read but a must-buy. In hardcover no less. Which is what I have, and will remain on my bookshelves forever more, amen. I only wish I had volumes that would cover as well the years since 1965 in the genre.
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LibraryThing member hredwards
Awesome collection!! Wonderful gems from classic science fiction.
LibraryThing member AliceAnna
Most of the stories had very unsettling themes. Between that and the lack of any really good characterization work kept me from truly enjoying them as much as I might have otherwise. I think that's why I liked First Contact best -- because it wasn't depressing!
LibraryThing member Cheryl_in_CC_NV
I've marked this as 2015 coming off my owned shelves" but I lied. I can't bear to part with it. This was my second read through the whole book, my umpteenth read of some of the selections.... and it's just such a terrific collection of the foundation classics that every well-read fan of SF should
Nightfall
Martian Odyssey
Flowers for Algernon
Nine Billion Names of God
Rose for Ecclesiastes
Cold Equations
It's a *Good* Life
Roads Must Roll
etc. etc.
Maybe all the stories don't hold up so well - but they are wonderful examples of the history of the genre and I, personally, enjoyed almost all of them very much. And will again some day."
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go through this. Nightfall
Martian Odyssey
Flowers for Algernon
Nine Billion Names of God
Rose for Ecclesiastes
Cold Equations
It's a *Good* Life
Roads Must Roll
etc. etc.
Maybe all the stories don't hold up so well - but they are wonderful examples of the history of the genre and I, personally, enjoyed almost all of them very much. And will again some day."
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LibraryThing member datrappert
This is an absolute classic must-have collection. Sort of like those "all the classical music you'll ever need" collections you used to see advertised on TV. Of course, you'l always need more, but start here.
LibraryThing member ikeman100
What can I say. Well chosen.
LibraryThing member kevn57
Great anthology series I read for a SF class in college.
LibraryThing member kslade
Good collection !
Awards
Locus Award (Finalist — Anthology — 1971)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1970 (Anthology)
1970
Physical description
576 p.; 8.25 x 1 inches
ISBN
0765305372 / 9780765305374