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dee9401's review
4.0
What a great book I picked up at my local used bookshop. I love the Scholastic imprint, reminds me of grade school book fairs growing up. And collections are always fun to read.
This is my second time reading Campbell’s "Who Goes There?" I liked it the first time but I enjoyed it more this time. Not sure why, but it is a great story that spawned all the Thing movie adaptations.
I've enjoyed some of Robert Silverberg's works but this one wasn't his best work. "Collecting Team" is a great idea but kind of a weakly implemented. I'm no fan of zoos and liked his take on them but I wonder if he'd worked on it more it might have been better.
Arthur C. Clarke’s "The Haunted Space Suit" was a cute story but too obvious too quickly.
Clifford D. Simak’s "Condition of Employment" was wonderful and chilling at the end. I really enjoyed it.
"After The Sirens" (1960) by Hugh Hood is like a version of the beginning of The Day After from the 1980s. A very good short story that just nails the emotions in the minutes before and hours after a nuclear attack. It is terrifying that we had to live under those conditions (and still do).
Henry Gregor Felsen’s "The Spaceman Cometh" was pretty bad. It felt like someone said “I can write SF, it's easy" and then penned this weak piece. It is bad even by 1950s SF standards.
Clarke’s second piece in this collection, "The Nine Billion Names of God" was an intriguing idea. I think I read this once before, years ago. It had a great ending but I didn't think the set up was enough. It felt too thin or luke warm. The bang is the ending, and I bet that might have been the initial idea and the rest was added to pad the beginning. Still, worth the very short read.
Robert Abernathy’s "The Rotifers" is amazing and surprising for a 1953 story. Nicely written, nicely paced, a little horror mixed with SF and growing up. I really enjoyed it.
The collection ended with Isaac Asimov’s "Does A Bee Care?" I can only say "meh".
Overall, 4 stars for this collection, based on Campbell, Simak, Hood & Abernathy's contributions.
This is my second time reading Campbell’s "Who Goes There?" I liked it the first time but I enjoyed it more this time. Not sure why, but it is a great story that spawned all the Thing movie adaptations.
I've enjoyed some of Robert Silverberg's works but this one wasn't his best work. "Collecting Team" is a great idea but kind of a weakly implemented. I'm no fan of zoos and liked his take on them but I wonder if he'd worked on it more it might have been better.
Arthur C. Clarke’s "The Haunted Space Suit" was a cute story but too obvious too quickly.
Clifford D. Simak’s "Condition of Employment" was wonderful and chilling at the end. I really enjoyed it.
"After The Sirens" (1960) by Hugh Hood is like a version of the beginning of The Day After from the 1980s. A very good short story that just nails the emotions in the minutes before and hours after a nuclear attack. It is terrifying that we had to live under those conditions (and still do).
Henry Gregor Felsen’s "The Spaceman Cometh" was pretty bad. It felt like someone said “I can write SF, it's easy" and then penned this weak piece. It is bad even by 1950s SF standards.
Clarke’s second piece in this collection, "The Nine Billion Names of God" was an intriguing idea. I think I read this once before, years ago. It had a great ending but I didn't think the set up was enough. It felt too thin or luke warm. The bang is the ending, and I bet that might have been the initial idea and the rest was added to pad the beginning. Still, worth the very short read.
Robert Abernathy’s "The Rotifers" is amazing and surprising for a 1953 story. Nicely written, nicely paced, a little horror mixed with SF and growing up. I really enjoyed it.
The collection ended with Isaac Asimov’s "Does A Bee Care?" I can only say "meh".
Overall, 4 stars for this collection, based on Campbell, Simak, Hood & Abernathy's contributions.
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