Anthology recommendation

There are so many sci-fi anthologies out there. I wondered if anyone would care to recommend one or more that they found especially memorable.

I've read

The Oxford Book of Science Fiction stories, ed. by Shippey (great)
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume One, ed. by Silverberg (ok)
The Best Time Travel Stories of the 20th C., ed. by Turtledove (disappointing)

I've been trying to get someone to mooch my copy of The World Treasury of Science Fiction for awhile. It has "more than 50 stories from the best science fiction writers in the world," including Vonnegut, Lem, Heinlein, Niven, Pohl, Asimov, Bradbury, Le Guin, Dick, and more. Who could pass up 1083 pages of sci-fi?

Anyway, if you want to mooch it, my BookMooch inventory URL is http://www.bookmooch.com/m/inventory/jaimelesmaths

Cosmos Latinos: An Anthology of Science Fiction from Latin America and Spain (Early Classics of Science Fiction)

Hi, deniro. (We had talked about the current state of fantasy....)

You can't go wrong with jaimelesmaths' recommendation of the Hartwell anthology The World Treasury of Science Fiction at #2 above. Or any of Hartwell's great big anthologies: I'd put a word in for his recent The Space Opera Renaissance.

Older stuff:

Boucher's Treasury of Great Science Fiction: it's hard to argue with any of his selections, but a) it's from 1959, and b) I don't know if it's findable today (it was a Science Fiction book Club selection for decades).

Ellison's Dangerous Visions was avant garde in the '60s - "the most honored anthology of all time" is how it's blurbed - but I'd have to look it over to see how well it's held up. (nothing ages faster than the avant garde...)

Is there a particular sub-genre or style you're interested in? the classic stuff, or more cutting-edge stuff?

A lot of the classic 'problem stories' of the '40s and '50s have held up remarkably well (and are still worth reading), but the state-of-the-art in the field really has advanced over the decades.

I have enjoyed The Best of Galaxy books I have found. You could also check out the various Year's Best Science Fiction etc. by Gardner Dozois as editor. David Hartwell and Rich Horton have some books like that.

The Space Opera Renaissance is good? That is cool, because I have been intrigued by that. That also reminds me I had read The Hard SF Renaissance similiarly.

The Hugo winners are hard to beat

#2, I second The World Treasury of Science Fiction, edited by David Hartwell. I have given my (our) copy away to a high school English teacher who was developing a science fiction course. However, it would be a bit dated now (1989) and would not include some of the excellent stories of the last decade and a half.

I like the Women of Wonder books, particularly More Women of Wonder, but they're older, too. It all depends on what you like.

I can't recommend Ascent of Wonder highly enough. I've got a lot of sf anthologies, and that one stands head and shoulders above them all. It is biased towards hard sf, but with over 60 stories and many of the major names represented there's something there for everyone.

Damn, touchstone didn't work, so I'd best add it was edited by Hartwell and Kramer.

The Ascent of Wonder is pretty good as well, I had forgotten about that.

Gardner Dozois's annual collection is always the best. I also love the Women of Wonder anthologies. There is also a collection of Locus Award winners.

The Arbor House Treasury of Great Science Fiction Short Novels is pretty good- and Id pick it up if I came across it, but I dont know about seeking it out.

Ive also found The Road to Science Fiction series worthwhile reading.

The Norton Book of Science Fiction seemed unbalanced overall and downright frustrating at times (see the 1990 picks for instance).

Ellen Datlow, ed. Omni Best Science Fiction One - 1992. Long ago, in a reading universe far, far away, Omni magazine under Ellen Datlow's editorial helm, was home to a great deal of new, commissioned SF. While not all the stories here were first printed in Omni, they do share Datlow's generally imaginative and excellent taste. Authors include: Charnas, Dann, Dunn, Paul Park. I imagine this one is available cheaply, used. Also..nice..is that that paper and binding was of quite good quality so you're not plagued w/the typical yellowing and mold of older anthologies.

Themed anthologies by Robert Silverberg are reliably good. One of my favorites is The Science Fiction Bestiary. It's a fun collection of stories with odd animals.

I discovered Anthropology through science fiction in my high school library. It showed me how thought provoking & relevent science fiction can be.

The best original anthology that I have read in a long, long time is Eclipse One edited by Jonathan Strahan. Not a huge collection, but every story is prime. How did he ever get all of these writers to write at the top of their game?

#16

Really? I didn't like it as much as either Fast Forward 1 or The Solaris Book Of New Science Fiction. Obviously tastes vary but I found Eclipse One a bit too woolly and towards the fantasy end of the spectrum.

I'm with you andy, that one is rather ordinary. As you say, mostly fantasy, too.

most editors of anthologies hype their authors; Ed Sarrantonio ed. of Redshift extreme visions of speculative fiction seems mostly to hype himself in his intros to his decent, but hardly earth (or universe shattering) collection of stories commissioned w/ the ostensible purpose ~ 2001, with showing the way for SF over the next 25 yrs. Authors:
Catherine Asaro, Neal Barrett, Jr., Stephen Baxter, Gregory Benford,
P.D. Cacek ,Jack Dawn, Paul Di Filippo, Thomas M. Disch,
Elizabeth Hand, Joe Haldeman, Nina Hoffman, James Kelly
Ursula K. Le Guin, Ardath Mayhar, Barry N. Mazberg and Kathe Koja
Michael Moorcock, David Morrell, Larry Niven, Joyce Carol Oates
Kit Reed, Rudy Rucker and John Shirley
Al Sarrantonio, Peter Schneider, Dan Simmons, Michael Smith
Harry Turtledove, Robert E.Vardeman
Catherine Wells, Laura Whitton, Gene Wolfe.

There are some good stories - but the best ones are pretty conventional: Simmons, Turtledove, Hand (fantasy). Worth picking up 2nd hand. Sideways in Crime was much more enjoyable, more targeted, anthology. http://www.librarything.com/work/5151474

Themed anthologies are an entirely different animal - original, or reprint. For example, I thought The New Space Opera was very good, but was totally unconvinced by Hartwell's argument in The Space Opera Renaissance (although there were some good stories in it). Glorifying Terrorism struck me as weak, Text:Ur had a couple of good ones in it, and both disLocations and Time Pieces were mixed bags.

For classic SF, I still vote for Boucher's two volume Treasury of Great Science Fiction that they used to use as a loss leader for new members in the Science Fiction Book Club. Four novels and umpty-zillion classic short stories.