Adventures in Time and Space

One of the earliest sci-fi anthologies, and one of the best for "golden age" fans. Includes "Farewell to the Master," the inspiration for "The Day the Earth Stood Still" as well as the seminal "Forgetfulness" by Don A. Stuart (nom de plume of famous editor John D. MacDonald), as well as his "Who Goes There?" (inspiration for the films "The Thing (From Outer Space)," Asimov's "Nightfall," Bester's "Adam and No Eve," Van Vogt's "The Weapon Shop," (prequel to his famous novel of the same name) and the first two stories of Heinlein' famous "Future History" series, "Requiem" and "The Roads Must Roll." Also includes Van Vogt's now (unjustly) forgotten "Asylum," a sci-fi (not horror) vampire story. The book was one of my first introductions to sci-fi, and I've been hooked ever since. Required reading!

This is one of the best science fiction anthologies compiled. Any beginner to science fiction should start with these stories to get a good foundation of the basics. Read through here and see how many of these have been turned into movies, including "Farewell to the Master" made recently into a second The Day the Earth Stood Still. You cannot go wrong with this anthology.

This wonderful anthology contains some of the best short sci-fi tales of the pulp era. An excellent introduction to classic American speculative fiction. Not a klinker in the bunch. 2000x: The Proud Robot (Unabridged)2000x: The Marching Morons (Dramatized)2000x: By His Bootstraps (Dramatized)

'Famous Science Fiction Stories' edited by Raymond J Healy and J Francis McComas was one of my very early hardcover book purchases. At the time, it was 'A Modern Library Giant' selling for $2.95 when this Random House series of inexpensive hardcover books was quite a bargain before the widespread publishing of trade and mass market paperbacks. I must have read this book from cover to cover at least five times and I probably have read some of the better stories several more times. Other reviews recount all the many accolades the book and its stories have received. I will concentrate on my personal impressions. I read this first when I would go through four or five similar collections of science fiction stories each summer from my local library. And yet, I would always come back to this volume as more satisfying than all the others. These are all written before the days of Harlan Ellison, Phillip K. Dick, and Gene Wolfe when things were just a little more literal than they have become when we have become hemmed in by the limits of the speed of light, the Godel uncertainty principle and the unknowability of quantum physics. I sense an urge to read these again and I envy you if you are coming to them for the first time. Very highly recommended!

Dated? Of course -- this landmark collection came out in 1946. But "Adventures in Time and Space" defined Astounding magazine as the foundation of modern sci-fi and every single story in it has a twist, a sparkle and that elusive sense of wonder you just can't get any more because we, and science, and science-fiction, and maybe even dreams, have changed. Other good points: lots of humorous stories and passages; a nearly definitive selection of the now almost defunct genre of time-travel tales. If you think of these as uncommonly intelligent Saturday matinees on the page, there's nothing but hours of pleasure here. "Adventures in Time and Space" remains essential for anyone who wants to understand the full range of science fiction.