Review by Booklist Review
Science fiction's sibling genre, detective fiction, has thrived much more spectacularly in the past 100 years, but sf is the characteristic genre of the twentieth century for the simple reason that so many sf dreams have been realized during it. Sf seems predictive, and the relentless futurism of the twentieth century is indissolubly married to it. Experienced sf anthologist Hartwell combs the century and the world to amass a celebratory collection that rather resembles one of Norton's whopping anthologies for college lit courses. If some entries in it are overfamiliar (e.g., Forster's "The Machine Stops"), others by very influential figures--especially writers of languages other than English, such as the Belgian J.-H. Rosny aine(according to critic Damon Knight, the true father of sf in French) and the Russian Alexander Kuprin--are barely known, and not because they are not excellent. A superb survey for the uninitiated and a definitive sampler for confirmed fans. --Ray Olson
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Over the past quarter century, Hartwell has built a well-deserved reputation in SF, fantasy and horror as an editor extraordinaire. In addition to discovering many of the leading luminaries in the genre, he has produced a pool of anthologies (The Ascent of Wonder; The Dark Descent; etc.) that attempt to stand as definitive volumes. The Science Fiction Century is another such successful landmark collection. In his introduction, Hartwell makes a strong case that "science fiction is the characteristic literary genre of the century." He defines this SF century as starting in 1895 with H.G. Wells, ably represented in this volume by "A Story of the Days to Come." Frequently showing his academic roots, Hartwell includes several lesser-known female writers (e.g, Mildred Clingerman, Margaret St. Clair), as well as some foreign writers in translation. Mostly, though, the anthology is filled with classic and wonderful stories by well-known authors in the field, including James Morrow, A.E. Van Vogt, James Blish, Connie Willis, Poul Anderson, Roger Zelazny, Bruce Sterling, William Gibson and Harlan Ellison. The volume closes with the sentimentally beautiful "Sail the Tide of Mourning" by Richard Lupoff. While Hartwell's exclusions are sometimes curious (there's no Ursula K. Le Guin, Greg Bear, Theodore Sturgeon or Damon Knight), his selections persuade that this has been a century enriched, as he says, by the "literature for people who value knowledge." (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
This anthology contains 45 short stories, mostly post-World War II and mostly American, representing the earliest writers in the genre (H.G. Wells, C.S. Lewis), Golden Age authors (Poul Anderson, A.E. Van Vogt), hard science and cyberpunk writers (William Gibson, Bruce Sterling), women authors (James Tiptree Jr., Connie Willis), and writers known outside science fiction (Michael Shaara, E.M. Forster). In his introduction, Hartwell places sf in the context of literary history and prefaces each story with a short biographical and bibliographical essay. While he purposely omits certain authors who have been heavily anthologized (Ray Bradbury, Ursula K. Le Guin), Hartwell has chosen excellent examples representing 100 years of science fiction. Highly recommended for sf and literature collections. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
