This is one of my favorite collections of science fiction stories. I had a copy of it in the 1970s, when it was first published, and I recently got around to replacing my copy.

If you enjoy the _Science Fiction Hall of Fame_ collections, you'll enjoy this one too. At the time of its publication, it was one of very few collections of all-new SF. And Robert Silverberg and Roger Elwood selected (almost) nothing but the best. (There are a couple I don't particularly care for, but at least none of them are real stinkers.)

There is, for example, Harry Harrison's "Run From the Fire," a great parallel-universe tale. There's Clifford Simak's bittersweet "The Ghost of a Model T," which just drips with nostalgia. There's R.A. Lafferty's "For All Poor Folks at Picketwire" (and if you know who R.A. Lafferty is, the mention of his name is all you'll need here). There's a full novella by Jack Vance.

There's also my personal favorite in the book, and one of my favorite SF short stories ever: George R.R. Martin's ". . . for a single yesterday." This is one of the most haunting pieces of fiction you're ever going to read. It takes place on a rural hippie commune after The Blast has destroyed the cities. The title is, of course, a line from the Kris Kristofferson/Fred Foster song "Me and Bobby McGee," which figures into the tale. I won't spoil it for you by telling you anything more; just read it. (It was memories of this particular story that led me to hunt down a used copy of this book in the first place.)

If you like good SF, scare up a copy of this collection. It's one of the best ever assembled.

Most of us will never go on an actual archaeological dig, especially an important one. This book is the next-best thing to "being there" at the great discoveries, excavations, and unravelings of the secrets of the past. The book includes Troy, Nineveh, Babylon, Ur of the Chaldees (city of Abraham), Chichen Itza in the Yucatan, and the tomb of King Tut. Silverberg gives a biography of each discoverer (such as Flinders Petrie, Howard Carter, and Heinrich Schliemann), puts the find in context of the events at the time, and relates its contribution to the development of archaeology. The highlight is actual excerpts from the journals/writings of these men themselves -- how they discovered their finds, what they thought, and how they felt. This is a fascinating and easy-to-read book -- a must-have for we armchair historians.

i enjoyed this compilation of many good sci-fi authors, i recommend it to anyone who likes sci-fi.

This is the first science fiction book I ever read! It changed my life as I read about the expolits of two children living in a Mars colony. The young boy and girl discover that there is, indeed, life on Mars. This is an excellent book to introduce science fiction to a child. Well-written with science facts yet the two protaganists are likeable and interesting. If you love science fiction, share this with your children and spark that same love in them!

The Masks of Time (a.k.a. Vornan-19) is one of my favorite Silverberg novels, one of a string of brilliant works he wrote in the late 60s / early 70s.

In 1999, on the eve of the millenium, a stranger named Vornan appears mysteriously on Earth, claiming to be a visitor from the future. The government, looking for anything to distract attention from the riots of the Apocalypse cults, welcomes Vornan and sends him on a worldwide tour of Earth in the company of several prominent scientists, each of whom is either trying to debunk him or pump him for information on the future.

Short (about 200 pages), engaging, with cleanly drawn and compelling characters, this is Silverberg at his best, and should be a model for aspiring writers of any genre - tell the story well and be done with it.

this is a good book i think only because i like chemisrty it talked about the different people who discovered some thing about the atom like it has a nucleus and has positivly an negatively i would not recomend this book to anyone unless you like chemistry

Get this book at all costs! Absolutely the best short sci-fi stories I've ever read.

I liked this story in junior high school so much I swiped the only copy from the library (sorry Miss Edelson!). It's the story of Roy Crawford, a macho hunter who is framed for murder, and sneaks on board an expeditionary starship to an alien planet. The explorers quickly find that every plant and animal on the planet is a carnivore, and they are caught up in the battle for survival. Crawford even manages to solve the murder mystery through some liberal coincidence by the author :).

Parents should be warned about the violence (the opening hunting scene, fistfights, and animal and human deaths on the alien planet), however it's not bloody. There is an element of horror in some of the aliens' eating habits, but again it's not gory. If your kids like action and adventure, they'll like this book! Let's hope the publishers decide to print a new edition.

I borrowed this book from the library, and now I have to have it. Not only do the ideas behind the stories capture my imagination, but the actual writing is wonderful. I'm interested in the craft of writing fiction, science fiction in particular. The critic's look that Robert Silverberg gives with each short story really made me think about what I was reading. This is a must-have if you are even remotely interested in the writing of science fiction.

You can find "Sailing to Byzantium" as a stand-alone book in print, which is terrific, as it is a shame that this double Tor book is now out of print. "Sailing to Byzantium" is a must-read by Silverberg, one of science fiction's premier authors. He excels in the novella genre, and the writing in "Byzantium" is nothing short of exquisite. Silverberg creates an entire future society, yet reveals each fact with perfect timing, dropping them into place as precisely as a safecracker dropping tumblers into the lock of a safe. If you want to read a near-perfect short work of fiction, this is it.

Turn this book upside down and Gene Wolfe's celebrated "Seven American Nights" is on the other side. The story unfolds with a diary of an Iranian visitor to the ruins of a future United States. The diary tells a story of an adventure in a land of mutants and ruined treasure for the taking. But is the writer reliable in what he tells us? The uncertainty of the information is skillfully crafted and teases the reader almost unbearably along each of the seven nights.

Both these stories are top-notch examples of short fiction writing, and masterpieces of science fiction. If you find a copy of this, snap it up.