The Great SF Stories Volume 3, 1941. edited by Isaac Asimov and Martin H Greenberg
The Great SF Stories Volume 3, 1941 is rated 76%.
AVERAGE STORY: 3.65
17 Stories : 4 great / 7 good / 4 average / 1 poor / 0 DNF
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If 1941 “may have been one of the greatest years science fiction ever had” as this anthology’s back cover indicates, it needed a better book to prove it. Not because the stories aren’t good, but because six of the seventeen stories are fantasy. In an anthology of Great Science Fiction! Don’t give me any of that “SF means Science Fiction and Fantasy.” The legal title of this anthology - on the inside of the book - is “The Great Science Fiction Stories.”
Let us ignore the preponderance of Fantasy here and focus on the Science Fiction. There were four of the greatest SF stories of all time in this book. There would have been more if they had been able to get the publication rights for any of the Robert Heinlein stories that Asimov and Greenberg wanted to include.
"Microcosmic God" by Theodore Sturgeon. The story is one that could have gotten stereotypical as a not-quite-mad scientist creates a civilization of tiny people to help him invent things. But almost every sentence of this tale is spilling with invention and creativity. It is sprawling in its reach, full of action, and written in a charming way.
"Jay Score" by Eric Frank Russell. Modern internet commentators made find areas of this story ‘problematic,” but this is a superb action-pack SF story with a multiracial crew (in 1941!) that even includses Martians.. Most people remember this for the surprise last line, which is spoiled by Asimov’s description, but the adventure and the crew interactions make this Great.
"Adam and No Eve" by Alfred Bester. Golden Age SF emphasized “Sense of Wonder,” but it could also be a cautionary tale. The devastation of scientific hubris is a theme of many SF stories. Rarely are they this powerful.
"Nightfall" by Isaac Asimov. Considered by many to be the “Greatest Science Fiction Story Ever Written.” This story is one of the greatest examples of ‘world-building’ in SF and also a rivetingly constructed story. Has far more humanity and action than the normal Isaac Asimov story, but also embodies the writers biggest strength. He made very interesting stories about educated people sitting and talking about ideas.
I have also reviewed: The Great SF Stories Volume 1, 1939.
The Great SF Stories Volume 3, 1941 is rated 76%.
17 Stories : 4 great / 7 good / 4 average / 1 poor / 0 DNF
How do I arrive at a rating?
"Mechanical Mice" by Maurice A. Hugi
Good. An inventor pulls invention ideas from the future and ends up fighting for his life against a machine that he cannot understand.
"Shottle Bop" by Theodore Sturgeon
Good. Fantasy/Horror. A man’s visit to a mysterious NYC ‘bottle shop’ starts wacky and humorous before pivoting to the terrifying and horrific. Very well written, but not SciFi.
"The Rocket of 1955" by C. M. Kornbluth
Good. Short-short story of a faked rocket launch and the consequences.
"Evolution's End" by Robert Arthur
Average Readable tale of young lovers, kept apart by the Masters with their giant brains. Readable, but a silly ending that you will see coming long before the story gets there.
"Microcosmic God" by Theodore Sturgeon
Great. A wildly inventive tale of a brilliant inventor-scientist, his banker, and the civilization of small people that he has created in this laboratory. Ridiculous amounts of fun and with the creativity that a lesser author wouldn’t reach in his six-book series.
"Jay Score" by Eric Frank Russell
Great. A multi-racial spaceship’s crew finds themselves hurtling towards a sun. A surprising member of the crew will risk their life to save everyone.
"Liar!" by Isaac Asimov
Good. Susan Calvin, Roboticist, investigates a robot that is able to read minds. Classic ‘Three Laws of Robotics” story.
"Time Wants a Skeleton" by Ross Rocklynne
Good. Time travel, space cops and robbers, a mysterious skeleton on an asteroid, and lots of jockeying for the power to avoid becoming that skeleton.
"The Words of Guru" by C. M. Kornbluth
Good. Horror Fantasy. A young boy is given power and ushered into a demonic world.
"The Seesaw" by A. E. van Vogt
Average. A man walks into a far future weapons shop - transplanted to the present - and find himself at the center of a ongoing conflict. Vogt is playing with ideas that he will do better in future stories.
"Armageddon" by Fredric Brown
Average. Fantasy. Young boy saves the world from Satan during a live magic show.
"Adam and No Eve" by Alfred Bester
Great. One of the greatest science fiction stories ever written. A heart-rending story of the devastation wrought by scientific hubris.
"Solar Plexus" by James Blish
Good. Trapped within a spaceship that has merged with a human being, a scientist tries to find a way to avoid becoming ‘spare parts.’
"Nightfall" by Isaac Asimov
Great. “If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore, and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God!”
"A Gnome There Was" by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore
Average. Fantasy. A labor organizer becomes a Gnome.
"Snulbug" by Anthony Boucher
Poor. Fantasy. A man summons a demon who gets him a newspaper from the future.
"Hereafter, Inc." by Lester del Rey
Average. Fantasy. A man goes about his day, but this isn’t what Heaven should be like.
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