2013年8月3日 星期六

"A Century of Science Fiction: 1950-1959" edited by Robert Silverberg


This anthology appeared in 1996, and I'm sad to say that this, the first volume, was the only one that saw print.  According to the dust jacket, MJF Books was planning six more volumes in the series, with five volumes for the remainder of the twentieth century and a single volume for the first half.  If these other volumes had seen print, I'd be tracking them down now.

The more famous authors in this anthology are Ray Bradbury, Philip Jose Farmer, Arthur C. Clarke, Philip K. Dick, Isaac Asimov, Jack Vance, Poul Anderson, and (of course) Robert Silverberg.  Works by these "name" authors take up about half of the book, with the remaining half apportioned to authors whose fame was more specific to the 50s.  Almost all of the stories are great.  There are a couple average ones.  Only one story, "Common Time" by James Blish, would be, in my opinion, bad.

I really enjoyed this book, and I'm looking forward to seeking out some of the less-familiar authors in this collection.  After reading "Call Me Joe," I'm very eager to find some of Jack Vance's novels, and I have been encouraged to take another look at Philip Jose Farmer.  I tried to read one of his books years ago - didn't like it - and gave him no further thought, but I'm thinking that his more famous science fiction might be worth a second look.

I'll let you know what I discover.  It suddenly seems that I have a lot of reading to do!

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