Customer Reviews

The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume IIB

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This is the "Science Fiction Hall of Fame" (Volume IIB), edited by Ben Bova; the second half of the second volume. This volume was published in 1973, and as with the Volume I, there were a set of criteria for which stories were selected. In this case the stories that were voted on had to be published prior to 1966, and there could be no more than one entry per author, although this limitation did not exclude authors who were published in Volume I, but was a limitation within Volume II itself. Both volumes IIA and IIB are for works which are longer novelettes and novellas, i.e. stories of more than 15,000 words. Volume I was arranged in chronological order of when the stories were published, but each of the Volume II books are arranged alphabetically by author within each sub-volume.

Not surprisingly, with the longer stories, there is a shorter table of contents than for Volume I, with just 11 stories each in Volume IIA and IIB. But what maybe lacking in quantity is made up for in quality, with such stories as:

* The Martian Way by Isaac Asimov - novella
* Earthman, Come Home by James Blish - novelette
* Rogue Moon by Algis Budrys - novella
* The Specter General by Theodore R. Cogswell - novella
* The Machine Stops by E. M. Forster - novelette
* The Midas Plague by Frederik Pohl - novella
* The Witches of Karres by James H. Schmitz - novelette
* E for Effort by T. L. Sherred - novelette
* In Hiding by Wilmar H. Shiras - novelette
* The Big Front Yard by Clifford D. Simak - novella
* The Moon Moth by Jack Vance - novella

Actually, there is nothing lacking in quantity here either, as this sub-volume is over 550 pages, as was the first sub-volume.

This volume, taken as a whole, does a little better job of balancing out the different eras of Science Fiction than Volume I did. At the same time, the quality of the collection remains at the highest level, with classic stories from start to finish. In addition to the stories themselves, there is an introduction by Ben Bova, but it is the same introduction that was included in Volume IIA. One could argue over whether or not there were other stories which should have been considered, but clearly every story here is very good and worthy of consideration.

I'm in my 60's and these stories take me back. Many of them were read over and over again, imparting a warm feeling as old friends revisited. Years from now, if you are lucky enough to still have this book, you can expect to have those feelings all over again. This is a keeper.