A Treasury of Great Science Fiction 2 Volumes

Anthony Boucher ... [Goo?] [Posters]

This Hardcover Book item from Doubleday was reviewed on 4-Nov-2008.

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1) Hardcover Book A Treasury of Great Science Fiction 2 Volumes by Doubleday. I remember reading several contemporary reviews of this two-volumn anthology that were composed when it first came out in 1959. The reviewers had a problem. It was not so much with the contents, which were okay. But Boucher had used the word "great" in his title, and the stories were not really, well, _great_.

Well, damnation! I don´t know what you consider great. But here is a partial listing of the contents. There are four novels: _Rebirth_ by John Wyndham, _The Weapon Shops of Isher_ by A.E. van Vogt, _Brain Wave_ by Poul Anderson, and _The Stars my Destination_ by Alfred Bester. Then there are the novella length pieces: Robert A. Heinlein´s "Waldo" and "The Man who Sold the Moon," Theodore Sturgeon´s "The (Widget), the (Wadgett) and Boff," and Arthur C. Clarke´s "The Other Side of the Moon". Some of the other stories included are: "Pillar of Fire" by Ray Bradbury, "The Lost Years," by Oscar Lewis, "The Children´s Hour" by Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore, and "Magic City" by Nelson S. Bond. Does this lineup strike you as a bunch of average performances?

There are a few stories that aren´t in the same league as those listed above: Poul Anderson´s "The Martian Crown Jewels," Mildred Clingerman´s "Letters from Laura," and George P. Elliott´s "Sandra". Yet the difference is mainly a matter of degree. None of these three are badly written, and the Anderson and Clingerman pieces were doubtless included to give a light tone that helps to balance the selections. (Too many anthologies today are loaded with stories that are unmittigatingly dreary.)

Do not hesitate. Buy both volumns of this anthology right away. It comes to over a thousand pages of good-- no, great!-- science fiction reading.¤

Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 2-Dec-2008, , MKB-8

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