What do you think?
Rate this book
Asimov's 'The Mammoth Book Of...' series
The Mammoth Book of New World Science Fiction: Short Novels of the 1960's
Ten short novels of the 1960's.
The Mammoth Book of New World Science Fiction: Short Novels of the 1960's
Within "The Mammoth Book Of..." series, the fourth of Asimov's 6 book 'Mammoth Book of...' anthology series, highlighting science fiction thru the 30's (Classic), 40's (Golden Age), 50's (Vintage), 60's (New World), 70's (Fantastic) and 80's (Modern).
The Mammoth Book of New World Science Fiction: Short Novels of the 1960's
Within "The Mammoth Book Of..." series, the fourth of Asimov's 6 book 'Mammoth Book of...' anthology series, highlighting science fiction thru the 30's (Classic), 40's (Golden Age), 50's (Vintage), 60's (New World), 70's (Fantastic) and 80's (Modern).
506 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1991
2 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 20, 2021
A SF anthology with a wide variety of themes and writing styles. I especially appreciated several of these for their originality and narratives. Zelanzy’s ‘The Eve of Rumoko’ has a memorable character voice coupled with a clever premise. Both Dickson’s ‘Soldier Ask Not’ and Garrett’s ‘The Highest Treason’ contain interesting twists in depicting human interaction with alien beings.
The anthology’s greatest recommendation has to be in its variety. For instance, McCaffery’s ‘Weyr Search’ could be categorised as “Science-Fiction Fantasy” in comparison to McLaughlin’s ‘Hawk Among the Sparrows’ which reads as “Historical Science Fiction”. Many of these stories present interesting dystopian representations of future Western society, such as the ‘People’s Capitalism’ of Reynold’s ‘Mercenary’.
My individual ratings:
The Eve of Rumoko - Roger Zelazny (1961): 5*
The Night of the Trolls - Keith Laumer (1963): 3*
Mercenary - Mack Reynolds (1962): 4*
Soldier, Ask Not - Gordon R. Dickson (1964): 4*
Weyr Search - Anne McCaffery (1967): 3.5*
Code Three - Rick Raphael (1963): 3.5*
How It Was When the Past Went Away - Robert Silverberg (1969): 3*
The Highest Treason - Randall Garrett (1961): 5*
Hawk Among the Sparrows - Dean McLaughlin (1968): 3.5*
The Suicide Express - Philip Jose Farmer (1966): 3.5*
The anthology’s greatest recommendation has to be in its variety. For instance, McCaffery’s ‘Weyr Search’ could be categorised as “Science-Fiction Fantasy” in comparison to McLaughlin’s ‘Hawk Among the Sparrows’ which reads as “Historical Science Fiction”. Many of these stories present interesting dystopian representations of future Western society, such as the ‘People’s Capitalism’ of Reynold’s ‘Mercenary’.
My individual ratings:
The Eve of Rumoko - Roger Zelazny (1961): 5*
The Night of the Trolls - Keith Laumer (1963): 3*
Mercenary - Mack Reynolds (1962): 4*
Soldier, Ask Not - Gordon R. Dickson (1964): 4*
Weyr Search - Anne McCaffery (1967): 3.5*
Code Three - Rick Raphael (1963): 3.5*
How It Was When the Past Went Away - Robert Silverberg (1969): 3*
The Highest Treason - Randall Garrett (1961): 5*
Hawk Among the Sparrows - Dean McLaughlin (1968): 3.5*
The Suicide Express - Philip Jose Farmer (1966): 3.5*
April 9, 2011
I’ve had a recent urge to read short stories, no doubt I am avoiding the massive, 1000 page Peter Hamilton Neutronium Alchemist monster sitting on top of the reading table. Grabbed this collection of older shorts off the shelf.
The Eve of Rumoko by Roger Zelazny: 3 stars. Reading this one week after the Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami is a little disconcerting. Toying with Mother Nature is not a good idea. The effects of the Rumoko project pale in comparison to what was wrought by the earthquake in Japan. What would you do if you could foresee the damage that would result? Would you take action? A timely story 30 years after it was written.
The Night of the Trolls by Keith Laumer: 4 stars. Rip Van Winkle and a dark Back to the Future/Timeline combination. There is a revelation in the middle of the story that is so incredibly poignant, if you don’t have an ache in your heart or catch in your throat, you are not a man.
Mercenary by Mack Reynolds: 2 stars. The story revolves around ritual, limited combat used to settle differences between companies, unions or governments. A decent story, not too long, about how an ambitious guy from the lower class survives and strives in a rigid world order to join the rich upper class.
Soldier, Ask Not by Gordon Dickson: 5 stars. Superb writing! I have most of his Dorsai novels but have not read them. I need to change that. This is a story of mercenary forces, similar to Mercenary above, where conflicts are resolved by forces brought in. But in this one you care for the combatants, although not in the beginning. First line of the story: “As I got off the spaceliner on St Marie…” Really, don’t we all wish we could do that?
Weyr Search by Anne McCaffrey: 1 star. See my review of Dragonflight, this is an excerpt from that novel. Not for me.
Code Three by Rick Raphael: 2 stars. Has a “Mad Men” flavor, not surprising since it was written in 1963. Two patrolmen and a female medic are patrolling the high speed highways crossing North America. Hey you can drive 400 miles an hour in this future, but the crashes are pretty spectacular and deadly. Cops may like this story.
The Highest Treason by Randall Gannett 5 Stars. Outstanding story about a future Earth that is socialist and politically correct, kind of a Progressive heaven if you will. A small problem is an invading race of alien humanoids who prefer to win and take everything and really don’t care about playing “fair”. Our protagonist struggles to find a way for the human race to survive. Interesting sacrifice he makes.
Hawk Among the Sparrows by Dean McLaughlin: 2 stars. What would happen if you could take a modern jet back to WWI. Kind of like that movie where the aircraft carrier goes back to just before Pearl Harbor. Just Ok.
The Suicide Express by Philip Jose Farmer: 1 star. Unfinished. Farmer is simply too weird to finish. This story is about people dying and being reborn multiple times on the “river”. One guy is chasing another through multiple deaths and awakenings in close proximity. A chase that simply has no interest.
How It was the Past Went Away by Robert Silverberg: 2 stars. Written in 1969, San Francisco is hit by a terror attack when someone contaminates the water supply with drugs that destroy your memories. Varying levels of memory loss occur. Some get memories back, some get no memories back. Really, everyone in San Francisco was (and is) on drugs – they normally can’t remember what they did – not much SciFi here.
The Eve of Rumoko by Roger Zelazny: 3 stars. Reading this one week after the Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami is a little disconcerting. Toying with Mother Nature is not a good idea. The effects of the Rumoko project pale in comparison to what was wrought by the earthquake in Japan. What would you do if you could foresee the damage that would result? Would you take action? A timely story 30 years after it was written.
The Night of the Trolls by Keith Laumer: 4 stars. Rip Van Winkle and a dark Back to the Future/Timeline combination. There is a revelation in the middle of the story that is so incredibly poignant, if you don’t have an ache in your heart or catch in your throat, you are not a man.
Mercenary by Mack Reynolds: 2 stars. The story revolves around ritual, limited combat used to settle differences between companies, unions or governments. A decent story, not too long, about how an ambitious guy from the lower class survives and strives in a rigid world order to join the rich upper class.
Soldier, Ask Not by Gordon Dickson: 5 stars. Superb writing! I have most of his Dorsai novels but have not read them. I need to change that. This is a story of mercenary forces, similar to Mercenary above, where conflicts are resolved by forces brought in. But in this one you care for the combatants, although not in the beginning. First line of the story: “As I got off the spaceliner on St Marie…” Really, don’t we all wish we could do that?
Weyr Search by Anne McCaffrey: 1 star. See my review of Dragonflight, this is an excerpt from that novel. Not for me.
Code Three by Rick Raphael: 2 stars. Has a “Mad Men” flavor, not surprising since it was written in 1963. Two patrolmen and a female medic are patrolling the high speed highways crossing North America. Hey you can drive 400 miles an hour in this future, but the crashes are pretty spectacular and deadly. Cops may like this story.
The Highest Treason by Randall Gannett 5 Stars. Outstanding story about a future Earth that is socialist and politically correct, kind of a Progressive heaven if you will. A small problem is an invading race of alien humanoids who prefer to win and take everything and really don’t care about playing “fair”. Our protagonist struggles to find a way for the human race to survive. Interesting sacrifice he makes.
Hawk Among the Sparrows by Dean McLaughlin: 2 stars. What would happen if you could take a modern jet back to WWI. Kind of like that movie where the aircraft carrier goes back to just before Pearl Harbor. Just Ok.
The Suicide Express by Philip Jose Farmer: 1 star. Unfinished. Farmer is simply too weird to finish. This story is about people dying and being reborn multiple times on the “river”. One guy is chasing another through multiple deaths and awakenings in close proximity. A chase that simply has no interest.
How It was the Past Went Away by Robert Silverberg: 2 stars. Written in 1969, San Francisco is hit by a terror attack when someone contaminates the water supply with drugs that destroy your memories. Varying levels of memory loss occur. Some get memories back, some get no memories back. Really, everyone in San Francisco was (and is) on drugs – they normally can’t remember what they did – not much SciFi here.
March 5, 2021
Picked this up as light reading, compared to Caste by Wilkerson. And then I got to the story Mercenary, which is a story of trying to break through the caste barrier of its society and although I didn't like Reynold's writing, I found the concepts interesting.
This is a book for fans of the genre (or of many sub-genres) and I was reminded of how male-oriented science fiction was in the '60s. With the exception of Weyr Search and Code Three, the developed characters were males and what females there were (and in some stories none) were secondary/minor characters. And even in Code Three, the medic would have benefitted from some character development.
This is escapist fiction, perfect for this time that we wish we could escape.
This is a book for fans of the genre (or of many sub-genres) and I was reminded of how male-oriented science fiction was in the '60s. With the exception of Weyr Search and Code Three, the developed characters were males and what females there were (and in some stories none) were secondary/minor characters. And even in Code Three, the medic would have benefitted from some character development.
This is escapist fiction, perfect for this time that we wish we could escape.
December 31, 2022
A book of short novels, covering a number of subjects that were all written in the 1960's, each with a different author and subject. Some I found brilliant, some not so. Some obviously then went on to develop into complete book series or maybe form part of them.
Overall a good read! Enjoyed!
Overall a good read! Enjoyed!
Want to read
July 17, 20137/5/92. No library.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews