The Greatest Science Fiction Stories of the 20th Century

by Martin H. Greenberg (Editor), Greg Bear (Contributor)

Notable science fiction authors are gathered for an out-of-this-world collection! Features "Why I Left Harry's All-Night Diner" by Lawrence Watt Evans and read by Wil Wheaton; "That Only Mother" by Judith Merrill and read by Terry Farrell; "Jeffty Is Five" written and read by Harlan Ellison; "Fermi and Frost" by Frederick Pohl and read by Denise Crosby; "The Nine Billion Names of God" by Arthur C. Clarke and read by Alexander Siddig; "Teangents" by Greg Bear and read by Melissa Manchester; and many others. Unabridged. October '98 publication date.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook, Short Stories, Anthologies, Science Fiction Fantasy, Fantasy

4 pages, Audio Cassette

First published October 1, 1998

About the author

Martin Harry Greenberg was an American academic and speculative fiction anthologist. In all, he compiled 1,298 anthologies and commissioned over 8,200 original short stories. He founded Tekno Books, a packager of more than 2000 published books. In addition, he was a co-founder of the Sci-Fi Channel.

For the 1950s anthologist and publisher of Gnome Press, see Martin Greenberg.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are more stories than are listed in the description including one by LeGuin. Most were quite good, but I don't think any would have made my greatest list save for The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas. The rest were good, especially the first time they're read, but really lose it once their twist is known & I've read most of them before. Clarke's The Nine Billion Names of God is a perfect example.

The narration was very good, except Ellison reading his "Jeffty is Five", another good story the first time through & interesting after that, but his volume is all over the place & I can't hear it when he whispers. It hurts when he shouts, too. Luckily, most of the narrators were great. Wil Wheaton was a perfect choice for the Watt-Evans story, too. They're a great pair.

If you need an introduction to SF short stories, this is a good collection to start with. It's nice to revisit old friends, too.

[B. Pope · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Good:
"Jeffty Is Five"
"Fermi and Frost"
"The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas"
"The Crystal Spheres"
"Tangents"
All of these were good stories. They were either thought-provoking, or entertaining, or well-crafted for dramatic effect. They explored interesting ideas and had characters with real drives, or used description to further a theme. Each one had a number of merits and I enjoyed each thoroughly.

The Ok:
"Why I Left Harry's All-Night Diner"
"The Nine Billion Names of God"
These two were not bad. I just found that they failed to bring the tales to their true potential. Both approached being good, but feel short and left me wanting more.

The "I could have done without":
"Huddling Place"
"That Only a Mother"
"Bears Discover Fire"
"Allamagoosa"
"Twilight"
These short stories I just could not get into. Some were "trick ending" plots, which I do not caare for at all. Or just didn't seem to belong in this collection. These five were definitely NOT the greatest science fiction of the 20th century and if you buy or borrow this collection, I recommend just skipping them.

[Alvaro Zinos-Amaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

The audio performances are quite good. A particular treat for me was to hear Nana Visitor reading Le Guin's classic.

A number of these were revisits for me.

My favorite of this lot:

"Twilight" John W. Campbell, Jr.
"The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" Ursula K. Le Guin
"That Only a Mother" Judith Merrill
"The Nine Billion Names of God" Arthur C. Clarke
"Huddling Place" Clifford D. Simak

[Shawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pleasant mix of well-known classics, some entertaining obscurities, and a couple of dated stinkers. I liked almost everything here and absolutely loved a few of them, but enjoyed the experience of relaxing into each story's constructed worlds and possibilities.

[Austin Beeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

RATED 100% POSITIVE. STORY SCORE 4.5 OF 5
12 STORIES : 6 GREAT / 6 GOOD / 0 AVERAGE / 0 POOR / 0 DNF

Discovering an anthology that exclusively exists in an audio format is a rare and intriguing occurrence. This is a remarkable anthology that spans over four decades of science fiction excellence. While many of these stories are familiar, having appeared in various anthologies, their availability in audio form is a delightful novelty. The ease of access on Audible, a leading platform in the audiobook market, adds to the allure.

Any anthology purporting to be “the greatest stories” is going to excite discussion and argument. That is one of the joys of science fiction fandom. While one can certainly quibble with some of the stories excluded from this book, it is hard to argue against the quality of the stories that we hear within.

This anthology, however, is not without its flaws. The primary issue lies not within the content, which scored a perfect 100% on my rating scale, but in the audio quality of the recordings. It's evident that several stories were recorded during the era of audiocassettes, resulting in inconsistent audio quality and occasional background hiss. For seasoned audiobook enthusiasts like myself, who nostalgically refer to them as "books on tape," this is a minor inconvenience. However, younger listeners, accustomed to pristine digital quality, may find these auditory artifacts distracting.

Half of the anthology - six stories - join the all time great list:

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas • (1973) • short story by Ursula K. Le Guin. World building as famous sci-fi thought experiment. Le Guin invites us (with beautiful prose) to imagine a nearly perfect world with a necessary cruelty at the center.

Bears Discover Fire • (1990) • short story by Terry Bisson. Bears seem to have discovered fire and are monopolizing the medians of highways in the American South. This is an upgrade from my previous review in HUGO AND NEBULA AWARD WINNERS FROM ASIMOV'S SCIENCE FICTION. It took hearing this performed by an actor for me to really connect with the quiet character work here. Now I really enjoy this story.

The Crystal Spheres • (1984) • short story by David Brin. Humanity discovered that the solar system was encased in a crystal sphere when it accidentally shattered it. It turns out that all planets with the potential for life have the same spheres. Impenetrable from the outside and seemingly designed to keep intelligent spacefaring species apart from each other. One day, humanity discovers another solar system with another broken sphere.

Tangents • (1986) • short story by Greg Bear. Awe-inspiring story of a mathematician trying to connect with multi-dimensional beings. Another story in conversation with the great book Flatland, but this story brings great characters and literary flair.

The Nine Billion Names of God • (1953) • short story by Arthur C. Clarke. Monks receive a computer to help them discover all the names of God, but the result might be more universal than they expected.

Why I Left Harry's All-Night Diner • (1987) • short story by Lawrence Watt-Evans (variant of Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers). Heartwarming piece of SF Americana. A young man works nights in a diner that caters to strange beings from all over.

75 Anthologies + 16 Single Author Collections + 10 Slates of Award Finalists + 2 Magazine Issues
https://www.shortsf.com/archive-by-type

Jeffty Is Five • (1977) • short story by Harlan Ellison

Good. In his own world, Jeffty stays five even as everyone else gets older.

Twilight • [Twilight • 1] • (1966) • novelette by John W. Campbell, Jr. [as by John W. Campbell]

Good. A time traveler tells his story about traveling to the twilight of the human race. A time when machines do everything and what few people are left are beaten and lacking all drive.

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas • (1973) • short story by Ursula K. Le Guin

Great. World building as famous sci-fi thought experiment. Le Guin invites us (with beautiful prose) to imagine a nearly perfect world with a necessary cruelty at the center.

Bears Discover Fire • (1990) • short story by Terry Bisson

Great. Bears seem to have discovered fire and are monopolizing the medians of highways in the American South. This is an upgrade from my previous review in HUGO AND NEBULA AWARD WINNERS FROM ASIMOV'S SCIENCE FICTION. It took hearing this performed by an actor for me to really connect with the quiet character work here. Now I really enjoy this story.

The Crystal Spheres • (1984) • short story by David Brin

Great. Humanity discovered that the solar system was encased in a crystal sphere when it accidentally shattered it. It turns out that all planets with the potential for life have the same spheres. Impenetrable from the outside and seemingly designed to keep intelligent spacefaring species apart from each other. One day, humanity discovers another solar system with another broken sphere.

That Only a Mother • (1948) • short story by Judith Merril

Good. The inability of us to see the horrors right in front of us, as told in part-epistolary style by a pregnant wife writing to her husband who works on atomic weapons. Creeping horrors that is keep mostly off-page.

Allamagoosa • (1955) • short story by Eric Frank Russell

Good. Fun, but slight tale of a spaceship crew that has their shore leave cut short when they are going to be audited. The manifest claims they had something called an offog, but no one knows what that is.

Tangents • (1986) • short story by Greg Bear

Great. Awe-inspiring story of a mathematician trying to connect with multi-dimensional beings. Another story in conversation with the great book Flatland, but this story brings great characters and literary flair.

The Nine Billion Names of God • (1953) • short story by Arthur C. Clarke

Great. Monks receive a computer to help them discover all the names of God, but the result might be more universal than they expected.

Huddling Place • [City] • (1944) • short story by Clifford D. Simak

Good. In a future where there is no need to leave his home, on man discovers that he had developed crippling agoraphobia.

Why I Left Harry's All-Night Diner • (1987) • short story by Lawrence Watt-Evans (variant of Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers)

Great. Heartwarming piece of SF Americana. A young man works nights in a diner that caters to strange beings from all over.

Fermi and Frost • (1985) • short story by Frederik Pohl

Good. A thought experiment of life during a nuclear winter.

[Cheryl Gatling]

These are not the greatest science fiction stories of the 20th century, but they are mostly solidly good. I enjoyed them enough that I went to my bookshelves and dusted off three other "treasuries of science fiction stories" that I have kept for 30 or 40 years, and thought, maybe I will read them again. Some of the stories from those anthologies are also in this.

Science fiction allows you to imagine other times and other places and other ways of doing things, other ways of organizing society. Things might be different than they are right now. Sometimes the thrill of pleasure is just in imagining that difference.

"Bears Discover Fire," is such a story. It doesn't seem to have much of a point, but I enjoyed the alternative reality of a rural woodland where bears gather and huddle around campfires at night. If evolution continues, the story seems to ask, why not? And I enjoyed the folksy narrator who treated the newfangled bears with respect, leaving freshcut firewood for them, as opposed to some people who responded with fear and contempt.

And maybe that is the point, how we deal with what people and things that are new, different, or "other." Because science fiction is also a way of talking about the here and now. If we continue the way we are, this is where we might end up.

"Fermi and Frost" is a cautionary tale about what could happen if we had an all-out nuclear war. Spoiler: there's a slim chance a few people in Iceland might survive.

The long, rambling (and sometimes dull) "Twilight" is the narration of a visitor from the future describing his visit to the even farther future, where machines continue to run, even though the people they are supposed to serve are long dead. The people of the future killed off most of the animals and plants, except for a handful of food crops, leaving a depleted gene pool. And there is a word of caution in that.

"That Only a Mother" tells of a near future where radiation spills have caused an epidemic of birth defects. An interesting idea. It's worth thinking about how we would deal with that, although the message of this story is sexist and silly.

"The Crystal Spheres" answers the question, why have we never encountered any sign of alien life in the universe? It also tackles the question of whether there might be some kind of god who planned our isolation.

"Harry's All-Night Hamburgers" describes a diner where wanderers from parallel universes drop in for a bite to eat, giving the place the atmosphere of the space bar from the original Star Wars movie. The teenaged boy at the counter is tempted to hitch a ride. But is there a downside to universe hopping?

"Huddling Place" would say that there is. In the future humans have made travel to Mars almost as routine as taking a commuter train. But back on Earth, people have left the cities and settled on country estates, becoming so attached to their particular patch of ground that their psychology has been changed by it.

These are not all the stories in the book. The much-anthologized "Nine Billion Names of God" is good for a shudder, at least the first time you read it. In general the stories ask questions, while also creating moods, sometimes playful, and sometimes haunting.

[Dallas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a selection of early science fiction short stories. They vary from one of my favorites "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula K. LeGuin. To an absolute dud by David Brin. Some are seriously dated but still fun "The Nine Billion Names of God" . The last story has a disappointing "ending" and contributed to this ranking. It might be worth your time, but I wouldn't go nuts looking for it.

[F.P.G. Camerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strong collection of stories. My favourite was "Tangents” by Greg Bear. I also loved “Why I Left Harry’s All-Night Diner” by Lawrence Watt Evans and “Fermi And Frost” by Frederik Pohl, and I enjoyed most other stories. I don't think that's ever happened before in a compilation like this, hence the four stars.

[Lauren Burnham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short story collections are hard for me. Sometimes I just cannot get in to the world it is created. This had some really fun stories in it and I wish I could go back to some of those worlds. My favorites are the Crystal Spheres by David Brian, the 9 Billion Names of God by Arthur C Clarke, & Why I Left Henry’s All Night Diner by Lawrence Watt Evan’s.

[Strong Extraordinary Dreams · Rating 2 out of 5]

First off: This is no one's "greatest science fiction stories of the 20th century". Nearly every story is boring, none are really special, many are not sci fi but rather 'fantasy' or just normal short stories (like "When the bears discovered fire").

A very pedestrian collection of Sci Fi short stories.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some I hated due to patriarchy and how much time has passed. Some were okay. Some I loved. Which is usually me and anthologies. I read this after the second time someone referenced Ursula le Guin's The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas in a few months. Interesting story. Pretty sure which group I would belong to.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid collection of sci-fi in audiobook form. Multiple thought-provoking and generally good stories -- "Huddling Place" (Clifford Simak) was probably my favorite, but I also liked "Crystal Spheres" (David Brin), "Nine Billion Names of God" (Arthur C. Clarke), and a few others.

[Lucas Millan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite being far from the greatest, with some even being kind of mediocre, this anthology is filled with enjoayable, imaginative and fun examples of why science fiction was one of the most relevant literary generes of the 20th Century.

[Michael Asteriou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not every story in this book is great, but the rest of it make up for them.

[Aramis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Stories - yes. At least I liked most of them. Some were better, some were just ok.
Greatest stories of the 20th Century - not for me.

Still nice book to read.

[Christopher Hellstrom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great audio collection with some standout stories "Jeffty Is Five" by Harlan Ellison (read by the author) and "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula K. Le Guin

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mix of good and not so good stories read by random cast members of Star Trek.

[June]

Favs were:

- Jefty Is Five
- The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas
- Bears Discover Fire
- Tangents
- Why I Left Harry’s All-Night Hamburgers

[Jeff Daly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook version.

The best story (5/5 stars) was "The Crystal Spheres" by David Brin.

These were good too (4/5 stars):
"Twilight" by John W. Campbell
"Huddling Place" by Clifford D Simak
"Tangents" by Greg Bear
"Why I Left Harry's All Night Hamburgers" by Lawrence Watt Evans

Here are the individual story ratings and info, extracted from iTunes:

+-------+---------------------+-----------------------------------------+-------+------+--------+
| track | author | title | stars |rating|duration|
+-------+---------------------+-----------------------------------------+-------+------+--------+
| 1/12 | Harlan Ellison | Jeffy At Five | ** | 2/5 | 46:48 |
| 2/12 | John W. Campbell | Twilight | **** | 4/5 | 48:55 |
| 3/12 | Ursula K. LeGuin | The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas | *** | 3/5 | 17:12 |
| 4/12 | Terry Bisson | Bears Discover Fire | ** | 2/5 | 25:32 |
| 5/12 | David Brin | The Crystal Spheres | ***** | 5/5 | 42:03 |
| 6/12 | Judith Merrill | That Only A Mother | *** | 3/5 | 21:14 |
| 7/12 | Eric Frank Russell | Alamagusa | *** | 3/5 | 28:55 |
| 8/12 | Clifford D Simak | Huddling Place | **** | 4/5 | 37:03 |
| 9/12 | Greg Bear | Tangents | **** | 4/5 | 33:13 |
| 10/12 | Arthur C. Clarke | The Nine Billion Names of God | *** | 3/5 | 15:39 |
| 11/12 | Lawrence Watt Evans | Why I Left Harry's All Night Hamburgers | **** | 4/5 | 27:17 |
| 12/12 | Frederick Pohl | Fermian Frost | *** | 3/5 | 33:30 |
+-------+---------------------+-----------------------------------------+-------+------+--------+

started: 2007-12-17.Dec.Mon 20:44:11
finished: 2007-12-23.Dec.Sun 20:56:14

duration: 6h:17m:14s

[Coyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh- more like the "Adequate Science Fiction Stories of the 20th Century." I mean, they're not bad, and some are even actively good, but none are really great. I suspect that the publisher was looking for a way to make a quick buck and assembled the cheapest stories by big-ish names in Science Fiction for an anthology. Or, maybe this is someone's favorite list, and I just don't have quite the same sci-fi taste.

Again, not to say this is bad. I got my copy for free from Audible, so no great loss there, though I wouldn't recommend spending money on it, since a good number of the stories are in the public domain anyway.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

An audiobook review, and despite the awful recording quality, this was worth it.

Amazing range of topic, time and style. Clarke's "Nine Billion Names of God" is a classic. LeGuin's "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" was a revelation. Brin's "The Crystal Spheres" is slowly, subtly depressing in the way that all the best science fiction is. I even enjoyed the bizarre, folksy ruralness of "Bears Discover Fire" (exactly what the story is about) and "Why I Left Harry's All-Night Diner."

As anthologies go, it's a nice historical and literary sampler.

[Kadja Draenor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just finished the audio book of this. Most of the stories were mediocre, but a few were great, especially Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers, by Lawrence Watt Evans. Honestly, that story alone was worth it. Good voices for the stories, too. Almost had to give it a 2 star based on a few of the endings, though.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

For as many power-house authors as this book contained I'm surprised it wasn't better. There were many stories that felt simply mediocre. There were a few that will stay with me. Don't get me wrong, they were mostly enjoyable. They just didn't move me the way I'd hoped they would.

[Camille · Rating 4 out of 5]

First time I'd read Ursula K. Le Guin, and was not disappointed.
Pleasantly surprised by the whimsical 'Why I Left Harry's All-Night Diner' by Lawrence Watt Evans.
Continue to be underwhelmed by Arthur C. Clarke.

[Todd Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

The greatest? Not really.

[Teddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of stories. All were entertaining and thought provoking.

[Nea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some stories I liked, others not too much. I really enjoyed 'The Nine Billion Names of God' for the story and the reader. Also a couple of others. It's a nice collection of stories.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed almost all the stories.

[Vincent Stoessel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good anthology of some real sf classics.

[Eric Bowers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contains two of my all time favorite stories. "Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers" and "When Bears Discovered Fire"