Masterpieces: The Best Science Fiction of the Century may not include every reader's choices for the top science fiction of the 20th century, but it lives up to its title. Editor Orson Scott Card has assembled 27 standout stories by the biggest names and best writers in the genre. Not surprisingly, most of these stories have been anthologized or collected elsewhere, and some (like Arthur C. Clarke's "Nine Billion Names of God," Harlan Ellison's "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman," and Robert A. Heinlein's "All You Zombies--") have been reprinted innumerable times. In addition, Card has previously placed some of these selections in his retrospective 1980s anthology Future on Ice.
While some stories in Masterpieces lack fine prose and well-rounded characters, they are solid and engrossing entertainments. Other selections combine literary and science fiction virtues to produce a superior blend, and some of these stories--"Bears Discover Fire" by Terry Bisson, "Snow" by John Crowley, "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman" by Harlan Ellison, "Face Value" by Karen Joy Fowler, "Tourists" by Lisa Goldstein, and "The Ones Who Walked Away from Omelas" by Ursula K. Le Guin--are art.
Masterpieces isn't an anthology for the well-read fan. However, it is a great book for the new or intermediate science fiction reader. --Cynthia Ward
From Booklist
The 29 classic stories in this anthology are as well chosen as you might expect, given editor Card's formidable knowledge of the field and his fellow writers, knowledge that makes his introductory comments on each story very good, further enhancing the book's considerable value for the classroom and as an introduction to major stories and writers for nonstudents. Card's selections span the period from 1936 to 1995, and from Edmond Hamilton's "Devolution" through Lisa Goldstein's "Tourist," they are outstanding. The authors represented constitute an sf hall of fame: Heinlein, Bradbury, Asimov, Clarke, Pohl, Ellison, Le Guin, and others as famous and beloved. Toward the end of the collection, a few stories, like so much current sf, blur the lines between sf and fantasy, which makes one hope that Card, a man of mighty prowess in both genres, will compile a companion volume of fantasy stories. Should he, buy that book, too. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Book Description
An overview of the best science fiction short stories of the 20th century as selected and evaluated by critically-acclaimed author Orson Scott Card.
Featuring stories from the genre's greatest authors:
Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert A. Heinlein, Ursula K. Le Guin, Ray Bradbury, Frederik Pohl, Harlan Ellison, George Alec Effinger, Brian W. Aldiss, William Gibson & Michael Swanwick, Theodore Sturgeon, Larry Niven, Robert Silverberg, Harry Turtledove, James Blish, George R. R. Martin, James Patrick Kelly, Karen Joy Fowler, Lloyd Biggle, Jr., Terry Bisson, Poul Anderson, John Kessel, R.A. Lafferty, C.J. Cherryh, Lisa Goldstein, and Edmond Hamilton
Download Description
"A virtual who's who in a century of imaginative fiction, this new hardcover collection includes classic and influential stories by: Brian W. Aldiss * Isaac Asimov * Greg Bear * Gregory Benford * Octavia E. Butler * Arthur C. Clarke * Philip K. Dick * William Gibson * Joe Haldeman * Robert A. Heinlein * Ursula K. Le Guin * Anne McCaffrey * Frederik Pohl * Mike Resnick * Kim Stanley Robinson * Pamela Sargent * Robert Silverberg * Clifford D. Simak * John Varley * Roger Zelazny With a new critical essay by Orson Scott Card, Masterpieces is a glimpse of the greatest works that mixed science with fiction...and changed the way we think about ourselves, our future, and our place in the universe. Featuring bold, brave, and breathtaking stories, this definitive collection will stand the test of time in this century and in those to come."
About the Author
Orson Scott Card is a multiple Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author.
Masterpieces: The Best Science Fiction of the Century FROM THE PUBLISHER
An overview of the best science fiction short stories of the 20th century as selected and evaluated by critically-acclaimed author Orson Scott Card.
Featuring stories from the genre's greatest authors:
Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert A. Heinlein, Ursula K. Le Guin, Ray Bradbury, Frederik Pohl, Harlan Ellison, George Alec Effinger, Brian W. Aldiss, William Gibson & Michael Swanwick, Theodore Sturgeon, Larry Niven, Robert Silverberg, Harry Turtledove, James Blish, George R. R. Martin, James Patrick Kelly, Karen Joy Fowler, Lloyd Biggle, Jr., Terry Bisson, Poul Anderson, John Kessel, R.A. Lafferty, C.J. Cherryh, Lisa Goldstein, and Edmond Hamilton
Author Biography: Orson Scott Card is a multiple Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author.
FROM THE CRITICS
VOYA - Stefani Koorey
The giants of the genre contribute to this highly accessible collection of twenty-seven science fiction short stories. The text is arranged into three chronological sections labeled The Golden Age, which spans the beginning of the century to the mid-sixties; The New Wave, which covers the decade from the mid-sixties to mid-seventies; and The Media Generation, which takes readers from the mid-seventies to the present. Editor and writer Card, winner of several Hugo and Nebula awards, bases his selections in this auspicious-sounding volume on one simple subjective criteria: He chooses stories that he loved when he first read them and that, when reread, he still loved and admired. Replete with representative tales from the legendary Asimov, Heinlein, Bradbury, Clark, Gibson, Le Guin, Pohl, Niven, Ellison, and Silverberg, this collection attempts to introduce readers not to the authors' greatest hits but to some of their best but lesser-known works, and it is successful in almost every case. Because the book contains Card's own favorites and not the best stories based on critical acclaim, the book's subtitle is a bit presumptuous and could inspire debate among devotees. Although not the best science fiction of the century, the book definitely is a collection of works by the century's best science fiction writers. It is a pleasure to read each selection's introduction that expertly encapsulates the author's career and places the story in its proper historical context. This book is a recommended purchase for all public and school libraries. VOYA CODES: 4Q 2P M J S A/YA (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; For the YA with a special interest in the subject; Middle School, definedas grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12; Adult and Young Adult). 2001, Ace, 422p,
Kirkus Reviews
Card (Shadow of the Hegemon, 2000, etc.), science fiction's popular neo-pastoral writer, picks his 27 favorites of the century-most of which are undisputed classics, even if Poul Anderson's "Call Me Joe," Brian Aldiss's "Who Can Replace Man?" and Arthur C. Clarke's "Nine Billion Names of God" have been included in so many best-of and college textbook collections that they are almost canonical. Others are good, but not necessarily representative of their authors' finest work. Card reaches back to the 1930s with Edmund Hamilton's silly alien-encounter story, "Devolution," ignoring the author's more significant space-opera stories. He includes a charmingly sentimental Isaac Asimov robot tale, "Robot Dreams," instead of the immortal "Nightfall." Robert Heinlein's gimmicky time-travel paradox "All You Zombies" gets in instead of his tear-jerking "The Green Hills of Earth." Ursula K. Le Guin's "Those Who Walk Away From Omelas" pales beside the blinding eccentricity of R.A. Lafferty in "Eurema's Dam," though Card leaves out anything by other paradigm-shifting iconoclasts like Avram Davidson, Samuel Delany, Roger Zelazny, and Gene Wolfe. He nods at major trends: Harlan Ellison's rebel-without-a-clue experimentalism (" ﾽRepent Harlequin!' said the Ticktockman"), cyberpunk ("Dogfight," from William Gibson and Michael Swanwick), neo-pastoralism (Terry Bisson's sly "Bears Discover Fire"), and alternate-history (Harry Turtledove's "The Road Not Taken"), ending with George Alec Effinger's comforting, mystical twist on the search for intelligent life ("One"). In his introduction, Card explains that, rather than mulling over what best represents the authors, what stories were most influential in thefield, or what might be the criteria of a masterpiece, he merely picked stories he liked when he first read them and liked again when he thought about collecting them. Duh?
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