The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One 1929-1964: The Greatest Science Fiction Stories of All Time Chosen by the Members of the Science Fiction

by Robert Silverberg

Book Overview

The definitive collection of the best in science fiction stories between 1929-1964.

This book contains twenty-six of the greatest science fiction stories ever written. They represent the considered verdict of the Science Fiction Writers of America, those who have shaped the genre and who know, more intimately than anyone else, what the criteria for excellence in the field should be. The authors chosen for The Science Fiction Hall Fame are...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0765305372
• ISBN13: 9780765305374
• Release Date: February 2005
• Publisher: Orb Books
• Length: 576 Pages
• Weight: 1.14 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Best anthology ever.

This single volume contains more of the very best, outstanding science fiction stories of the 20th century than any other anthology I've seen. Included are The Roads Must Roll by Robert A. Heinlein; A Martian Odyssey by Stanley G. Weinbaum; Microcosmic God by Theodore Sturgeon; Nightfall by Isaac Asimov; The Weapon Shop by A.E. Van Vogt; Mimsy Were The Borogoves by Lewis Padgett (basis for The Last Mimzy (Widescreen Infinifilm Edition); Arena by Fredric Brown (basis for one of the most popular classic Star Trek episodes of the same title, Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 10, Episodes 19 & 20: Arena/ The Alternative Factor); Mars Is Heaven! by Ray Bradbury (part of The Martian Chronicles); Surface Tension by James Blish (one of my favorites, really amazing!); The Cold Equations by Tom Godwin, which has been adapted several times for TV and radio!; Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (basis for the Oscar winning Charly); and many more by such great authors as the late Arthur C. Clarke, Richard Matheson, Murray Leinster, John W. Campbell, Lester Del Rey, C. M. Kornbluth, Fritz Leiber, Roger Zelazny, Alfred Bester, and even several more! This is truly the best of the best and most highly recommended for anyone wanting to sample the best SF reading available.

Bought for "Mimsy Were the Borogoves"

This book is truly a collection of great stories from between the years of 1929 and 1964. I am glad they reprinted this book because my older version is yellowing. I hope one day they will reprint a new hard back copy and I will buy it also. Even though this book is packed from cover to cover with intriguing stories, I bought it for one story in particular "Mimsy Were the Borogoves" by Lewis Padgett. First published in 1943 ("Lewis Padgett" was a pseudonym employed by Henry Kuttner and his wife, C. L. Moore) My first encounter with this story was a vinyl record recording with William Shatner later it is replaces with a cassette tape. I believe this book is the only surviving form of the story. Unthahorsten is experimenting with time travel and sends two black boxes back into the past. He had to put something in them so as a last minute thought places his old toys in them. They do not return so he forgets them. It is too late the mischief is done. One is found by children in 1942. The other well look at the title for a clue.

Bought for "Mimsy Were the Borogoves"

This book is truly a collection of great stories from between the years of 1929 and 1964. I am glad they reprinted this book because my older version is yellowing. I hope one day they will reprint a new hard back copy and I will buy it also. Even though this book is packed from cover to cover with intriguing stories, I bought it for one story in particular "Mimsy Were the Borogoves" by Lewis Padgett. First published in 1943 ("Lewis Padgett" was a pseudonym employed by Henry Kuttner and his wife, C. L. Moore) My first encounter with this story was a vinyl record recording with William Shatner later it is replaces with a cassette tape. I believe this book is the only surviving form of the story. Unthahorsten is experimenting with time travel and sends two black boxes back into the past. He had to put something in them so as a last minute thought places his old toys in them. They do not return so he forgets them. It is too late the mischief is done. One is found by children in 1942. The other well look at the title for a clue. The Last Mimzy (Widescreen Infinifilm Edition)

Some great memories

The old purple and blue version of this book - the purple was on the edge of the pages, the way some older books have velvety green sides - was my first introduction to the Golden Age of science fiction. The inventiveness and the creative audacity of these stories was always enough to overcome what I felt would have been a cripplingly antiquated "Gee golly" 1950s vernacular... except that the writing almost never has that black and white Leave it to Beaver sitcomish feel that, for some reason, was always attached to the Golden Age in my mind. Stylistically the collection is all over the place. The Connecticut Yankee anachronism of Roger Zelazny in "Lord of Light" is nowhere to be found in "A Rose for Ecclesiastices". Clarke's famous "The Nine Billion Names of God" isn't even a science fiction story until, basically, the last sentence. And describing anything written by Cordwainer Smith with "genre", "usual" or even "describable" is not applicable. I love this collection and, impossibly, every story in it - though some more than others. I won't dwell on the weakest. Instead I'll highlight what I consider to be the best: Sturgeon's "Microcosmic God" has the creepy, jealousy tinged atmosphere of nerds watching another nerd who is better at being a nerd than anyone else. This is what I would've been doing with my adolescent years if only mind and matter would've allowed, so reading it brings the distinct pleasure of reliving childhood fantasies. I'm also pretty sure it's the inspiration for a Simpsons Halloween episode involving Lisa and her tooth, which became a South Park nod to both the story and the Simpsons. Asimov's "Nightfall" is rightly considered one of the best science fiction short stories ever. I've read the longer form and this is superior in pretty much every way: it's already one of the longer stories in this collection but it still benefits from the shorter form with its building stress and, yes, horror during the final pages. Many would disagree but I think "Nightfall" is one of the least creative stories in the collection in terms of sheer inventiveness. Despite that it's still incredible. Cordwainer Smith is just amazing. As prosaic as that sounds it's about all I can say. "Scanners Live in Vain" is one of the weirdest stories in the collection and it might arguably be one of Smith's most "mundane". Reading a Smith story is like opening the pages of the Book of Revelations as interpreted by the grandson of cartoonist Gary Larson, the painter Francis Bacon, a very wise female clown and Joan of Arc - and you're on acid. This is all an endorsement, by the way. James Blish's "Surface Tension" is as good an "adventure" story as you'll find here. It's got a fairly linear plot and isn't hard to follow. It isn't simplistic, per se, but it hasn't got the style of some of the other pieces in this collection. It's one of my sentimental favorites, though, for its ability to impart - at least somewhat - a finer sense of proportion than pr

A must have for your permanent collection

The stories in this book were voted by the Science Fiction Writers of America as the best short science fiction written between 1929 and 1964 and every one is a gem. Some of these stories are reasonably well known and often reprinted, but most of them are difficult to find anywhere else, making this an essential collection for a true fan of the genre. In response to an earlier request for a list of its contents, here are the story titles and authors. I was going to indulge myself by placing an asterisk next to my personal favorites, but I found myself marking almost all of them. The collection is that good. A Martian Odyssey -- Stanley G. Weinbaum Twilight -- John W. Campbell Helen O'Loy -- Lester del Rey The Roads Must Roll -- Robert A. Heinlein Microcosmic God -- Theodore Sturgeon Nightfall -- Isaac Asimov The Weapon Shop -- A. E. van Vogt Mimsy Were the Borogoves -- Lewis Padgett Huddling Place -- Clifford D. Simak Arena -- Fredric Brown First Contact -- Murray Leinster That Only a Mother -- Judith Merril Scanners Live in Vain -- Cordwainer Smith Mars is Heaven -- Ray Bradbury The Little Black Bag -- C. M. Kornbluth Born of Man and Woman -- Richard Matheson Coming Attraction -- Fritz Leiber The Quest for Saint Aquin -- Anthony Boucher Surface Tension -- James Blish The Nine Billion Names of God -- Arthur C. Clarke It's a Good Life -- Jerome Bixby The Cold Equations -- Tom Godwin Fondly Fahrenheit -- Alfred Bester The Country of the Kind -- Damon Knight Flowers for Algernon -- Daniel Keyes A Rose for Ecclesiastes -- Roger Zelazny