The first of these I have read was ELF FANTASTIC, actually, that was the first anthology of different authors I have read, but I digress. ELF FANTASTIC was a brilliant collection and I highly recommend it, there is one particular story that still sends shivers down my spine at the thought. Then I read CASTLE FANTASTIC and a few others... Most recently however, I have read WIZARD FANTASTIC, and although not as good as some of the others, this is a book I praise to the high heavens. GET THIS BOOK, or at least another of these collections!

What a disappointment. Many of the stories are from the thirties and forties, and they sound like it. Unless you're really into the pulp classic writing (and I'm not) you've probably never heard of most of the authors. All in all, I found it a waste of time reading this book

The 100 stories in this book cover just over 150 years of writing and writing styles. The earliest was written in 1843 by an up and coming young politician. The young mystery writer was named Abraham Lincoln and, I'm afraid, that it was his name, not the quality of his piece of fiction, that warranted its inclusion in this anthology. It's not that bad, but it's more of a story of a near miscarriage of justice than one centering on detectives or good detection. In Lincoln's favor, however, is that the fact that the genre was still in its infancy, this story having been written only a very few years after Poe, the first writer of the real short mystery fiction had introduced the first fictional detective, C. Auguste Dupin.

I have to admit to being somewhat puzzled by the conclusion drawn by another reviewer of this book who has opined that the book "doesn't deliver on its premise." What it promises are short detective stories of a scope covering the last century and a half which have been written by a number of the better writers of that period. This is exactly what it delivers.

There are stories written by James M. Barrie (he of "Peter Pan" fame), O. Henry (who practically invented the surprise ending and is probably best known for "Gift of the Magi"), Charles Dickens, Jack London, Bret Harte, and on and on.

Writing styles change with time and the detective genre is no exception. A number of the stories are written in the first person, the narrator being the hard-boiled type who refers to all women as "this dame." In contrast, some of the protagonists are thoughtful and analytic while others are gentlemanly men of action.

I never like to end a review of an anthology without picking out at least one selection and telling a little about it. Here goes: "Murder at Rose Cottage" by Edward D. Hoch is a rather genteel British murder mystery. Although of rather recent vintage, it has the feel of something written in an earlier era. There is a murder, but it takes place "off-stage" and there are no gory descriptions or depictions of acts of violence. The murder is solved by an inspector from Scotland Yard who uses deductive reasoning and common sense to figure out "who dunnit." I was impressed by his attitude when he stated that "Death threats are always important." In early twenty-first century America, it is my impression that the prevailing police attitude is that no threat to a common person is worth investigating. "If there's a warm body, we might deign to take a look" seems, to me, to better describe the reaction that one would probably run into. Wouldn't it be nice to live in a world, like the one in this story, where authorities consider keeping us common folk alive every bit as important as catching and prosecuting a suspect in a celebrity crime?

The depiction of those simpler days of more caring attitudes is one of the things that gives this book its charm. As I've stated about a few other books and movies that I've reviewed, this book is not for the type of reader who needs blood, gore, and a thrill a minute to keep his or her interest. It is well worth reading as escape literature for someone who appreciates seeing an analytic mind at work and who prefers his crimes in a relatively non-violent setting.

I love anthologies - especially during the times that I find I have the attention span of zip.

I purchased this neat hardback book new because of its promise of 100 dastardly detective stories, and was very glad I did.

Anthologies make great reading for someone who goes out to work the next day - read a few stories, and put the book down at a clean stopping point. My problem was that I could not put this neat book down and kept reading way beyond my bedtime! I love books like that!

If you want to get a taste of early to modern detective stories, this book provides them. If you are a writer, this book is a must in your education!

Most of these are not worth reading more than once. However, "The Legend of the Paper Spaceship" is a haunting, beautiful story. To me, that redeems the book. The rest of them are amateurish at best, though "The Savage Mouth" has a certain shock value about it.

I came across this in the Waterstone's bookshop on Gower Street, WC1, and chose it ahead of a couple of recent Nebula Award anthologies - I felt that a bit of horizon-widening would not come amiss.

The introductions to the book were interesting in themselves, giving a background to the not-straightforward process of translating into English due to the complexities and nuances of the Japanese language.

The editors do inform the reader that the stories in the volume are quite different to most of the English-language SF, and those who are looking for hard SF are most definitely looking in the wrong direction. The stories collected, which were written between 196x and 199x, are very much at the 'speculative' end of SF, to the extent that some would argue that they do not constitute SF ('it's SF Jim, but not as we know it!). The stories are also on the short side of short SF, which does have implications. I personally would tend to shy away from a collection of such short stories, regardless of origin.

The stories themselves tend towards the contemporary, and reflective, and are about people, and the environment. They tend toward the contempletative, with the protagonist(s) in number of the stories being almost detached from what is happening (a la Ballard) - which is no mean trick when there is a massive confrontation between tyrannosauri and triceratops(es?) in the neighbourhood. A couple of stories would be more accurately described as horror stories, and several could be stories from the likes of Twilight Zone, Tales of the Unexpected and so forth.

All in all and interesting read, and worth the purchase if nothing else just to give an extended flavour of SF in a different culture.

I enjoyed reading this book not only because I am a lover of Science Fiction but also because it was interesting to see SF written from a different cultural perspective. Among these beautifully written and translated stories there is gruesome (The Savage Mouth), thought provoking (Take Your Choice and Standing Woman) and elegant prose (The Legend of the Paper Spaceship). All the stories are unique with concepts distinctive from Western writers but still valuable as entertaining Science Fiction. I recommend this to anyone who wants to read something slightly unusual. I look forward to reading more translations of Japanese SF in the future. Please publish another book.

After reading through this collection of "What-If?" stories, I can tell that I will not be holding on to this too much. Although the stories themselves are pretty good for the pulp novel status. Overall, a majority of the stories in this book are too defeatist in nature. The actual event though horrible and a loss for the US probably would not of lead to some of the time-lines that some of these authors pose. A number of them list the West Coast of the US being over run or captured. Finally, as others have stated the appendices listed are the good parts of this book. They explain the realities behind the attack, a time line of the attack, and finally an explanation of possible alternitives and the chances of them affecting the outcome of the attack. Possible better alternative histories of the attack on Pearl Harbor could be found in the book "Rising Sun Victorious" or in the books "What-IF and What-If 2"

An anthology of allohistories, that is, "what-if" stories based on the attack on Pearl Harbor. Like all anthologies, some stories are superb, some are weak, but overall the level is quite high. The only flaw, and it isn't a serious one, lies at the hands of the editors in their selection and organization of the stories. I'll leave the weakest part of the collection, Part 1, for last.
Part 2, 'Alternate Actions', are the stories by Pineiro, Reasoner, Dietz, and Hallanhan. These are the most traditionally "what-if" stories, hinging on a minor event causing a major change in result. Three are very good, and one, Reasoner's 'The East Wind Caper' is outstanding. A hard-boiled private eye (see Bogart in the role) stumbles onto the Japanese plot and saves the day. Well told, tightly paced and humorous.
Part 3, 'Alternate Aftermaths', contains stories by DuBois, Tillman, Allyn, and Keith. Of these, Keith's 'A Terrible Resolve' is the best, a tale of Japanese victories which lead the Empire up to the beaches of California before the success of the Manhatten Project and the actions of American kamikazi bombers, turn the Imperial Navy back.
A Postscript by Kupfer, which posits a Nazi victory over both America and Japan, is the most chilling story in the book.
The Appendices give an excellent historical background of the real world event, of the military and diplomatic realities which the allohistorians in the anthology had to manipulate for our entertainment.
Now, the worst for last, and as I previously said, it isn't too bad. Part 1, 'Alternate Architects', has the four stories by Hawke, Geraghty, DeFelice, Gorman. Very little allohistorical content in any of these, and what little there is, is only background color. Mostly these four just rehash old conspiracy theories about Roosevelt and/or Churchill knowing that the attack was going to happen and allowed it to go on in the hopes American would enter the war against Germany. I've got no problem with this belief, though I think, like most conspiracies, the proponents are assuming malice where simple incompetence is enough of an explanation. My problem with these stories is that so much of the tale is given over to rehashing the arguements, lecturing the reader on why the plot really did happen, that the stories are just plain boring. The editors could have had a much stronger anthology by leaving this part out and putting more of the rest in.
One observation, something that gave me a small grin. When reading the stories, watch for similarities between them. Variations on the phrase "cigarette, cigar, and pipe smoke" pops up in an awful lot of stories. I suspect the editors handed our a very detailed background guide to the authors, and some of them lifted material out of it verbatim.

This is one of the very best collections of alternate world histories that I have read and one I would use in the classroom were I still teaching. However, the stories as good as they are take second place to two very thoughtful essays by experts at the end of the book. Paul Thomsen gives an excellent diplomatic perspective of what went right and what went wrong in events leading to the attack. The greatest praise must go to historian William Forstchen who sums up the "The Realities of an Alternate Pearl Harbor". He brings out things that most of us either did not know or did not fully understand. It is his premise that even in the worst case scenarios all going against us, a third wave of attack destroying the oil tanks stored at Pearl which would keep us out of the Pacific for a year, the sinking of the three carriers that were away at the time of the attack which would mean no victories at Midway or the Coral Sea, the taking over of the base with veteran Japanese soldiers which would lose us Hawaii, and even the bombing of the Panama Canel which would take a year to rebuild, we would still have prevailed. Maybe the war would have been a year or two longer, but American moral resolve and production would have won out in the end. We were heavily devalued by most of the Japanese command and they would not foresee that in the American gestalt there is a sense of morality that makes us fight for what we see as not just territorial goals, but for freedom. In doing so we believe in complete victory. If anything, the Japanese would have been worse off to have gone beyond their success at Pearl. A year longer to get started would have meant more production of weapons on our part and by 1946 we would have had more than three atomic bombs. We likely would have laid waste to Japan to pay back for the conquest of Hawaii, the bombing of Panama, and raids on California. As it was, the Japanese were surprised at the resolve we did show. They thought we would be forced to compromise and negotiate a peace. They were as surpised as Muslim fanatics must be today in seeing our reaction to the attack on the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington D.C. and related actions. We prevailed then, we will now.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's acquired disdain for his own renowned detective creation is legendary, and 'tis said that when William Gillette wired him with the question, "May I marry Holmes?" (to a female character), Conan Doyle brusquely replied, "You may marry him or murder him or do what you like with him."

But one must draw the line somewhere. And notwithstanding Mollie Hardwick's excellent paean to the legend of Sherlock Holmes at the head of this collection of short stories, I wonder whether even Conan Doyle could have stomached some of these literary assaults upon it.

In "Sherlock Holmes and the Muffin", Dorothy Hughes presents us with a feminist Holmes and Watson who look forward to the day when women become doctors and scientists. Another swig of Women 100 Proof and Ms. Hughes would have had them lobbying from their 19th century perches for abortion on demand, free daycare, and a chocolate bar in the glove compartment of every SUV, a bottle of prozac in the pocket of every power suit.

And even THIS atrocity barely holds its own, as an atrocity, against the contemporary setting of Joyce Harrington's "The Adventure of the Gowanus Abduction", in which a delicate hippie-type Watson plays second fiddle to a ferocious liberated female Holmes - not only as "her" assistant but as "her " lover. Indeed, the story winds up with a broad hint of a rendezvous in the bedroom, but I think that this Watson will couple with this Holmes about as successfully as Tchaikovsky did with Antonina Milyukova.

This book also has its share of short stories that do considerably more justice to the Sherlockian tradition, and the best of these are Barry Jones's "The Shadows on the Lawn", Edward D. Hoch's "The Return of the Speckled Band", and Stuart Kaminsky's "The Final Toast". The Jones story, in particular, is very chilling.

But John Lutz's "The Infernal Machine" also deserves credit for craft and subtlety. The threat of an international conflagration and the new concept of the "horseless carriage" are crucial to the resolution of this story, and there's a passage in it where a young inventor asserts that in ten years, everyone in England will drive a horseless carriage. "Everyone?" Watson asks. "Come now!"

Holmes laughs and says, "Not you, Watson, not you, I'd wager."

How many readers realize that Lutz is paying homage to the last story in the Conan Doyle concordance, "His Last Bow", set on the eve of the first World War, in which Watson does indeed drive an automobile, in the guise of a chauffeur? Not many, I'd wager.

It must have taken a lot of commendable restraint for Lutz to simply rely on his readers' perspicacity and to resist the sore temptation of finding a way to directly point to the Conan Doyle story.

For that matter, Malcom Bell, the villain in the Kaminsky story, may be based upon Dr. Joseph Bell, one of Conan Doyle's medical instructors, who is said to have been the chief inspiration for Conan Doyle's creation of Sherlock Holmes.

Stephen King's contribution might be the cleverest, if not the best written. He apparently wrote his own Sherlock Holmes story in response to a challenge from the editors, but King's normal writing style doesn't quite click with the sober Watsonian chronicling presented by Conan Doyle.

And King is usually a good researcher, but this skill fails him on at least two occasions. He presents us with several images from the Victorian Era that Conan Doyle withheld from delicate sensibilities, including orphans losing all the teeth out of their jaws in sulphur factories by the age of ten and cruel boys in the East End teasing starving dogs with food held out of reach.

But the authentic Sherlock Holmes, having learned that Jory Hull was a painter and having deduced that he had no need of monetary support from his cruel father, would have further deduced - without asking Lestrade - that Jory probably gained his independence by painting professionally.

And the authentic Holmes, as Watson says in the Conan Doyle classic, "A Study in Scarlet", has a good practical knowledge of British law. Stephen King is surely wrong to have Holmes ask Lestrade what sort of treatment the murder suspects might expect to receive under it.

Still, we must be grateful to King for bringing to our attention the one case in the lexicon where Watson actually solves the mystery before Holmes does - and yes, it happens in a plausible manner. As Loren Estleman has pointed out, Holmes's brilliance wouldn't be appreciated by us as much if it were not for the buffer provided by the savvy but unremarkable earnestness of Watson's narrative. We admire Holmes, but we empathize more with his Boswell, and it's wonderful to learn of a case in which Watson has his moment in the sunlight.

This collection has its share of the good, the bad, the ugly, and the just plain silly (Peter Lovesey's "The Curious Computer"). The reader is advised to judge each story on its own merits. Don't be too impressed with Dame Jean Conan Doyle's endorsement of the volume as a whole. But do ask, as another renowned English author once did, "What's in a name?"

"The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" was like a breath of fresh air. Lately I have come across some anthologies which just aren't up to par as far as the quality of the plots. These stories I found to be entertaining and fun to read. Two which stood out for me were "Shadows on the Lawn" and "The Return of the Speckled Band". There's even a story in there for Watson lovers, "The Doctor's Case", penned by none other than Stephen King. Though there were a few which I didn't really care for, this is a worthwhile read.

I love anything about Holmes and Watson. These were well written stories that I truly enjoyed reading. It took me back to when I read all of Doyle's stories about Holmes and Watson. I recommend it highly.

If the title of "The Best Alternative History Stories of the 20th Century" is truly accurate, then there must be a shortage of great stories in this particular subgenre. To start with, there are a total of only 14 stories in the 415 pages of text. Two of them, Ward Just's Civil War time travel saga "Bring the Jubilee" and Brad Linaweaver's Nazi nuclear victory space exploration story "Moon of Ice" take up close to half of the book.

The rest are a mixed bag. Allen Steele's entertaining, "The Death of Captain Future" was my personal favorite, but it read like straight science fiction to me, I couldn't detect any "alternative history" in it. Most of the others feature history changes that are trivial (Kim Stanley Robinson's "The Lucky Strike," Susan Shwartz's "Suppose They Gave a Peace") or just not enough of a twist to be truly interesting. My overall impression was that the stories in the book are just not as compelling as the many recent collections of speculative historical essays (the "What If" books, for example).

This is a mostly enjoyable collection of innovative stories, but the title of the anthology is far from accurate. Of course anyone can argue about what the "best" stories are in a certain category, but the bigger problem here is that this collection is not entirely Alternate History (AH). This is surprising for a collection compiled by Turtledove, who of course is one of the great practitioners of that genre. This appears to be an editorial challenge as the publisher may have requested a collection applied to the "category" of AH, only to reveal that this is a very difficult label to define. Some tales like Jack L. Chalker's "Dance Band on the Titanic," Bruce Sterling and Lewis Shiner's "Mozart in Mirrorshades," and others are merely time travel stories with the familiar don't-alter-the future theme. "The Death of Captain Future" by Allen Steele is a fun story but an inexplicable addition to this anthology, as it is straight sci-fi without the slightest hint of AH.

The stories that really are AH are high quality and make this collection mostly a success, but they only make up a distressingly small percentage of the book. In fact, the story of his own that Turtledove contributes to this book (perhaps suspiciously), "Islands in the Sea," is one of the best and actually sticks most closely to the supposed theme of AH. Kim Stanley Robinson's "The Lucky Strike" is surely a classic of straight-up AH, while the most enjoyable story here is William Sanders' "The Undiscovered," a comic tale of Shakespeare trying to put on a production of Hamlet with an adopted tribe of New World Indians. Rest assured that most of the stories here are good and even great, but the title of the anthology is not entirely accurate.

It is a very good book.
Some of it may not be exactly A/H but it's close enough interesting enough and certainly written well enough by all of the authors to be called Very Good A/H.
I won't go into detail about all of the story's because there is enough on the books page that describes it well, however I will say that I found Niven's "All The Myriad Ways " a disturbing but new way for me to look at parallel universes and good enough for me to say it is the best story in the book (to me).

Though I'm not much for technothrillers, I picked up this collection solely because of the presence of Harry Turtledove's "Drang Nach Osten". I expected a collection of military fiction mixed with science fiction or, possibly, future war stories. But not all these stories feature combat nor do they all have soldiers, and their settings range from the past to the present.

Set furthest in the past is Stephen Coonts' "The 17th Day". That's the day statistics say our WWI aviator hero will not survive. "Drag Race" by James H. Cobb is set in the fifties, and the author claims its combination of airborne training accident and a hot rod is based on a real incident. James Ferro, author of the HOGS series about A-10As in the Gulf War, gives us a surprisingly moody, psychological piece, "In the Hunter's Shadow". It's about a Warthog pilot looking for his first kill.

Several tales are set in near futures. "UNODIR" by H. Jay Riker is a strong tale. In it, a sub commander disobeys orders to abandon a SEAL team reconnoitering Chinese forces around oil platforms in the South China Sea. The grim "Hearts and Minds" by John Helfers has an American mercenary returning to Vietnam after serving there in the second Vietnam War. He's a soldier in a covert war against drugs and gets involved in local intrigues after his comrades are killed. James H. Cobb has a second story, "Point of Decision" (part of his Amanda Garrett series). On a mission to evacuate a beseiged American embassy in Africa, Lieutenant Stone Quillain has to decide whether to also rescue a hated figure of the recently deposed government or let him and his family be killed. The problem is Washington hasn't given him any orders either way.

"The Man Who Got Khruschev" by Jim DeFelice is set in the 60s and 90s but has a science fictional feel to it, particularly reminiscent of Philip K. Dick's fiction. A retiring college professor begins to recover his identity as a CIA operative sent to kill Khruschev in retaliation for JFK's murder.

S.M. Stirling turns in a surprisingly bad story, "Flyboy". It's about industrial espionage aimed at stealing a technology that allows fighter planes to be controlled via thoughts relayed by an implanted chip. Enjoyable but not really fitting in with the collection's military theme or settings is William C. Deitz's "The Bodyguard and the Client Who Wouldn't Die". It's hero, Max Maxon from Deitz's BODYGUARD, is charged with the strange task of making sure his client stays dead.

The Turtledove story originally seems to be the simple, harrowing tale of a German soldier fleeing Russian troops on the Eastern Front of WWII. However, it slowly turns into something else, and Turtledove manages the transition without seeming gimmicky. Whether it's a trip sideways in time or a trip into our future I'm not sure.

With the exception of the Stirling story, all the stories are enjoyable and worth reading. A fair number are memorable.

The is a collection of 10 short stories. The main problem is the fact that they are mismatched and of varying quality. I gave it four stars because the good ones are really good. "The 17th Day," which takes place during the middle of World War I, is quite good and an accurate picture of casualties among fliers who were sent into combat with a bare minimum of training. "The Man who got Khrushchev" is about a secret agent during the Cold War. "The Bodyguard and the Client who Wouldn't Die" is a mismatch set in future time and unconnected with warfare (unless you consider corporate warfare). "Drang von Osten," is about German infantry retreating from the Russians in World War II, but incorporates weapons which were simply not in use. "UNIDOR," is a cold war Navy action. The collection might have been better if it had stuck to a more central theme.

My job occasionally allows me time to read and I prefer to read short anthologies because I don't always have a chance to finish in one sitting. I saw this book while browsing in the local bookstore and was intrigued by the concept. I only read the military tecno-thrillers occasionally but saw several of my favorite science fiction authors listed. I wasn't disappointed in my purchase.

I enjoyed every story although some were light weight fluff, their inclusion here little more than an advertisement for the author's full length novel. Point of Decision is the best example of this. The story (about Marines rescuing the occupants of a U.S. embassy) was adequate but wasn't anything original or gripping. The author of UNODIR doesn't dance around his feelings on the Clinton presidency. The characters spend a good deal of time bashing the "current administration" which given the apparent time frame is a thinly veiled reference to Clinton. Which I have no problem with, it just seems a little heavy handed.

While I enjoyed the story about the A-10 pilot, In The Shadow Of The Hunter, it was mainly because I served in Desert Storm and had spent a big part of my Air Force career supporting the A-10s. As for the story itself, the author left me wishing he would check his thesaurus to find a synonym for the word bile. I also found the hero's inner conflict thing a little annoying.

Hearts and Minds started out as a straight forward, run of the mill action story but the ending took me completely by surprise and blew me away.

Harry Turtledove's story was well written, exciting and also had a good surprise twist at the end. There were many clues through the story that only made sense at the end. William Dietz's story was very entertaining but out of place in this collection. I also liked the feel of The 17th Day by Stephen Coonts although the ending was a little flat.

All in all I was kept entertained, which is about all you can ask for with this type of book.

This was my first jump into Science Fiction in about 10 years and I was hoping to get a taste of a genre I havn't really explored before. While many of the stories were great, to say this is a collection of pure military stories is a stretch.

"Hero", a story of a unit preparing for absolute zero battle, was an interesting story that left me wanting more, and it's ending left if wide open.

"Ender's Game" ends up being a something of a philisophical excercise in responsibility in wartime.

One has to question why "The Last Article" and "Dragonrider" where in the book. They were good stories but TLA belongs to alternate history and Dragons fighting Threads, while a good story, it isn't what you would expect from a collection of stories about the military.

Ultimately, many of the stories fall short because they seemed like they belonged in a SF magazine and I would almost suggest searching out the full length versions these stories if they exist because I left feeling a bit unfulfilled.

This is sort of the companion volume to _Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century,_ and it has some of the same problems. There are thirteen stories in this collection, including some that are quite good, but are these really the "best"? Gregory Benford's "To the Storming Gulf" is particularly weak, especially the last section, and "Wolf Time" is far from Walter Jon Williams's best. Poul Anderson's "Among Thieves" is a true classic, though, as are "The Game of Rat and Dragon," by Cordwainer Smith, and Phil Dick's "Second Variety." As in the Alternate History volume, Turtledove seems to have difficulty with his definitions. "Wolf Time" is about an assassin, not warfare. George R. R. Martin's "Night of the Vampyres" is about political revolution with an only vaguely military element. And I can't see classifying McCaffrey's "Dragonrider" as military fiction at all. Finally (also as in the other volume), there are several novelette-length pieces -- Joe Haldeman's "Hero" (which became _The Forever War_), Card's "Ender?s Game" (which also became a novel), McCaffrey's "Dragonrider" (ditto), and C. J. Cherryh's "The Scapegoat" -- which should have been omitted in favor of twice that many additional short stories. This anthology could have been much better thought out.

While the thirteen stories in this volume are, for the most part, well done, a couple aren't really military SF at all and others are glimpses into still better works by the same authors. A couple aren't even strong enough to be considered in a "best of" collection.

There are some gems here. Orson Scott Card's classic "Ender's Game" definitely deserves to be a volume with this title. I highly recommend the novel-length expansion of the story and it's sequels (most notably the companion novel, "Ender's Shadow" and "Shadow of the Hegemon"). David Drake's "Hangman" is an excellent introduction to his Hammer's Slammers series which also requires inclusion in a volume such as this. Walter Jon Williams's "Wolf Time" is one of the best stories in the volume, taking place in the same universe as "Voice of the Whirlwind". And Joe Haldeman expanded "Hero" to become "Forever War" (and its sequels).

Anne McCaffrey's "Dragonrider" was, likewise, the beginning of a large franchise, but it's inclusion as an example of military SF is quite a stretch. Similarly, Harry Turtledove's "The Last Article" is an excellent story, but it would have fit much better in his "best alternate history" collection than in this volume.

Other classics include Poul Anderson's "Among Thieves" (an intro to his Polesotechnic League universe), Philip K. Dick's "Second Variety" (recently made, like so many of his stories, into a movie), and C. J. Cherryh's "The Scapegoat". I also enjoyed George R. R. Martin's "Night of the Vampyres".

Gregory Benford's "To the Storming Gulf" is not military at all; it would, instead, fit quite nicely in a collection of post-apocalyptic fiction.

While touted by some as a classic, I have never been impressed with Cordwainer Smith's "The Game of Rat and Dragon". And Arthur C. Clarke's "Superiority" is merely clever. Any number of other stories could have replaced either of these tales in a "best of" volume.

This is a collection of stories set in Asimov's worlds, written by other authors. It is subtitled "Stories in Honor of Isaac Asimov", and that's exactly how these stories come across - as tributes to Asimov and his creations.

And a fine collection it is. Much of Asimov's fiction is covered; there are a few Foundation stories, a few robot stories, and even a couple of mysteries. Some are disappointing - or have very little to do with Asimov's worlds - but the majority of the stories are very enjoyable and very well done.

Most of the authors play it straight, trying to capture the flavour and style of Asimov's own stories. They succeed, for the most part. None of the authors were too ambitious, either; all of the serious stories stay nicely within the confines of the worlds Asimov created. For this reason, I enjoyed this collection more than other works set in Asimov's world - such as the Second Foundation Trilogy, for example.

However, some of the authors take a more humourous approach, writing take-offs or spoofs of Asimov's stories. The best of these are _Dilemma_ by Connie Willis, and _Maureen Birnbaum After Dark_ by George Alec Effinger. Both of these stories were funny enough to make me laugh out loud, and yet it is clear that no lack of respect for the Good Doctor is intended by them. While the straight stories were impressive, I think my favourite stories were the humourous ones.

I would recommend this collection to anyone who enjoys Asimov's fiction. The stories may not be of Grand Master calibre, but they are still a fitting tribute to a Grand Master.

I read this on a flight and ended up skipping several stories because they were so tedious and leaving the book on a recyle bin in O'Hare. The best one is "The Originist" which describes the start of the Second Foundation. "Fall of Trantor" and "Strip Runner" were also memorable because they consistently filled in a portion of the Foundation universe. Some stories were just plain silly, such as one where two robot meet with Asimov and argue to have the 3 laws "repealed".

It's incredible to see through this collection of stories, just how much Isaac Asimov has inspired us all through his writings. It's truly amazing to see what can be done through his work, by others. Although none of the stories match his brilliance, I urge you to get a copy of this book if you can find it, and see what an effect he has had on science fiction.

A collection of stories by different authors. The central theme is 'Alternate History of Merlin'. With Merlin already a mythical latter-day addition to the already mythological Arthurian saga this one is pretty far out. What with each author trying to find a 'cute' angle it is up to the personal taste of the reader if there is something worth reading here. I am afraid that five minutes after having finished this book I do not remember anything that was in here.

All in all, I call it ok. Not great, not bad, but ok.

There are some cute ones in this group of short stories. "Repro Man" is Merlin with a daughter driving him mad in contemporary London. In "Other Agendas," Merlin thwarts Nimue in an unexpected and funny way. "Mouse and the Magic Guy" is a spoof, with some simply awful puns that you cannot help but laugh at.

Then there are those that definitely fit my idea of Merlin. In "Cauldron of Light," Merlin helps guide those of many beliefs to reach a "grail," and finds one himself. "Touched by Moonlight and Sunshine" has an interesting take on Arthur's death. "The Wild Hunt" brings the Merlin into contact with beings from other planets, to a most interesting conclusion. "Central Park" has Merlin still teaching lessons to hard-headed warriors. In "Last Flight Over the Giant's Dance," Merlin temporarily takes over the body of a top bomber pilot in flight, probably saving the crew's lives (you decide for yourself, but that's what I thought).

But Merlin as a homeless nut? A drunken, clown of a "magician" for children's parties? A vicious woman hater? Not my idea of Merlin.

There's at least one story for most of us in here. Whether or not it's a keeper depends on how many you like. I'm thinking probably not. I'll stick with the Mary Stewart Merlin series for the keepers.

The tragic treatments generally fare better than the comic, though some are neither.

Bilgrey, Marc: Merlin, "Waiting for Tomorrow" and the return of his king and his duties, loses more of his heart on each rare occasion when he falls in love with a mortal woman who reminds him of lost Nimue.

Braunbeck, Gary A.: "The Ballad of the Side Street Wizard" An alcoholic stage-magician, who isn't sure whether he's the real Merlin, must get through a birthday gig, despite the 6-tier wedding cake in his car. (He'd planned to propose to his beloved, but she just became engaged to Arturo the mechanic).

de Lint, Charles: "Forest of Stone" appears in _Tapping the Dream Tree_.

Davis, R.: Who, of all Arthur's court, had the greatest motive to bring about "The End of Summer" at Camlann? And Merlin, of all men, has the wit to understand the truth behind Arthur's fall.

Dungate, Pauline E.: "The Magic Roundabout" is in present-day Birmingham, inhabited by an unnamed old man who goes unnoticed; after all, who really *looks* at a roundabout, except the parks people who care for the plants - the old man himself? Interesting urban fantasy twist, matching modern names and characters - two of them *dogs* - to the figures of legend.

Friesner, Esther M. and Anne Elizabeth Stutzman: "Repro Man" Merlin is once more trying to civilize a teenager - only this time, it's not Arthur, but his daughter Maisie in the modern world. (Merlin's nostalgic about dealing with demons, who are at least adults who'll talk sense.) Maisie's become romantically involved with the son of a female free-range genie, who empathizes about what the young are coming to these days. :)

Helfers, John: "The Final Battle" isn't about Camlann, but Merlin's awakening after a millennium of sleep, and the unexpected appearance of a young man whose presence *destroys* Merlin's magic - and even after a thousand years, Merlin knows Mordred by sight. But how can this be, when the intruder apparently lacks magic himself?

Massie-Ferch, Kathleen M.: Merlin, "Touched by Moonlight and Sunshine", seeks power from his beloved Lady of the Lake for Arthur's sake.

McConchie, Lyn: "Other Agendas" Aging Nimue, preparing a spell that will transform her into the young Merlin, foolishly substitutes ingredients, more foolishly uses an incomplete copy of the spell, and won't give up upon the first failed attempt.

Norman, Lisanne: "The Wild Hunt" This version of Merlin - the name/title of the chief of the Druids - has reached the end of his tenure, when his memories will be transferred to the next unwitting youngster marked for the mantle, and the current Nimue's role will change from that of younger student/lover to that of elder mentor. But the 2nd-ranking druid has developed an evil-vizier complex, and dreams of rearranging the system...

Norton, Andre: "Root and Branch Shall Change" doesn't pick up _Merlin's Mirror_'s storyline.

Paxson, Diana L.: When the "Cauldron of Light" vanishes, Merlin comes out of retirement to join the hunt for what the Christian knights call the Grail - but in his own patient fashion. [Partway through, Merlin takes little notice of the Cauldron's reappearance - granted that his personal quest might not end there, the reappearance isn't well-integrated into the story.]

Peck, Brooks: "The Well-Made Knight", like TH White's _The Ill-Made Knight_, is concerned with Lancelot, but here Merlin created him as a golem - part of a scheme to destroy Guenevere. But Lancelot is a better man than his creator...

Rabe, Jean: Merlin, using Stonehenge's magic to plumb the future for ideas to use against Arthur's enemies, finds himself in "Last Flight Over the Giant's Dance" - controlling the body of a 207th pilot training over Stonehenge in the Great War.

Rodgers, Alan: How "Merlin and Viviane" first became lovers: the then-young magician who'd already seen too much, and the Fairy Queen tied to the Woodland King's unloving possessiveness. Very rushed, some clumsy use of language.

Sinor, Bradley H.: This 1400th anniversary of Guinevere's death, Lancelot seeks out a small bridge in "Central Park"; while it's not Camelot, "it does sort of remind me of that little stream about 10 miles or so into the woods..." One thread pursues his present-day chance-meeting (ha!) with Merlin, while Lance broods on how he lost Ginnie and gained the burden of immortality. [For best results, read this before _Knight Fantastic_'s "And the Wind Sang", which occurs *after* Lance's flashbacks in this story.]

Thomsen, Brian M.: "Mouse and the Magic Guy" The narrator (a gumshoe in Avalon in the reign of Uther Pendragon) is hired by the Magic Guy himself to find Excalibur. This Merlin's memory works backward - a la TH White, as he says himself; he remembers that the Sword in the Stone *will happen* but not where it is now. [Yes, the mythology's mixed up. I enjoy hard-boiled aspects translated to a medieval setting, although I prefer Edghill's efforts (see _Knight Fantastic_).]

Waggoner, Tim: "One Morning at the Stone", the old wizard sets out to persuade his pupil to draw the sword of his own free will - despite his fondness for the boy.

West, Michelle: "Return of the King" Very fine urban fantasy, as Merlin, awaiting his king, sees random murders, malls like blighted cathedrals, wasted youngsters who would once have pledged their faith to the king. But the one person who once touched his heart was a little girl, centuries ago - who plagued him with endless questions and tested even his ingenuity at keeping her out of danger.

Yolen, Jane: "Old Merlin Dancing on the Sands of Time" - short poem, with smooth transitions from change, to chance, "yet oddly counting no cards,/cardinal sins being his suit...", building up to some suggestive imagery of Merlin's memories.