The Best of Ascent

Another decent anthology of mountaineering/climbing stories grouped into eight related topics. Most of the material is taken from previous issues of Ascent, but there are several new pieces, particularly climbing fiction. Of the new pieces, two relate to alpine climbing and the six to climbing fiction. The hero worship of Robbins also continues with two pieces by him. The only author to rate two pieces. Since I haven't read any of the other Ascents, all the stories were new to me. Although I like most of the pieces, I didn't care much for the climbing fiction. One fictional story, `The Soloist's Diary,' I couldn't get myself through. I'm a big fan of science fiction, and one climbing science fiction story, `The More Things Change...,' I found completely lame and trite. If you have read previous Ascents, I don't think there is anything new or worthy enough to warrant getting this book. If you want a climbing stories anthology try `The Games Climbers Play' edited by Ken Wilson. He includes some of the better works originally published in Ascent.