From /tmp/sf.4146 Tue Aug 9 02:12:33 1994 Xref: liuida rec.arts.sf.reviews:624 rec.arts.books:93694 alt.books.reviews:4162 Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews,rec.arts.books,alt.books.reviews Path: liuida!sunic!pipex!howland.reston.ans.net!math.ohio-state.edu!magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!csn!csus.edu!netcom.com!postmodern.com!not-for-mail From: ecl@mtgpfs1.mt.att.com (Evelyn C Leeper) Subject: THE ASCENT OF WONDER edited by Hartwell and Cramer Message-ID: <9407251001.ZM6658@mtgpfs1.mt.att.com> Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Sender: mcb@postmodern.com (Michael C. Berch) Organization: The Internet Date: Mon, 25 Jul 1994 23:31:57 GMT Approved: mcb@postmodern.com (rec.arts.sf.reviews moderator) Lines: 117 THE ASCENT OF WONDER: THE EVOLUTION OF HARD SF edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer Tor, ISBN 0-312-85062-X, June 29, 1994, 992pp, US$35. A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper Copyright 1994 Evelyn C. Leeper I will confess up front that I have not read this book cover to cover. In the interests of getting this review out in a timely manner, I compromised by reading the introductions and a sampling of the stories that I had not previously read. (I "fell off the book wagon" a couple of weekends ago and bought thirty books, so my reading schedule is in some disarray.) In any case, I think that I can shed some light on two of the three questions people may be asking about this hefty (3-1/2-pound) tome: What is it attempting to do? Does it succeed? Is it any good? The first question--what is the purpose of this book?--is one I can't answer. The book is subtitled "The Evolution of Hard SF," but evolution implies a flow of time, a continuity (of cause and effect, perhaps), and the stories here are in what appears to be random order. They are not arranged chronologically or thematically, but are divided into "Part I," "Part II," and "Part III," with no clue as to what the parts represent. (The alternate ordering given in the back has at least some logic to it.) In keeping with this random order, Benford's introduction appears to be a series of one-liners about various hard science fiction stories, also in random order. Hartwell claims on page 30 in his introduction that this is the first anthology to focus on all of hard science fiction. I would debate that: Healy & McComas's FAMOUS SCIENCE FICTION STORIES: ADVENTURES IN TIME AND SPACE did it in 1947. The blurb for the latter was "35 great stories of the world of atomic power, rockets, robots, time and space machines, etc." These are definitely "hard SF," but Hartwell and Cramer, with an additional four and a half decades to choose from, have not even stayed within the incredibly broad range of "hard SF" stories, but include stories based on anthropology, psychology, and other "soft" sciences. The result is that many well-known hard science fiction authors are missing, while there are TWO stories by each of J. G. Ballard, Ursula K. LeGuin, John M. Ford, and Hilbert Schenck. And why include Rudyard Kipling's "With the Night Mail"? In terms of the evolution of hard science fiction, it was a virtual dead end, inspiring little or none of what came after it. Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Rappaccini's Daughter" isn't hard science fiction. Jules Verne's "In the Year 2889" is minor, even according to Hartwell and Cramer, and seems to be here only because Verne was a major influence (through his novels). Poe is known as a major influence in the fields of horror and mystery; his inclusion here seems strained. I suppose part of the issue was what Hartwell and Cramer could get the rights to, but many of the classic hard science fiction stories that Healy and McComas collected are missing from this anthology. Of course, trying to include "everyone's who's anyone" appears to have been the downfall of LAST DANGEROUS VISIONS, so one shouldn't be too hard on Hartwell and Cramer. At least this book has been published. In the introductions as well, there is much room for debate. Hartwell, for example, says on page 39 that 1965 was the last year "Campbell's magazine" (ASTOUNDING/ANALOG) won the Hugo as Best Professional Magazine, and attributes this to the rise of the New Wave. The fact is that the award was replaced in 1973 by Best Professional Editor and Ben Bova won it from 1973 to 1977--for editing ANALOG. Gregory Benford on page 21 says LAST AND FIRST MEN was Olaf Stapledon's first work; it was his first *fiction* work, but his *third* published work.) And on page 43 it is claimed that "Nine Lives" is "perhaps [Le Guin's] most famous" story. Really? More than "The Word for World is Forest" or "Vaster than Empires and More Slow" or "Buffalo Gals Won't You Come Out Tonight" (all but the first of which were nominated for Hugos, which "Nine Lives" was not, though it was nominated for a Nebula). And drawing a parallel between Marcel Proust and Bob Shaw's "slow glass" seems like a real reach. (Whether from an attempt to elevate science fiction or not, Cramer also quotes M. C. Escher, Poincare, and Leonardo da Vinci in her introduction.) There were also a few minor annoyances. The editors seem to have decided that the correct abbreviation for science fiction is "sf"--and at the beginning of a sentence, "Sf." They repeatedly talk about the "affect" of a story (and, no, they don't mean "effect"). This may be correct English, but it is an uncommon usage that will cause many readers to think the editors don't know the difference between "affect" and "effect." And they use a sans serif font for the introductions that I find very hard to read. Having said all that, I *still* recommend this book. Why? Well, you get sixty-seven stories which, while not all classics, or even all hard science fiction, certainly all have something to recommend them. Some are indeed classics (Arthur C. Clarke's "Star," James Blish's "Surface Tension," and Tom Godwin's "Cold Equations," for example). It's a sign of how far ANALOG has fallen that it recently published a pastiche of "The Cold Equations" in which was changed the one thing that made the Godwin story a classic.) Some are famous even if they aren't classics (in which category I would put the Kipling and Poe stories). Some are "merely" good stories by the important writers in the field of science fiction (hard, soft, gooey, or otherwise). With the three introductions, this works out to fifty cents a story. If you're a longtime science fiction fan, you may already have many of these stories, but if you're relatively new, this is a great book for discovering authors and stories and ideas that can lead to further exploration. %E Hartwell, David G. %E Cramer, Kathryn %B The Ascent of Wonder: The Evolution of Hard SF %I Tor %C New York %D June 29, 1994 %G ISBN 0-312-85062-X %P 992pp %O hardcover, US$35.00 -- Evelyn C. Leeper | +1 908 957 2070 | Evelyn.Leeper@att.com "Am I politically correct today? Do I do crystals and New Age? Obviously, women's music's for me--Edith Piaf, Bessie Smith, and Patti Page." --Lynn Lavner From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed May 22 17:45:18 1996 Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Path: news.ifm.liu.se!solace!nntp.uio.no!news.cais.net!bofh.dot!world1.bawave.com!newsfeed.internetmci.com!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!news!news From: silverag@ix.netcom.com (Steven H Silver) Subject: Review of David Hartwell's Year's Best SF Message-ID: Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Keywords: author=Steven H Silver Lines: 84 Sender: wex@tinbergen.media.mit.edu (Graystreak) Organization: Netcom X-Newsreader: (ding) Gnus v0.94 Date: Tue, 21 May 1996 20:55:28 GMT Approved: wex@media.mit.edu Lines: 84 YEAR'S BEST SF Edited by David G. Hartwell Review Copyright 1996 Steven H Silver For the past several years, Gardner Dozois has had the "best Science Fiction of the year" market all to himself. Although Dozois's collections have been nice -- and large -- they reflect Dozois's own taste. Since Dozois edits one of the major science fiction magazines, his anthology frequently contains a large share of stories from _Asimov's_, the magazine for which Dozois purchased the stories in the first place. Now, HarperPrism and David G. Hartwell have teamed up to give Dozois some competition. Starting with the superficial: Hartwell's book is smaller -- mass market sized, instead of trade or hardcover -- and cheaper -- $5.50 instead of $16.95 -- than the annual Dozois opus. The next, and more important question, is how Hartwell stacks up against Dozois. Actually, that question isn't really fair. Science fiction is large enough to contain multiple "Best of Year" anthologies, and is stronger for having the variety. Hartwell has selected fourteen stories. In addition to pulling from the major magazines (_Analog_, _Asimov's_, _Fantasy & Science Fiction_ and _Science Fiction Age_), Hartwell also raided anthologies such as _Amazing Stories: The Anthology_, _Far Futures_, _Full Spectrum 5_ and _New Legends_, and _Tomorrow_ Magazine. Not surprisingly, the stories Hartwell selected have a tendency towards a hard SF bent. Rather than discuss the individual stories which Hartwell chose, I'll look at the book as a whole. Hartwell's selections are a good mix of serious fiction, such as Le Guin's "Coming of Age in Karhide" and Haldeman's "For White Hill," and lighter pieces, notably Zelazny's "The Three Descents of Jeremy Baker" and Barton's "In Saturn Time." The title claims these stories are the "Best SF" of the year, however, the fans and members of SFFWA seem to disagree. Only one of Hartwell's selections, James Patrick Kelly's "Think Like a Dinosaur," was nominated for a Nebula and Hugo Award. This does not mean, however, that Hartwell's choices are invalid. Any "best of" anthology will be a matter of personal taste. Readers will question the inclusion of at least one story in any such book. Hartwell does a fantastic job of picking stories which are not only worthy of being read, but which are worthy of attaining a more permanent home than last months issue of (your favorite magazine's name here). CONTENTS James Patrick Kelly Think Like a Dinosaur Patricia A. McKillip Wonders of the Invisible World Robert Silverberg Hot Times in Magma City Stephen Baxter Gossamer Gregory Benford A Worm in the Well William Browning Spencer Downloading Midnight Joe Haldeman For White Hill William Barton In Saturn Time Ursula K. Le Guin Coming of Age in Karhide Roger Zelazny The Three Descents of Jeremy Baker Nancy Kress Evolution Robert Sheckley The Day the Aliens Came Joan Slonczewski Microbe Gene Wolfe Ziggurat %E David Hartwell %T Year's Best SF %I HarperPrism %C New York, NY %D May 1996 %G 0-06-105641-3 %O PB $5.50 %P 479 Steven H Silver Bibliographies on Jews in SF, Harry Turtledove, SF set in Chicago http://www.geocities.com/Athens/4208/sfbiblio.html HOMEPAGE: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/4208/index.html Archived at: www.geocities.com/Athens/4208/review.html