Reviewed: Masterpieces: The Best Science Fiction of the Twentieth Century

Masterpieces: The Best Science Fiction of the Twentieth Century is an anthology of science fiction short stories compiled by Orson Scott Card, one of the giants of the genre. He's the man who wrote Ender's Game and its many many sequels.

The anthology collects 27 short stories spanning much of the twentieth century, from 1936 to 1995. The best of the stories are very good indeed. "The Road Not Taken" is an intriguing what-if by Harry Turtledove. "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman" has an appealing rebelliousness and Harlan Ellison's awesome prose. "Dogfight" by Gibson and Swanwick is gritty and fierce. And "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Le Guin poses a really hard moral question.

But, but, but. There are too many stories that are just sort of ok-ish -- 16 out of 27 by my count. If you're stepping up to the plate with "Masterpiece" stenciled on your bat, you should be whiffing less often than that.

The most puzzling inclusion is "'All You Zombies--" by Robert Heinlein. It makes perfect sense to include something by the grand old man of the genre. But why pick this odd little time-travel story when there's such a wealth of great alternatives? Card could have chosen "The Logic of Empire", "The Roads Must Roll", "The Man Who Sold the Moon", or one of at least a dozen other first-class stories instead.

Overall then, this is a solid collection, with some very good stories by big names in the genre. If only there were more of them.

3/4