Explorers: SF Adventures to Far Horizons [Paperback]

Gardner Dozois (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 8, 2000

Distant planets, galaxies, alien races--the universe is vast and filled with an almost unimaginable range of possibilities. But imagine it we can. Here are more than twenty stories from the most inventive writers in the field, including:

Poul Anderson * Stephen Baxter * Greg Bear * Gregory Benford * Arthur C. Clarke * Hal Clement * Greg Egan * H. B. Fyfe * R. A. Lafferty * Geoffrey A. Landis * Ursula K. Le Guin * Jack McDevitt * Larry Niven * G. David Nordley * Edgar Pangborn * Kim Stanley Robinson * James H. Schmitz * Cordwainer Smith * Michael Swanwick * James Tiptree, Jr. * John Varley * Vernor Vinge

These are the stories of discovering those possibilities-the stories of the explorers and pioneers who push the envelope further out--exciting tales of alien landscapes and adventures on far distant shores that are the heart and soul of science fiction.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Gardner Dozois, editor of Asimov's and the annual anthology series, The Year's Best Science Fiction, has assembled 23 stories by some of the best-known names in SF, past and present. The stories, which "explore the farthest reaches of the universe," were written between 1951 and 1998 and are presented in chronological order. As the stories progress, so does the terrain being explored.

"The Sentinel," a classic Arthur C. Clarke tale of a man discovering an alien artifact on the moon (the inspiration for 2001: A Space Odyssey), shows the quintessential explorer of the time: alone, in charge of his environment, and happy that way. "Grandpa," by James H. Schmitz, concerns the indomitable spirit of Man, or at least Boy, and his natural lordship over all things alien. In Niven's "Becalmed in Hell," we meet a cyborg, and Zelazny introduces us to a population genetically engineered to the edge of humanity in "The Keys to December." Le Guin's story, "Vaster Than Empires and More Slow," suggests that in order to explore alien territory, you must be insane. Tiptree's piece, "The Man Who Walked Home," is a brilliant portrayal of the tension between the need to explore the unknown, and the human cost of that need. Stories by Varley and Swanwick, Baxter and Egan, show humans from an alien perspective: we are no longer the sum and center of the universe, merely a part.

While it is possible to read this book as nothing more than a collection of adventure stories leavened with a pinch of a sense of wonder, a deeper reading reveals how the genre's gaze has turned from an examination of what lies Out There, the unknown place and the alien being, to a more inward contemplation: the question of what it is to be human. --Luc Duplessis.

Review

"The most imaginative editor in the field."--The Village Voice

"Dozois is to the 1980s and 1990s what John W. Campbell, Jr., was to the 1940s and 1950s-the finest editor in the world of short SF."-Publishers Weekly

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (April 8, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312254628
• ISBN-13: 978-0312254629
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,035,273 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Have space suit will travel!, March 27, 2000

By 

Steve - See all my reviews

This review is from: Explorers: SF Adventures to Far Horizons (Paperback)

This anthology gives the reader a chance to see how "space travel" science fiction has evolved through five decades. The 23 stories are in chronological order based on their respective publishing dates. They are samplings from the 1950's-1990's. Each selection is prefaced with a short introduction to why it was included. If you like old-fashioned science fiction, the kind I remember from the 65 cent paperbacks I saved up my allowance for, then this is for you. Open it and settle down for a few trips to places you only dreamed about when you were young and innocent.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best, June 18, 2000

By 

Randall Barnhart (Earth) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Explorers: SF Adventures to Far Horizons (Paperback)

This is a collection that will never fail you. I've only had it for one day, and already I've missed a night's sleep reading some of the greatest writers to ever put pen to paper. I particularly liked that the editor didn't just stop with the early seventies, but re-printed some of the good old stuff from writers like Clarke. A real edition to your library, and something I cannot recommend too highly.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dozois never fails he's the best, March 30, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Explorers: SF Adventures to Far Horizons (Paperback)

Anthologist emeritus does it again with a suberb anthology of short stories and novelletes about spaces and exploring