Synopses & Reviews
In "Swarm," Bruce Stirling takes the reader inside the Nest, a vast honeycomb of caverns within an asteroid orbiting Betelgeuse, peopled by hundreds of thousands of large, insectlike aliens, including eight-legged, furred workers the size of Great Danes, and horse-sized warriors with heavy, fanged heads. In "The Screwfly Solution," Raccoona Sheldon creates a world much like modern America, except that something--an insect virus, a mass religious delusion, or an alien--is infecting men worldwide, converting their sexual drive into homicidal rage against women. And J.G. Ballard in "Billennium" portrays the end result of unchecked population growth, a claustrophobic city of 30 million people, where by law the unmarried must live in cubicles four meters square. These three tales, though strikingly different, have one thing in common--each evokes a world that is uniquely the author's own. Indeed, to read any science fiction writer is to enter into another world. It may be a world far off in space or time, or it may be right here, right now, but with a twist--an invention, or event, or visitor--that suddenly changes everything.
In The Oxford Book of Science Fiction Stories, Tom Shippey has brought together thirty classic science fiction tales, each of which offers a unique vision, an altered reality, a universe all its own. Here are some of the great names in science fiction--H.G. Wells, Arthur C. Clarke, Frederik Pohl, Brian Aldiss, Ursula K. Le Guin, Thomas Disch, Bruce Sterling, William Gibson, and David Brin. To give readers a sense of how the genre's range, vitality, and literary quality evolved over time, Shippey has organized these stories chronologically. Readers can sample H.G. Well's 1903 story "The Land Ironclads" (which predicted the stalemate of trench warfare and the invention of the tank), Jack Williamson's "The Metal Man," a rarely anthologized gem written in 1928, Clifford D. Simak's 1940s classic, "Desertion," set on "the howling maelstrom that was Jupiter," Frederik Pohl's 1955 "The Tunnel Under the World" (with its gripping first line, "On the morning of June 15th, Guy Burckhardt woke up screaming out of a dream"), right up to the current crop of writers, such as cyberpunks Bruce Sterling and William Gibson, whose 1982 story "Burning Chrome" foreshadows the idea of virtual reality, and David Brin's "Piecework," written in 1990. In addition, Shippey provides an informative introduction, examining the history of the genre, it major themes, and its literary techniques.
Here then is a galaxy of classic science fiction tales, written by the stars of the genre. Anyone with a serious interest in science fiction--and everyone who has entertained a curiosity about the genre--will find this volume enthralling.
Review
"Tom Shippey is a major contributor in science fiction, as well as in medieval and language studies, and his new anthology not only is useful and important, it illuminates the field with the editor's insights and selections."--James Gunn, Director, The Center for the Study of Science Fiction, University of Kansas
"A vindication for all of us [science fiction fans] who have had to defend the genre as deserving serious consideration...This book collects 30 classic science-fiction stories by some of the field's msot famous authors....It's a great selection of intelligent and intriguing work."--The Cleveland Plain Dealer
"A collection that makes us feel the uniqueness of this discipline so freshly is doing its job."--Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Synopsis
This is the definitive collection of the twentieth-century's most characteristic genre--science fiction. The tales are organized chronologically to give readers a sense of how the genre's range, vitality, and literary quality have evolved over time. Each tale offers a unique vision, an altered reality, a universe all its own. Readers can sample H.G. Well's 1903 story "The Land Ironclads" (which predicted the stalemate of trench warfare and the invention of the tank), Jack Williamson's "The Metal Man," a rarely anthologized gem written in 1928, Clifford D. Simak's 1940s classic, "Desertion," set on "the howling maelstrom that was Jupiter," Frederik Pohl's 1955 "The Tunnel Under the World" (with its gripping first line, "On the morning of June 15th, Guy Burckhardt woke up screaming out of a dream"), right up to the current crop of writers, such as cyberpunks Bruce Sterling and William Gibson, whose 1982 story "Burning Chrome" foreshadows the idea of virtual reality, and David Brin's "Piecework," written in 1990. In addition, Shippey provides an informative Introduction, examining the history of the genre, its major themes, and its literary techniques.
About the Author
Tom Shippey inherited J. R. R. Tolkien's Chair of Medieval English Language at the University of Leeds, and now holds the Walter J. Ong Chair of Humanities at St Louis University, Missouri, specializing in Medieval Literature, Old English Arthurian and Romance Literature, Fantasy, and Science Fiction. He has written and edited numerous books, including J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century (2001).
Table of Contents
1. The Land Ironclads,
H. G. Wells2. Finis, Frank L. Pollack
3. As easy as ABC, Rudyard Kipling
4. The Metal Man, Jack Williamson
5. A Martian Odyssey, Stanley G. Weinbaum
6. Night, John W. Campbell Jr
7. Desertion, Clifford D. Simak
8. The Piper's Son, Lewis Padgett
9. The Monster, A. E. Van Vogt
10. The Second Night of Summer, James H. Schmitz
11. Second Dawn, Arthur C. Clarke
12. Crucifixus Etiam, Walter M. Miller Jr
13. The Tunnel under the World, Frederik Pohl
14. Who can Replace a Man?, Brian Aldiss
15. Billenium, J. G. Ballard
16. The Ballad of Lost C'Mell, Cordwainer Smith
17. The Dowry of the Angyar, Ursula Le Guin
18. How Beautiful with Banners, James Blish
19. A Criminal Act, Harry Harrison
20. Problems of Creativeness, Thomas M. Disch
21. How the Whip came Back, Gene Wolfe
22. Cloak of Anarchy, Larry Niven
23. The Screwfly Solution, Norman Spinrad
24. The Way of Cross and Dragon, George R. R. Martin
25. Swarm, Bruce Sterling
26. Silicon Muse, Hilbert Schenck
27. Burning Chrome, William Gibson
28. Karl and the Ogre, Paul J. McAuley
29. Piecework, David Brin