Subtitled: The Greatest Science Fiction Stories Of All Time.
Tweny-six stories considered the best by the Science Fiction Writers Association. The idea was to honor stories written from 1929 to 1964, the era when the Hugo and Nebula awards were for novels only. It does live up to its name. Most SF fans have read these but it’s nice to have them in one place.
My favorites include: “The Little Black Bag”-Cyril M. Kornbluth (1950). Thanks to a time traveling mistake, a Doctor’s bag from 2450 ends up in 1950. It’s found by a quack who’s also a drunk. “Coming Attraction”-Fritz Leiber (1950)- The time: World War Three. Manhattan women are wearing masks as a fashion statement. They’re also on TV wrestling men. When the men lose to the women, look out. ” “The Coldest Equations”-Tom Godwin (1954). As mentioned in a previous post, this is one of my favorite stories of all time. It’s about a stowaway on a space ship.
Other authors in this collection: Stanley G. Weinbaum, John W. Campbell, Lester del Rey, Robert A. Heinlein, Theodore Sturgeon, Isaac Asimov, A.E. Van Vogt, Lewis Padgett (Henry Kuttner & C.L. Moore), Clifford D. Simak, Fredric Brown, Murray Leinster, Judith Merril, Cordwainer Smith, Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, Anthony Boucher, James Blish, Arthur C. Clarke, Jerome Bixby, Alfred Bester, Damon Knight, Daniel Keyes and Roger Zelazny.
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