What do you think?
Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories #2
Isaac Asimov Presents The Great SF Stories 2
A collection of classic Science Fiction short stories from 1940.
1. * Requiem by Robert A. Heinlein
2. The Dwindling Sphere by Williard Hawkins
3. The Automatic Pistol by Fritz Leiber
4. Hindsight by Jack Williamson
5. Postpaid to Paradise by Robert Arthur
6. * Coventry by Robert A. Heinlein
7. Into the Darkness by Ross Rocklynne
8. Dark Mission by Lester del Rey
9. It by Theodore Sturgeon
10. Vault of the Beast by A. E. van Vogt
11. The Impossible Highway by Oscar J. Friend
12. Quietus by Ross Rocklynne
13. * Blowups Happen by Robert A. Heinlein
14. Strange Playfellow by Isaac Asimov
15. The Warrior Race by L. Sprague de Camp
16. Farewell to the Master by Harry Bates
17. Butyl and the Breather by Theodore Sturgeon
18. The Exalted by L. Sprague de Camp
19. Old Man Mulligan by P. Schuyler Miller
* The three stories by Robert A. Heinlein were not printed in this volume because arrangements for their use could not be made. Martin Greenberg and Isaac Asimov's notes for each are included where the stories would have appeared.
1. * Requiem by Robert A. Heinlein
2. The Dwindling Sphere by Williard Hawkins
3. The Automatic Pistol by Fritz Leiber
4. Hindsight by Jack Williamson
5. Postpaid to Paradise by Robert Arthur
6. * Coventry by Robert A. Heinlein
7. Into the Darkness by Ross Rocklynne
8. Dark Mission by Lester del Rey
9. It by Theodore Sturgeon
10. Vault of the Beast by A. E. van Vogt
11. The Impossible Highway by Oscar J. Friend
12. Quietus by Ross Rocklynne
13. * Blowups Happen by Robert A. Heinlein
14. Strange Playfellow by Isaac Asimov
15. The Warrior Race by L. Sprague de Camp
16. Farewell to the Master by Harry Bates
17. Butyl and the Breather by Theodore Sturgeon
18. The Exalted by L. Sprague de Camp
19. Old Man Mulligan by P. Schuyler Miller
* The three stories by Robert A. Heinlein were not printed in this volume because arrangements for their use could not be made. Martin Greenberg and Isaac Asimov's notes for each are included where the stories would have appeared.
350 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
About the author
Isaac Asimov
4,430 books28.8k followersWorks 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...
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...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
July 14, 2026
My friend Jim brought to my attention that my comments about The Great SF Stories #2 were showing up on the Goodreads listing for Great SF #11, which I had posted in February of 2015. I lost track of his message and either lost or didn't receive a reply from the powers that be but just stumbled across the problem again when I was attempting to track down something else. So, at long last, I have moved my paragraph back from 11 to 2 and will re-create a different entry for 11. Thanks again, Jim... better late than never?
"This is the second anthology of Greenberg's and Asimov's choices as the best of the sf golden age. It's a little off because they couldn't get the rights to reprint any Heinlein, but some of the ones they include are delightful and should be remembered. Farewell to the Master by Harry Bates is here; it's the story upon which the film The Day the Earth Stood Still was based. Good works by Sturgeon, De Camp, Del Rey, and Leiber, too. My favorite is Old Man Mulligan by P. Schuyler Miller."
I'll add a mention that Old Man Mulligan became the basis and title of, perhaps, the most famous filk song of all time. The De Camp story I was singling out was The Exalted, one of his Johnny Black bear stories; he had another one in the book, The Warrior Race. Sturgeon was also included twice, with It and Butyl and the Breather; It was my favorite. In hindsight, I should've mentioned van Vogt's Vault of the Beast, too.
"This is the second anthology of Greenberg's and Asimov's choices as the best of the sf golden age. It's a little off because they couldn't get the rights to reprint any Heinlein, but some of the ones they include are delightful and should be remembered. Farewell to the Master by Harry Bates is here; it's the story upon which the film The Day the Earth Stood Still was based. Good works by Sturgeon, De Camp, Del Rey, and Leiber, too. My favorite is Old Man Mulligan by P. Schuyler Miller."
I'll add a mention that Old Man Mulligan became the basis and title of, perhaps, the most famous filk song of all time. The De Camp story I was singling out was The Exalted, one of his Johnny Black bear stories; he had another one in the book, The Warrior Race. Sturgeon was also included twice, with It and Butyl and the Breather; It was my favorite. In hindsight, I should've mentioned van Vogt's Vault of the Beast, too.
March 24, 2025
This is the second volume of shorter SF covering the year 1940 collected by Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg and published in 1980, when most represented authors were still living. I read in March 2025 and discussed at ORBIT – Otherworldly Reads, Bold Ideas, and Tales. SF & F Short Stories and Novelettes group.
Contents:
The Dwindling Sphere short story by Willard E. Hawkins [as by Willard Hawkins] - the genre is almost dead today - take an invention and go with it through ages, like in Olaf Stapledon's Last and First Men. Here an inventor bombards matter with neutrons to get a fission reaction (this is written 5 years before the first A-bomb, and his experiments are also in the summer of 1945!), but gets just a residue, 1/12 of the mass and from diamond hard to mushy. His partner sees its economic potential - anything can be turned into "PLASTOSCENE", which can replace any material at a fraction of the cost. Fast forward 4*
The Automatic Pistol short story by Fritz Leiber - a mix of SF and fantasy, a group of bootleggers, one of whom is a narrator. One other, Inky Kozacs, has a special pistol, always with him and the guy cares for it as for a living thing. Later another guy kills Inky for his money and takes his gun 3.5*
Hindsight short story by Jack Williamson - a man-inventor from Earth works now for a space pirate, who carved his own empire and subjugated Earth and Mars. Years ago the man had two dear friends a man and a woman. Now, he created a targeting mechanism based on "time waves" that gave pirates an advantage. However, Earth's ships with inventions from his friend destroy the pirate's armada 2.5*
Postpaid to Paradise short story by Robert Arthur, first published in 1940, but popularized after it was reprinted by The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1950 and, in spite of its non-original status, was selected for inclusion in the first Best From F & SF. A cozy story of a man inheriting a bunch of strange post stumps from "Federated States of El Dorado" which allow 'magical' sending of post. It is simple but a pleasure to read. 4*
Into the Darkness novelette by Ross Rocklynne - in the preview, it is called "surely New Wave a quarter-century before its time" I fully agree. It is a story of extremely otherworldly beings, living in a lot of dimensions and traveling across the galaxy like some kind of sentient stars/nebulae. The hero, Darkness, wants to travel the darkness beyond (empty space between galaxies?) to see what is on the other side. There have been similar stories since, but as the first I rate it highly. 4*
Dark Mission short story by Lester del Rey - a person with amnesia after his rocket is crushed, goes to the world. Who is he and what is his mission? 3.5*
It novelette by Theodore Sturgeon - a great fantasy horror. As written in the preview: The trouble with horror tales is that most of them don’t horrify you. Nothing by Lovecraft ever horrified me for instance because he labored so hard over the atmosphere and spent so much time telling you it was horrible, that you grew bored. Not so here. I'm fully with him on Lovecraft and on this story. 5*
Vault of the Beast novelette by A. E. van Vogt - it seems that van Vogt doesn't 'work' for me. This story while with an interesting concept - a robot shape-shifter and its permutations was interesting, overall story hasn't made sense to me: since school, I recall how to show that there is no largest prime number and the talk about different mathematics hasn't persuaded me. Yes, nice ideas but the execution doesn't fit. It is interesting that in the preview: there was no question at all which writers John [Campbell] admired most and which absolutely bestrode the field like colossi. They were Robert Heinlein and A. E. van Vogt. RAH is still among my favorites despite all his positions but Vogt, meh. 2.5*
The Impossible Highway short story by Oscar J. Friend - an interesting classic SF, with both sense of wonder and sometimes simplistic approaches: a biologist and his assistant find a highway in a forest, it is a 'road of evolution' with each n meters a pedestal with a life form from simplest to more complex (it completely misses that it is a tree, with many branches, not a road) - up to humans. There is goes a bit silly, but the final actually improves the story 3.25*
Quietus short story by Ross Rocklynne - post-disaster Earth is visited by aliens of avian descent. Meanwhile, the last (?) man with his talking raven sees the last woman and tries to catch up with her. The aliens try to guess who is sentient here - the man or the raven. The story is simple but good. 3*
Strange Playfellow short story by Isaac Asimov - a Retro-Hugo nominee also known as Robbie, the story of an 8-year-old girl and her trusty robot. Her mother sends robot away, afraid that it negatively affects girl's socialization... 5*
The Warrior Race short story by L. Sprague de Camp - from the start we are told that it is a story of Spartan but in SF setting and it definitely is. An interesting story even if what broke the patience of subjugated people is now ridiculous and the message is interesting 3.25*
Farewell to the Master novelette by Harry Bates - a solid case of "what is going on here?" story. It was made into a movie that I haven't watched. The ideas is that an alien and his robot arrive for the first contact on Earth and in mere minutes the alien is killed. Everyone is in shock, what will happen next, but nothing happens and the ship and the robot turn into research and excursion items. A journalist suspects that the robot does something at night and hides to check... the solution is a bit silly , but the story is good 4*
Butyl and the Breather short story by Theodore Sturgeon - the first sequel in this collection. Last time, an ether being inserted itself into new TV transmissions, changing them with crude jokes. It was informed that such jokes aren't good and withdrew from any further contact. A year passed. Now the narrator found a way to spike interest in the being, by tricking it. It is a humorous piece, with phrases like "I’m convinced that your genius is a happy accident quite unattached to your hypothetical mind" but a good, not a great read. 3*
The Exalted novelette by L. Sprague de Camp - there is a series of strange incidents in the university when a potential sponsor comes like a lecturer turning bright blue. It appears that a professor took a brain-improving drug, which turned him into a genius inventor, but destroyed his morals. Another light piece, I liked the way it was written and the reveals . 3.5*
Old Man Mulligan novelette by P. Schuyler Miller - maybe I've read it too late, almost falling into a sleep, but a strange and not very interesting story, where we have the man from the title, who is (according to him) an eternally living Neanderthal man. However, the main plot is not about him, but about some heist on Venus... 2*
In addition to the abovementioned stories there had to be three Robert A. Heinlein stories ("Requiem", "Blowups Happen", and "Coventry"), but arrangements for their use could not be made. The introductions for them are still in the book, including Asimov’s critique of RAH’s Libertarian views: Although Bob and I have been good friends for forty years now, whe don’t see eye-to-eye politically. I, for instance, am suspicious of any doctrine that tells us we must earn liberty. Who decides when we have earned it and who has the right to withhold it if we haven’t earned it? It bothers me.
I’m also suspicious of those who equate liberty with “small government,” meaning less interference from Washington over the details of our life. I don’t believe there can be less interference; just a change of interference. If Washington bows out, then it is the local bully on the block who will take over, and I’d rather have Washington. Every once in a while through history, places have tried “small government” and replaced a tyrannical central power with local “self-help.” It’s called “feudalism” and it’s also called “dark ages” and I don’t want it. —But I must say Bob preaches his point of view charmingly.
Contents:
The Dwindling Sphere short story by Willard E. Hawkins [as by Willard Hawkins] - the genre is almost dead today - take an invention and go with it through ages, like in Olaf Stapledon's Last and First Men. Here an inventor bombards matter with neutrons to get a fission reaction (this is written 5 years before the first A-bomb, and his experiments are also in the summer of 1945!), but gets just a residue, 1/12 of the mass and from diamond hard to mushy. His partner sees its economic potential - anything can be turned into "PLASTOSCENE", which can replace any material at a fraction of the cost. Fast forward 4*
The Automatic Pistol short story by Fritz Leiber - a mix of SF and fantasy, a group of bootleggers, one of whom is a narrator. One other, Inky Kozacs, has a special pistol, always with him and the guy cares for it as for a living thing. Later another guy kills Inky for his money and takes his gun 3.5*
Hindsight short story by Jack Williamson - a man-inventor from Earth works now for a space pirate, who carved his own empire and subjugated Earth and Mars. Years ago the man had two dear friends a man and a woman. Now, he created a targeting mechanism based on "time waves" that gave pirates an advantage. However, Earth's ships with inventions from his friend destroy the pirate's armada 2.5*
Postpaid to Paradise short story by Robert Arthur, first published in 1940, but popularized after it was reprinted by The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1950 and, in spite of its non-original status, was selected for inclusion in the first Best From F & SF. A cozy story of a man inheriting a bunch of strange post stumps from "Federated States of El Dorado" which allow 'magical' sending of post. It is simple but a pleasure to read. 4*
Into the Darkness novelette by Ross Rocklynne - in the preview, it is called "surely New Wave a quarter-century before its time" I fully agree. It is a story of extremely otherworldly beings, living in a lot of dimensions and traveling across the galaxy like some kind of sentient stars/nebulae. The hero, Darkness, wants to travel the darkness beyond (empty space between galaxies?) to see what is on the other side. There have been similar stories since, but as the first I rate it highly. 4*
Dark Mission short story by Lester del Rey - a person with amnesia after his rocket is crushed, goes to the world. Who is he and what is his mission? 3.5*
It novelette by Theodore Sturgeon - a great fantasy horror. As written in the preview: The trouble with horror tales is that most of them don’t horrify you. Nothing by Lovecraft ever horrified me for instance because he labored so hard over the atmosphere and spent so much time telling you it was horrible, that you grew bored. Not so here. I'm fully with him on Lovecraft and on this story. 5*
Vault of the Beast novelette by A. E. van Vogt - it seems that van Vogt doesn't 'work' for me. This story while with an interesting concept - a robot shape-shifter and its permutations was interesting, overall story hasn't made sense to me: since school, I recall how to show that there is no largest prime number and the talk about different mathematics hasn't persuaded me. Yes, nice ideas but the execution doesn't fit. It is interesting that in the preview: there was no question at all which writers John [Campbell] admired most and which absolutely bestrode the field like colossi. They were Robert Heinlein and A. E. van Vogt. RAH is still among my favorites despite all his positions but Vogt, meh. 2.5*
The Impossible Highway short story by Oscar J. Friend - an interesting classic SF, with both sense of wonder and sometimes simplistic approaches: a biologist and his assistant find a highway in a forest, it is a 'road of evolution' with each n meters a pedestal with a life form from simplest to more complex (it completely misses that it is a tree, with many branches, not a road) - up to humans. There is goes a bit silly, but the final actually improves the story 3.25*
Quietus short story by Ross Rocklynne - post-disaster Earth is visited by aliens of avian descent. Meanwhile, the last (?) man with his talking raven sees the last woman and tries to catch up with her. The aliens try to guess who is sentient here - the man or the raven. The story is simple but good. 3*
Strange Playfellow short story by Isaac Asimov - a Retro-Hugo nominee also known as Robbie, the story of an 8-year-old girl and her trusty robot. Her mother sends robot away, afraid that it negatively affects girl's socialization... 5*
The Warrior Race short story by L. Sprague de Camp - from the start we are told that it is a story of Spartan but in SF setting and it definitely is. An interesting story even if what broke the patience of subjugated people is now ridiculous and the message is interesting 3.25*
Farewell to the Master novelette by Harry Bates - a solid case of "what is going on here?" story. It was made into a movie that I haven't watched. The ideas is that an alien and his robot arrive for the first contact on Earth and in mere minutes the alien is killed. Everyone is in shock, what will happen next, but nothing happens and the ship and the robot turn into research and excursion items. A journalist suspects that the robot does something at night and hides to check... the solution is a bit silly , but the story is good 4*
Butyl and the Breather short story by Theodore Sturgeon - the first sequel in this collection. Last time, an ether being inserted itself into new TV transmissions, changing them with crude jokes. It was informed that such jokes aren't good and withdrew from any further contact. A year passed. Now the narrator found a way to spike interest in the being, by tricking it. It is a humorous piece, with phrases like "I’m convinced that your genius is a happy accident quite unattached to your hypothetical mind" but a good, not a great read. 3*
The Exalted novelette by L. Sprague de Camp - there is a series of strange incidents in the university when a potential sponsor comes like a lecturer turning bright blue. It appears that a professor took a brain-improving drug, which turned him into a genius inventor, but destroyed his morals. Another light piece, I liked the way it was written and the reveals . 3.5*
Old Man Mulligan novelette by P. Schuyler Miller - maybe I've read it too late, almost falling into a sleep, but a strange and not very interesting story, where we have the man from the title, who is (according to him) an eternally living Neanderthal man. However, the main plot is not about him, but about some heist on Venus... 2*
In addition to the abovementioned stories there had to be three Robert A. Heinlein stories ("Requiem", "Blowups Happen", and "Coventry"), but arrangements for their use could not be made. The introductions for them are still in the book, including Asimov’s critique of RAH’s Libertarian views: Although Bob and I have been good friends for forty years now, whe don’t see eye-to-eye politically. I, for instance, am suspicious of any doctrine that tells us we must earn liberty. Who decides when we have earned it and who has the right to withhold it if we haven’t earned it? It bothers me.
I’m also suspicious of those who equate liberty with “small government,” meaning less interference from Washington over the details of our life. I don’t believe there can be less interference; just a change of interference. If Washington bows out, then it is the local bully on the block who will take over, and I’d rather have Washington. Every once in a while through history, places have tried “small government” and replaced a tyrannical central power with local “self-help.” It’s called “feudalism” and it’s also called “dark ages” and I don’t want it. —But I must say Bob preaches his point of view charmingly.
July 1, 2026
Asimov wrote more than five hundred books. At one time I thought it would be a good idea to read them all. But not anymore. For one thing he counted the anthologies he edited, or rather co-edited, among them. I am sure, that this particular collection is among the better ones. But I found it hard to get even some entertainment or enlightenment out of them.
So these are the best SF stories of 1940? Maybe a better title would be Some random 1940 stories that we got the rights to reprint. But since Asimov and Greenberg included stories by Robert Heinlein, that they were not allowed to print this cannot be true. The stories are mentioned and there is a short introduction to them, one by Greenberg, one by Asimov, the same as with every other story, but the story itself is missing. So, I guess that means, they honestly believe that these are the best stories of 1940. Which, I think, would be rather sad.
I liked the very first story The Dwindling Sphere by Willard Hawkins. Here there is an original idea and some kind of message, and it is nicely written. But with most of the other stories I could not see any point even by the greats of the genre, like Sturgeon, van Vogt and de Camp. One of the Sturgeon stories IT is introduced by Asimov with the promise that in contrast to most horror stories this story does really horrify. But alas, it did not. It is not a bad story, but I can’t consider it great. The van Vogt story The Vault of the Beast is nicely written but I just did not understand it. We are to believe that there are different kind of mathematics and that there is an ultimate prime number that can be somehow factorized?
I was especially disappointed by Farewell to the Master by Harry Bates. That is the source of the classic movie The Day the Earth Stood Still. I have seen that as a child and have dim but fond memories. Okay, we have Klaatu and Gnut but the action is very lame and the ultimate punch line I expected after a couple of pages.
One or two stories were at least interesting like the ones by Ross Rocklynne.
That leaves the story by Asimov. Strange Playfellow. (Later republished by Asimov under his original title Robbie). A nice story but also mainly of historical interest. It was the first of his Robot stories. What is interesting with the story of a girl and her Robot friend is that the robot can understand perfectly well but is not able to talk. One would assume to add the talking ability would be trivial after solving the understanding problem. And the robot is of course kind-hearted. Does he really like to be told Cinderella over and over again, or is he just pretending? These are the kinds of questions I would like to ask myself after reading a science fiction story. The story takes place in 1982 by the way and we are now still not close to robots like Robbie.
One finals remark. Asimov mentions that he could not remember one of the stories by Oscar J. Friend. He says that maybe he missed that particular issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories but thinks that unlikely. That is really depressing. It means he could normally remember all of the hundreds if not thousands of stories he must have read? I am sure I will forget all of these stories in a few months.
5/10
So these are the best SF stories of 1940? Maybe a better title would be Some random 1940 stories that we got the rights to reprint. But since Asimov and Greenberg included stories by Robert Heinlein, that they were not allowed to print this cannot be true. The stories are mentioned and there is a short introduction to them, one by Greenberg, one by Asimov, the same as with every other story, but the story itself is missing. So, I guess that means, they honestly believe that these are the best stories of 1940. Which, I think, would be rather sad.
I liked the very first story The Dwindling Sphere by Willard Hawkins. Here there is an original idea and some kind of message, and it is nicely written. But with most of the other stories I could not see any point even by the greats of the genre, like Sturgeon, van Vogt and de Camp. One of the Sturgeon stories IT is introduced by Asimov with the promise that in contrast to most horror stories this story does really horrify. But alas, it did not. It is not a bad story, but I can’t consider it great. The van Vogt story The Vault of the Beast is nicely written but I just did not understand it. We are to believe that there are different kind of mathematics and that there is an ultimate prime number that can be somehow factorized?
I was especially disappointed by Farewell to the Master by Harry Bates. That is the source of the classic movie The Day the Earth Stood Still. I have seen that as a child and have dim but fond memories. Okay, we have Klaatu and Gnut but the action is very lame and the ultimate punch line I expected after a couple of pages.
One or two stories were at least interesting like the ones by Ross Rocklynne.
That leaves the story by Asimov. Strange Playfellow. (Later republished by Asimov under his original title Robbie). A nice story but also mainly of historical interest. It was the first of his Robot stories. What is interesting with the story of a girl and her Robot friend is that the robot can understand perfectly well but is not able to talk. One would assume to add the talking ability would be trivial after solving the understanding problem. And the robot is of course kind-hearted. Does he really like to be told Cinderella over and over again, or is he just pretending? These are the kinds of questions I would like to ask myself after reading a science fiction story. The story takes place in 1982 by the way and we are now still not close to robots like Robbie.
One finals remark. Asimov mentions that he could not remember one of the stories by Oscar J. Friend. He says that maybe he missed that particular issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories but thinks that unlikely. That is really depressing. It means he could normally remember all of the hundreds if not thousands of stories he must have read? I am sure I will forget all of these stories in a few months.
5/10
September 18, 2012
Bompiani ha finalmente deciso di ristampare una collana di fantascienza che avevo cominciato a comprare parecchi anni fa, trovandola estremamente gradevole, ben fatta e, soprattutto, piena di parecchie chicche d'annata."Le Grandi Storie della Fantascienza" è una serie di libri curati da Isaac Asimov che raccoglie, annata per annata, i migliori racconti della Fantascienza più "classica", quella che ha cullato tutti i grandi appassionati del genere.Racconti ispirati, alcuni ingenui, altri che potrebbero tranquillamente essere stati scritti l'anno scorso, tutti accomunati da quel senso di fascino per la scoperta, da quell'inventiva, da quella passione che forse negli ultimi anni è andata un po' persa.E così, in questa raccolta dedicata al 1940, possiamo leggere racconti di Williamson, Leiber, Van Vogt e dello stesso Asimov. Purtroppo non possiamo leggere tre racconti di Heinlein che, pur messi a sommario, non sono stati pubblicati (penso nella raccolta originale) per problemi di diritti. Un vero peccato, che però non inficia la qualità di un volume che non può mancare nella biblioteca di tutti coloro cresciuti con la Fantascienza Classica.Menzione speciale per "La sfera che rimpiccioliva" di Willard Hawkins: racconto di apertura del volume che, forse, è quello più interessante dal punto di vista dell'intuizione dell'autore. Bello.
January 22, 2014
"Siamo, con "Le grandi storie della fantascienza" scelte da Isaac Asimov, al 1954. Non è un anno cruciale per il genere, ma la continuazione di un successo, non ancora di critica ma sicuramente di pubblico. Nata in Europa, sbarcata negli Stati Uniti, lì divenuta letteratura di massa, la science fiction ha preso a dilagare, con l'inizio degli anni cinquanta, nel continente d'origine e nel mondo intero. Non è il cinema a farle da sostegno. Le espressioni cinematografiche della fantascienza scritta sono spesso trite e semplicistiche, salvo rare eccezioni. No, è proprio la narrativa a sedurre lettori di ogni paese. Contano l'ingegnosità delle storie, il fascino e assieme un certo senso d'orrore legati all'idea di futuro (la minaccia atomica è sempre più attuale), il timore oscuro di evoluzioni incontrollabili del presente. La fantascienza è un genere "di evasione" da cui non si evade. Ti proietta lontano, ma dove approdi ritrovi i problemi che avevi sperato di lasciarti alle spalle. Il lieto fine non è affatto garantito, l'inquietudine è presente in ogni pagina. Alcuni degli autori scelti da Asimov, da Matheson a Dick, sapranno farsi interpreti delle apprensioni che ancora avvertiamo ai giorni nostri." (Valerio Evangelisti)
August 23, 2023
I didn’t actually read this edition; I read it as part of a combined volume: Isaac Asimov Presents the Golden Years of Science Fiction: 36 Stories and Novellas. But there wasn’t enough space in my review there for all my comments on the individual stories, so I’m posting them here (there wasn't enough space here either, even just for Volume 2. I had to cut significant portions. Sigh). Refer to my review of that book for my thoughts on the book as a whole.
Below is a short description and review/discussion of every included story, as well as some random thoughts I had while reading. This is as much for my reference as it is for the benefit of prospective readers of this book (I wish there was a Goodreads for short stories!). Spoilers are included, but are marked off with Spoiler tags. I did not include star ratings for the stories. I can, if anyone would find that helpful.
“Requiem” (not actually reprinted in this volume; I read it in The Past Through Tomorrow): Does anything need to be said? It’s a Heinlein classic, if a little sloppily written (for him). Actually it was interesting to learn that this was written before “The Man Who Sold the Moon.” In The Past Through Tomorrow, it appears afterwards, of course, so I never realized it was a ‘prequel.’ So this story of D.D. Harriman’s trip to the Moon is more poignant in some ways than before.
“The Dwindling Sphere,” by Willard Hawkins, is a good story about the invention of a device that will convert any mass to any useful substance (at the cost of some of the mass), and the consequences of this development. I love stories that take a single concept to its logical conclusion (Asimov’s “The Last Question” is the archetype of this genre), and this one does it well. Of course, the conclusions are all crap.
Asimov expresses his surprise that he had never seen this story before; it amuses me that I had, which is not true of any other story thus far except the Heinleins and the Asimov. I must have read it before I studied Economics, though, because I recall thinking that the conclusion presented was plausible and interesting. Interesting yes; plausible no.
Don’t think that my extensive criticism means that I don’t like the story. I do, a lot. It’s quite enjoyable, and even though I disagree with many of the particulars, the general moral—that we should be careful to mind the long-term consequences of our actions—is one I agree with wholeheartedly.
“The Automatic Pistol,” by Fritz Leiber, is good enough as fantasy horror, I guess, but, again, I don’t expect to see fantasy in a science fiction anthology.
I don’t care for time-travel stories, so Jack Williamson’s “Hindsight” didn’t appeal to me very much. Technically it’s a time-manipulation story instead of a time-travel story, but my annoyance is similar. Why do ‘history,’ or ‘time,’ or “world lines” care about big events but not small ones?
Also, though Greenberg (the editor) claims that this story shows rare (for the Golden Age) character development, I don’t think a time-manipulated drastic change in personality counts. The story was well-written and somewhat exciting, though, so if you don’t mind time-travel stories, you’ll probably like it.
“Postpaid to Paradise” is a fascinating and well-done fantasy by Robert Arthur involving some magical stamps. The story and background are involved enough that I don’t especially mind that it’s fantasy; indeed it only qualifies as fantasy because no explanation for the fantastic effects was given or attempted.
Two things struck me about the story: One, that a story involving grown men obsessing over a painting of a naked sixteen-year-old girl would likely not pass muster nowadays; and Two, that this story and its sequels must certainly have inspired Asimov’s Azazel stories; they’re similar in many ways, most especially in tone (a tone that Asimov’s other stories do not have).
It’s interesting (and encouraging, knowing that they didn’t just pop out of his head full-formed) to see that Asimov got many of his ideas from these old stories. For instance, Murchison Morks, the main character in this story, is clearly an inspiration for George from the Azazel stories, who instantly has to one-up anything anyone says.
“Coventry” (not actually reprinted in this volume; I read it in The Past Through Tomorrow), by Robert A. Heinlein, is excellent. It’s head and shoulders above any of the previous stories in this volume, including the other two by Heinlein. At that, it’s not Heinlein’s best from this period; that honor goes to “If This Goes On…”, not included in this collection. This story of a man sent to Coventry (think Australia in the 18th century) is superb, and contains an actual character arc, unlike the faux character development Greenberg praised in “Hindsight.”
(Reading Asimov’s preface:) Wow. I’ve long presumed that Asimov felt this way, but I’ve never seen him say so openly. It just goes to show how incredibly wrong geniuses can be. He equates small government with no government, and presumes that a government that does not meddle with every aspect of our lives will not prevent others from doing so. It’s a strange view, but an oddly common one. “I’m also suspicious of those who equate liberty with ‘small government,’” he says, “meaning less interference from Washington over the details of our life. I don’t believe there can be less interference; just a change of interference. If Washington bows out, then it is the local bully on the block who will take over, and I’d rather have Washington. Every once in a while through history, places have tried ‘small government’ and replaced a tyrannical central power with local ‘self-help.’ It’s called ‘feudalism’ and it’s also called ‘dark ages’ and I don’t want it. —But I must say Bob preaches his point of view charmingly.” It’s so odd. It’s like the first hundred or so years of the United States never happened for him.
I mean, I really don’t get it. “Covenant” begins with:
“‘Have you anything to say before sentence is pronounced on you?’ The mild eyes of the Senior Judge studied the face of the accused. His question was answered by a sullen silence.
‘Very well—the jury has determined that you have violated a basic custom agreed to under the Covenant, and that through this act did damage another free citizen. It is the opinion of the jury and of the court that you did so knowingly, and aware of the probability of damage to a free citizen. Therefore, you are sentenced to choose between the Two Alternatives.’”
It is later revealed that this guy’s crime is punching someone in the face that probably deserved it. Is this the kind of small government that Asimov thinks will allow feudalism and dark ages? Seriously?
“Into the Darkness” by Ross Rocklynne is an amazing story. This is what science fiction does at its best: Fills you with wonder and speculation and imaginings. Note that I didn’t say that this is what science fiction is; it doesn’t have to be a story about giant amorphous space beings, or anything like it. But great SF expands your mind and makes you think things and ask things you never imagined before.
Unsurprisingly, Lester del Rey doesn’t disappoint; “Dark Mission” is a gripping story. It’s a mystery of sorts, about a crashed rocketship pilot with amnesia. Who is he? How did he get there? What is the purpose of these strange urges he feels? The story drags you along to the end, to a mostly-satisfying conclusion. “Mostly” because it left me wanting more; the story is very detailed, and yet unfinished in a way. I would have preferred a novel-length version.
Theodore Sturgeon’s “IT” is a horror about a plant muck-creature that inspired Man-Thing and Swamp Thing. It’s interesting, and readable, but not remotely as horrifying as the introduction implies. Perhaps it was when first published, but the influence it had has dulled its effect on me through unconscious familiarity. It reminds me somewhat of “The Rag Thing” by Donald A. Wollheim which had the sort of impact on me that this story had on others. I think part of the reason that this story didn’t affect me is that there’s really no origin story for the monster. I don’t need it to be a scientifically-plausible, hard-SF explanation, but not having one at all leaves the story hanging without context, which is less involving and scary. It’s a pretty cool story regardless, just not as scary or horrifying to me as others apparently found it.
“Vault of the Beast” by A. E. van Vogt is…odd. It’s in essence a mathematical story, involving prime numbers and different types of mathematics (negative, infinitesimal, imaginary). It’s frustrating because van Vogt repeats the common error of believing that infinitesimal mathematics—the math we learned in school, with an infinite number of numbers between any two whole numbers—is fundamentally correct, and “natural number” mathematics is wrong. But that’s the wrong way to look at it. These are simply different models, different ways of looking at problems. Some problems can be more easily solved with one system, others with another. There’s no inherently “correct” mathematics, any more than there’s a “correct” hammer or chainsaw. And actually, I’m not even sure that the math in this story passes muster in our modern schema. Also, there’s supposedly a “robot” in this story, but calling it a robot doesn’t explain it, and it doesn’t act more robot-like than living-thing-like. Perhaps van Vogt meant “construct” instead of “robot.” In all, there are enough new and interesting ideas presented in this story that it would take a long novel to explore them. This short story doesn’t do them justice.
Still, it’s a fascinating tale, involving a construct that has moral sentiments and can morph into anything, mathematical theory, extradimensional brings, and ancient civilizations on Mars. Even when van Vogt doesn’t hit it out of the park, his work is still brilliant. Amusingly, this is the second story in this collection (i.e. The Golden Years of Science Fiction) that Asimov says he had not read or does not recall from the era, and the second story (besides those by Asimov and Heinlein) that I had read before.
“The Impossible Highway” by Oscar J. Friend is just the sort of story that fascinates me. It could be called a “concept” story, I suppose. It introduces a new, perplexing idea, and then leaves the reader to figure out what to do with it. It involves two scientists, lost in the jungle, who happen upon a highway that has no business being there, with strange biological displays on its route.
“Quietus” by Ross Rocklynne is kind of a typical science fiction story. Not stereotypical—it doesn’t involve humans in rocketships firing ray-guns at bug-eyed green aliens (though it does, in its way, involve spaceships, ray-guns and aliens)—but typical, in that it tries to surprise or disturb us by turning standard expectations on their heads. In this case it interestingly explores what it means to seem intelligent. It’s about two members of a spacefaring bird-species who tries to save the last survivors of a planetwide cataclysm.
“Blowups Happen”: Perhaps it’s that I’ve read this story several times, but reading it now, Heinlein’s utter genius as a science fiction writer is apparent. The story combines psychology, the process of experimentation and innovation, business, mathematics, engineering, philosophy, quite plausible (though ultimately inaccurate) extrapolation from very recent scientific discovery, and brilliant alternate explanations of known facts (a trope I’m deeply fond of) into a meaningful, suspenseful, and engrossing whole. Is there any wonder at his popularity, or why he’s one of my favorite authors? This story, for copyright reasons, is not included in the book. The book suggests reading it in The Past Through Tomorrow, but it’s better, for this purpose, to use the original version, published in Expanded Universe.
“Strange Playfellow,” by Isaac Asimov: I wasn’t looking forward to reading this story (about a little girl and her pet robot) again; I’ve read it (under the title “Robbie”) many times. But this is the original, unpolished version, and it’s interesting to see the changes he made when he republished it, and how those minor changes vastly improve the quality and tone of the story.
“The Warrior Race,” by L. Sprague de Camp: I feel like I’ve read another story with the exact same premise: A warrior race, oppressing a conquered population, , on the model of Sparta. Perhaps it was by Asimov, emulating this one. Regardless, the story is a little sparse, and says “Read your history” a bit too often. It feels more like a proof-of-concept than an actual story. A novelette or better would have been more appropriate.
However, I was struck by the Aristotle quote at the end of the story: ‘Militaristic states are apt to survive only so long as they remain at war, while they go to ruin as soon as they have finished making their conquests. Peace causes their metal to decay; and the fault lies with a social system which does not teach its soldiers what to make of their lives when they are off duty.’”
The bit that struck me was the last clause. Do we do that even today? It seems that we don’t have a very good conception, as a society, as to what off-duty soldiers are supposed to do with themselves. Reservists do not have this problem.
“Farewell to the Master” (Harry Bates) is a pretty good story, about a benevolent space traveler, or time traveler, or dimensional traveler (it was never quite explained) and robot who visit Earth. I can’t talk about it without spoiling it, so read it before reading further. Oh well. It’s still a great, classic story, on which the movies The Day the Earth Stood Still were based.
“Butyl and the Breather” by Theodore Sturgeon is not, as the editor’s preface indicates, as good as the previous story, “Ether Breather.” But heck, that one wasn’t that good either. Like that one, this story is entertaining and has some interesting and original ideas, and that’s good enough, I guess.
I’m not quite sure why “The Exalted,” by L. Sprague de Camp is called that, unless “exalted” is used in an unusual way. I guess it’s referring to the elevated state of the professor who takes his own smart pills, with amusing results. Nominally this story is about a bear who had been given these smart pills, but it’s really about what happens I find it interesting that what de Camp thinks would happen is that the person would I’ve come to much the same sort of conclusion, though I’m having a devil of a time trying to actually live by it.
P. Schuyler Miller’s “Old Man Mulligan” is the final story in this collection, and a good one, about the adventures (well, one adventure) involving the titular character, who is either a thousands-of-years-old Neanderthal, or a very capable liar. It’s science fiction more by virtue of it being set on Venus than this fact, because Mulligan is not really explained, just presented. A well-done story though.
Below is a short description and review/discussion of every included story, as well as some random thoughts I had while reading. This is as much for my reference as it is for the benefit of prospective readers of this book (I wish there was a Goodreads for short stories!). Spoilers are included, but are marked off with Spoiler tags. I did not include star ratings for the stories. I can, if anyone would find that helpful.
“Requiem” (not actually reprinted in this volume; I read it in The Past Through Tomorrow): Does anything need to be said? It’s a Heinlein classic, if a little sloppily written (for him). Actually it was interesting to learn that this was written before “The Man Who Sold the Moon.” In The Past Through Tomorrow, it appears afterwards, of course, so I never realized it was a ‘prequel.’ So this story of D.D. Harriman’s trip to the Moon is more poignant in some ways than before.
“The Dwindling Sphere,” by Willard Hawkins, is a good story about the invention of a device that will convert any mass to any useful substance (at the cost of some of the mass), and the consequences of this development. I love stories that take a single concept to its logical conclusion (Asimov’s “The Last Question” is the archetype of this genre), and this one does it well. Of course, the conclusions are all crap.
Asimov expresses his surprise that he had never seen this story before; it amuses me that I had, which is not true of any other story thus far except the Heinleins and the Asimov. I must have read it before I studied Economics, though, because I recall thinking that the conclusion presented was plausible and interesting. Interesting yes; plausible no.
Don’t think that my extensive criticism means that I don’t like the story. I do, a lot. It’s quite enjoyable, and even though I disagree with many of the particulars, the general moral—that we should be careful to mind the long-term consequences of our actions—is one I agree with wholeheartedly.
“The Automatic Pistol,” by Fritz Leiber, is good enough as fantasy horror, I guess, but, again, I don’t expect to see fantasy in a science fiction anthology.
I don’t care for time-travel stories, so Jack Williamson’s “Hindsight” didn’t appeal to me very much. Technically it’s a time-manipulation story instead of a time-travel story, but my annoyance is similar. Why do ‘history,’ or ‘time,’ or “world lines” care about big events but not small ones?
Also, though Greenberg (the editor) claims that this story shows rare (for the Golden Age) character development, I don’t think a time-manipulated drastic change in personality counts. The story was well-written and somewhat exciting, though, so if you don’t mind time-travel stories, you’ll probably like it.
“Postpaid to Paradise” is a fascinating and well-done fantasy by Robert Arthur involving some magical stamps. The story and background are involved enough that I don’t especially mind that it’s fantasy; indeed it only qualifies as fantasy because no explanation for the fantastic effects was given or attempted.
Two things struck me about the story: One, that a story involving grown men obsessing over a painting of a naked sixteen-year-old girl would likely not pass muster nowadays; and Two, that this story and its sequels must certainly have inspired Asimov’s Azazel stories; they’re similar in many ways, most especially in tone (a tone that Asimov’s other stories do not have).
It’s interesting (and encouraging, knowing that they didn’t just pop out of his head full-formed) to see that Asimov got many of his ideas from these old stories. For instance, Murchison Morks, the main character in this story, is clearly an inspiration for George from the Azazel stories, who instantly has to one-up anything anyone says.
“Coventry” (not actually reprinted in this volume; I read it in The Past Through Tomorrow), by Robert A. Heinlein, is excellent. It’s head and shoulders above any of the previous stories in this volume, including the other two by Heinlein. At that, it’s not Heinlein’s best from this period; that honor goes to “If This Goes On…”, not included in this collection. This story of a man sent to Coventry (think Australia in the 18th century) is superb, and contains an actual character arc, unlike the faux character development Greenberg praised in “Hindsight.”
(Reading Asimov’s preface:) Wow. I’ve long presumed that Asimov felt this way, but I’ve never seen him say so openly. It just goes to show how incredibly wrong geniuses can be. He equates small government with no government, and presumes that a government that does not meddle with every aspect of our lives will not prevent others from doing so. It’s a strange view, but an oddly common one. “I’m also suspicious of those who equate liberty with ‘small government,’” he says, “meaning less interference from Washington over the details of our life. I don’t believe there can be less interference; just a change of interference. If Washington bows out, then it is the local bully on the block who will take over, and I’d rather have Washington. Every once in a while through history, places have tried ‘small government’ and replaced a tyrannical central power with local ‘self-help.’ It’s called ‘feudalism’ and it’s also called ‘dark ages’ and I don’t want it. —But I must say Bob preaches his point of view charmingly.” It’s so odd. It’s like the first hundred or so years of the United States never happened for him.
I mean, I really don’t get it. “Covenant” begins with:
“‘Have you anything to say before sentence is pronounced on you?’ The mild eyes of the Senior Judge studied the face of the accused. His question was answered by a sullen silence.
‘Very well—the jury has determined that you have violated a basic custom agreed to under the Covenant, and that through this act did damage another free citizen. It is the opinion of the jury and of the court that you did so knowingly, and aware of the probability of damage to a free citizen. Therefore, you are sentenced to choose between the Two Alternatives.’”
It is later revealed that this guy’s crime is punching someone in the face that probably deserved it. Is this the kind of small government that Asimov thinks will allow feudalism and dark ages? Seriously?
“Into the Darkness” by Ross Rocklynne is an amazing story. This is what science fiction does at its best: Fills you with wonder and speculation and imaginings. Note that I didn’t say that this is what science fiction is; it doesn’t have to be a story about giant amorphous space beings, or anything like it. But great SF expands your mind and makes you think things and ask things you never imagined before.
Unsurprisingly, Lester del Rey doesn’t disappoint; “Dark Mission” is a gripping story. It’s a mystery of sorts, about a crashed rocketship pilot with amnesia. Who is he? How did he get there? What is the purpose of these strange urges he feels? The story drags you along to the end, to a mostly-satisfying conclusion. “Mostly” because it left me wanting more; the story is very detailed, and yet unfinished in a way. I would have preferred a novel-length version.
Theodore Sturgeon’s “IT” is a horror about a plant muck-creature that inspired Man-Thing and Swamp Thing. It’s interesting, and readable, but not remotely as horrifying as the introduction implies. Perhaps it was when first published, but the influence it had has dulled its effect on me through unconscious familiarity. It reminds me somewhat of “The Rag Thing” by Donald A. Wollheim which had the sort of impact on me that this story had on others. I think part of the reason that this story didn’t affect me is that there’s really no origin story for the monster. I don’t need it to be a scientifically-plausible, hard-SF explanation, but not having one at all leaves the story hanging without context, which is less involving and scary. It’s a pretty cool story regardless, just not as scary or horrifying to me as others apparently found it.
“Vault of the Beast” by A. E. van Vogt is…odd. It’s in essence a mathematical story, involving prime numbers and different types of mathematics (negative, infinitesimal, imaginary). It’s frustrating because van Vogt repeats the common error of believing that infinitesimal mathematics—the math we learned in school, with an infinite number of numbers between any two whole numbers—is fundamentally correct, and “natural number” mathematics is wrong. But that’s the wrong way to look at it. These are simply different models, different ways of looking at problems. Some problems can be more easily solved with one system, others with another. There’s no inherently “correct” mathematics, any more than there’s a “correct” hammer or chainsaw. And actually, I’m not even sure that the math in this story passes muster in our modern schema. Also, there’s supposedly a “robot” in this story, but calling it a robot doesn’t explain it, and it doesn’t act more robot-like than living-thing-like. Perhaps van Vogt meant “construct” instead of “robot.” In all, there are enough new and interesting ideas presented in this story that it would take a long novel to explore them. This short story doesn’t do them justice.
Still, it’s a fascinating tale, involving a construct that has moral sentiments and can morph into anything, mathematical theory, extradimensional brings, and ancient civilizations on Mars. Even when van Vogt doesn’t hit it out of the park, his work is still brilliant. Amusingly, this is the second story in this collection (i.e. The Golden Years of Science Fiction) that Asimov says he had not read or does not recall from the era, and the second story (besides those by Asimov and Heinlein) that I had read before.
“The Impossible Highway” by Oscar J. Friend is just the sort of story that fascinates me. It could be called a “concept” story, I suppose. It introduces a new, perplexing idea, and then leaves the reader to figure out what to do with it. It involves two scientists, lost in the jungle, who happen upon a highway that has no business being there, with strange biological displays on its route.
“Quietus” by Ross Rocklynne is kind of a typical science fiction story. Not stereotypical—it doesn’t involve humans in rocketships firing ray-guns at bug-eyed green aliens (though it does, in its way, involve spaceships, ray-guns and aliens)—but typical, in that it tries to surprise or disturb us by turning standard expectations on their heads. In this case it interestingly explores what it means to seem intelligent. It’s about two members of a spacefaring bird-species who tries to save the last survivors of a planetwide cataclysm.
“Blowups Happen”: Perhaps it’s that I’ve read this story several times, but reading it now, Heinlein’s utter genius as a science fiction writer is apparent. The story combines psychology, the process of experimentation and innovation, business, mathematics, engineering, philosophy, quite plausible (though ultimately inaccurate) extrapolation from very recent scientific discovery, and brilliant alternate explanations of known facts (a trope I’m deeply fond of) into a meaningful, suspenseful, and engrossing whole. Is there any wonder at his popularity, or why he’s one of my favorite authors? This story, for copyright reasons, is not included in the book. The book suggests reading it in The Past Through Tomorrow, but it’s better, for this purpose, to use the original version, published in Expanded Universe.
“Strange Playfellow,” by Isaac Asimov: I wasn’t looking forward to reading this story (about a little girl and her pet robot) again; I’ve read it (under the title “Robbie”) many times. But this is the original, unpolished version, and it’s interesting to see the changes he made when he republished it, and how those minor changes vastly improve the quality and tone of the story.
“The Warrior Race,” by L. Sprague de Camp: I feel like I’ve read another story with the exact same premise: A warrior race, oppressing a conquered population, , on the model of Sparta. Perhaps it was by Asimov, emulating this one. Regardless, the story is a little sparse, and says “Read your history” a bit too often. It feels more like a proof-of-concept than an actual story. A novelette or better would have been more appropriate.
However, I was struck by the Aristotle quote at the end of the story: ‘Militaristic states are apt to survive only so long as they remain at war, while they go to ruin as soon as they have finished making their conquests. Peace causes their metal to decay; and the fault lies with a social system which does not teach its soldiers what to make of their lives when they are off duty.’”
The bit that struck me was the last clause. Do we do that even today? It seems that we don’t have a very good conception, as a society, as to what off-duty soldiers are supposed to do with themselves. Reservists do not have this problem.
“Farewell to the Master” (Harry Bates) is a pretty good story, about a benevolent space traveler, or time traveler, or dimensional traveler (it was never quite explained) and robot who visit Earth. I can’t talk about it without spoiling it, so read it before reading further. Oh well. It’s still a great, classic story, on which the movies The Day the Earth Stood Still were based.
“Butyl and the Breather” by Theodore Sturgeon is not, as the editor’s preface indicates, as good as the previous story, “Ether Breather.” But heck, that one wasn’t that good either. Like that one, this story is entertaining and has some interesting and original ideas, and that’s good enough, I guess.
I’m not quite sure why “The Exalted,” by L. Sprague de Camp is called that, unless “exalted” is used in an unusual way. I guess it’s referring to the elevated state of the professor who takes his own smart pills, with amusing results. Nominally this story is about a bear who had been given these smart pills, but it’s really about what happens I find it interesting that what de Camp thinks would happen is that the person would I’ve come to much the same sort of conclusion, though I’m having a devil of a time trying to actually live by it.
P. Schuyler Miller’s “Old Man Mulligan” is the final story in this collection, and a good one, about the adventures (well, one adventure) involving the titular character, who is either a thousands-of-years-old Neanderthal, or a very capable liar. It’s science fiction more by virtue of it being set on Venus than this fact, because Mulligan is not really explained, just presented. A well-done story though.
November 23, 2021
THE GREAT STORIES VOLUME 2, 1940.
RATED 84% POSITIVE. STORY SCORE = 3.94 / 5
16 STORIES: 4 GREAT / 7 GOOD / 5 AVERAGE / 0 POOR / 0 DNF.
Not every acclaimed story from 1940 holds up in 2021, but even the weaker entries of this anthology are more charming than those of Volume 1 and Volume 3 (both reviewed elsewhere on this blog.). The authors seem more confident and there is a sense on fun that makes this very pleasant to read.
Asimov and Greenberg once again provide pithy introductions to the authors and their work, arranging the stories in publication order. They also don’t hesitate to include multiple stories from authors who deserve it; Ross Rocklynne, Theodore Sturgeon, and L. Sprague de Camp. As usual for these anthologies, multiple stories from Robert A Heinlein are not included because of issues with licensing - although the titles and introductions to the stories are still included.
Four of the stories make my Great List:
* Into the Darkness • (1940) • novelette by Ross Rocklynne. An epic story of a huge entity who searches for meaning across literally hundreds of millions of years. This is ambitious and structurally experimental in a way that most science fiction of this era isn’t. Wildly creative and enthralling.
* It • (1940) • novelette by Theodore Sturgeon. This is a tale of science fictional horror. A plant-based monster interacts with a rural family that is having its own issues. What makes this great is the mixture of brutality, humanity, and alien consciousness. Sturgeon’s knack for deeply human characters is on display here, even extending to the monster. It isn’t evil, just curious, but the last sentence in one of the most chilling that I have ever read. An absolute masterpiece and you will probably be able to think of many stories that “It” has inspired.
* Vault of the Beast • (1940) • novelette by A. E. van Vogt. A shapeshifter robot is sent to bring a mathematician to Mars with the purpose of unlocking the building that holds within it a giant crashed being. There is a lot going on here with van Vogt jumping across many different POV characters and almost into different genres of Sci-Fi, but it is smart and it works.
* Farewell to the Master • (1940) • novelette by Harry Bates. The classic story of first contact gone violently wrong. When aliens arrive, a fearful humanity shoots and kills the alien. Later, a reporter investigates the mysterious happenings that are stirring within the spacecraft. This is the story that inspired the classic SF movie “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” but it is very different. Both the story and film are masterpieces, but contain separate scenes, characters, and themes. The tone of this story is quiet, haunting, and mysterious. A true classic.
***
THE GREAT STORIES VOLUME 2, 1940 IS RATED 84%.
16 STORIES: 4 GREAT / 7 GOOD / 5 AVERAGE / 0 POOR / 0 DNF.
1. The Dwindling Sphere • (1940) • short story by Willard Hawkins
Average. The discovery of Plastocene creates great riches for a family and transforms the world.
2. The Automatic Pistol • (1940) • short story by Fritz Leiber
Good. Fun fantasy story of small-time bootleggers and one criminal’s creepy fascination with his gun.
3. Hindsight • (1940) • short story by Jack Williamson
Good. A scientist who renounced his allegiance to Earth and joined a dictatorship has a second chance in the middle of a decisive battle.
4. Postpaid to Paradise • (1940) • short story by Robert Arthur
Good. Cute fantasy about stamps that transport things (and people) to the strange land of El Dorado.
5. Into the Darkness • (1940) • novelette by Ross Rocklynne
Great. An epic story of a huge entity who searches for meaning across literally hundreds of millions of years. Wildly creative and enthralling.
6. Dark Mission • (1940) • short story by Lester del Rey
Average. A man from Mars arrives on Earth to disrupt a space launch.
7. It • (1940) • novelette by Theodore Sturgeon
Great. A terrifying story of an emergent monster who comes into contact with a rural family.
8. Vault of the Beast • (1940) • novelette by A. E. van Vogt
Great. A shapeshifter robot is sent to bring a mathematician to Mars with the purpose of unlocking the building that holds within it a giant crashed being.
9. The Impossible Highway • (1940) • short story by Oscar J. Friend
Good. Two scientists, lost in the woods, find an impossible road and pillars that present specimens that tell the story of life on earth.
10. Quietus • (1940) • short story by Ross Rocklynne
Good. Bird-aliens land on a volcanically destroyed earth with disastrous results for the last man and woman.
11. Strange Playfellow • (1940) • short story by Isaac Asimov
Good. A child’s parents take away their daughters robot friend.
12. The Warrior Race • (1940) • short story by L. Sprague de Camp
Average. Lessons from history help repel an occupation by warrior spacemen.
13. Farewell to the Master • (1940) • novelette by Harry Bates
Great. The classic story of first contact gone violently wrong. When aliens arrive, a fearful humanity shoots and kills the alien. But a reporter investigates the mysterious happenings that are stirring within the spacecraft.
14. Butyl and the Breather • [Ether Breather] • (1940) • novelette by Theodore Sturgeon
Average. A being that exists within television is brought back by noxious odors.
15. The Exalted • [Johnny Black] • (1940) • novelette by L. Sprague de Camp
Average. A super intelligent bear deals with the pranks of a mad professor at Yale.
16. Old Man Mulligan • (1940) • novelette by P. Schuyler Miller
Good. An eternal Neanderthal is drawn into a kidnapping adventure that involves a trek across the dangerous surface of Venus.
RATED 84% POSITIVE. STORY SCORE = 3.94 / 5
16 STORIES: 4 GREAT / 7 GOOD / 5 AVERAGE / 0 POOR / 0 DNF.
Not every acclaimed story from 1940 holds up in 2021, but even the weaker entries of this anthology are more charming than those of Volume 1 and Volume 3 (both reviewed elsewhere on this blog.). The authors seem more confident and there is a sense on fun that makes this very pleasant to read.
Asimov and Greenberg once again provide pithy introductions to the authors and their work, arranging the stories in publication order. They also don’t hesitate to include multiple stories from authors who deserve it; Ross Rocklynne, Theodore Sturgeon, and L. Sprague de Camp. As usual for these anthologies, multiple stories from Robert A Heinlein are not included because of issues with licensing - although the titles and introductions to the stories are still included.
Four of the stories make my Great List:
* Into the Darkness • (1940) • novelette by Ross Rocklynne. An epic story of a huge entity who searches for meaning across literally hundreds of millions of years. This is ambitious and structurally experimental in a way that most science fiction of this era isn’t. Wildly creative and enthralling.
* It • (1940) • novelette by Theodore Sturgeon. This is a tale of science fictional horror. A plant-based monster interacts with a rural family that is having its own issues. What makes this great is the mixture of brutality, humanity, and alien consciousness. Sturgeon’s knack for deeply human characters is on display here, even extending to the monster. It isn’t evil, just curious, but the last sentence in one of the most chilling that I have ever read. An absolute masterpiece and you will probably be able to think of many stories that “It” has inspired.
* Vault of the Beast • (1940) • novelette by A. E. van Vogt. A shapeshifter robot is sent to bring a mathematician to Mars with the purpose of unlocking the building that holds within it a giant crashed being. There is a lot going on here with van Vogt jumping across many different POV characters and almost into different genres of Sci-Fi, but it is smart and it works.
* Farewell to the Master • (1940) • novelette by Harry Bates. The classic story of first contact gone violently wrong. When aliens arrive, a fearful humanity shoots and kills the alien. Later, a reporter investigates the mysterious happenings that are stirring within the spacecraft. This is the story that inspired the classic SF movie “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” but it is very different. Both the story and film are masterpieces, but contain separate scenes, characters, and themes. The tone of this story is quiet, haunting, and mysterious. A true classic.
***
THE GREAT STORIES VOLUME 2, 1940 IS RATED 84%.
16 STORIES: 4 GREAT / 7 GOOD / 5 AVERAGE / 0 POOR / 0 DNF.
1. The Dwindling Sphere • (1940) • short story by Willard Hawkins
Average. The discovery of Plastocene creates great riches for a family and transforms the world.
2. The Automatic Pistol • (1940) • short story by Fritz Leiber
Good. Fun fantasy story of small-time bootleggers and one criminal’s creepy fascination with his gun.
3. Hindsight • (1940) • short story by Jack Williamson
Good. A scientist who renounced his allegiance to Earth and joined a dictatorship has a second chance in the middle of a decisive battle.
4. Postpaid to Paradise • (1940) • short story by Robert Arthur
Good. Cute fantasy about stamps that transport things (and people) to the strange land of El Dorado.
5. Into the Darkness • (1940) • novelette by Ross Rocklynne
Great. An epic story of a huge entity who searches for meaning across literally hundreds of millions of years. Wildly creative and enthralling.
6. Dark Mission • (1940) • short story by Lester del Rey
Average. A man from Mars arrives on Earth to disrupt a space launch.
7. It • (1940) • novelette by Theodore Sturgeon
Great. A terrifying story of an emergent monster who comes into contact with a rural family.
8. Vault of the Beast • (1940) • novelette by A. E. van Vogt
Great. A shapeshifter robot is sent to bring a mathematician to Mars with the purpose of unlocking the building that holds within it a giant crashed being.
9. The Impossible Highway • (1940) • short story by Oscar J. Friend
Good. Two scientists, lost in the woods, find an impossible road and pillars that present specimens that tell the story of life on earth.
10. Quietus • (1940) • short story by Ross Rocklynne
Good. Bird-aliens land on a volcanically destroyed earth with disastrous results for the last man and woman.
11. Strange Playfellow • (1940) • short story by Isaac Asimov
Good. A child’s parents take away their daughters robot friend.
12. The Warrior Race • (1940) • short story by L. Sprague de Camp
Average. Lessons from history help repel an occupation by warrior spacemen.
13. Farewell to the Master • (1940) • novelette by Harry Bates
Great. The classic story of first contact gone violently wrong. When aliens arrive, a fearful humanity shoots and kills the alien. But a reporter investigates the mysterious happenings that are stirring within the spacecraft.
14. Butyl and the Breather • [Ether Breather] • (1940) • novelette by Theodore Sturgeon
Average. A being that exists within television is brought back by noxious odors.
15. The Exalted • [Johnny Black] • (1940) • novelette by L. Sprague de Camp
Average. A super intelligent bear deals with the pranks of a mad professor at Yale.
16. Old Man Mulligan • (1940) • novelette by P. Schuyler Miller
Good. An eternal Neanderthal is drawn into a kidnapping adventure that involves a trek across the dangerous surface of Venus.
October 6, 2012
Racconti preferiti
— La sfera che rimpiccioliva (The Dwindling Sphere) *****
di Willard Hawkins
— Nella tenebra (Into the Darkness) ****
di Ross Rocklynne
— Quietus (Quietus) ***
di Ross Rocklynne
— Uno strano compagno di giochi (Strange Playfellow) ***
conosciuto anche come: Robbie
di Isaac Asimov
— Addio al padrone (Farewell to the Master) ****
di Harry Bates
— La sfera che rimpiccioliva (The Dwindling Sphere) *****
di Willard Hawkins
— Nella tenebra (Into the Darkness) ****
di Ross Rocklynne
— Quietus (Quietus) ***
di Ross Rocklynne
— Uno strano compagno di giochi (Strange Playfellow) ***
conosciuto anche come: Robbie
di Isaac Asimov
— Addio al padrone (Farewell to the Master) ****
di Harry Bates
October 2, 2023
From 1979 to 1992 Asimov and his editor Martin Greenberg published twenty-four volumes of this series. The series was released in chronological order with each volume collecting the best 15 or 20 stories of one year from 1939 to 1963. Each story has a short introduction from Greenberg and a comment or observation from Asimov. They were issued in paperback for $3 or $4 each. I still have the full set which I bought as they were released over the 13 year period.
This is the story of science fiction. This was the period when it changed from space opera to full speculative literature with an unlimited number of variations.
These stories are from 1940. The field is just coming out of the pulp era. There is some lazy writing and clunky action but there is definitely the beginning of wrestling with wild possibilities and theories in stories. The European War looms in the background of many of these stories. The A. E van Voght story, "Vault of the Beast", has that threat flooding over it. Several of the stories are more horror than science fiction. Theodore Sturgeon prospectively plagiarizes Stephen King's title, "It" for a classic scary story. "Farewell to Master" by Harry Bates is one of the first, "what if the aliens are the good guys?" stories and it has a solid surprise ending.
When I was in my 20s, my to be read list was out of control. I despaired of ever reading everything I wanted to read. Now, almost 70, I still have a big to be read list, but my to be reread list is now getting unmanageably long, and the clock is ticking. I hope I get the chance to work my way again through this series.
This is the story of science fiction. This was the period when it changed from space opera to full speculative literature with an unlimited number of variations.
These stories are from 1940. The field is just coming out of the pulp era. There is some lazy writing and clunky action but there is definitely the beginning of wrestling with wild possibilities and theories in stories. The European War looms in the background of many of these stories. The A. E van Voght story, "Vault of the Beast", has that threat flooding over it. Several of the stories are more horror than science fiction. Theodore Sturgeon prospectively plagiarizes Stephen King's title, "It" for a classic scary story. "Farewell to Master" by Harry Bates is one of the first, "what if the aliens are the good guys?" stories and it has a solid surprise ending.
When I was in my 20s, my to be read list was out of control. I despaired of ever reading everything I wanted to read. Now, almost 70, I still have a big to be read list, but my to be reread list is now getting unmanageably long, and the clock is ticking. I hope I get the chance to work my way again through this series.
December 9, 2020
On a lark, I picked up this book, which is one of a series. I found it entertaining, though many of the stories show their age. The interesting thing about reading SF this old is the juxtaposition between correct future predictions and scattered anachronism. For example, in one story, the hero steps into a phone booth, pulls out an electronic version of a credit card, and then "dials" a phone. A couple paragraphs later, he uses the word "dingus" for a machine, a term probably no longer in most people's vocabulary. I'm not being condescending here--no one can predict the future; I think it gives the stories a certain charm, but it tended to pull me out of the story.
One of the most interesting tales is Into the Darkness by Ross Rocklynne. Rocklynne is mostly forgotten because he never wrote longer works. The story involves a solar-system-sized entity who leaves our galaxy group to see what lies beyond the Long Darkness. The concept of creatures that large and almost immortal carries the story throughout.
The book was a fun read, like stepping back in time.
One of the most interesting tales is Into the Darkness by Ross Rocklynne. Rocklynne is mostly forgotten because he never wrote longer works. The story involves a solar-system-sized entity who leaves our galaxy group to see what lies beyond the Long Darkness. The concept of creatures that large and almost immortal carries the story throughout.
The book was a fun read, like stepping back in time.
April 7, 2025
16 stories published in 1940; I enjoyed most of them.
I thought “The Automatic Pistol” by Fritz Leiber and “It” by Theodore Sturgeon were absolutely first rate. Both more fantasy/horror than science fiction, as it happens.
Other interesting stories: “Into the Darkness” by Ross Rocklynne is an odd but fascinating almost experimental piece involving strange abstract cosmic beings over eons of time. “The Warrior Race” by L. Sprague De Camp is a Campbellian translation of an episode of ancient history into an sf future. “Old Man Mulligan” by P. Schuyler Miller features a superhuman ageless Neanderthal character in a wild adventure set on an old fashioned habitable Venus.
For me the least interesting story was “Hindsight” by Jack Williamson, which seemed a little too “before the golden age” pulpish.
5 stars for historical interest combined with entertainment value.
I thought “The Automatic Pistol” by Fritz Leiber and “It” by Theodore Sturgeon were absolutely first rate. Both more fantasy/horror than science fiction, as it happens.
Other interesting stories: “Into the Darkness” by Ross Rocklynne is an odd but fascinating almost experimental piece involving strange abstract cosmic beings over eons of time. “The Warrior Race” by L. Sprague De Camp is a Campbellian translation of an episode of ancient history into an sf future. “Old Man Mulligan” by P. Schuyler Miller features a superhuman ageless Neanderthal character in a wild adventure set on an old fashioned habitable Venus.
For me the least interesting story was “Hindsight” by Jack Williamson, which seemed a little too “before the golden age” pulpish.
5 stars for historical interest combined with entertainment value.
July 12, 2026
Definitely not as good as 1939, the year 1940 must not have had many stand out sci-fi stories the only really good ones were Vault of the Beast by A E van Vogt and Old Man Mulligan by P Schuyler Miller. 6/10
June 22, 2021
I racconti che ho preferito:
"Nella Tenebra" di R.Rocklynne
"La Sfera che Rimpiccioliva" di W.Hawkins
"La Cripta della Bestia" di A.E.Van Vogt
"Confino" di R. Heinlein
"Quietus" di R.Rocklynne
"Nella Tenebra" di R.Rocklynne
"La Sfera che Rimpiccioliva" di W.Hawkins
"La Cripta della Bestia" di A.E.Van Vogt
"Confino" di R. Heinlein
"Quietus" di R.Rocklynne
March 3, 2024
2.5 stars
April 2, 2024
la maggior parte delle storie sono molto belle
January 4, 2025
Media finale: 3,37/5 stelle
Did Not Finish
August 26, 2026Abbandonato e ripreso in un'altra collezione
April 25, 2016
1. * Requiem by Robert A. Heinlein (*contained in The Past Through Tomorrow) – Aging rocket pioneer D. D. Harriman’s last chance to visit the Moon he helped thousands of others to colonize.
2. The Dwindling Sphere by Williard Hawkins – An early dystopic view of ecological meddling by humans, told over the course of thousands of years.
3. The Automatic Pistol by Fritz Leiber – A mobster owns a gun that is truly automatic.
4. Hindsight by Jack Williamson – A minor (and dated) story that fumbles around with how time works.
5. Postpaid to Paradise by Robert Arthur – An amusing Twilight Zone type story about some magical stamps that transport letters in a unique way.
6. * Coventry by Robert A. Heinlein (*contained in The Past Through Tomorrow) – Coventry is an large area where dissidents and the mentally ill are sent in lieu of psychotherapy. What the protagonist finds there, though, is a rebellious dystopia.
7. Into the Darkness by Ross Rocklynne – This story of a self-aware cosmic entity looking for the meaning of existence was well ahead of its time; a story that would not have been out of place in a new-age anthology such as Dangerous Visions.
8. Dark Mission by Lester del Rey – Tragedy and sacrifice are the themes of this somewhat forgettable tale.
9. It by Theodore Sturgeon – Before Swamp Thing and Man-Thing, even before The Heap, Theodore Sturgeon created a living biomass to terrorize people.
10. Vault of the Beast by A. E. van Vogt – A shape-shifting alien (that conjures comparison to Terminator 2’s T-1000) visits Earth in a sophisticated tale about identity and paranoia.
11. The Impossible Highway by Oscar J. Friend – Lost travelers discover a path that may rescue them or lead them into a Twilight Zone type nightmare.
12. Quietus by Ross Rocklynne – Two birdlike aliens mistakenly identify a man’s pet bird as the dominant species, with tragic, albeit humorous, results.
13. * Blowups Happen by Robert A. Heinlein (*contained in The Past Through Tomorrow – 1946 revised version) – This story is notable for Heinlein’s reasonable engineering extrapolations of nuclear energy many years before nuclear technology became a reality. The plot itself is not particularly interesting, but it does pave the way for much of the rest of Heinlein’s Future History.
14. Strange Playfellow by Isaac Asimov – Later retitled “Robbie,” this is one of Asimov’s earliest robot stories, examining the relationship between a robot and the little girl who loves him.
15. The Warrior Race by L. Sprague de Camp – A retelling of the Peloponnesian War in science fictional terms; this is a forgettable story.
16. Farewell to the Master by Harry Bates – This novelette, which inspired the film The Day the Earth Stood Still, is a powerful first-contact story with a surprising twist.
17. Butyl and the Breather by Theodore Sturgeon – A attempt to humorously portray a mischievous interdimensional being that travels via television.
18. The Exalted by L. Sprague de Camp – A sentient bear too smart for his own good in an adventurous romp.
19. Old Man Mulligan by P. Schuyler Miller – The title character is an immortal who helps a policeman break up a crime ring in a tale of survival and action.
2. The Dwindling Sphere by Williard Hawkins – An early dystopic view of ecological meddling by humans, told over the course of thousands of years.
3. The Automatic Pistol by Fritz Leiber – A mobster owns a gun that is truly automatic.
4. Hindsight by Jack Williamson – A minor (and dated) story that fumbles around with how time works.
5. Postpaid to Paradise by Robert Arthur – An amusing Twilight Zone type story about some magical stamps that transport letters in a unique way.
6. * Coventry by Robert A. Heinlein (*contained in The Past Through Tomorrow) – Coventry is an large area where dissidents and the mentally ill are sent in lieu of psychotherapy. What the protagonist finds there, though, is a rebellious dystopia.
7. Into the Darkness by Ross Rocklynne – This story of a self-aware cosmic entity looking for the meaning of existence was well ahead of its time; a story that would not have been out of place in a new-age anthology such as Dangerous Visions.
8. Dark Mission by Lester del Rey – Tragedy and sacrifice are the themes of this somewhat forgettable tale.
9. It by Theodore Sturgeon – Before Swamp Thing and Man-Thing, even before The Heap, Theodore Sturgeon created a living biomass to terrorize people.
10. Vault of the Beast by A. E. van Vogt – A shape-shifting alien (that conjures comparison to Terminator 2’s T-1000) visits Earth in a sophisticated tale about identity and paranoia.
11. The Impossible Highway by Oscar J. Friend – Lost travelers discover a path that may rescue them or lead them into a Twilight Zone type nightmare.
12. Quietus by Ross Rocklynne – Two birdlike aliens mistakenly identify a man’s pet bird as the dominant species, with tragic, albeit humorous, results.
13. * Blowups Happen by Robert A. Heinlein (*contained in The Past Through Tomorrow – 1946 revised version) – This story is notable for Heinlein’s reasonable engineering extrapolations of nuclear energy many years before nuclear technology became a reality. The plot itself is not particularly interesting, but it does pave the way for much of the rest of Heinlein’s Future History.
14. Strange Playfellow by Isaac Asimov – Later retitled “Robbie,” this is one of Asimov’s earliest robot stories, examining the relationship between a robot and the little girl who loves him.
15. The Warrior Race by L. Sprague de Camp – A retelling of the Peloponnesian War in science fictional terms; this is a forgettable story.
16. Farewell to the Master by Harry Bates – This novelette, which inspired the film The Day the Earth Stood Still, is a powerful first-contact story with a surprising twist.
17. Butyl and the Breather by Theodore Sturgeon – A attempt to humorously portray a mischievous interdimensional being that travels via television.
18. The Exalted by L. Sprague de Camp – A sentient bear too smart for his own good in an adventurous romp.
19. Old Man Mulligan by P. Schuyler Miller – The title character is an immortal who helps a policeman break up a crime ring in a tale of survival and action.
July 21, 2015
This volume is inferior to the first in the series. If these were the best SF stories of 1940, then 1940 was simply not a great year for SF.
Best stories in this collection:
3. The Automatic Pistol by Fritz Leiber (great characters and dialogue - criminals in gritty NYC. Not so much an sf story as a supernatural one)
5. Postpaid to Paradise by Robert Arthur (really a fantasy story, about a few magic postal stamps that shunt anything you like to The Federated States of El Dorado - which are somewhere out of this world)
7. Into the Darkness by Ross Rocklynne (a story without humans - instead, whirling masses of energy seem to be aware of themselves and "play" in multiple dimensions -- but one named "Darkness" wants more and pays the consequences. An unusual story, but I found it somewhat tedious despite the refreshingly original premise.)
8. Dark Mission by Lester del Rey (alien seeks to sabotage a private Mars mission - for the good of humans)
9. It by Theodore Sturgeon (the original "swamp man" story - usually found in horror collections)
10. Vault of the Beast by A. E. van Vogt (a shape-shifting alien who can impersonate anyone at will seeks the assistance of a human mathematician to release a colleague who is locked in a tower on Mars - I need to re-read this one; not sure I quite followed all plotting intricacies)
11. The Impossible Highway by Oscar J. Friend (a very surreal story - sort of a "pictures at an exhibition" on a road, where the evolution of the species is foretold.)
12. Quietus by Ross Rocklynne (a simple premise: what if some advanced bird-like aliens stopped by the Earth and mistook a human for the slave of his pet bird?)
14. Strange Playfellow by Isaac Asimov (later re-written and included in I, Robot. A very effective story about a young girl's love for the family robot and the conflict it generates between her parents)
16. Farewell to the Master by Harry Bates (supposedly the basis for "The Day the Earth Stood Still," but all this has in common with the film is that an alien spaceship lands in D.C., and a humanoid and a mysterious robot emerge. Otherwise, the stories are quite different. Although I liked them both, the film was more meaningful.
The two L. Sprague de Camp stories were light-hearted and funny, but I'm puzzled by their inclusion in this volume. The Schulyer Miller story was a very pulpy action story.
Overall, a somewhat disappointing collection! I'll trudge on to Volume 3, hoping to find a gem or two in the rubble.
Best stories in this collection:
3. The Automatic Pistol by Fritz Leiber (great characters and dialogue - criminals in gritty NYC. Not so much an sf story as a supernatural one)
5. Postpaid to Paradise by Robert Arthur (really a fantasy story, about a few magic postal stamps that shunt anything you like to The Federated States of El Dorado - which are somewhere out of this world)
7. Into the Darkness by Ross Rocklynne (a story without humans - instead, whirling masses of energy seem to be aware of themselves and "play" in multiple dimensions -- but one named "Darkness" wants more and pays the consequences. An unusual story, but I found it somewhat tedious despite the refreshingly original premise.)
8. Dark Mission by Lester del Rey (alien seeks to sabotage a private Mars mission - for the good of humans)
9. It by Theodore Sturgeon (the original "swamp man" story - usually found in horror collections)
10. Vault of the Beast by A. E. van Vogt (a shape-shifting alien who can impersonate anyone at will seeks the assistance of a human mathematician to release a colleague who is locked in a tower on Mars - I need to re-read this one; not sure I quite followed all plotting intricacies)
11. The Impossible Highway by Oscar J. Friend (a very surreal story - sort of a "pictures at an exhibition" on a road, where the evolution of the species is foretold.)
12. Quietus by Ross Rocklynne (a simple premise: what if some advanced bird-like aliens stopped by the Earth and mistook a human for the slave of his pet bird?)
14. Strange Playfellow by Isaac Asimov (later re-written and included in I, Robot. A very effective story about a young girl's love for the family robot and the conflict it generates between her parents)
16. Farewell to the Master by Harry Bates (supposedly the basis for "The Day the Earth Stood Still," but all this has in common with the film is that an alien spaceship lands in D.C., and a humanoid and a mysterious robot emerge. Otherwise, the stories are quite different. Although I liked them both, the film was more meaningful.
The two L. Sprague de Camp stories were light-hearted and funny, but I'm puzzled by their inclusion in this volume. The Schulyer Miller story was a very pulpy action story.
Overall, a somewhat disappointing collection! I'll trudge on to Volume 3, hoping to find a gem or two in the rubble.
August 1, 2012
Bompiani ha finalmente deciso di ristampare una collana di fantascienza che avevo cominciato a comprare parecchi anni fa, trovandola estremamente gradevole, ben fatta e, soprattutto, piena di parecchie chicche d'annata."Le Grandi Storie della Fantascienza" è una serie di libri curati da Isaac Asimov che raccoglie, annata per annata, i migliori racconti della Fantascienza più "classica", quella che ha cullato tutti i grandi appassionati del genere.Racconti ispirati, alcuni ingenui, altri che potrebbero tranquillamente essere stati scritti l'anno scorso, tutti accomunati da quel senso di fascino per la scoperta, da quell'inventiva, da quella passione che forse negli ultimi anni è andata un po' persa.E così, in questa raccolta dedicata al 1940, possiamo leggere racconti di Williamson, Leiber, Van Vogt e dello stesso Asimov. Purtroppo non possiamo leggere tre racconti di Heinlein che, pur messi a sommario, non sono stati pubblicati (penso nella raccolta originale) per problemi di diritti. Un vero peccato, che però non inficia la qualità di un volume che non può mancare nella biblioteca di tutti coloro cresciuti con la Fantascienza Classica.Menzione speciale per "La sfera che rimpiccioliva" di Willard Hawkins: racconto di apertura del volume che, forse, è quello più interessante dal punto di vista dell'intuizione dell'autore. Bello.
March 8, 2013
Nice little collection of SF for a long bus ride home. I picked this one up from the shelves of an old folks home; it was either this or The Shipping News. I think I made the right choice. It has been awhile since I have read a collection of short stories...the last time was probably a Stephen King collection sometime back in the bathrooms of my youth. The twelve hour bus ride was enhanced with this array of wonder, as I would read a selection, doze, absorb, doze, then awake eager to consume more. My fav. would be the claimed "first horror" story of IT. Haunting final words "So the Drews had a new barn and fine new livestoke and they hired four men. But they didn't have Alton. And they didn't have Kimbo. And Babe screams at night and has grown very thin". Beautiful made even more intense by the superb job Theodore Sturgeon did of creating a movingly creepy atmosphere. A true treasure to find.
December 3, 2013
Le grandi storie della fantascienza (vol. 2) è una raccolta dei migliori racconti di fantascienza dell'anno 1940.
Ecco i titoli:
1. Requiem di Robert A. Heinlein
2. La sfera che rimpiccioliva di Willard E. Hawkins
3. La pistola automatica di Fritz Leiber
4. Il senno del poi di Jack Williamson
5. Fermo Posta-Paradiso di Robert Arthur
6. Coventry di Robert A. Heinlein
7. Nella tenebra di Ross Rocklynne
8. Missione sconosciuta di Lester del Rey
9. La cosa di Theodore Sturgeon
10. La cripta della Bestia di A. E. van Vogt
11. La strada impossibile di Oscar J. Friend
12. Quietus di Ross Rocklynne
13. Le esplosioni sono cose che capitano di Robert A. Heinlein
14. Uno strano compagno di giochi di Isaac Asimov
15. La razza guerriera di L. Sprague De Camp
16. Addio al padrone di Harry Bates
17. Il butile e il Respiratore d'Etere di Theodore Sturgeon
18. Potenziamento di L. Sprague De Camp
19. Il vecchio Mulligan di P. Schuyler Miller
Ecco i titoli:
1. Requiem di Robert A. Heinlein
2. La sfera che rimpiccioliva di Willard E. Hawkins
3. La pistola automatica di Fritz Leiber
4. Il senno del poi di Jack Williamson
5. Fermo Posta-Paradiso di Robert Arthur
6. Coventry di Robert A. Heinlein
7. Nella tenebra di Ross Rocklynne
8. Missione sconosciuta di Lester del Rey
9. La cosa di Theodore Sturgeon
10. La cripta della Bestia di A. E. van Vogt
11. La strada impossibile di Oscar J. Friend
12. Quietus di Ross Rocklynne
13. Le esplosioni sono cose che capitano di Robert A. Heinlein
14. Uno strano compagno di giochi di Isaac Asimov
15. La razza guerriera di L. Sprague De Camp
16. Addio al padrone di Harry Bates
17. Il butile e il Respiratore d'Etere di Theodore Sturgeon
18. Potenziamento di L. Sprague De Camp
19. Il vecchio Mulligan di P. Schuyler Miller
April 19, 2015
Since childhood I've believed I was born too late. I missed out on all the major innovations like the invention of radio, first flight, the digital computer, the Golden Age of Science Fiction. This little book is a prime example of the latter. To have been present during the formative years of SF, to have known young Asimov, Fritz Lieber, Lester del Ray, etc., would have been incredible to say the least.
I found this little book only a few days ago at my favorite used book store and inhaled it with great relish. I searched out and have ordered two more in the series - 1939 and 1941. I will continue searching until I complete the collection.
Highly recommended for lovers of vintage SF, for the stories themselves as well as Asimovs' commentary on each.
I found this little book only a few days ago at my favorite used book store and inhaled it with great relish. I searched out and have ordered two more in the series - 1939 and 1941. I will continue searching until I complete the collection.
Highly recommended for lovers of vintage SF, for the stories themselves as well as Asimovs' commentary on each.
February 28, 2016
A surprisingly poor example from what I think is an excellent collection. Many of the "Asimov Presents" collections have classic shorts that are a service to the community to make accessible since the short stories are seldom reprinted. Many of the collections in this series are favorites of mine to reread. I don't know if 1940 was a poor year or if the collection was ill-chosen but I found the stories included in this volume much weaker in quality than is typical for these collections. There are always variations in quality but this volume didn't seem to have any that really stood out as excellent to me.
January 22, 2014
Racconti e romanzi brevi fra i più brillanti che hanno visto la luce nel 1940, un anno denso di tensioni per il mondo reale, ma una splendida tappa nell'epoca d'oro della science fiction. Il testo si presenta come un libro imprescindibile per tutti coloro che sanno apprezzare le trame dell'immaginazione scientifica e fantastica; i racconti proposti sono veri e propri classici scaturiti dalla fantasia di mostri sacri, tra cui Theodore Sturgeon, Jack Williamson, L. Sprague de Camp, Ross Rocklynne e molti altri, incluso lo stesso Asimov.
April 14, 2020
This is another great anthology of Science Fiction from the Golden Age. Included are stories from such luminaries like Jack Williamson, Fritz Leiber, Lester Del Rey, Theodore Sturgeon (2 stories) and of course Isaac Asimov himself. It also includes Farewell To The Master, which became the movie " The Day the Earth Stood Still". Hours and hours of some great reading showing the many facets of SF, from flat out humor to far out ideas. Quite the showcase,
April 17, 2013
Some of the stories were so-so and others were really good. All had interesting ideas in them though and that's what I come to random sci-fi for.
March 23, 2015
buona raccolta di racconti di fantascienza, secondo volume dedicato al 1940. peccato che per un problema di diritti manchino i racconti di uno degli autori più importanti, Heinkein
February 4, 2017
The best thing here is "Farewell to the Master."
[FIRST READING: Contains a couple classics ("It," "Farewell to the Master"), but most of it is Space Cadet stuff.]
[FIRST READING: Contains a couple classics ("It," "Farewell to the Master"), but most of it is Space Cadet stuff.]
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews