His Share of Glory

This may be the best collection of stories ever published, science fiction or not. Even anthologies that pluck the classic short stories of an entire decade would have trouble matching the works collected here. Cyril is cynical, at least he appears so, but he was also brilliant and entertaining. There is not a weak story in the collection and many are superb. The work is so good it is difficult to be dispassionately critical rather than gush with praise. We see many of the tropes of science fiction, common then and now used by Kornbluth, however they will appear new and brilliant even to the most well-read and jaded reader. The book may not make you feel good about humanity, but it will make you feel good about buying and reading it. It is one of the most entertaining, well written collections of short fiction I have come across and I am a big fan of short fiction. NESFA has done a huge service by collecting and publishing this volume, as well as other collections. Also pick up "Not this August" by Kornbluth, as well as "The Space Merchants" by Pohl and Kornbluth.

OK, I've read most of these stories already. And I already knew that Kornbluth was a great writer. But reading this volume all the way through -- and in pretty short order because I couldn't stop -- just reminded me how great a writer he was.If you have only dim memories of these stories, I guarantee that upon rereading them you'll be amazed at how much *better* they are than you remember. (Not all science fiction of that era holds up so well). If you've never read these stories, prepare to be amazed. This is a book that every lover of science fiction -- or just good writing -- should own, and read.

If you're looking for a compilation of insightful short sci fi stories, then this book is for you. Kornbluth was way ahead of his time and these stories are not of the cheesy variety as most "golden age" sci fi seems to be. Check it out, it'll be worth your time.

Cyril Kornbluth's name should rank with Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Robert Silverberg, and many others who are the great wise old ones of Science Fiction. Instead, due to his untimely death in the 1950's... he is forgotten. Today, we see that he could perdict the future in many ways. His story "The Marching Morons" shows this all too clearly. If it were not for Fred Pohl, Kornbluth would likely be totally forgotten by now. Get this book and read it. Then, get the Space Merchanants by Pohl and Kornbluth and read that. Classics of SF that all but forgotten, and they shouldn't be.

CM Kornbluth (with or without Pohl) was one of the finest and most prolific of the fifties sf writers. His biting wit (especially later on) and sardonic turn on events reminded me of Twain or Swift, although his subject matter wasn't the same (of course). See "the Little Black Bag", probably his most famous. Or search out the story that ends "here they come with an insulting thick rope.." No, you gotta read it to find out which one. Or "I know a word that will explode this planet like a stick of dynamite in a rotten apple". Great command of language and dovetailing character to subject matter-way ahead of his time.