The Norton Book of Science Fiction [Paperback]

Brian Attebery (Editor), Ursula K. Le Guin (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0393972410 | ISBN-13: 978-0393972412 | Publication Date: December 17, 1997

In the tradition of other groundbreaking Norton Collections, Ursula K. Le Guin and Brian Attebery's Norton Book of Science Fiction provides the first truly comprehensive and coherent look at the best of contemporary science fiction.

Successfully used at over one hundred schools nationwide, these sixty-seven stories offer compelling evidence that science fiction is a source of the most thoughtful, imaginative-indeed, literary-fiction being written today.

Readers will be introduced to some rarely anthologized gems from well-known authors-Poul Anderson, Margaret Atwood, Octavia Butler, Samuel R. Delany, Philip K. Dick, William Gibson, Joanna Russ, Theodore Sturgeon, James Tiptree, Jr., Gene Wolfe, Roger Zelazny-as well as starling work by today's rising stars. Students and teachers alike will appreciate the sophisticated range of voices exploring the nature of reality and the condition of the human spirit.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ursula K. Le Guin has written over fifty books of prose and poetry. Winner of many prizes including a National Book Award, she is perhaps best known for her six Books of Earthsea which have sold millions of copies and been translated into sixteen languages.

Product Details

• Paperback: 872 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (December 17, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393972410
• ISBN-13: 978-0393972412
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.5 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #332,105 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Flawed, but worthwhile, February 14, 2007

By 

Jonathan Tu (College football, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Norton Book of Science Fiction (Paperback)

As other reviewers mention this anthology fails as an introduction to science fiction. It somewhat succeeds as an introduction to the different moods, tones and flavors of science fiction, and it could be considered worthy in terms of its difference from other "greatest/most influential" collections, of which there are many.

After reading this very large collection I didn't know what to think. Many of the stories are good enough, but not great. Only a handful are the kind I find myself rereading willingly. In the end I was glad I made my way through because there are some genuinely fine pieces in here, and it was interesting to read a collection that was very obviously put together in defiance of the incredibly male-dominated statistics of sci-fi.

In the end this collection is worth picking up if only for one story: Cordwainer Smith's "Alpha Ralpha Boulevard". I am serious in this. The only other place you can find it, I think, is Smith's collection of shorts "The Rediscovery of Man". I was entertained by a lot of the stories (from memory: "For the Sake of Grace", "Speech Sounds" and "The Women Men Don't See") but this is hardly a representative collection of science fiction. I'd call it a hopeful presentation, showing what Le Guin believes science fiction is capable of.

25 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Dreadful. Just really awful., November 4, 2004

By 

Yadda 2x (Area 51) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Norton Book of Science Fiction (Paperback)

The problem with this book is that it's a "Norton Book" and will be used as a teaching tool. Due to the prominence of Norton's stuff on college campuses, it's easy to imagine students who don't have much experience with written science fiction taking classes from professors who don't have much experience with written science fiction, using this book as a resource. They're going end up being very confused about the subject of science fiction.

There's an element of political correctness to the story selection, an element of pure feminism, and as element of weirdness and mystery. What can she possibly have been thinking? How can anyone be said to know anything about science fiction without going back a little further, to the so-called "golden age" of science fiction which a lot of these stories are reactions against? How can a study of science fiction not include Asimov, Heinlein, or Clarke? The most likely audience of this book is not well served by the story selection.

If none of the above bothers you, you'll find a mixed collection of stories, of which you're bound to enjoy a few. Do not pass judgement on any of the authors whose work seems crappy after a first reading from this book: some of the selections are not fair representations of the author's work in any way. All, or almost all, of the authors represented in the book have written very good stories, but the stories in this volume were chosen because of a mission of the author's which is articulated in the introduction. A simple, perhaps chronological collection of really good stories isn't on the menu, unfortunately.

11 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Do not waste your money on this one, June 29, 2005

By 

weekend hacker - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Norton Book of Science Fiction (Paperback)

If you do not trust my opinion, go to the closest library, borrow it and see what you think. This is just a terrible collection. It is no way a good representation of what science fiction, as a genre, has to offer, which is a good thing. Otherwise, it would be really sad.