In terms of quality, this is an excellent collection. Warrick has selected outstanding stories that cover a wide time span--enough from the founders to be substantial, and a great selection of mid-year sci fi (50s to 70s). Two of my favorite stories of all time are included (by Butler and Tiptree)--and these are ones hard to get anywhere else. But....you would be better off looking for one of David Hartwell's books, which offer more value.

At first glance you would think that "Science Fiction: The Science Fiction Research Association Anthology" is a traditional collection of science fiction short stories. But then you take one look at the prices and realize this could only be a college textbook. This is too bad, because as a science fiction anthology this is certainly a nice little collection, but the price is going to restrict sales to those who can pass the bill along to mater and pater. The 26 stories in this anthology were selected during 1984 and 1985 by the members of the Science Fiction Research Association who nominated and selected novelettes and short stories they wanted to appear in a definitive anthology. The 175 most frequently mentioned stories were but on a final ballot and divided in the name of historical perspective into three chronological eras around the founding in 1926 of Amazing Stories and the death of its influential editor John W. Campbell, Jr. in 1970. Consequently, "Science Fiction" offers three stories each from the periods before and after this period, and 20 from the period itself.

The only real way to decide if you want to invest in this anthology is to look over the list of the 26 stories. Therefore, here is what you get: (1) Nathaniel Hawthorne, "The Birthmark"; (2) H. G. Wells, "The Star"; (3) H. G. Wells, "The Country of the Blind"; (4) E. M. Forster, "The Machine Stops"; (5) Stanley G. Weinbaum, "A Martian Odyssey"; (6) John W. Campbell, Jr., "Who Goes There?"; (7) Isaac Asimov, "Nightfall"; (8) C. L. Moore, "No Woman Born"; (9) Theodore Sturgeon, "Thunder and Roses"; (10) Henry Kuttner, "Private Eye"; (11) Ray Bradbury, "There Will Come Soft Rains"; (12) Arthur C. Clarke, "The Sentinel"; (13) James Blish, "Common Time"; (14) Cordwainer Smith, "The Game of Rat and Dragon"; (15) Alfred Bester, "The Men Who Murdered Mohammed"; (16) Daniel Keyes, "Flowers for Algernon"; (17) Roger Zelazny, "A Rose for Ecclesiastes"; (18) Samuel R. Delany, "Driftglass"; (19) Philip K. Dick, "Faith of Our Father"; (20) Harlan Ellison, "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream"; (21) Ursula K. Le Guin, "Nine Lives"; (22) Joanna Russ, "When It Changed"; (23) Vonda N. McIntyre, "Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand"; (24) James Tiptree, Jr., "Houston, Houston, Do You Read?"; (25) John Varley, "Options"; and (26) Octavia E. Butler, "Bloodchild."

There is an additional index that rearranges the chronological list by Thematic Contents, broken down into the interest categories of biological, environmental, psychosocial, and technological (with several stories appearing in more than one category). Each story is followed by several paragraphs of editorial commentary (by college professors other than the trio of editors) that explains things about the author and the story's place in the history of science fiction. The list of authors included in this anthology is certainly impressive and while you might be inclined to quibble on some of the choices (e.g., why not Ellison's "Repent, Harlequin...") the editorial comments usually provide a decent rationale for the story's right to be included. So this anthology is geared specifically for college students.

The price still scares me, but I have to admit it is not too far above average for a college class in America today; I am going with a smaller anthology, not just for reasons of price, but also because I want to devote more time to classic science fiction novels (plus one Fifites film). Still, I can easily see developing an entire course around what Warrick, Waugh and Greenberg have collected in this volume.

Of the twelve stories in this collection, about half are really outstanding for their story-telling and their ability to make the reader feel empathy with the characters. Each story is fairly original as the front cover claims, the robots aren't just servants, they represent social conflicts, have personalities, and sometimes are the only characters around. For me, that isn't enough, I have to want to keep reading because I care about the characters. The best story is a tie between Rusch's touching tell of a poor family in 'A Helping Hand' and Nye's equally touching 'Sacrifices' where a fairly wealthy but constantly moving family loses one of its "own". The worse is easily 'K-232' by Collins because its really more of a short essay on what its like to explore the universe than anything that really pushes our concepts of humanity or paints a future picture. And that is important since one of the editor, Larry Segriff, says that this is a collection about our children, humanities children in the form of robots.

The stories in this book made me laugh, they made me sad and they made me think. But of course, they happen to be by some of the greatest sci-fi authors ever. You DON'T get bad stories from James P. Hogan, William H. Keith Jr., Jody Lynn Nye and the rest within this book. 12 stories that you CAN'T be without if you love articial intelligence, robots or sci-fi in general.

This anthology is comprised of seventeen stories taking place at varying points in the future within our solar system. From the moon to Mercury to Pluto to the asteroid belt, all the planets or their moons are used as settings.

Timothy Zahn's "Old-Boy Network" takes place on Mars; it is a story in which the human toll from avaricious greed is revealed. The ending is as good as one could hope, were we in such a position. Brian A. Hopkins' "Mirrors" and Mike Stackpole's "Least of My Brethren" both give insight into how we should treat those beings we create through genetic engineering to be subservient. In their humanity, be it vengeful or sacrificial, their true hearts are revealed, regardless of their outward humanity. Jack Haldeman II's "In Finnegan's Wake" and Brian Thomsen's "The Grand Tour" take us on a tour of the system in the guise of a race (Haldeman) or a last great exploration (Thomsen). In "Finnegan" two people try to triumph over their personal ghosts, while in "Tour", a poet ends up siding with scientists and the great curiosity latent to humans. John Helfers' "Ghosts of Neptune" is the longest in the collection, and is not too bad. While seeming familiar to other stories, this seemed more apt to be expanded into a novel rather than being the short we are given. Rusch's "Moments" and Bingle's "Patience" give us tales of murder. The difference is that one is the result of corporate profit-enhancement, the other of unadulterated madness. Bingle's story is one of the best in the book, in which I particularly liked the lack of hypocrisy in the murderer. Jeff Crook's "'Roid" is another good story. One man makes a sacrifice in vain to do what he believes is right, though we learn his efforts were all for naught. "The Demons of Jupiter's Moons" by Resnick and Stafford gives a good accounting of man vs. alien. Those little beasties aroused the wrong sleeping dragon. Dupree's "Ringflow" and Gibson's "Acceptable Risk" both give us examples of exploration efforts gone bad. While neither end well for those involved, the end was the choice of each, and is somewhat ennobling in itself. Sullivan's "Martian Knights" is a good man vs. machine conflict. Making good use of irony, he shows us that not all members of a group should be judged by their fellows of that group. Davis' "Omega Time" tells the story of a man who could live without his deceased wife, but faces the promis he made that they would be together, in his mind not just unto death, but beyond it. Green's "Son of a Belter Earl" is really not a good story. It moves slowly and is uninteresting, doing nothing for the collection. Pack's "A Coin for Charon" illustrates very well that trust is too easily misplaced. Know your friends well, it seems, to ensure they are not, in fact, your enemies.

I really liked this collection, which has SF stories in nearly every vein: Hard SF, horror, mystery, humor... The authors are a mix of well-known and lauded with lesser-known up-and-comers. Overall the stories are great, though some of the stories suffer from egregious misspellings. The truly great thing about these stories is that they nearly all deal not just with humans and their reactions and behaviors, but with humanity and our plight against the universe and each other. That's what SF is really all about.

I like what they call "hard sf," where the stories have some tech in them and make a reasonable amount of scientific sense. There are quite a few stories in this collection that match that criteria, which pleased me. There are also a mix of character-strong stories, and introspective stories. These I found enjoyable. I have two favorites, and those were the first and the last in the book, both of which made me think about "mankind."

All and all, I would say this is an excellent collection with some top-name writers. It's definitely worth a look. There are also some names I've never heard of before--Jeff Crook, Gibson, and Pack. A good blend of high-profile authors and newbies.

I bought this book when Batman Forever came out, and I loved it, but when I finished it, I could never find it. The one I recommend is the one when Bruce Retires from being Batman (No, not in the case of Batman Beyond) and a group was making a Batman Biography series and he tells them about the good old days.

this ones a non-bore! all batman fans will enjoy this book. I hardley knew anything about batman and i still enjoyed it. these short story books are better than single story ones. a ttally good book except for the stories without bats in em.(theres like 2 of them in the book)

Vampires is a great collection of stories, ranging from acient native americans, to futuristic people. There are 13 short stories in all. Some stories are better than others...
1.Nobody has to Know: is a cool, straight to the point story.
2.There's no such thing: a cool story, can't say anymore or i'll give it away.
3.Curse of the undead: one of my favorites of the 13, about a guy who wakes up in a coffin.
4. Blood Kin: the story in rather confusing from beginning to almost the end. It isn't very good, strange word choices.
5.Miss Emily's Roses: this is an ok story, a little confusing at time but still good.
6. The Blood-ghoul of scarsdale: a very cool story about a vampire who likes to go shopping.
7. The Magic Stealer: another one of my favorites of these stories. it's about a girl who is a native american and has to return to her people. don't worry, there's a vamire.
8. Avhel: cool story, about a vampire child
9. A Cold Stake: this one is ok but very confusing at times, it takes place in the 2030's and they keep talking about things, like you already know what's going on.
10. Blook Libel: this is my absolute favorite of all of the stories. It's about a guy who can no longer stay with his Jewish people because he's a vampire.
11. Aunt Horrible's last visit: a cool story, about an evil aunt and the siblings who hate her.
12. Mama's Gone: another favorite, a cute sad story about a dead mother and her children.
13. Richie: another favorite, a vampire teen, who wants a friend

overall, it's a good book, it got a four because of the three stories that aren't that good, and are confusing, but the good ones definately outway them. If you are a beginning Vampire reader or an old pro, you should definately read this book. It gives awsome perspectives and it's worth your money.

A collection of chilling vampire stoies. Most are very good. My favorite is 'Nobody has to know'. There are a few long ones to be missed, eg 'Blood Kin' but this is an amazing book. Read it, I dare you...

Although there are maybe 3 or 4 really good stories in this book filled with short stories, the rest seem all too familiar to those old black and white sci-fi serials from the 50's or 60's.

My favorite one of all being the Bicentenniel Man short story. I read this years before they made the movie with Robin Williams (which, wasn't that bad of a movie, albeit a few bad translations of things from the book). By far the best short story in the book. I got this book as a gift from my father for a birthday. He paid around [$] for this one when he bought me the book Nightfall on a sale for [$]. A good buy for any old-time sci-fi fan.

...and delighted by how far ahead of their time these prescient authors were. From 'Rex,' the robot-surgeon striving for the perfection of the human race, to 'Star-Crossed,' the dual minds of a ship turned lovers and then ultimately destroyed, 'War With the Robots' provides a comprehensive view of robots, their progression and society, by some of the greatest minds of science fiction. All the stories are realistic fiction, and many give you the impression that the author was speaking his view of the future, prophet of space-travel and the development of super-fast computers.

The book is broken up into several sections, most with more than one story under its heading, all in chronological order (of the date they were first published). For anyone interested in the history of robot technology and ideas, this book is fun to read as well as educating. I recommend it for all with the drive to push technology to its limits.

I bought this for the Bujold, but worth the read for all the other stories. Interesting to see how the genre has changed over the decades.

This seventeen-story anthology displays the opening or a very early entry of some of the great speculative fiction authors of the twentieth century. Each tale contains an introduction written by the author or posthumously by someone close to the writer. Using the perfection of hindsight, readers will quickly understand why writers like de Camp. Clarke, McCaffrey, etc. became household names at least in those homes that relish a delightful science fiction anthology. Each tale is well written, but also intriguing is the intro. Genre fans will gain immense pleasure from seeing the WONDROUS BEGINNINGS of a virtual who's who, but newcomers will relish this book also because the collection provides an overture to some of the superstars of the genre.

Harriet Klausner

I found all of the stories well written and enjoyable, but then I did not assume that they would be done in a Tolkien-like writing style or would be based on Tolkien's works. If you are looking for stories that are reminiscient of Tolkien's Middle Earth, you will be sorely dissapointed. If you are looking for an tome of enjoyable fantasy fiction (that sometimes borders on science fiction) you will like this collection. The fact that the stories (although very good) did not live up to the title of the book prompted me to give it three stars rather than four. Caveat Emptor.

One might suspect that in "After the King: Stories in Honor of J.R.R. Tolkien," each story would have a distinctly Tolkien-esque feel. However, this is not entirely the case. Not every short story contained here is even traditional high fantasy, and sometimes it seems more like an issue of a fantasy or sci-fi magazine with assorted, mismatched tales.

Of course none of this means much in the long haul, because there are some nice little gems hidden in this 500 page volume. I particularly enjoyed the hilarious "Troll Bridge," the suspenseful "Faith," "The Halfling House," the haunting 6 page tale called "Winter's King," and even "The Revolt of the Sugar Plum Fairies," though the latter was one that seemed out of place.

Fantasy and science fiction fans alike will certainly find enjoyment here, whether it's comedy, adventure, or emotional yarns you prefer. Just don't expect Tolkien-esque fantasy from cover to cover.

Wow! The first word to come to mind when I read this book after I got it from the library. I searched local bookstores for almost a year before I decided to try Amazon. But don't be fooled, this book is not meant to be anything like Tolkien. It is written by authors who have been greatly influenced by this great man and his work. There is a story here for everyone, whether you like comedy, tragedy, classic fantasy, or futuristic science-fiction. True, not all the entries were "right up my alley", but reading each of them was a pleasure. I recommend it to anyone whose life has been changed by the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien.

While Deepak Chopra is an icon as a spiritual leader, he is fast earning his wings as more than an author of advisory works, but as a creative literary force.

I found this to be true when I read his first novel, "The Return of Merlin." While I enjoy his other, more scholarly works, I have secretly longed for him to release another fascinating page-turner.

In this book he has, once again, taken his readers on a journey of both spirit and imagination.

He and Martin Greenberg have struck a unique balance between the worlds of literature, science and spirituality and come up with a novel that is exciting and enjoyable.

The "Angel is Near" makes the heart beat a little quicker, the mental wheels spin at a higher rate and blows a clean wind through the dusty corners of the soul.

This novel is a unique combination of mystery and adventure with spiritual messages inter-woven at regular intervals. Although I normally choose spiritual books written in the straight style that Dr. Chopra usually uses, I found this book appealing and reassuring, generating a message of hope and clarity. The "angel voice" is an invitation to the reader to banish doubt and see themselves in the light. I believe that any medium which provides such an opportunity should be gratefully embraced and accepted, for the sake of humankind. Read this one and pass it along!

My curiosity was peaked as I settled in with this book. I didn't plan on spending my entire day off reading, but one thing lead to another. "Just one more chapter", I kept telling myself. In the late evening, after reading the last page, I found myself going back through the book, ear-marking the "The Angel's Voice" segments with little post-its. I've been re-reading one section a day for the last week.

As I began the book, I carefully evaluated the spiritual lessons almost like challenges, testing what the author was saying with my own interpretation of reality. As one insight lead to another, I noticed even more curiosity building. I continued to read, and found myself trusting instead of challenging, comforted by the ring of truth; as though I was remembering, not learning for the first time.

The lessons are both simple and profound, evoking questions and answers at the same time. In the end, whatever I say about this book will not quite be it. Because what I had was an experience, which always turns out to be beyond description.

Undoubtedly my insights moved me in the direction of higher spiritual awareness. And yes, I have found myself recommending this book to co-workers and friends. My daily conversations keep coming around to one or more aspects of the basic questions addressed in this book.

I expected more from a fine author such as Peter Crowther. Crowther should be careful who he pairs up with in the future. Characters like Simon Conway can really drag you down. Is Mr. Conway even a published author besides this horrid book? My guess is no. I would not recommend this book to any of my peers.

All of the stories in this book were great, all of them had me on the edge of my reading chair. My favorite was "Dei Gratia" written by Peter Crowther and Simon Conway, this story touched the realism in our 'Medical Community'. I would recommend reading the book, it's one you sure don't want to miss.

I have not had the honor to read this novel yet... but I do indeed like Simon Conway... So I give it 5 stars because he deserves an excellent rating. *peace*