Masterpieces: The Best Science Fiction of the Century (Hardcover)

~ Orson Scott Card (Editor) "A multiple winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards, Poul Anderson has written more than fifty novels and hundreds of short stories since his science..." (more)
Key Phrases: steel robot, card seller, logic machine, Lord Desan, Simon Kress, Erlin Baque (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Masterpieces: The Best Science Fiction of the Century may not include every reader's choices for the top science fiction of the 20th century, but it lives up to its title. Editor Orson Scott Card has assembled 27 standout stories by the biggest names and best writers in the genre. Not surprisingly, most of these stories have been anthologized or collected elsewhere, and some (like Arthur C. Clarke's "Nine Billion Names of God," Harlan Ellison's "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman," and Robert A. Heinlein's "All You Zombies--") have been reprinted innumerable times. In addition, Card has previously placed some of these selections in his retrospective 1980s anthology Future on Ice.

While some stories in Masterpieces lack fine prose and well-rounded characters, they are solid and engrossing entertainments. Other selections combine literary and science fiction virtues to produce a superior blend, and some of these stories--"Bears Discover Fire" by Terry Bisson, "Snow" by John Crowley, "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman" by Harlan Ellison, "Face Value" by Karen Joy Fowler, "Tourists" by Lisa Goldstein, and "The Ones Who Walked Away from Omelas" by Ursula K. Le Guin--are art.

Masterpieces isn't an anthology for the well-read fan. However, it is a great book for the new or intermediate science fiction reader. --Cynthia Ward

From Booklist

The 29 classic stories in this anthology are as well chosen as you might expect, given editor Card's formidable knowledge of the field and his fellow writers, knowledge that makes his introductory comments on each story very good, further enhancing the book's considerable value for the classroom and as an introduction to major stories and writers for nonstudents. Card's selections span the period from 1936 to 1995, and from Edmond Hamilton's "Devolution" through Lisa Goldstein's "Tourist," they are outstanding. The authors represented constitute an sf hall of fame: Heinlein, Bradbury, Asimov, Clarke, Pohl, Ellison, Le Guin, and others as famous and beloved. Toward the end of the collection, a few stories, like so much current sf, blur the lines between sf and fantasy, which makes one hope that Card, a man of mighty prowess in both genres, will compile a companion volume of fantasy stories. Should he, buy that book, too. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 422 pages
• Publisher: Ace Books; 1st edition (November 6, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 044100864X
• ISBN-13: 978-0441008643
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #905,953 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps "Fine Pieces" Rather Than "Masterpieces", June 26, 2003

By	jrmspnc (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews

This is a much better than average Ace anthology. Typically Ace, it doesn't quite live up to its hype. The twenty six stories collected here are not the "Best Science Fiction of the Century" by anybody's count, even Orson Scott Card's own. Card himself describes his selection process in the Introduction: these are stories he loved at the first reading, enjoys on repeat readings, and "[a]bove all, these are stories that I cannot forget."

I, however, *can* forget several of these stories - and already have, a mere few days after reading them. Most of the forgettable stories are the more recent ones, which is probably not a coincidence. Early science fiction (pre-1960s, let's say) is almost inherently more worthwhile than most later science fiction, and the stories selected here are cases in point. Terry Bisson's "Bears Discover Fire" is a meandering inanity. "Dog Fight" by William Gibson and Michael Swanwick is a drugs and sex tale, "appealing" only in the way that Trainspotting was "appealing." "Rat" by James Patrick Kelly is similar.

There are, however, some truly, truly great stories here, which more than merit four stars. "The Tunnel Under the World" by Frederick Pohl, for example, ends with a revelation worth the price of admission. "Inconstant Moon" by Larry Niven is full of emotional impact as two individuals adjust to the thought of the sun going nova. George R. R. Martin's "Sandkings", despite being relatively recent, is a story that would might expect from Stephen King at the top of his game. Heinlein's "All You Zombies-" is a time-travel story to make the head spin. James Blish's "A Work of Art" puts Richard Strauss into the 22d century. Perhaps the most enjoyable of all is "Tunesmith" by Lloyd Biggle, Jr. Biggle, writing in 1957, the dawn of the television age, predicts a society where commercials have subsumed all other forms of art, until a gifted musician appears to save society. A surprisingly moving story, and finely crafted, skilfully bringing the reader full circle without the reader ever suspecting that he was moving.

...if you truly want "masterpieces," you should pick up Silverberg's Science Fiction Hall of Fame, volume one, or even the Best of the Nebulas edited by Ben Bova. But if you want several excellent stories by talented writers, you would do much worse than this collection of Card's favorites.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Some Outstanding, but not all are true masterpieces, June 3, 2004

By	"jradoff" (Southborough, MA United States) - See all my reviews

There are some excellent stories in here; some of them are amongst the best science fiction tales ever spun. Unfortunately there is a lot of "fine" and even mediocre examples as well. One could easily rate the individual stories here at between one and five stars. I give it a generous four stars due to a few of the standouts in the collection.

Several key authors are missing entirely from the book (and Card apologizes for this in his Introduction). The "Media Generation" chapter includes a couple of stories ("Bears Discover Fire" by Bisson and "Tourists" by Goldstein), that, while fine stores, are not science fiction under almost anyones' definition. I think Card could have chosen better stories by Asimov and Bradbury.

There are enough good stories to make the book worth purchasing. Of these, I include: "A Saucer of Loneliness," by Theodore Sturgeon, "The Nine Billion Names of God," by Arthur C. Clarke, "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman" by Harlan Ellison, "Passengers," by Robert Silverberg, "Inconstant Moon," by Larry Niven, "Sandkings," by George R. R. Martin--and the superlative story "Pots" by C. J. Cherryh.

The net of this is that I think there is some excellent material here, but that it is neither a comprehensive sampling of twentieth century science fiction nor a true set of masterpieces. Of course, Card chose stories that affected him deeply, without turning this into another compilation driven by awards, and one has to respect that as well.

39 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Masterpieces???????????, January 4, 2002

By	Glenn McDorman (Denver) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Don't be fooled by the title. There are very few "masterpieces" in this book. Even the stories by "masterpiece" authors are not their best (Asimov, Heinlein, Silverberg, Ellison, and Aldiss, for example). Where are Bester, Wolfe, Zelazny, and and Robert Reed? -- writers whose genius was at its best in shorter venues. Almost half of this book (which is "The Best Science Fiction of the Century") is from the 80s and 90s, much by unheard of authors. On top of that Card's introductions are very sloppy. In one he uses the phrase "science fiction" three times in one sentence. Quite frankly, I'm not sure that Card actually edited the book. It looks like Ace decided to put together an anthology to boost residual sales, putting the focus on more contemporary work and getting a popular author to put his name on the cover.