When I first pick up this book I was a little skeptical of just how entertaining this collection would be. It turned out to be my favorite collection of short stories ever written. Now "pulp" fiction may not be the highest caliber of literature but you can't overlook the each author's usage of description, twists, and character names (i.e. Sam Culp, James Cargill and so on). I recommend this book to anybody who wants to have a good time with a great book.

This book contains short stories from some of the greatest minds in SF, Including a Dorsi novela that appears no where else. Quite simply a must for all warriors of the future.

Philip Dick's collection of "android-oid" short stories is an excellent collection of the demons that haunted not just his mind, but the collective consciousness. Each story delves into intriguing ways that robots will run amok in the future. There are some precious gems in this collection which represent Dick at his best. Many of the stories are infused with his fascination of what makes a human human and a robot not. Two eloquent stories are "The Little Movement" (my personal favorite), and the short story that the awful "Screamers" was based on which I believe is called "New Model". If you love SciFi and have a Bradbury bent towards alternate futures, this is a must read! If you have never read Philip Dick, this is an excellent introduction! Bon Apetite!

Mark Clifton is the greatest science fiction writer ever. After reading his collection, I pretty much gave up on sci-fi since, in comparison to his work, so much in the genre seemed contrived and devoid of substance.

His background was in personel which provided him with the opportunity to interview 250,000 people in his career. This comes accross brilliantly in all the characters which populate his stories, everyone of them infused with a richness and truth that is rare in all forms of fiction. His works are perfect examples of the medium, meaning that they could not be told in any form other than sci-fi.

Please give him a try. If you do pick up the collection, then I highly recommend the last two stories, "What Now, Little Man?" and "Hang Head, Vandal!" The former story impressed me with the most profound sense of the meaning(and meaninglessness) of life that I have ever encountered in literature. He is such an underated and unknown master of sci-fi, it would really be great for some of you to discover him as I did. And if you like what you see, then you might want to try one of his few novels, "When They Came from Space." Don't let the cheesy title fool you. It's a wonderful satire and contains an inspired debate on the differences between faith in science and faith in miracles.

This collection of short stories is absolutely wonderful. It includes Sci/Fi stories about Hell, Trolls, and the absolute worst wish ever imagined. I've read this book a number of times and it never fails to make me burst into laughter.

This book contains a number of gripping science fiction stories by a diverse group of authors (some famous, some unknown), all of them good enough to satisfy even the greatest afficianado. They are all accessable to readers who are not initiated into the science fiction world as well, and most are breif. Each story is preceeded by a page or two in which the the author/editor explains the sociological relavence of the particular story and gives the reader clues about what to look for. The stories are further grouped into sections based on sociological subdisciplines, and each section is introduced by a breif essay explaining that subdiscipline and its significance.

This book is a great interdiscplinary work which will help humanities and social science students understand each other. It is also a fun and informative read, and I reccomend it to everyone.

Space Gladiators is full of great short stories by Brain W. Aldiss, Ben Bova, David Drake, Keith Laumer and more. Edited by David Drake, this is one in a series. There is also SPACE DREADNOUGHTS and SPACE INFANTRY (also edited by David Drake).

Ive had this book since 1989. Most collections of short stories have a few interesting stories and the rest are filler but thats not the case here. The sheer number of excellent stories in this one volume is a shock. the common thread being that each had space vessels in it, Though the stories have little more in common than that, except being excellent. My favorites would have to be Far Centaurus by A.E. Van Voght, a moving tale of a suspended animation ship. A Chance Encounter by A. Bertram Chandler, a romantic first contact story. The Oceans are Wide- a really cool novella from Frank M. Robinson on one of my favorite subjects-generation ships. Avoidance Situation by James McConnell
a chilling tale of First Contact with the Dakn Empire. If you can find this collection, buy it!

O.K., so I'm a sucker for anthologies, but this one is different. The stories range from "Children of Ubasti," by Seabury Queen, first published in 1929, to "The Chronology Protection Case," by Paul Levinson, published just one year ago. By not commissioning stories specifically for this compendium, the editors have shown us the historical development of the supernatural short story in the 20th century, as well as providing an unsurpassed collection of vampires, ghosts, and ghouls that are sure to stir your blood, provided you have not already joined the "Supernatural Sleuths" on the other side.

the first several stories are much more traditionalistic and common, though they do have some originality to them.. that is, the ideas are wattered down, and the plots are a tad cliche.. soon though, very soon in it, some the third or fourth story, it delves into the delightful realm of mystic horror and nostalgic drama.. fairly recent as well, so you can expect that much of what we find in everyday culture is also present in the present-day tales.. a great deal of fun to read.. personal favorites: chattel, the intersection of anastaisia yeoman (sp) and light, and the tower.. seriously recommended