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I give. This large short story anthology has remained on my reading list for over 4 years. Every so often, I would pick it up and read a story, and not enjoy it. Usually in any anthology there are good submissions and some stinkers, but I never came across any good ones. And hard SF is one genre I quite enjoy. Life is too short, and this volume is getting spaced.DNF
Went to the sci fi museum in seattle and resolved to read everything there was about the history and evolution of sci fi. So much out there and so little time. Am about 4/5 of way through. Basically a collection of short stories, some I have read, some I have not.
It may not be great, but it's bound to have some interesting stories in it, including "Making Light" which riffs on 'In the beginning was the W.O.R.D.'
What a great collection of stories. Worth it just for "All mimsy were the borogroves" and Kipling's "With the Night Mail", but there's so much more quality material here
Almost a thousand pages of (mostly) grade-1 SF stories. Of course it's a daunting prospect for any neophyte, and misses developments of the last 25-years, but with some judicious selection of key topics (suggestions for which are helpfully provided by the editors in an appendix) it's a worthwhile anthology.It was good to read again classics like "Mimsy Were the Borogoves", "The Very Slow Time Machine" and "All the Hues of Hell", but this longtime reader also came across some fascinating new tale...
I am a high school English teacher, and during most summer breaks, I read between 20 and 30 books. This summer, I just finished reading one book, a book I began 'way back at the end of April, David Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer's massive anthology The Ascent of Wonder: The Evolution of Hard SF, a 990-page collection of 68 SF stories that is somewhere around 500,000 words in length. In thinking about the value of this book, I am reminded of The Science Fiction Hall of Fame in all three of its volum...
Very good book, with a number of great stories. My main complaint is the lack of organization, of which there doesn't seem to be any, chronological or otherwise, despite the word "evolution" in the title of the book.
I've been 'currently reading' this and its companion volume, Hard SF Renaissance, for years. It's a wonderful overview of the genre. Highly recommend it, both to fans who want to delve into the history of the genre and to writers who want to read the best of the best in order to hone their craft.
This an essential collection for any fan of science fiction, new or existing
I can't say I loved every single story in this anthology, but there were so many winners -- The Cold Equations, All Mimsy Were the Borogroves, The Final Question, stand out particularly as stories I would read again and again. I never did care much for Jules Verne, and still don't, though it seems only natural that such an anthology would include him. Once would have been quite enough, however. The choice of Nathaniel Hawthorne to represent 'hard science fiction' is a little more surprising, but...
This was my textbook in a literature class on science fixture. It's a good choice for a general survey of science fiction, especially in a compare/contrast sort of way. It really does illustrate the evolution of sci-fi, particularly the development of common themes. The stories within include a lot of classic, well-known tales. Some were better than others. On a whole, most of the stories were not ones I would have read outside of a class setting, which is why I rated this at only 2 1/2 stars. R...
"Procreation," by Gene Wolfe (1983): 6.75 - Surely Gene Wolfe is above writing a Shaggy God story? Well, yes and no. Gene Wolfe is surely above being seen as writing a shaggy god story, regardless of his compulsive inability to leave a perfectly good name un-symbolized or a perfectly good number un-numerologized [something run rampant over this otherwise wrist-flip of a Wolfian exercise (consider: Drs. Gott and Ramackrishna, repeating cycles of seven days, with requisite rest on the sabbath, and...
Outstanding collection. 69 short stories and for me; about 60 of them were 4 or 5 star quality with a large number dating from more than 40 years ago. Very enjoyable. (Hardcover 992 pages gives you a great workout every time you pick it up and hold it for reading!!)
Some of the best science fiction in the world. I've literally read the covers off this collection - and it's hardbound!
my oldest brother gave me this book as a birthday present when i was a senior in high school, and i couldn't sleep soundly for months afterwards. seriously, i felt like a scared toddler shaking in diapers after reading this story called "The Xi Effect," in which all the light in the world goes out. it's hard for me to judge this book on a scale measuring how much i liked it, because all i remember is being utterly terrified.
very nice compilation spanning the entire time of hard scifi. good mix of the extremes of the genre as well - for instance: william gibson's johnny mnemonic has very little real 'hard science' in it, but is still a hard scifi story and worthy of inclusion.recommended for all fans of scifi and those interested in the progress of scifi in the 20th century.
Fleet Commander Selma, in her skintight spaceblack uniform made of pure phalagium that could withstand any heat except that of my gaze, turned her large piercing eyes towards me and said“The situation on Asteroid 3682467 is critical. Asteroids 25 through to 3682466 are okay, more or less, but the situation on Asteroid 3682467 is critical.”With the catlike agility of a panther she vaulted the thirty meters to the observation deck and flicked a few switches. “See here?” she snapped. “This is Aster...
There are so many sci fi surveys on the market it would be almost impossible to read them all. That said, David Hartwell is one of the best anthologists out there. Focusing on "hard" science stories was a wise move, I think. My only complaint, and the reason I couldn't stick that extra star up there on the rating, was because many of the stories contained here were already in my other sci fi anthologies. Still, if you don't already own a large number of anthologies, and you're looking for someth...
Must read! A must, must, must if you want to dip your toe into Science Fiction. Must. Must, I said!
At the time, this was the third Hartwell anthology I had read. It presents stories that have a solid foundation in sciences and math, which the editors define as hard scifi. It had creative, interesting, and very readable stories. My impression back then, this was like sipping a fine wine, as opposed to other light scifi books, which would be like sipping a cola or water. You can have them all in the end, and I do read the lighter stuff too. I do recommend this one.