Reviews for Space odysseys

The average rating for Space odysseys based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-07-29 00:00:00 Oren Johnson Classic anthology in a series by Brian Aldiss, RIP. Aldiss promises the pure quill in entertaining old SF, and mostly delivers. Aldiss did a number of these themed anthologies. "Galactic Empires" and "Space Opera" are the best known. This is one of the weaker ones. As you can see, it took me a while to finish it. TOC & story info: Cool cover art by Eddie Jones, (scroll down for gallery) • The Sentinel • (1951) • short story by Arthur C. Clarke. This was the starting point for 2001, the Kubrick film, but the story itself hasn't aged well. The story opens on the shores of a dried-up crater lake on the Moon. Um. 19th century geologists had already worked out how to map the shorelines of shrinking lakes in the post-glacial west. Didn't happen on the moon! Pretty clunky writing, too. 2.2 stars. Pity Aldiss led with this one. Then again, consider Clarke's first magazine publication of this story here (1951): "Tyrant and Slave-Girl on Planet Venus" ! Woo-hoo! See first comment. • Galactic Patrol (excerpt) • [Lensman] • (1974) • short fiction by Edward E. Smith. Not reread. I'm not much of a Doc Smith fan. • The Lake of the Gone Forever • (1949) • novelette by Leigh Brackett. I've tried 3 times now to read this one, and I give up. • Reason • (1941) • short story by Isaac Asimov. Now, this is more like it! Robot story, still pretty crude, but Asimov was a first-rate storyteller. A new model robot is being tested, to manage an orbital power station. Unexpected problems develop. 3.5 stars. • Time Is the Traitor • (1953) • novelette by Alfred Bester. John Strapp makes Decisions, and owns 1% of the world. But he has some SERIOUS kinks.... A classic Bester story that hasn't dated a bit. 4.5 stars. • The Impossible Planet • (1953) • short story by Philip K. Dick. An old, old woman wants to visit Earth, her ancestral home, lost in legend. A space captain obliges. Killer last line. 3+ stars. • The Unfinished • (1951) • short story by Frank Belknap Long. A sweet bit of space opera in 11 pages. Recommended. 4 stars. • And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side • (1972) • short story by James Tiptree, Jr. Newest story in the anthology. One of Tiptree's best, and best known: 5+ stars. Free copy and more details at • The Empress of Mars • (1939) • novelette by Ross Rocklynne. Entertaining old-style fantasy-Martian adventure: "Have at you!" the giant roared, and his sword cut the air with a shriek. ... " It's a bit over the top, but colorful and fun. 3.5 stars. • I'm Going to Get You • (1974) • short story by F. M. Busby. A latter-day Job rails at God. Eh, 1.5 stars. • Strange Exodus • (1950) • short story by Robert Abernathy. An odd story. Strange, gigantic creatures have eaten most everything on Earth. Surviving humans find a way out. 3 stars. • Star Ship • (1950) • novelette by Poul Anderson. A starship crew is stranded on an Iron-age world. A pretty crude early Poul Anderson, 2 stars • To Each His Star • (1952) • short story by Bryce Walton. Four men survived the wreck of the starship. Old Dunbar said he knew the way to a paradise planet. But Old Dunbar was as crazy as a Jovian juke-bird. Good old-fashioned story, 3 stars. • The Big Hunger • (1952) • short story by Walter M. Miller, Jr. A prose poem to the Outward Urge, the star craze that populates the galaxy. The folks who like things quiet stay home, the restless, hell-raisers move on. A golden-age classic. 4 stars. • Night Watch • (1965) • short story by James Inglis. The long voyage of an Automatic Stellar Observation Vehicle: Asov. Turns into something of a history of our Galaxy. 4 stars.

Review # 2 was written on 2009-07-31 00:00:00 Stephen Dupuy Mostly Space opera type stories but good space opera to me. I enjoyed it quite a lot. Stories by Anderson, Asimov, Bester, Brackett, Clarke, Walter M. Miller Jr., E. E. Smith and others.