Science Fiction A to Z
by Isaac Asimov (Editor), Martin Harry Greenberg (Editor), Charles G Waugh (Editor)
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"Fifty great works of science fiction"--Cover.Tags
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Never mind the gimmick. Never mind that many of the stories are so dated that a modern reader has trouble appreciating them even just for their historical value. Never mind that some great authors are represented by some of their weakest work.
Read this anyway, if you get a chance. Choose your own favorites. Mine are probably [b:A Death in the House|13184493|A Death in the House|Clifford D. Simak|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1352047204s/13184493.jpg|18365077] by [a:Clifford D. Simak|23012|Clifford D. Simak|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1193507980p2/23012.jpg], "Skirmish on a Summer Morning" by Bob Shaw, and most especially, the one I cannot stop thinking about, "For the Sake of Grace" by [a:Suzette Haden show more Elgin|8540|Suzette Haden Elgin|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1229574499p2/8540.jpg].
That one alone is worth buying the book for, I think, especially if you're a feminist. I see by the titles of Elgin's other works that this story could easily have been overly earnest or didactic, but it's very well edited, a clean novelette stripped until it's a deceptively simple story that is both brilliantly written and packs a wallop. Even though her other titles don't particularly interest me, I will be trying to find and read some of them. show less
Read this anyway, if you get a chance. Choose your own favorites. Mine are probably [b:A Death in the House|13184493|A Death in the House|Clifford D. Simak|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1352047204s/13184493.jpg|18365077] by [a:Clifford D. Simak|23012|Clifford D. Simak|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1193507980p2/23012.jpg], "Skirmish on a Summer Morning" by Bob Shaw, and most especially, the one I cannot stop thinking about, "For the Sake of Grace" by [a:Suzette Haden show more Elgin|8540|Suzette Haden Elgin|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1229574499p2/8540.jpg].
That one alone is worth buying the book for, I think, especially if you're a feminist. I see by the titles of Elgin's other works that this story could easily have been overly earnest or didactic, but it's very well edited, a clean novelette stripped until it's a deceptively simple story that is both brilliantly written and packs a wallop. Even though her other titles don't particularly interest me, I will be trying to find and read some of them. show less
read everything but the long alternative history novella; still think this is one of the best SF anthologies
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Author Information
Isaac Asimov was born in Petrovichi, Russia, on January 2, 1920. His family emigrated to the United States in 1923 and settled in Brooklyn, New York, where they owned and operated a candy store. Asimov became a naturalized U.S. citizen at the age of eight. As a youngster he discovered his talent for writing, producing his first original fiction at show more the age of eleven. He went on to become one of the world's most prolific writers, publishing nearly 500 books in his lifetime. Asimov was not only a writer; he also was a biochemist and an educator. He studied chemistry at Columbia University, earning a B.S., M.A. and Ph.D. In 1951, Asimov accepted a position as an instructor of biochemistry at Boston University's School of Medicine even though he had no practical experience in the field. His exceptional intelligence enabled him to master new systems rapidly, and he soon became a successful and distinguished professor at Columbia and even co-authored a biochemistry textbook within a few years. Asimov won numerous awards and honors for his books and stories, and he is considered to be a leading writer of the Golden Age of science fiction. While he did not invent science fiction, he helped to legitimize it by adding the narrative structure that had been missing from the traditional science fiction books of the period. He also introduced several innovative concepts, including the thematic concern for technological progress and its impact on humanity. Asimov is probably best known for his Foundation series, which includes Foundation, Foundation and Empire, and Second Foundation. In 1966, this trilogy won the Hugo award for best all-time science fiction series. In 1983, Asimov wrote an additional Foundation novel, Foundation's Edge, which won the Hugo for best novel of that year. Asimov also wrote a series of robot books that included I, Robot, and eventually he tied the two series together. He won three additional Hugos, including one awarded posthumously for the best non-fiction book of 1995, I. Asimov. "Nightfall" was chosen the best science fiction story of all time by the Science Fiction Writers of America. In 1979, Asimov wrote his autobiography, In Memory Yet Green. He continued writing until just a few years before his death from heart and kidney failure on April 6, 1992. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Charles Waugh is an associate professor of English at Utah State University and the editor and translator (with Nguyn Lien) of Family of Fallen Leaves: Stories of Agent Orange by Vietnamese Writers. Nguyn Lien was a writer, scholar, and teacher who translated many international works of literature into Vietnamese. Van Gi is the dean of the Faculty show more of Creative Writing at the University of Culture in Hanoi. show less
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Contains
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Science Fiction A to Z
- Original publication date
- 1982
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, Science Fiction
- DDC/MDS
- 823.0876 — Literature & rhetoric English & Old English literatures English fiction By type Genre fiction Adventure fiction Speculative fiction
- LCC
- PS648 .S3 .S27 — Language and Literature American literature American literature Collections of American literature Prose (General)
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 25
- Popularity
- 1,071,594
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (4.00)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 1
- ASINs
- 1
