A Century of Shorts

The Science Fiction Century, Volume 1 (Orb/Tor Books, ISBN 0-312-86484-1). Edited by David G. Hartwell.

Somehow or another I missed this one when it was out in hardcover. I have the other Hartwell "megathologies" (these are really big books) and I'm looking forward to the newest installment (covering space opera) when it is published in July 2006. So, I'm happy to pick up half of this anthology, even if it is a trade paperback (but I'm sad that I'll have to wait until much later in the year before the second installment comes out).

The introduction by Hartwell is somewhat brief, but is supplemented by the commentary he provides with each story, so overall it is a good look at the 100 or so years covered in the anthology. I was somewhat surprised by the way the stories are mixed (old and new), but it looks like it'll work. As for the selection, I think he did an excellent job here. He could have gone with the tried-and-true and countlessly anthologized tales of various authors. Instead, we have a good representation of the old and new authors and a solid selection of titles that are not the ones you would expect. So, for example, for A.E. van Vogt, instead of another reprinting of one of the Weapon Shops tales we have Enchanted Village.

Beam Us Home (James Tiptree, Jr.): I'm going to assume that most readers of this site know who James Tiptree, Jr. was; if not, click on the name and you can learn the facts. A few sentences into this tale I was struck by the realization that I had read it before. In fact, I read it in its original magazine publication, back in 1969, in the late, lamented Galaxy. Both amusing and sad, it is the story of a boy obsessed with a certain prime-time science fiction show, his failure to become an astronaut and his fate. Was he really beamed home? Or was it all a fever. The commentary by Hartwell talks about how Tiptree's tales got darker and darker towards the end; at the beginning of "his" career was this an echo of things to come?

Made up of: Introduction (David G. Hartwell); Beam Us Home (James Tiptree, Jr.); Ministering Angels (C.S. Lewis); The Music Master of Babylon (Edgar Pangborn); A Story of the Days to Come (H.G. Wells); Hot Planet (Hal Clement); A Work of Art (James Blish); The Machine Stops (E.M. Forster); Brightness Falls from the Air (Margaret St. Clair); 2066: Election Day (Michael Shaara); The Rose (Charles Harness); The Hounds of Tindalos (Frank Belknap Long); The Angel of Violence (Adam Wisniewski-Snerg); Nobody Bothers Gus (Algis Budrys); The Time Machine (Dino Buzzati); Mother (Philip Jose Farmer); As Easy as ABC (Rudyard Kipling); Ginungagap (Michael Swanwick); Minister Without Portfolio (Mildred Clingerman); Time in Advance (William Tenn); Good Night, Sophie (Lino Aldani); Veritas (James Morrow); Enchanted Village (A.E. van Vogt); The King and the Dollmaker (Wolfang Jeschke); Fire Watch (Connie Willis); Goat Song (Poul Anderson); The Scarlet Plague (Jack London).

Counts as two entries in the 2006 short story project.

Part of the 2007 Short Story Project.

Part of the 2008 Year in Shorts.