Product Description
Key features of this text: *How to study the text *Author and historical background *General and detailed summaries *Commentary on themes, structure, characters, language and style *Glossaries *Test questions and issues to consider *Essay writing advice *Cultural connections *Literary terms *Illustrations *Colour design ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Essential Reading
Find and buy a copy of this book, if you think of yourself as human: it is one of the few places to find a copy of "The Man Who Traveled in Elephants" AND "Our Lady's Juggler" - both essential reading, even if they're the only fantasy you ever read. The former tale is the story Heinlein was proudest of, and the latter is his choice as the best least-reprinted story - and no other English translation of Anatole France's little gem is worth the paper it's printed on. Find this book and buy a copy. The other stories in it are fine, but the last two are worth the price of admission all by themselves.

a bedtime story book for thinking people
A long time fan of spider's this is the book i turn to for that point in time when somrthing new is too much and callahan's too punny.

Not an anthology but a Unique Collection of favorite stories
BEST OF ALL POSSIBLE WORLDS (Ace Books, Science Fiction, 1980)by SpiderRobinson.

Here is why this book is so exceptional.

Spider Robinsonpicked his favorite short stories from each of his favorite authors - notthe most popular or the ones with the most awards, just the best accordingto him, the ones he really loved.

He then wrote an introduction for eachone of these stories, explaining, in his refreshing style, who the writeris, why he picked this particular story and how did the author reacted tohis choice.Yes - and that's how this book develops a parallel anthology - he also contacted each of the authors and asked each one of them to pickone of their favorite stories by someone else and write an introduction forit.

When asked to handle this project by Jim Baen, Ace's science fictioneditor, Spider Robinson recalls, in the foreword, how he "wasdrooling" at the idea and said "My favorite stories plus myfavorite writers' favorite stories ?Christ, that sounds like the best ofall possible worlds.""Yeah," (said Baen) "that's myworking title."

This book is a gem.It starts with Larry Niven's"Inconstant Moon" and follows with Niven's choice "Spud andCochise" by Oliver La Farge - an unforgettable "western thatblooms into fantasy, compelling awe, laughter and belief."

The nextone is "Need" by Theodore Sturgeon - my own favorite - andSturgeon then picked "Hop-Friend" by Terry Carr.Following that,we have The Duel Scene from William Goldman's "The PrincessBride" and Goldman picked Robert Sheckley's "SeventhVictim".The next one is Dean Ing's "Portions Of ThisProgram..." who then chose "They Bite" by Anthony Boucher.

Spider Robinson's last pick is an exquisitely touching story by RobertA. Heinlein (his introduction is a wonderful read in itself), "The ManWho Traveled in Elephants" which recreates magically a Fellini-likeatmosphere combined with the All American, mid century charm of Capra's"It's A Wonderful Life".Not only is this story surprisinglyunHeinlein but Heinlein's own pick is another surprise, a sweetly naive andreligious story by Anatole France "Our Lady's Juggler" very aptlytranslated by Spider Robinson himself (who was turned off by the twotranslations which were available at the time).

This anthology is notreally an anthology as we know it.Spider Robinson's world - past andpresent - is revealed throughout and we also get a glimpse into the worldsof his favorite writers as they candidly recall their reactions to theirfavorite stories.It is, in the best sense of the word, a Collection, onewhich touches the heart and caresses the mind.In that sense and so manyothers, it is Unique.

This truely is the Best of all Possible Worlds
This book is amazing in that every story in it is exceptional. During the 10 or so years that I have been collecting Spider, I have only seen one copy of this book. People who read this one tend to hold tightly to it and only loan it to close friends. One of the most amazing items about this book, is that all of the stories could have been written by Spider. This book holds gems that may not have seen the light of day for quite some time. Among these stories are the very best Heinlein and Sturgeon stories in print. All in all, I cannot recommend this collection highly enough.

Classic short stories that are hard to find anywhere else
The essence of this collection is that Spider Robinson picked his favorite short story, actually an excerpt from his favorite book (the swordfight on the Cliffs of Insanity from "The Princess Bride") and then contacted the author of that piece - William Goldman - and asked him what his favorite story was. Spider then contacted that author... and so on. The result is a unique collection of stories that provide insight into what affects these authors.

The book was published quite a few years back and I do not have a copy so I cannot list all the stories but I can say that no other collection has ever had the impact on me that this one did. If you ever wondered what Authors read and remember, find a copy and hang onto it - I've been trying to find a replacement copy for 12 years. ... Read more

Product Description
See how it all began! In Before They Were Giants, editor James L. Sutter collects the first published stories of 15 of science fiction and fantasy's most important authors, including winners of the prestigious Hugo and Nebula awards, New York Times bestsellers, and members of the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. Along with these often rare or never-before-anthologized stories, all 15 authors provide brand-new retrospective critiques and interviews discussing the stories' geneses, how publication affected their lives, and what they know now about writing that they wish they'd known then. Contributors include Ben Bova, Charles Stross, China Mieville, Cory Doctorow, David Brin, Greg Bear, Joe Haldeman, Kim Stanley Robinson, Larry Niven, Michael Swanwick, Nicola Griffith, Piers Anthony, R. A. Salvatore, Spider Robinson, and William Gibson. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great introduction to some talented authors
While the quality of writing this working isn't always spectacular - this is, after all, the very first works of most of these authors - this collection is remarkable for three reasons.First, the choice of authors - Greg Bear, Ben Bova, William Gibson, Joe Haldeman, China Mieville, Charles Stross, etc - is a hit list of Sci Fi Authors That You Simply Must Read, and their first works are indicative of their huge talent.Second, each story is followed by an interview with its author, who wax nostalgic on their first published story, their experience in print publication, advise to new authors, etc.Finally, this book is published by the remarkable Paizo Publishing, a group of terrifically talented people working out of Washington State who have set the bar in terms of quality role playing game publishing.

Mostly pointless
Before They were Giants is an anthology without a theme, a collection of the "first published" works of a wide range of living SF writers.There are 15 short stories in about 200 pages, which includes a brief questionnaire with answers by each author (itself generally two or three pages long).As a result, there is a real grab-bag of things here, with "sci-fi" being pretty widely interpreted and the authors involved ranging from Piers Anthony to China Mieville.

As a result, by operation of the simple law of averages, there are bound to be a few things here you like.The bad news is, its probable there will be quite a bit more you either dislike or are indifferent to.Its also billed as a primer for aspiring writers - which it may very be of some use as, I have no idea - but as a result it also straddles into teachiness in places at the expense of fun.Throw in the fact that this is, by definition, the rawest works of the authors involved, and the book becomes of more use as a curiosity striving for "importance" than a book trying to be "fun".

Two and half stars might be fairer than two, but I cant rate in half stars, and can't give it three stars just for meaning well and trying hard. ... Read more

Product Description
Last Train to Limbo (1970) by Asa Baber; Leviathan! (1970) by Larry Niven; The Monster Show (1956) by Charles Beaumont; The Illustrated Woman (1961) by Ray Bradbury; The Food of the Gods (1964) by Arthur C. Clarke; The Splendid Source (1956) by Richard Matheson; The Origin of Everything (1968) by Italo Calvino; On Location (1970) by Thomas Baum; Man With a Past (1963) by T. K. Brown, III; Word of Honor (1958) by Robert Bloch; The Lost City of Mars (1967) by Ray Bradbury; December 28th (1959) by Theodore L. Thomas; Who Shall Dwell ... (1962) by H. C. Neal; Puppet Show (1962) by Fredric Brown; Papa's Planet (1968) by William F. Nolan; Dial "F" for Frankenstein (1965) by Arthur C. Clarke. ... Read more