Science Fiction Classics with Booklet

Rating:
Summary: Stories from the Golden Age of Science Fiction
Review: The fifties had to be the Golden Age of science fiction. It was the heyday of three of the greatest science fiction writers of all time (Asimov, Clark, & Heinlein, aka the Big Three), and there were many others writing who were almost as good. A goodly number of them are represented in this collection. Only Arthur Clark is missing. The stories, with their writers, and my ratings:

***"Destination Moon" by Robert Heinlein. This story was cutting edge for its day, but it has not aged very well. The science is good, but the characters and motivations are somewhat far fetched.

***"Pebble in the Sky" by Isaac Asimov. Another story based on a very interesting premise, but alas, the science hasn't held up.

*****"The Day the Earth Stood Still" by Harry Bates. Bates is not one of the greats of the early days of sci fi, but this is a great story. Adapted from the excellent movie of the same name starring Michael Rennie, who reprises his role in this radio play.

****"The Man who was Death" by Alfred Bester. This is an episode from "The Shadow." I'm no fan of the Shadow, but Bester was one of the best, and he turns in an excellent effort.

****"Almost Human" by Robert Bloch. A story of robotics and computers. The science hasn't aged gracefully, but the story is still engaging.

*****"There Will Come Soft Rains" & "Zero Hour" by Ray Bradbury. Two chilling speculations for the cold war/nuclear age.

***"Adam and the Darkest Day" by Wyllis Cooper. Another cold war/nuclear age speculation. What might happen if thermonuclear explosions caused the Earth to slip its orbit and begin to recede from the Sun? What if there were only three people left to rebuild civilization?

*****"A Gun for Dinosaur" by L. Sprague DeCamp. DeCamp became more comfortable with sword and sorcery fantasy, but in his younger days he wrote very good science fiction. This story resembles Ray Bradbury's "A Sound of Thunder." Both stories revolve around time travel, dinosaur hunting, and what might happen if someone tried to do something to change history. "A Gun for Dinosaur" is the better story.

*****"Colony" by Philip K. Dick, who also wrote "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" which was made into "Blade Runner" and "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" which was made into "Total Recall." In this story Dick explores the dangers of extraterrestrial colonization.

***"Speak no More" by Gordon Dickson, who explores an interesting premise, but goes astray with the denouement.

*****"Green Hills of Earth" by Robert Heinlein. This story was from Heinlein's "Future History" series, about a blind space age poet who longed to return to the green hills of Earth.

*****"A Pail of Air" by Fritz Leiber, who is best known for his Fahfrd and the Grey Mouser series. This tale demonstrates his virtuosity with speculative science fiction. Another post-disaster story which finds the Earth in such a horrific Ice Age that the very atmosphere is frozen. You have to go outside to get a pail of air to thaw out by the fire so you can breathe.

***"Oxychloride X" by Arch Oboler, who was not a science fiction writer, but was something like radio's answer to Alfred Hitchcock. The protagonist invents a powerful acid, but... it's not really science fiction.

*****"The Seventh Victim" by Robert Silverberg. I remember reading this story as a child. I never saw the movie version ("The Tenth Victim"), but if it was as good as this radio rendition, it was very good indeed.

****"No Way Out" by Robert Silverberg. Isaac Asimov is reputed to have said that if Silverberg had been born just a few years earlier, he would have been one of the Big Three rather than Asimov. I don't know if I would go that far, but Silverberg does write an excellent story.

*****"Junkyard" by Clifford D. Simak. Simak has the knack of making you laugh and scaring you at the same time. "Junkyard" deals with the discovery of a junkyard on an abandoned planet. The spaceship's crew eventually discovers the chilling solution to the mystery of how it got there.

***"Mr. Costello, Hero" by Theodore Sturgeon. Sturgeon puts his talent for telling bizarre stories to good use in this speculation on human nature and political science.

*****"The War of the Worlds" by H.G. Wells. Well, not really. This is not the Orson Welles rendition of that story which frightened the nation back in the 30's. It is a radio adaptation of the Oscar winning movie which starred Rod Taylor. Dana Andrews stands in for Taylor in this adaptation, and the radio play might just be better than the movie version.

Rating:
Summary: Stories from the Golden Age of Science Fiction
Review: The fifties had to be the Golden Age of science fiction. It was the heyday of three of the greatest science fiction writers of all time (Asimov, Clark, & Heinlein, aka the Big Three), and there were many others writing who were almost as good. A goodly number of them are represented in this collection. Only Arthur Clark is missing. The stories, with their writers, and my ratings:

***"Destination Moon" by Robert Heinlein. This story was cutting edge for its day, but it has not aged very well. The science is good, but the characters and motivations are somewhat far fetched.

***"Pebble in the Sky" by Isaac Asimov. Another story based on a very interesting premise, but alas, the science hasn't held up.

*****"The Day the Earth Stood Still" by Harry Bates. Bates is not one of the greats of the early days of sci fi, but this is a great story. Adapted from the excellent movie of the same name starring Michael Rennie, who reprises his role in this radio play.

****"The Man who was Death" by Alfred Bester. This is an episode from "The Shadow." I'm no fan of the Shadow, but Bester was one of the best, and he turns in an excellent effort.

****"Almost Human" by Robert Bloch. A story of robotics and computers. The science hasn't aged gracefully, but the story is still engaging.

*****"There Will Come Soft Rains" & "Zero Hour" by Ray Bradbury. Two chilling speculations for the cold war/nuclear age.

***"Adam and the Darkest Day" by Wyllis Cooper. Another cold war/nuclear age speculation. What might happen if thermonuclear explosions caused the Earth to slip its orbit and begin to recede from the Sun? What if there were only three people left to rebuild civilization?

*****"A Gun for Dinosaur" by L. Sprague DeCamp. DeCamp became more comfortable with sword and sorcery fantasy, but in his younger days he wrote very good science fiction. This story resembles Ray Bradbury's "A Sound of Thunder." Both stories revolve around time travel, dinosaur hunting, and what might happen if someone tried to do something to change history. "A Gun for Dinosaur" is the better story.

*****"Colony" by Philip K. Dick, who also wrote "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" which was made into "Blade Runner" and "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" which was made into "Total Recall." In this story Dick explores the dangers of extraterrestrial colonization.

***"Speak no More" by Gordon Dickson, who explores an interesting premise, but goes astray with the denouement.

*****"Green Hills of Earth" by Robert Heinlein. This story was from Heinlein's "Future History" series, about a blind space age poet who longed to return to the green hills of Earth.

*****"A Pail of Air" by Fritz Leiber, who is best known for his Fahfrd and the Grey Mouser series. This tale demonstrates his virtuosity with speculative science fiction. Another post-disaster story which finds the Earth in such a horrific Ice Age that the very atmosphere is frozen. You have to go outside to get a pail of air to thaw out by the fire so you can breathe.

***"Oxychloride X" by Arch Oboler, who was not a science fiction writer, but was something like radio's answer to Alfred Hitchcock. The protagonist invents a powerful acid, but... it's not really science fiction.

*****"The Seventh Victim" by Robert Silverberg. I remember reading this story as a child. I never saw the movie version ("The Tenth Victim"), but if it was as good as this radio rendition, it was very good indeed.

****"No Way Out" by Robert Silverberg. Isaac Asimov is reputed to have said that if Silverberg had been born just a few years earlier, he would have been one of the Big Three rather than Asimov. I don't know if I would go that far, but Silverberg does write an excellent story.

*****"Junkyard" by Clifford D. Simak. Simak has the knack of making you laugh and scaring you at the same time. "Junkyard" deals with the discovery of a junkyard on an abandoned planet. The spaceship's crew eventually discovers the chilling solution to the mystery of how it got there.

***"Mr. Costello, Hero" by Theodore Sturgeon. Sturgeon puts his talent for telling bizarre stories to good use in this speculation on human nature and political science.

*****"The War of the Worlds" by H.G. Wells. Well, not really. This is not the Orson Welles rendition of that story which frightened the nation back in the 30's. It is a radio adaptation of the Oscar winning movie which starred Rod Taylor. Dana Andrews stands in for Taylor in this adaptation, and the radio play might just be better than the movie version.