The Big Book of Science Fiction

So far I've read the first 6 stories, and it's fascinating to read what early 20th century writers - male and female from around the world - were imagining. Highly recommended!

I can't remember the last time I have enjoyed a book this much. The aspects of this book that I enjoy the most are: the chronological presentation of stories from the late 1800's to near present day, the short author biography's preceding each story, and of course the stories themselves.The chronological presentation gives you a sense of how science fiction writing has developed and evolved over time. It also gives you some insight into what the people of that period thought the future might be like.The brief author biography before each story helps you understand the context and the authors point of view. In some cases, I found the biography as interesting, or more so, than the story itself. It should also be mentioned that the story includes many foreign authors, who if not for this book, I would have never hear of.Finally, the stories themselves which are supposed to be representative of the authors best works have, for the most part, been exceptional. I can't claim that they have all interested me or that I finished all of them. But for the most part, I have enjoyed the majority of the stories in the book.At over 1200 pages for $12.99 (Kindle version) I think it is an excellent value.Some reviewers have mentioned the printed version seems to be cheaply made. I bought the electronic version so cannot comment on that.

The Big Book of Science Fiction. edited by Ann and Jeff VandermeerRated 81% Positive. Story Score: 3.83 out of 5107 Stories : 26 Great / 52 Good / 18 Average / 8 Poor / 2 DNFBy any definition, The Big Book of Science Fiction was a massive undertaking for Ann and Jeff Vandermeer. Attempting to cover the entire history of science fiction: from 1897 to 2007 is to find yourself awash in a supernova of stories. No one’s choices were going to please everyone and this book certainly can be polarizing. In a Facebook group that I belong to, we read this book over many months and responses ranged from consistent “That’s my favorite story from that author” to “That isn’t Science Fiction” to “Too much horror” to “This is quite the slog.”In lieu of highlighting the Stories that made my All Time Great List - and there were 26 of them (!) - I’ll got brief thoughts that emerged during my reading of this book.This reads like a textbook. Most of the stories seem to be selected to inspire discussion in a classroom or to illustrate some point about either the genre or its history.The introductions from the Vandermeers are worth the price of the book. Even when I didn’t like a story, that introduction was insightful and detailed.“Curation is Creation.” The Vandermeers are writing the history of Science Fiction from the perspective of the present. The stories selected embody the values and emphasis of the 21st century reader.Many of the genre’s legendary authors and stories have been replaced with stories by women, minorities, and foreign language authors. A reader who thinks they are getting an anthology full of the classics of the genre will be disappointed.This is book of SF as “Literature” not as storytelling. Stories with messages and stories with innovation prose techniques are prioritized over fun adventures. There is definitely a chip on this book’s shoulder. It wants Science Fiction to be ‘taken seriously.”I recommend that you buy it and read it, but know what it is.And PLEASE don’t make this your first foray into short Science Fiction.***Can't review all the stories as normal. Not enough space allowed in the review.The Star • (1897) • short story by H. G. WellsGreat. An almost dreamlike tale of apocalyptic disaster started with a collision in the sky.Sultana's Dream • (1905) • short story by Rokeya Sakhawat HossainGood. A woman dreams a tour of a feminist utopia where women rule everything and men are kept secluded.The Triumph of Mechanics • short story by Karl Hans Strobl (trans. of Der Triumph der Mechanik 1907)Good. A mechanic toy maker is fired from his firm and gets revenge with rapidly multiplying robotic rabbits.The New Overworld • short story by Paul Scheerbart (trans. of Die neue Oberwelt. Eine Venus-Novellette 1911)Average. Turtle people and many-handed people coexist on the face of Venus.Elements of Pataphysics • short story by Alfred Jarry (trans. of Éléments de pataphysique 1911)DNF. A bunch of pseudoscience and thought experiments that never comes together into any story.Mechanopolis • short story by Miguel de Unamuno (trans. of Mecanópolis 1913)Good. At an oasis, a man stumbles into a world run only by machines.The Doom of Principal City • short story by Ефим Зозуля? (trans. of Гибель Главного города? 1918) [as by Yefim Zozulya]Average. Kindly (?) conquerors build a city overtop of the city that they just conquered.The Comet • (1920) • short story by W. E. B. Du BoisGood. A comet apocalypse finds a poor black man and a rich white woman the only people left in the world.The Fate of the Poseidonia • (1927) • short story by Clare Winger HarrisAverage. Are the Martians stealing Earth’s water? And also the protagonist’s girlfriend?The Star Stealers • (1965) • novelette by Edmond Hamilton (variant of The Star-Stealers 1929)Great. Frolicking Space Opera! A captain in the space navy is sent on a mission to prevent a planet in Dark Space from stealing the Sun.The Conquest of Gola • (1931) • short story by Leslie F. StoneGood. Feminist Venus is invaded by Men from Earth. Suffering ensues.A Martian Odyssey • (1934) • novelette by Stanley G. WeinbaumGreat. A masterpiece featuring a spaceman who crashed on Mars, met an interesting alien named Tweel, and trekked across the surface of the planet.The Last Poet and the Robots • (1934) • short story by A. MerrittPoor. An underground brilliant poet helps deal with a robot menace on the surface of earth.The Microscopic Giants • (1936) • short story by Paul ErnstGood. An exploration for copper is disrupted when very small, but powerful beings are discovered. They can move through concrete.Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius • (1998) • short story by Jorge Luis Borges (trans. of Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius? 1940)Good. The discovery of a fictional city and its legend of a fiction planet works as commentary about ‘modern day’ Argentina.Desertion • (1944) • short story by Clifford D. SimakGreat. Men are being transformed and sent into Jupiter’s inhospitable maul. Non have returned. One of the most memorable end scenes in all of science fiction.September 2005: The Martian • (1951) • short story by Ray Bradbury (variant of The Martian 1949)Good. A elderly couple meet a Martian who wants to live with them as their son.Baby HP • short story by Juan José Arreola (trans. of Baby H. P. 1952)Good. “You too can harness your baby’s energy to run your household!”Surface Tension • [Pantropy] • (1952) • novelette by James BlishGreat. An epic adventure of small aquatic humans - seeded by a galactic civilization - and their exploration above the surface of their watery world.Beyond Lies the Wub • (1952) • short story by Philip K. DickGood. Should you eat the pig-like Wub after it has shown sentience?The Snowball Effect • (1952) • short story by Katherine MacLeanGood. A science experience gone wrong as a sewing society is given the tools for rapid expansion.Prott • (1953) • short story by Margaret St. ClairAverage. Telepathic attempt at communication with a very strange alien species in deep space.The Liberation of Earth • (1953) • short story by William TennGreat. Absolute brutal satire of Cold War justifications for foreign intervention, retold as an alien invasion story.Let Me Live in a House • (1954) • novelette by Chad OliverGood. Creepy tale of two couples living in a controlled environment where nothing every changed. One day there is a knock on the door.The Star • (1955) • short story by Arthur C. ClarkeGood. A science-minding priest loses his faith with the discovery of a supernova that killed a beautiful civilization.Grandpa • (1955) • novelette by James H. SchmitzGood. A young man - a troublemaker on a new world - must rise to the occasion when a semi-sentient large raft starts behaving in new and dangerous ways.The Game of Rat and Dragon • [The Instrumentality of Mankind] • (1955) • short story by Cordwainer SmithGreat. A shockingly original look at the manner and costs of war amongst the stars through the lives of damaged people and their strange partnerships.The Last Question • (1956) • short story by Isaac AsimovGreat. Classic story of a giant computer which tries to discover how entropy might be reversed.Stranger Station • (1956) • novelette by Damon KnightGreat. On a space station, a man and an alien suffer because of the other’s presence. Slowly, the man starts to understand why.Sector General • (1957) • novelette by James WhiteGood. A sprawling adventure story about doctors on a space station who treat all sorts of aliens.The Visitors • novelette by Аркадий Стругацкий? and Борис Стругацкий? (trans. of Извне? 1958) [as by Arkady Strugatsky and Boris Strugatsky]Average. Matter-of-fact story of first contact with aliens.Pelt • (1958) • short story by Carol EmshwillerGood. Hunting on an alien planet, told from the perspective of a sentient hunting animal.The Monster • (1965) • short story by Gérard Klein? (trans. of Le monstre 1958)Good. A compelling story of a woman who hears about the police dealing with an arrived alien, and instinctively knows it has absorbed/eaten her husband.The Man Who Lost the Sea • (1959) • short story by Theodore SturgeonGreat. A literary masterpiece of a dying astronaut and his entire life.The Waves • short story by Silvina Ocampo (trans. of Las ondas 1959)Poor. Science will classify people in the future based on their ‘waves.”Plenitude • (1959) • short story by Will MohlerGood. A family that lives in the wild is intensely affected by a trip to ‘the city’ where people have are changed in horrific ways. Intense and sharp vignette.The Voices of Time • (1960) • novelette by J. G. BallardGreat. A serious literary story that balances death, symbols, sleeping, radiation, and life legacy in a way that is very adult and complex.The Astronaut • short story by Валентина Журавлёва? (trans. of Астронавт? 1960) [as by Valentina Zhuravlyova]Good. A story of heroic sacrifice with astronauts that have to take hobbies and the importance that hobbies can embed in your life.The Squid Chooses Its Own Ink • short story by Adolfo Bioy Casares (trans. of El calamar opta por su tinta 1962)Average. A comic Argentine sci-fi story about a small town dealing with an alien that has come to protect us from crazy people with The Bomb.2 B R 0 2 B • (1962) • short story by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.Good. A comic dystopia of a future where each new life must cause the end of another … and one man’s wife is going to have triplets.A Modest Genius • (1973) • short story by Вадим Шефнер? (trans. of Скромный гений? 1963) [as by Vadim Shefner]Good. Light romantic science fiction about a fantastic inventor and the women in his life. Very cute.Day of Wrath • novelette by Север Гансовский? (trans. of День гнева? 1965) [as by Sever Gansovsky]Great. A journalist and a forester travel out into the wilderness to study the Otarks. The Otarks are super-intelligent creature that escaped from a lab years ago. Brutal and powerful.The Hands • (1965) • short story by John BaxterGreat. Creepy bit of alien body horror. Earthmen, captured and tortured by an alien, arrive back home with very deformed bodies; multiple arms, heads, torso, etc….Darkness • (1972) • short story by André Carneiro (trans. of A Escuridão 1963)Good. In a world strangely plunged into darkness, one man survives with help from the blind."Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman • (1965) • short story by Harlan EllisonGood. The Harlequin disrupts the perfectly scheduled work as a protest and is hunted by the Ticktockman.Nine Hundred Grandmothers • (1966) • short story by R. A. LaffertyAverage. Asteroid miners with unusual names meet a race of people who may never die.Day Million • (1966) • short story by Frederik PohlGood. A snarky, tongue-in-cheek tale of dating and society a million days in our future.Student Body • (1953) • novelette by F. L. WallaceAverage. A bit of fluff about space settlers who must deal with an evolving rodent issue.Aye, and Gomorrah • (1970) • short story by Samuel R. Delany (variant of Aye, and Gomorrah ... 1967)Great. Masterful new age sexual allegory about neutered spacers and the perverse(?) human who pay to have sex with them.The Hall of Machines • (1968) • short story by Langdon JonesGreat. A haunting description of complex machines in the Hall of Machines.Soft Clocks • (1989) • short story by 荒巻義雄? (trans. of 柔らかい時計? 1968) [as by Yoshio Aramaki]Average. Psychiatrist summoned to Mars to evaluate potential husbands for Dali’s granddaughter. Surreal and strange, but not engaging.No Cracks or Sagging • [Moderan] • (1970) • short story by David R. Bunch (variant of No Cracks or Saggings)Average. Amateurish story of a traveler from far away that meets a foreman whose robots are stretching and flattening everything.New Kings Are Not for Laughing • [Moderan] • (1971) • short story by David R. BunchGood. A traveler - converted to a cyborg - meets a severely injured man with whom he fought in the war.The Flesh Man from Far Wide • [Moderan] • short story by David R. Bunch (variant of The Flesh-Man from Far Wide 1959)Good. The man in a Stronghold meets a traveler who has traveled far to discover a happiness machine. Let Us Save the Universe (An Open Letter from Ijon Tichy) • [Ze wspomnień Ijona Tichego / From the Memoirs of Ijon Tichy] • (1981) • short story by Stanisław Lem? (trans. of Ratujmy kosmos 1964)Great. Hilarious and masterful. Ijon Tichy reports on the effects of exploitation and tourism on the solar system. Some highlights are the strange animals that prey on unwary tourists.Vaster Than Empires and More Slow • [Hainish] • (1971) • novelette by Ursula K. Le GuinGood. A crew that is seething at each other starts to explore a planet with a strange expansive type of consciousness.Good News from the Vatican • (1971) • short story by Robert SilverbergGood. The Catholic Church is about to elect a robot Pope.When It Changed • [Whileaway] • (1972) • short story by Joanna RussGood. On a world made up of only women, men have finally arrived and they pose a creeping threat.And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side • (1972) • short story by James Tiptree, Jr.Great. A reporter meets a ragged worker at a spaceport who tells about how fascination with aliens has lead to his ruin …. and will lead to the ruin of humanity. Brilliantly written with incredible things to say about humanity, culture, sexual addiction, and much more.Where Two Paths Cross • short story by Дмитрий Биленкин? (trans. of Пересечение пути? 1973) [as by Dmitri Bilenkin]Good. Fun SF adventure with humans arriving on a planet and running afoul of the dimly-sentient plant-based aliens. A nice alien creature and a pleasant story.Standing Woman • (1981) • short story by 筒井康隆? (trans. of 佇むひと? 1974) [as by Yasutaka Tsutsui]Good. A sad strange story of a world where people are planted like trees as punishment for disobedience to the state.The IWM 1000 • short story by Alicia Yánez Cossío (trans. of La IWM mil 1975)Poor. Short short where humans become reliant on small machines and lose their ability to read and write.The House of Compassionate Sharers • [Glaktik Komm] • (1977) • novelette by Michael BishopGood. A rebuilt man who has a phobia of the human body get treatment at an interesting facility that doubles as an offbeat brothel.Sporting with the Chid • (1979) • short story by Barrington J. BayleyGood. To save an injured friend, two hunters break the rules and interact with the Chid who have disgusting, but effective, medical skills.Sandkings • [Thousand Worlds] • (1979) • novelette by George R. R. MartinGreat. A psychopath buys small creatures that war in his terrarium and worship him as a god. Of course, they escape and this ends badly. A classic of SF action horror.Wives • (1979) • short story by Lisa TuttleGreat. To survive occupation by men, an alien race has turned themselves into ‘wives.’ One of the ‘wives’ starts to think there may be another way. One of the best feminist and colonialist analogies I've ever seen in science fiction.The Snake Who Had Read Chomsky • (1981) • novelette by Josephine SaxtonPoor. Very unpleasant people try to get one up on each other through parties with rich people.Reiko's Universe Box • (2007) • short story by 梶尾真治? (trans. of 玲子の箱宇宙?) [as by Kajio Shinji]Good. Poetic story of a Japanese woman who becomes fascinated at the universe she sees in a box.Swarm • [Shaper/Mechanist] • (1982) • novelette by Bruce SterlingGood. A special agent from a branch of humanity that is bred for intelligence arrives on a symbiotic space station with a mission that will secure victory in an ongoing war. The Swarm is very well described and there is more than enough here for a novel.Mondocane • short story by Jacques Barbéri? (trans. of Mondocane 1983)Poor. Surrealists SF where war has resulted in extreme changes for all people.Blood Music • (1983) • novelette by Greg BearGreat. A brilliant scientist goes to a friend for help after injecting himself with the intelligent results of illegal experiments.Bloodchild • (1984) • novelette by Octavia E. ButlerGreat. A visceral and amazing story of the bond between humans and an insect-like race. A young boy who is to be host for the aliens offspring is forced to help with an emergency c-section on a pregnant man who is being eaten from within by the aliens larva. Powerful, complex, horrifying, and strangely realistic. With overtones of slavery and colonial oppression.Variation on a Man • [Deadpan Allie] • (1984) • short story by Pat CadiganGood. A woman enters the mind of a man who has had his memories stolen. He once was a famous composer, but now appears to be an entirely different person.Passing as a Flower in the City of the Dead • short story by Sharon N. Farber [as by S. N. Dyer]Good. In a sterile environment of an orbital station, people with rare blood diseases are treated. They hate “Fidos:” people who aren’t sick but tag along to be with their loved ones.New Rose Hotel • (1984) • short story by William GibsonGood. A beatnik influenced, cyberpunk crime story about a beautiful woman and the attempt to kidnap a corporate genetic engineer.Pots • (1985) • novelette by C. J. CherryhAverage. A representative of the Lord Magistrate comes down to a planet to check on an archeological site, but finds that it contradicts the desires of the Lord Magistrate. Good start, but falls apart.Snow • (1985) • short story by John CrowleyGood. A man remembers his old lover in video snippets recorded and preserved by a video “Wasp.”The Lake Was Full of Artificial Things • (1985) • short story by Karen Joy FowlerAverage. A woman engages in virtual reality therapy to deal with emotional pain around an ex-lover who died in Vietnam.The Unmistakable Smell of Wood Violets • short story by Angélica Gorodischer (trans. of El inconfundible aroma de las violetas silvestres 1991)Poor. In a strange variant of our political world, a poor country launches a woman into space and she explores the very end of the universe.The Owl of Bear Island • (1986) • short story by Jon Bing (trans. of Ugle på Bjørnøya?)Good. At a remote icy research station, a man’s body is taken over repeatedly by an alien doing research. Readers of the Lost Art • (1996) • short story by Élisabeth Vonarburg? (trans. of La carte du Tendre 1986)Average. Extreme content warning: torture. At a decadent art show in a bar, the idle rich watch torture as a form of art. A Gift from the Culture • [Culture] • (1987) • short story by Iain M. BanksGood. A man who has rejected the luxury of The Culture finds himself compelled to do an act of terrorism because only people of the Culture can use the high tech gun.Paranamanco • short story by Jean-Claude Dunyach (trans. of Paranamanco 1988)Great. On a city-sized animal that traverses the stars, an expedition goes badly when one of the members becomes enthralled by the being.Crying in the Rain • (1987) • short story by Tanith LeeGreat. In a post-apocalyptic world of acid rain and nearly certain death by cancer, a mother and daughter travel to a protected domed city. The daughter is to be sold in marriage to one of the men there. A superb use of this trope and wonderful character study of both the daughter and the mother.The Frozen Cardinal • (1987) • short story by Michael MoorcockGood. On an icy expedition on an alien world, the explorers find a Catholic Cardinal stuck in the ice.and 22 more...

I had been looking for a science fiction anthology, and this one intrigued me. I have read about 1/4 of the stories by now. If you are looking to buy one science fiction anthology, this is it.Yes, at 1200 pages, it is indeed a big book, and somewhat difficult to handle. I found the binding and book pages to be of decent quality, and I didn't mind the double columns. The main issue with any book is the content. This book contains short stories by all the classics, such as Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Harlan Ellison, H.G, Wells, Ursula K. LeGuin, Arthur C. Clarke, Octavia Butler, Philip K. Dick, William Gibson, etc. The surprises are authors I didn't expect to see - there is a pretty good story by W.E.B. DuBois. There are several stories each from countries/ areas with a science fiction tradition, such as Russia, South America and Japan, but other countries are represented as well. There is also a good representation of female writers, including the early 20th century utopia from India/ Pakistan, "Sultana's dream".Some of the shortcomings might be the lack of science fiction precursors other than H.G. Wells. And there isn't much from mainstream writers who sometimes write science fiction, other than Kurt Vonnegut. But there are plenty of treasures here, often by writers I have never heard of. So if you like science fiction, do yourself a favor and buy this book.

A well crafted collection of the very best science fiction stories of all time with biographies of the authors. I loved it.

Ce livre était destiné à être un cadeau, mais il est tellement abîmé qu'il semble être d'occasion ! Il s'agit d'un livre de poche lourd et très épais, avec une couverture fine, qui a été envoyé dans une enveloppe en carton, sans couverture ni rembourrage. TRÈS décevant.

Informative and well illustrated creating many talking points

Bien

The media could not be loaded.  This is definitely a brilliant collection. Very diverse. It is huge. My issue is with the binding and the packaging. For such a thick book, with more than 1000 pages, the binding should have been better. I am spending more than a thousand bucks but I have to constantly worry about not damaging the book. In fact when I received the package it was already damaged. The cover was torn at the top. I did not return it because this book is very difficult to find.So publishers, please do proper binding and give it a strong cover, something that can hold this amazing collection.And seller, please take care while packaging. Cover the edges properly and don't tear the book.