Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories 17: 1955

Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories #17

by Isaac Asimov (Editor), Martin H. Greenberg (Editor), Frederik Pohl

Contents:

9 · 1955 Introduction · Martin H. Greenberg · in
13 · The Tunnel Under the World · Frederik Pohl · nv Galaxy Jan ’55
46 · The Darfsteller · Walter M. Miller, Jr. · na Astounding Jan ’55
112 · The Cave of Night · James E. Gunn · ss Galaxy Feb ’55
130 · Grandpa · James H. Schmitz · nv Astounding Feb ’55
153 · Who? · Theodore Sturgeon · nv Galaxy Mar ’55
187 · The Short Ones · Raymond E. Banks · nv F&SF Mar ’55
209 · Captive Market · Philip K. Dick · ss If Apr ’55
228 · Allamagoosa · Eric Frank Russell · ss Astounding May ’55
243 · The Vanishing American · Charles Beaumont · ss F&SF Aug ’55
254 · The Game of Rat and Dragon · Cordwainer Smith · ss Galaxy Oct ’55
270 · The Star [Star of Bethlehem] · Arthur C. Clarke · ss Infinity Science Fiction Nov ’55
277 · Nobody Bothers Gus [as by Paul Janvier] · Algis Budrys · ss Astounding Nov ’55
292 · Delenda Est [Manse Everard (Time Patrol)] · Poul Anderson · nv F&SF Dec ’55
333 · Dreaming Is a Private Thing · Isaac Asimov · ss F&SF Dec ’55

Genres: Science Fiction, Anthologies

349 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 5, 1988

About the author

Works of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles, The Foundation Trilogy (1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.

Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.

Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).

People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.

Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.

Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's hard to rate anthologies because they usually contain weak and strong stories. I rate these anthologies 5-stars if they have at least five very good to great stories in them. Here are the stories I admired most:

- "Tunnel Under the World" by Frederick Pohl
- "The Darfstellar" by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
- "The Cave of Night" by James Gunn (a forgotten classic)
- "Grandpa" by James H. Schmidtz (another forgotten classic)
- "Who?" by Theodore Sturgeon
- "Captive Market" by Philip K. Dick
- "Allamagoosa" by Eric Frank Russell
- "The Game of Rat and Dragon" by Cordwainer Smith (beautiful)
- "The Star" by Arthur C. Clarke
- "Nobody Bothers Gus" by Algis Budrys

That's more than enough to make this an outstanding anthology.

[Pete · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm actually still reading this, but I wanted to keep track of the stories as I proceed:

The Tunnel Under the World · Frederik Pohl · Creative and scary. 4
The Darfsteller · Walter M. Miller, Jr. · Best in the book & still relevant. 5
The Cave of Night · James E. Gunn · Prophetic.but strained. 3.5
Grandpa · James H. Schmitz · Fun xenobiology. 4
Who? · Theodore Sturgeon · Ray Bradbury x Barry Malzberg. 4
The Short Ones · Raymond E. Banks · Neat idea but execution lacking. 3
Captive Market · Philip K. Dick · Little old ladies are dangerous! 4.5
Allamagoosa · Eric Frank Russell · Clever and funny. 4.5
The Vanishing American · Charles Beaumont · Unexpected. 4
The Game of Rat and Dragon · Cordwainer Smith · Mind-blowing and a little silly. 5
The Star · Arthur C. Clarke · A classic, but why? 4
Nobody Bothers Gus · Algis Budrys · Low key and interesting. 4
Delenda Est · Poul Anderson · You need to be a history buff. 3.5
Dreaming Is a Private Thing · Isaac Asimov · Not developed enough. 3.5

Overall, this was a very good anthology. I'm not sure that the editors are as in synch with the '50s as they were for the '40s, or maybe it is just me.

[Norman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uno dei migliori della serie!

[Matteo Pellegrini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Il 1955 fu l'anno in cui l'allora Germania Federale si unì alla NATO, e Mackinlay Kantor pubblicò il romanzo "Andersonville", che si aggiudicò il premio Pulitzer. Frederick Sanger scoprì la struttura molecolare dell'insulina, Dorothy Hodgkin elaborò la struttura chimica dela vitamina B12, e i ricercatori del massachussetts Institute of Technology svilupparono le ricerche sulle onde ad altissima frequenza (UHF). Il futuro previsto dalla fantascienza incombeva sempre più vicino con gli Stati Uniti e l'Unione Sovietica che progettavano di lanciare satelliti artificiali in occasione dell'imminente Anno Geofisico Inernazionale, e la prima centrale nucleare cominciava a funzionare vicino a Shenectady, nello stato di New York. Il 1955 fu anche l'anno in cui vennero pubblicati gli stupendi racconti raccolti in questa antologia, racconti di F. Pohl, W. M. Miller Jr., J. E. Gunn, J. H. Schmitz, Th. Sturgeon, R.E. Banks, P. K. Dick. E. F. Russell, Ch. Beaumont, C. Smith, A. C. Clarke, A. Budrys, P. Anderson, I. Asimov.

[Carlo Mayer]

Finiti