I created this board so that sci-fi readers could post their favorite anthologies.
I have many of these, but I think my all-time favorite (at least for right now) is Isaac Asimov's Before the Golden Age. I personally can't get enough of 30's and 40's sci-fi (Lensman and Captain Future and Doc Savage all RULE!), and Asimov's anthology compiles the absolute best "sense of wonder" stuff that came about during that time. What a great book to have on a desert island. Another general tip: If your anthology says "edited by Martin H. Greenberg" on the cover, you're in for some good reading . . .

What a good idea! So good that I've moved the board from the Reader's Sink onto the main board.

The Moderator

I agree, Todd. I loved "Before the Golden Age." There are a few stories that are on the pulpy side, but then you have the great Edmond Hamiliton in there, and Ross Rocklynne's "The Men and the Mirror", Clifford Simak's "The World of the Red Sun", and so on.

I recommend the 3-volume "Science Fiction Hall of Fame", edited by Ben Bova and Robert Silverberg. There are a few well-known classics, like "Nightfall", and "Scanners Live in Vain", but you also have lesser knowns like Poul Anderson's "Call Me Joe", Roger Zelazny's "A Rose for Ecclesiastes, and Damon Knight's great "The Country of the Kind."

Silverberg also edited "The Arbor House Treasury of Science Fiction", which is great. Speaking of Greenberg, his "Science Fiction of the 50's" is a wonderful collection of lesser-known gems, with some background on the authors and magazines.

I think it's ironic that Hamilton was tagged with the nickname "World Wrecker" when it was his skill at CREATING exotic and memorable worlds that are the chief impressions his stories make.

Well, he had his share of both. Plus, when he destroyed a world or galaxy in one of his stories, he blew it up good. I think the three Hamilton's in BTGA are all have downbeat endings, which has become a very rare commodity in modern SF.

Now, if you want to read stories by a man really good at creating strange worlds, get "The Best of Stanley G. Weinbaum." His "A Martian Odyssey", even with it's 30's goofy characters, still holds up today as a good read. He had a tragic life; Weinbaum published 24 stories & one novel before dying of tuberculosis in his early 30's. Had he survived, it's possible that we'd might have a different line-up for the Big Three SF writers.

If you want to see a guy who was really good at creating really complex civilizations, getting bored with them after a few paragraphs, and then utterly destroying them, check out E.E. "Doc" Smith. His Lensmen series (kind of a Star Wars hopped up on acid) constantly brings new planets and fully-developed civilizations into the plot, only to have them all wiped out shortly afterward, casualties of the mind-blowing conflict between Arisa and Eddore.

Years ago, Del Rey books ran a series of "The Best of..." anthologies, featuring the collected works of great science fiction authors. I think they're long out of print, but you should be able to find them in a good used book store. Look for Philip K. Dick, C.M. Kornbluth, Eric Frank Russell, Hal Clement, and Fredrik Pohl; you'll be glad you did.

Don't forget, they added Vol III (the fourth volume) with either Nebula or Hugo (I forget) winners. Incidentally, SF Hall of Fame (HOF) included "Who Goes There", which became the movie(s) "The Thing". It also has the full text of "Flowers for Algernon", as opposed to the novel "Charly". These four anthologies have got to be the best "best of" collection ever.

I'm not sure what you mean, ScottN. The Hall of fame collection includes only stories published before the first Nebula Award, which was started about 1965. The Nebula is voted on by the Science Fiction Writers of America, so the HOF was a sort of retroactive Nebula.

All of the Nebula Award winners and finalists are found in the annual Nebula Award Winners compilation, which are edited by a different person each year.

Asimov edited "The Hugo Winners" Volumes 1-5. Hugo Awards are voted on by the World Science Fiction Convention attendees, and started in the late 50's. I don't know who's editing the Hugo collections now that the Good Doctor has passed away.

They created a Volume III (the first three were I, IIA, and IIB), containing Nebula winners. I have it. I also think they did a Vol IV (can't remember for sure), containing later Nebula winners.

Oh, right, I forgot the second "volume" was actually 2 books. If there was a later volume of Nebula winners, I never saw it. I'll have to keep an eye out for it.

There is an anthology of Nebula winners, but it's not part of the "Hall of Fame" series. At least the one I've seen isn't.

Silverberg is creating a sequel to his Legendes anthology, which will cover Sci-Fi stories in establshed Sci Fi world. Including an 'ENDER'story by Orson Scott Card and an 'Hyperion catos' story by Dan Simmons! sounds yammy! :-)

Kudos to Gardner Dozois, one of sci-fi's earliest and most important editors, who is still at it in the year 2000. His latest effort, Explorers, is a masterfully selected compilation. It contains stories which are about the exploration of other worlds and galaxies superficially, but are really about the exploration of what it means to be human, which is what good sci-fi has always been about. A winner.

Where do you get your misinformation Todd. I believe Gardner Dozois edited his first SF anthology in 1972. The earliest true SF anthology is generally considered to be Adventures To Come, edited by J. Berg Esenwein in 1937.

Personally I like the anthologies of Groff Conklin, (who started editing SF anthologies in 1946).

'looks like an anthology with some impressive name. I'll get it if I see it.

Sorry, I used the word "earliest" when I meant to say "one of the longest in the business."

Nit on Harry Turtledove's anthology "Counting Up, Counting Down".

In "40, Counting Down", the main character goes to a Denny's that is across the street from a Metrolink (train) station. However, this book is set in the San Fernando Valley (excluding Burbank), and the nearest Denny's to a Metrolink station is more than half a mile away. I think he's using the Northridge station, but I'm just guessing.

"Masterpieces", edited by Orson Scott Card, is great.

Anyone read the (brief) "100 Science Fiction Short Stories" anthology or whatever it's called? It's edited by Asimov and maybe Greenberg. All the stories are like 2 to 3 pages, and usually consist of just a set-up and a twist. After a while you can almost predict the ending to all of them, but some are undeniably clever, and due to the brevity, you will never be preached at or hit over the head with symbolism.

Going back to the discussion a long time ago about SF Hall of Fame after IIA and IIB, here's the links. Note that the Vol III link doesn't include the name Vol III, but it is. Honest!

The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume III.

The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume IV.

>Anyone read the (brief) "100 Science Fiction >Short Stories" anthology or whatever it's >called? It's edited by Asimov and maybe >Greenberg. All the stories are like 2 to 3 >pages, and usually consist of just a set-up and >a twist. After a while you can almost predict >the ending to all of them, but some are >undeniably clever, and due to the brevity, you >will never be preached at or hit over the head >with symbolism.

Yeah! I LOVE this anthology. I first read it from the public library when I was a sophomore in high school. It shows the challenge of writing a good sci-fi story in less than 1,000 words. I really liked how Asimov introduced each story with a clever intro line that wouldn't make sense until after you read the story.
If you liked that one, Mike, you also might be interested to know that Asimov and Greenberg edited a sequel to that one shortly afterward with the same format and a hundred additional stories, called Microcosmic Tales. They also (again in the same format) collaborated on 100 Great Short Short Fantasy Stories. I am a proud owner of all three volumes.
A few years back, Forrest Ackerman got into the act by publishing an anthology of 65 short shorts.
Fredric Brown (best known to Star Trek fans as the author of the story which became "Arena") excelled at this type of story and it became his hallmark.
Mike, since you were once moderator of the Twilight Zone board, you may know that two of the stories in the original 100 Great Science Fiction Short Short stories were adapted for the 1980's version of The Twilight Zone television series. Can you name which two?

Sorry for the late reply and sorry for my lame answer. I don't know (sorry, my knowledge of the 80s Zone is lacking). Sometime when I get a chance I might post a few reviews and comments of the stories.

Actually, how about now?

MY FAVORITES
The Misfortune Cookie--The first one I read from the anthology for some reason, hooked me
Zoo--I'm a sucker for the light sci-fi
Bug-Getter--worth it
The Worlds of Monty Willson--possibly my favorite
Rejection Slip
If at First You Don't Succeed, To Hell With It!

UM...OKAY
The Advent on Channel Twelve--pretty predictable stuff, but Poopy Panda? Can you resist?

MY BLAHS--SPOILERS
I can't remember the titles of a lot of them. The one about the peaceful valley owned by the Devil is lame, the one about the aliens that exile people to Earth should be put in a bin of predictable ideas.

And also a review of the Asimov book I have read most recently, The Best Science Fiction of Isaac Asimov.

All the Troubles of the World--Pretty good story, Asimov does blow the ending at the beginning for those well-versed in mythology, I thank him for not asking Multivac "Why?"

A Loint of Paw--Funny story, 'nuff said

The Dead Past--I like it a lot, but the ending sort of left me cold. It's a fine ending that showed Asimov was no dummy, but I wanted MORE! As it stands, it's a tad too long. Does that make sense?

Death of a Foy--I had to look this one up because I didn't understand the joke. I think that says it all.

Dreaming is a Private Thing--And the story is too, I guess. It's like a sci-fi slice-of-life, sort of a Sherwood Anderson-style story. Not really my cup of tea, though.

Dreamworld--I have a soft spot for this one.

Eyes Do More Than See--Asimov likes this, a lot of people don't. I don't either. I'm sorry, but it comes off as very pretentious.

The Feeling of Power--This story is more and more relevant, although I wish Asimov would have stuck with the basic concept a little more.

Flies--This is another one that I had to reread several times because I didn't get it. I thought the point of the story was that the guys were "flies," but I guess not so. As it is, it's sort of Asimov on Night Gallery mode.

Found!--I'm not a fan of this kind of story.

The Foundation of Science Fiction Success--It's a poem, okay? Cute though.

Franchise--I like this one a lot, even if it seems to be building to a climax that never comes.

The Fun They Had--Cute, light story that resonates with this college student.

How It Happened--I do not remember this story. I'm sorry.

I Just Make Them Up, See!--Another comic verse, but I like the first better.

I'm in Marsport Without Hilda--A sci-fi film noir, it goes on too long but it does have a clever solution.

The Immortal Bard--Short enough that the joke doesn't get too predictable.

It's Such a Beautiful Day--Another very topical story that is very compelling. As I've said before, I like the light science-fiction best.

Jokester--Not bad, but the ending lacks punch. One of those "What's around the corner?" stories.

The Last Answer--I hate this one. I'm sorry, but the concept just become shrill after a while. It may have something to do with my religious beliefs, but I did love:

The Last Question--One of those stories you CANNOT PUT DOWN. I'm sorry, even if you read just two paragraphs, you will be suckered. A mind-blowing ending.

My Son, the Physicist--I dislike this story because it's just sort of dumb, I guess. It's almost like a Black Widower story.

Obituary--I would have preferred that Stebbins character be toned down because the concept is so neat that his character sort of spoils things.

Spell My Name with a S--Not bad, sort of a Coen Brothers-style idea. Did we really need the ending, though?

Strikebreaker--I don't think I read this one because of time constraints. It's not ringing a bell here.

Sure Thing--Another bad joke story. I think I liked this one but they all blend together.

The Ugly Little Boy--Sad tale that is an undeniable classic.

Unto the Fourth Generation--I'm drawing a blank.

Hey Mike, the two stories from the anthology adapted for the zone were "The Misfortune Cookie" and "Examination Day".

Strikebreaker involved a problem with refuse removal/processing on either a space station or colony.

DAHHHH! I knew Examination Day! I had read about the episode online, so when I read the story, I had the ending pegged...but for some reason, I thought it was Alfred Hitchcock Presents! D'oh!

I read the Short Short Fantasy Series and Microcosmic Tales. The former is a good book, but is a little more grim than its predecessors and has an annoying tendency to feature very predictable "twist" endings (usually featuring the protagonist dying). And I'm sick of stories featuring special guest appearances by the Devil (unless they're clever, some of them are).

Microcosmic is pretty neat and is probably the more "straight" sci-fi out of all the books (naturally). None of the stories are classics, but none are really turkeys. One of the stories is a COMPLETE copy (albeit with names and details changed) of a story in the Fantasy Anthology--one about the Devil making a poor sap the best at an annoying job, in the former the sap becomes an advertising man, in the other he becomes an inventor of fads.

One of the stories in 100 Great Fantasy Short Short Stories (Bruce J. Balfour's "Some Days are Like That") is a complete copy of a vignette related by famed television creator Roy Huggins which first appeared in the 1948 Bennett Cerf anthology Shake Well Before Using and has been reprinted several times since.

The best ever anthology by a single author has to be Robert A. Heinlein's The Green Hills Of Earth.

Scott, what about Heinlein's "The Past Through Tomorrow"?

The shortest story (?) in the aforementioned Microcosmic Tales is the last story in the volume, Edward Wellen's "If Eve Had Failed To Conceive", which contains absolutely no text whatsoever. It makes you wonder what Wellen was originally paid for the story.

If you really like the 100 short-short concept, Barnes and Noble Books have released a whole bunch of "100 ___," pretty much all edited by the great Martin Greenberg. I currently own 100 Crooked Little Crime Stories and 100 Malicious Little Mysteries, but there's a whole bunch running the gamut from horror and detectives to more specialized stuff like vampires, cats, and witches.

Didn't Asimov write the Longest Science Fiction Story ever written?

I believe it was recursive, going infinitely.

hihihi