Quantcast
Channel: jameswharris – Classics of Science Fiction
Browsing all 46 articles
Browse latest View live

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

“The Education of Tigress Macardle” by C. M. Kornbluth

Group Read 72: The Best Science Fiction Stories of 1957 “The Education of Tigress Macardle” by C. M. Kornbluth #10 of 20 (Read, Listen) C. M. Kornbluth came out with four short stories in 1957 – “MS....

View Article


Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

“Profession” by Isaac Asimov

Group Read 72: The Best Science Fiction Stories of 1957 “Profession” by Isaac Asimov #11 of 20 (Read, Listen) “Profession” isn’t one of Asimov’s well-known stories. It’s not a Foundation or Robot...

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

“The Men Return” by Jack Vance

Group Read 72: The Best Science Fiction Stories of 1957 “The Men Return” by Jack Vance #12 of 20 (Read, Listen) My initial reaction to “The Men Return” was “WTF! Far Out!” It’s not a great SF story,...

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

“Small World” by William F. Nolan

Group Read 72: The Best Science Fiction Stories of 1957 “Small World” by William F. Nolan #15 of 20 (Read, Listen) I’ve always loved post-apocalyptic novels about the last man on Earth, or at least,...

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

“Flight to Forever” by Poul Anderson

Rereading “Flight to Forever” made me realize something about the core of my personality. There are a limited number of science fictional ideas that I resonate with that I like to regularly recall. I...

View Article


Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

“Time Waits for Winthrop” by William Tenn

Group Read 72: The Best Science Fiction Stories of 1957 “Time Waits for Winthrop” by William Tenn #16 of 20 (Read) Virgil Finlay usually created drawings and paintings that featured beautiful or...

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Four Forewords and Two Introductions to Dangerous Visions

Starting May 5, 2024, our Facebook group read for Sundays will be Dangerous Visions edited by Harlan Ellison. It will be designated GR76W. I thought I’d announce it today so people will have a week to...

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Are the Classics the Stories We Don’t Forget?

I’ve been writing about science fiction short stories from 1957 for the past two months, but I realized today I’ve already forgotten most of them. I can’t tell if that memory loss is due to aging or...

View Article


Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

“The Man from the Atom” by G. Peyton Wertenbaker

“The Man from the Atom” by G. Peyton Wertenbaker was first published in the August 1923 issue of Science and Invention before being reprinted in the first issue of Amazing Stories. All the stories in...

View Article


Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

“Evensong” by Lester del Rey

For me, the most rewarding pages of Dangerous Visions were the introductions by Harlan Ellison and the afterwards by the authors. When I first read this anthology back in the late 1960s, I felt those...

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

“Flies” by Robert Silverberg

The first story in Dangerous Visions was by Lester del Rey, an old friend and mentor to Harlan Ellison. The second story is by Robert Silverberg, one of Ellison’s best friends from the 1950s. And the...

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

“The Day After the Day the Martians Came” by Frederik Pohl

After reading a story about hunting down God and another story about vicious attacks on women, Frederik Pohl anti-prejudice story seems downright pleasant. It is a breezy tale about how people recycle...

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

How Long Have Guys Wanted AI Girlfriends?

I read a 1901 short story the other day, “The Lady Automaton” by E.E. Kellett, that felt up to date regarding AI but Victorian in its setting. I discovered it at the web site Forgotten Futures, where...

View Article


Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

“Riders of the Purple Wage” by Philip José Farmer

[The Facebook group Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Short Fiction is discussing one story a week from Dangerous Visions.] First off, let me say that I believe “Riders of the Purple Wage” by Philip...

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Dangerous Visions – the Original Reviews

I thought it would be fun to post the original reviews of Dangerous Visions. I remember 1967 well, but far from perfect. I subscribed to these magazines at the time, and I’m fairly sure I read these...

View Article


Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

“The Malley System” by Miriam Allen deFord

[The Facebook group Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Short Fiction is discussing one story a week from Dangerous Visions.] Harlan Ellison makes a big to do about Miriam Allen deFord being an old lady...

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

I’m Worried That I’ve Used Up Science Fiction

It’s becoming increasingly difficult finding science fiction that thrills me. This feels like a crisis of faith since I’ve been a lifelong science fiction reader. I keep asking myself: Is it me or...

View Article


Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

How Valid are Science Fiction’s Political Insights?

We can often find political opinions in science fiction, but in terms of political philosophers, how useful are science fiction writers? I just read “The Last of the Deliverers” by Poul Anderson from...

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

“A Toy for Juliette” by Robert Bloch

I was going to take a break from reading Dangerous Visions because it was depressing me, but I found “A Toy for Juliette” a fitting inspiration for a sermon I wanted to write. I’ve been reading Golden...

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Which Was the Best Method to Discover the Best Science Fiction Short Stories?

When I began this blog years ago, I theorized that there were three ways to identify all the best science fiction short stories. The first was to read all the science fiction magazines and decide for...

View Article
Browsing all 46 articles
Browse latest View live