Worldmakers: SF Adventures in Terraforming [Paperback]

Gardner Dozois (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 7, 2001

When mankind moves out to the stars, the colonists of the future will remake the worlds they inhabit in their image. Included here are twenty stories from the most imaginative writers in the field, including:

Poul Anderson * Stephen Baxter * Gregory Benford * Arthur C. Clarke * Greg Egan * Joe Haldeman * Philip Jennings * William H. Kieth * Geoffrey A. Landis * Ian McDonald * Richard McKenna * Laura Mixon * G. David Nordley * Robert Reed * Kim Stanley Robinson * Pamela Sargent * Cordwainer Smith * Bruce Sterling * John Varley * Roger Zelazny

These are the stories of the explorers and pioneers who transform their destinations in the image of their distant home--exciting tales of alien landscapes and the struggle to make them suit human desires.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Science fiction authors like to think big; their work spans galaxies and remakes worlds. The thus-far-fictional act of radically changing other planets to suit human desires is the theme of Worldmakers: SF Adventures in Terraforming, edited by Gardner Dozois, SF's greatest short fiction editor since the legendary John W. Campbell. Dozois has assembled 20 powerful, imaginative stories by many of SF's finest writers, from Poul Anderson and Arthur C. Clarke to Stephen Baxter and Bruce Sterling.

These stories were first published between 1954 and 2001; a majority are from the 1990s. The stories are often hard SF, but they don't sacrifice characterization for ideas or technology. SF fans will love this anthology if they don't mind that women make up only two of the contributors and not many more of the protagonists. Dozois has also edited a companion volume about remaking humanity, Supermen: Tales of the Posthuman Future. --Cynthia Ward

From Publishers Weekly

Hugo-winner Gardner Dozois offers a sizable anthology of classic tales of man's efforts to remake other worlds in Earth's image: Worldmakers: SF Adventures in Terraforming. Contributors of these vivid visions of space colonies include Arthur C. Clarke, Pamela Sargent, Poul Anderson and Kim Stanley Robinson.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (December 7, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312275706
• ISBN-13: 978-0312275709
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,954,000 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Falls far short of the mark., January 12, 2002

By 

starguy "tcmars" (mountain view, ca United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Worldmakers: SF Adventures in Terraforming (Paperback)

Terraforming...creating a living world from a dead one. What a
grand, mind-blowing concept! And, it ought to have that effect
on one's outlook.

But, reading these timid, tepid, boring stories of people nominally in the process of making new worlds, one is tempted to ask "why bother?"

If it was the intent of the editor to choose only such UN-inspiring works to demonstrate terraforming, I would say "hidden agenda"; if, however, these represent the very zenith of sci-fi thought on the subject of terraforming, then I would say, shame on sci-fi!

For me, terraforming DOES stir the blood, so I only experienced the tedium and lack of vision that this collection engendered; it in no way blunted my enthusiasm.

To catch the vision of terraforming, may I suggest:
"New Earths", James Oberg;
"Terraforing", Martyn Fogg;
"The Millennial Project", Marshall T. Savage;
"Entering Space", Robert Zubrin;
"The Case for Mars", also Zubrin;
you get the idea. THESE will give you a mental and emotional jolt that is hard to describe ("Wow! We really could make earth-like worlds, for people to live on!")

If you really must read this book, borrow a copy from someone, get it on loan from your local library, or buy it USED; otherwise, save your money.