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     Volume 4 Issue 60 |August 26, 2005 |


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Books


Science Fiction Anthologies

Sanyat Sattar

The Science Fiction Hall Of Fame, Volume One
Robert Silverberg (Editor)
Orb Books; February 2005
ISBN: 0765305372

This book contains twenty-six of the greatest science fiction stories ever written. They represent the considered verdict of the "Science Fiction Writers of America", those who have shaped the genre in the US. The authors chosen for The Science Fiction Hall of Fame are the men and women who have shaped the body and heart of modern science fiction. Robert Heinlein in "The Roads Must Roll" describes an industrial civilization of the future caught up in the deadly flaws of its own complexity. "Country of the Kind," by Damon Knight, is a frightening portrayal of biological mutation. "Nightfall," by Isaac Asimov, one of the greatest stories in the science fiction field, is the story of a planet where the sun sets only once every millennium and is a chilling study in mass psychology. Originally published in 1970 to honour those writers and their stories that had come before the institution of the Nebula Awards, The Science Fiction Hall Of Fame, Volume One, was the book that introduced tens of thousands of young readers to the wonders of science fiction. Too long unavailable, this new edition will treasured by all science fiction fans everywhere.


The Year's Best Science Fiction
Gardner Dozois (Editor)
St. Martin's Griffin; July 2005
ISBN: 0312336608

The latest in Dozois's definitive, must-read short story anthology series takes the pulse of science fiction today, revealing it to be a genre of breathtaking scope and imagination. Classic Science Fiction situations take on a new twist: observation/first-contact stories "The Ocean of the Blind" by James L. Cambias and standout "The Clapping Hands of God" by Michael F. Flynn follow humans as they disastrously make contact with alien species that they cannot comprehend; in Stephen Baxter's generation-starship story, "Mayflower II," someone has to stay awake to tend the humans throughout the millennia of travel; and in the postapocalyptic world of Brendan Dubois's "Falling Star" we mourn the loss of our civilization. Several stories first appeared online, including Christopher Rowe's Hugo nominee, "The Voluntary State," which outrageously plays with Tennessee icons, and Vernor Vinge's "Synthetic Serendipity," about boys' virtual reality games. A comprehensive summation of the field and a list of honourable mentions make this book indispensable as a reference volume. The range of stories and styles means there's something here for everyone.


Year's Best SF 10
David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer (Editors)
Eos; June 2005
ISBN: 0060575611

A banner year for speculative fiction has yielded a crop of superb short form SF (Science Fiction). Now the very best to appear over the past twelve months has been amassed into one extraordinary volume by acclaimed editors and anthologists David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer, offering bold visions of days to come that are bright, triumphant, breathtaking, and strikingly unique. Once more, celebrated masters of the field join with exciting new voices to sing of explorations and invasions, grand technological accomplishments, amazing flights into the unknown, horrors and miracles, and the human condition.
(Source: ETC, Gulshan 1, Dhaka)

 

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