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Loading... The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One: The Greatest Science Fiction…by Robert SilverbergSeries: The Science Fiction Hall of Fame (1)
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 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.  hailelib | Jun 15, 2009 |  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 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. maryoverton | Apr 7, 2009 | http://nhw.livejournal.com/1122211.ht... This is one of those classic collections, assembling the top sf stories published before 1965 as voted for by the membership of SFWA in the late 1960s. (I wonder how different the results would be, if a similar poll were taken now?) Most of these stories were very familiar to me, but it filled in a couple of gaps - I don't think I had read either Theodore Sturgeon's "Microcosmic God" or Alfred Bester's "Fondly Fahrenheit" before. Anyway it's good to have such a selection of classics within a single set of covers. (  ) nwhyte | Nov 20, 2008 | One of, if not the, best collections of science fiction short stories out there. (  ) TadAD | Aug 23, 2008 | 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 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. Stevil2001 | Jun 2, 2008 | I have another book that is the first part of this that rates more highly. It is basically a few in the middle that I don't like so much. Overall, a 3.77 for this. All these stories are quite old of course, being early sixties at the latest. There are still multiple 5 star stories to be found, so worth a look, obviously, and plenty of other famous tales to be discovered in this book, as well. Science Fiction Hall of Fame 1 : A Martian Odyssey - Stanley G. Weinbaum Science Fiction Hall of Fame 1 : Twilight - John W. Campbell Science Fiction Hall of Fame 1 : Helen O'Loy - Lester del Rey Science Fiction Hall of Fame 1 : The Roads Must Roll - Robert A. Heinlein Science Fiction Hall of Fame 1 : Microcosmic God - Theodore Sturgeon Science Fiction Hall of Fame 1 : Nightfall - Isaac Asimov Science Fiction Hall of Fame 1 : The Weapon Shop - A. E. Van Vogt Science Fiction Hall of Fame 1 : Mimsy Were the Borogoves - Lewis Padgett Science Fiction Hall of Fame 1 : Huddling Place - Clifford D. Simak Science Fiction Hall of Fame 1 : Arena - Fredric Brown Science Fiction Hall of Fame 1 : First Contact - Murray Leinster Science Fiction Hall of Fame 1 : THAT ONLY A MOTHER - Judith Merril Science Fiction Hall of Fame 1 : SCANNERS LIVE IN VAIN - Cordwainer Smith Science Fiction Hall of Fame 1 : MARS IS HEAVEN! - Ray Bradbury Science Fiction Hall of Fame 1 : THE LITTLE BLACK BAG - C. M. Kornbluth Science Fiction Hall of Fame 1 : BORN OF MAN AND WOMAN - Richard Matheson Science Fiction Hall of Fame 1 : COMING ATTRACTION - Fritz Leiber Science Fiction Hall of Fame 1 : THE QUEST FOR SAINT AQUIN - Anthony Boucher Science Fiction Hall of Fame 1 : SURFACE TENSION - James Blish Science Fiction Hall of Fame 1 : THE NINE BILLION NAMES OF GOD - Arthur C. Clarke Science Fiction Hall of Fame 1 : IT'S A GOOD LIFE - Jerome Bixby Science Fiction Hall of Fame 1 : THE COLD EQUATIONS - Tom Godwin Science Fiction Hall of Fame 1 : FONDLY FAHRENHEIT - Alfred Bester Science Fiction Hall of Fame 1 : THE COUNTRY OF THE KIND - Damon Knight Science Fiction Hall of Fame 1 : FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON - Daniel Keyes Science Fiction Hall of Fame 1 : A ROSE FOR ECCLESIASTES - Roger Zelazny Interplanetary interpersonal communication. 4 out of 5 Future science dwindling. 3.5 out of 5 Metal woman's family. 3 out of 5 A master engineer and others work to stop industrial action from stopping massively engineered mass transit. 3 out of 5 Genius idea factory proves impenetrable. 4.5 out of 5 Media and religion struggle with science. Still. 4 out of 5 An incontrovertible supply of bang and zap is important. 4 out of 5 A technology discovery is beyond the adults, but definitely not the children, with unforeseen results. 4.5 out of 5 Homebody scaredy-cats. 3.5 out of 5 Forced xenophobic conflict unconscious breakthrough. 4 out of 5 Conflict avoidance transport swap. 4.5 out of 5 Don't know baby. 2.5 out of 5 Monopoly is bad, and worth doing something about. 5 out of 5 Family illusion. 3.5 out of 5 Explanatory medicine. 3 out of 5 Slow offspring. 2 out of 5 Strange social fashions. 4 out of 5 Robotheology aims. 3 out of 5 Mini water men fancy space travel. 3.5 out of 5 Ubergeek monks finish a cataloguing project, and with it comes some serious consequences. 5 out of 5 When Anthony is born, he uses his abilities to transport his whole town to somewhere else. After that, everyone is extremely careful around him, as when he comes across something he doesn't like his extreme powers of transmutation and transfiguration can do bad things, and he is also somewhat telepathic and has degrees of animal control. Basically a young, sociopathic supervillain. 3 out of 5 Kid is a waste of oxygen. 5 out of 5 Hot for crime android. 4 out of 5 Violent man gets odiferously ostracised. 4 out of 5 A scientist is experimenting on raising the intelligence of animals, in this case, mice. When the same technique is tried on a man who is intellectually disabled, it succeeds beyond the scientist's wildest dreams. He has actually produced a superintelligent man from his initial subject. However, the mouse Algernon is starting to exhibit problems because of this treatment. 4 out of 5 Martian miscegenation mission. 4 out of 5 http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2008/01/science-fiction-hall-of-fame-volume-1.html ( ) bluetyson | May 26, 2008 | fauxlore | Feb 29, 2008 | Nice short story collection, I purchased it for a writing group I joined. ( ) reverebeach | Feb 22, 2008 | I really liked this anthology. The stories may be old but the best ones deal with themes that are universal. Others were pretty boring and involved themes which are now pretty out of date or which weren't delved into very much. Many of them had almost no characterization. Authors I want to pursue: John Campbell Theodore Sturgeon Isaac Asimov AE van Vogt Clifford Simak (maybe) Ray Bradbury James Blish Arthur Clarke Anthony Boucher Jerome Bixby Tom Godwin Damon Knight Daniel Keyes Roger Zelazny (  ) lilbrattyteen | Dec 22, 2007 | I have 2 copies.  benlovatt | Oct 18, 2007 | Just read the "Mimzy of the Boreograves" story because of the recent movie which is relatively different ojchase | Jul 23, 2007 | Silverberg gives a short intro on how he chose these. Science Fiction Hall of Fame Vol One Silverberg : A Martian Odyssey - Stanley G. Weinbaum Science Fiction Hall of Fame Vol One Silverberg : Twilight - John W. Campbell Science Fiction Hall of Fame Vol One Silverberg : Helen O'Loy - Lester del Rey Science Fiction Hall of Fame Vol One Silverberg : The Roads Must Roll - Robert A. Heinlein Science Fiction Hall of Fame Vol One Silverberg : Microcosmic God - Theodore Sturgeon Science Fiction Hall of Fame Vol One Silverberg : Nightfall - Isaac Asimov Science Fiction Hall of Fame Vol One Silverberg : The Weapon Shop - A. E. Van Vogt Science Fiction Hall of Fame Vol One Silverberg : Mimsy Were the Borogoves - Lewis Padgett Science Fiction Hall of Fame Vol One Silverberg : Huddling Place - Clifford D. Simak Science Fiction Hall of Fame Vol One Silverberg : Arena - Fredric Brown Science Fiction Hall of Fame Vol One Silverberg : First Contact - Murray Leinster Interplanetary interpersonal communication. 4 out of 5 Future science dwindling. 3.5 out of 5 Metal woman's family. 3 out of 5 A master engineer and others work to stop industrial action from stopping massively engineered mass transit. 3 out of 5 Genius idea factory proves impenetrable. 4.5 out of 5 Media and religion struggle with science. Still. 4 out of 5 Technological resistance to a repressive empire via some shops. 3.5 out of 5 A technology discovery is beyond the adults, but definitely not the children, with unforeseen results. 4.5 out of 5 Homebody scaredy-cats. 3.5 out of 5 Forced xenophobic conflict unconscious breakthrough. 4 out of 5 Conflict avoidance transport swap. 4.5 out of 5 http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2007/06... (  ) bluetyson | Jun 10, 2007 | |
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