After David Harwell’s recent death, I thought I would honor his long and successful career as an editor by featuring one of his best anthologies: The Science Fiction Century. This 1000-page tome from 1997 displays the best science fiction of the 20th Century (in Hartwell’s opinion). Check out the Table of Contents below to see the range of stories in this massive volume. Hartwell provides informative introductions to each story and helps place it in the historical continuum of science fiction from the past century. If you’re looking for a landmark anthology, The Science Fiction Century is one of the best.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
ntroduction by David G. Hartwell
“Beam Us Home” by James Tiptree, Jr. (Galaxy Magazine, April 1969)
“Ministering Angels” by C. S. Lewis (Saturday Review of Literature, May 28, 1955)
“The Music Master of Babylon” by Edgar Pangborn (Galaxy Science Fiction, November 1954)
“A Story of the Days to Come” by H. G. Wells (Pall Mall Magazine, 1899)
“Hot Planet” by Hal Clement (Galaxy Magazine, August 1963)
“A Work of Art” by James Blish (Science Fiction Stories, July 1956)
“The Machine Stops” by E. M. Forster (Oxford and Cambridge Review, November 1909)
“Brightness Falls from the Air” by Margaret St. Clair (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, April 1951)
“2066: Election Day” by Michael Shaara (Astounding Science Fiction, December 1956)
“The Rose” by Charles L. Harness (Authentic Science Fiction Monthly #31, March 1953)
“The Hounds of Tindalos” by Frank Belknap Long (Weird Tales, March 1929)
“The Angel of Violence” by Adam Wiśniewski-Snerg (1978; translated from the Polish)
“Nobody Bothers Gus” by Algis Budrys (Astounding Science Fiction, November 1955) — Hugo nominee
“The Time Machine” by Dino Buzzati
“Mother” by Philip José Farmer (Thrilling Wonder Stories, April 1953)
“As Easy as A.B.C.” by Rudyard Kipling (The London Magazine, March 1912)
“Ginungagap” by Michael Swanwick (TriQuarterly 49, 1980) — Nebula nominee
“Minister Without Portfolio” by Mildred Clingerman (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1952)
“Time in Advance” by William Tenn (Galaxy Science Fiction, August 1956)
“Good Night, Sophie” by Lino Aldani (1963, translated from the Italian in 1973)
“Veritas” by James Morrow (Synergy: New Science Fiction, Number 1, 1987)
“Enchanted Village” by A. E. van Vogt (Other Worlds Science Stories, July 1950)
“The King and the Dollmaker” by Wolfgang Jeschke (1961, translated 1970)
“Fire Watch” by Connie Willis (Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, February 1982) — Hugo & Nebula Award
“Goat Song” by Poul Anderson (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1972) — Hugo & Nebula Award
“The Scarlet Plague” by Jack London (London Magazine, June 1912)
“Drunkboat” by Cordwainer Smith (Amazing Stories, October 1963)
“Another World” by J. H. Rosny aîné (1895, translated 1962)
“If the Stars Are Gods” by Gordon Eklund and Gregory Benford (Universe 4, March 1974) — Nebula Award
“I Still Call Australia Home” by George Turner (Aurealis #1, April 1990)
“Liquid Sunshine” by Alexander Kuprin (1913, translated from Russian in 1982)
“Great Work of Time” by John Crowley (Novelty, May 1989) — World Fantasy Award, Nebula nominee
“Sundance” by Robert Silverberg (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June 1969)
“Greenslaves” by Frank Herbert (Amazing Stories, March 1965)
“Rumfuddle” by Jack Vance (Three Trips in Time and Space: Original Novellas of Science Fiction, 1973)
“The Dimple in Draco” by R. S. Richardson (Orbit 2, June 1967)
“Consider Her Ways” by John Wyndham (Sometime, Never, 1956)
“Something Ending” by Eddy C. Bertin (1971, translated 1982)
“He Who Shapes” by Roger Zelazny (Amazing Stories, January 1965) — Nebula Award
“Swarm” by Bruce Sterling (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, April 1982) — Hugo & Nebula nominee
“Beggars in Spain” by Nancy Kress (Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, April 1991) — Hugo & Nebula Award
“Johnny Mnemonic” by William Gibson (Omni, May 1981) — Nebula nominee
“Repent, Harlequin!” Said the Ticktockman” by Harlan Ellison (Galaxy Magazine, December 1965) — Hugo & Nebula Award
“Blood’s a Rover” by Chad Oliver (Astounding Science Fiction, May 1952)
“Sail the Tide of Mourning” by Richard A. Lupoff (New Dimensions 5, April 1975) — Hugo & Nebula nominee
Wow, that is one huge collection. I don’t think I’d tackle another book that size, at least not now.
Jeff, THE SCIENCE FICTION CENTURY is almost a reference book in scope. You can find inexpensive copies on the Internet. It took me a couple of weeks to work my way through it.
Lots of great stories, too many to read except over the course of a summer.
Bill, I just chipped away at the long list of stories. Great fun!
I recognize many of the stories, I remember especially liking the William Tenn time-travel one, and a lot of the others. I read the article(s) on Black Gate on Hartwell, and this anthology. Good one.
Rick, THE SCIENCE FICTION CENTURY is a terrific anthology. I’m glad I have a copy on my shelf for reference.
What a line-up! I might quibble on some of the specific choices but this looks like a book for the ages. It’s curious that Hartwell did not include any of the “Big Three” — Heinlein, Asimov, and Clarke –but that may have been a deliberate choice. The book could have gone on for another thousand pages and still have just scratched the surface.
Jerry, Hartwell made some curious choices, but all the stories in this volume are top-notch. Skipping the Big Three had to be an editorial decision.
T
A lot of fantastic stories!
What I always ask myself:
Who buys these books? Anyone interested in SF surely has already read/owns many of the stories – so why buy them again?
PS:
I still remember fondly when I went to London and found many old copies of the magazines like Galaxy, F&SF, Amazing where some of these stories originally appeared …
Wolf, I like to have all these great SF stories in one place. And, the price was right…one U.S. penny (plus shipping & handling).
George, where do you find these spectacular book offers?
And how much is shipping etc nowadays in the US for a heavy book like that?
Wolf, I find most of those penny books on AMAZON. And standard Shipping & Handling is $3.99. A Bargain!
Thanks, George!
Just looked at one of the sellers of these 1 Cent books – but they ask more than 15 $ per book (!) for international shipping!
So it’s out of the question for me anyway …
Wolf–Libraries, and new readers to sf, often buy this kind of book…and Hartnell’s anthologies are and have been used as college texts. And even if a veteran reader of sf might have had all, or more likely most, of the stories here at one time or another, but might well not have them (or most of them) now, nor as George notes, have them together in this company.
And, of course, even in sales, the BACH quartet of Bradbury, Asimov, Clarke and Heinlein don’t loom as large in sf as they once did, even if they remain influential, even if Heinlein, the most influential, is these days more felt through what and who he inspired than most of his own work, the hugely mixed bag that it eventually was. It’s notable that Bradbury’s major inspiration, Heinlein’s friend and a writer all four were fans of, TheodoreSturgeon, sold just a little better on balance than did Clarke until a certain film, and its companion novel, were released…the BATH quartet doesn’t quite have same ring (koff).
Though Hartwell was most certainly making the effort to gather as diverse a collection of influential work as possible, as was his model, Damon Knight, with A CENTURY OF SCIENCE FICTION in 1963. https://archive.org/details/centuryofscience00knig
Todd, books like THE SCIENCE FICTION CENTURY are a vanishing breed. E-books will collect these kinds of classic SF stories in the future. I’m just buying the print versions before they become extinct.
How many new books can one buy in Germany these days for $15? Sadly, some but not most in the US…
Todd, sadly I’m not buying as many new books as I used to. But I am buying a lot of used books online. John O’Neill at BLACK GATE has recommended dozens of great books that are available for a pittance.
Wolf, maybe it’s time to take a book hunting trip to the USA!