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The Penguin science fiction omnibus Paperback – January 1, 1973

by Brian W. Aldiss (Author)

4.2 103 ratings

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contents:

"Sole Solution" - Eric Frank Russell
"Lot" - Ward Moore
"The Short-Short Story of Mankind" - John Steinbeck
"Skirmish" - Clifford Simak
"Poor Little Warrior!" - Brian W. Aldiss
"Grandpa" - James H. Schmitz
"The Half Pair" - Bertram Chandler
"Command Performance" - Walter M Miller
"Nightfall" - Isaac Asimov
"The Snowball Effect" - Katherine MacLean
"The End of Summer" by Algis Budrys
"Track 12" - J. G. Ballard
"The Monkey Wrench" - Gordon R. Dickson
"The First Men" - Howard Fast
"Counterfeit" - Alan E. Nourse
"The Greater Thing" - Tom Godwin
"Build Up Logically" - Howard Schoenfeld
"The Liberation of Earth" - William Tenn
"An Alien Agony" - Harry Harrison
"The Tunnel under the World" - Frederik Pohl
"The Store of the Worlds" - Robert Sheckley
"Jokester" - Isaac Asimov
"Pyramid" - Robert Abernathy
"The Forgotten Enemy" - Arthur C. Clarke
"The Wall Around the World" - Theodore Cogswell
"Protected Species" - H. B. Fyfe
"Before Eden" - Arthur C. Clarke
"The Rescuer" - Arthur Porges
"I Made You" - Walter M. Miller Jr.
"The Country of the Kind" - Damon Knight
"MS Found in a Chinese Fortune Cookie" - C. M. Kornbluth
"The Cage" - Bertram Chandler
"Eastward Ho!" - William Tenn
"The Windows of Heaven" - John Brunner
"Common Time" - James Blish
"Fulfilment" - A. E. van Vogt

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin; First Edition (January 1, 1973)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 616 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0140031456
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0140031454
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.33 x 0.94 x 7.09 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,439,290 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #115,139 in Science Fiction (Books)

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4.2 103 ratings

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4.2 out of 5

103 global ratings

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88

FANTASTIC FICTION

Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2014

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An amazing collection of stories that vary widely in range and subject matter but all add a sense of wonder...I read the middle anthology and went back to amazon to buy this omnibus for the other 2 anthologies and was not disappointed...

15 • Sole Solution • (1956) • shortstory by Eric Frank Russell
18 • Lot • [David Jimmon] • (1953) • novelette by Ward Moore
46 • The Short-Short Story of Mankind • (1958) • shortstory by John Steinbeck
52 • Skirmish • (1950) • shortstory by Clifford D. Simak
72 • Poor Little Warrior! • (1958) • shortstory by Brian W. Aldiss
79 • Grandpa • (1955) • novelette by James H. Schmitz
102 • The Half Pair • (1957) • shortstory by A. Bertram Chandler [as by Bertram Chandler ]
107 • Command Performance • (1952) • novelette by Walter M. Miller, Jr. [as by Walter M. Miller ]
126 • Nightfall • (1941) • novelette by Isaac Asimov
156 • The Snowball Effect • (1952) • shortstory by Katherine MacLean
170 • The End of Summer • (1954) • novelette by Algis Budrys
197 • Track 12 • (1958) • shortstory by J. G. Ballard
203 • The Monkey Wrench • (1951) • shortstory by Gordon R. Dickson
215 • The First Men • (1960) • novelette by Howard Fast
245 • Counterfeit • (1952) • novelette by Alan E. Nourse
268 • The Greater Thing • (1954) • novelette by Tom Godwin
292 • Build Up Logically • (1949) • shortstory by Howard Schoenfeld (variant of Built Up Logically)
303 • The Liberation of Earth • (1953) • shortstory by William Tenn
321 • An Alien Agony • (1962) • shortstory by Harry Harrison (variant of The Streets of Ashkelon)
337 • The Tunnel Under the World • (1955) • novelette by Frederik Pohl
370 • The Store of the Worlds • (1959) • shortstory by Robert Sheckley
377 • Jokester • (1956) • shortstory by Isaac Asimov
391 • Pyramid • (1954) • novelette by Robert Abernathy
419 • The Forgotten Enemy • (1948) • shortstory by Arthur C. Clarke
426 • The Wall Around the World • (1953) • novelette by Theodore R. Cogswell [as by Theodore Cogswell ]
453 • Protected Species • (1951) • shortstory by H. B. Fyfe
466 • Before Eden • (1961) • shortstory by Arthur C. Clarke
478 • The Rescuer • (1962) • shortstory by Arthur Porges
485 • I Made You • (1954) • shortstory by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
497 • The Country of the Kind • (1956) • shortstory by Damon Knight
511 • MS. Found in a Chinese Fortune Cookie • (1957) • shortstory by C. M. Kornbluth
523 • The Cage • (1957) • shortstory by A. Bertram Chandler [as by Bertram Chandler ]
536 • Eastward Ho! • (1958) • shortstory by William Tenn
553 • The Windows of Heaven • (1956) • shortstory by John Brunner
566 • Common Time • (1953) • novelette by James Blish
588 • Fulfilment • (1964) • novelette by A. E. van Vogt (variant of Fulfillment 1951)

9 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

Not Free SF Reader

Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2008

An omnibus collection of the three Penguin Science Fiction anthologies in series that Aldiss edited in the sixties. At 4,3.5 and 4, pretty much sounds to me like we give this a 4 overall.

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A 1960s anthology, and a good one. In the introduction Aldiss talks about what he and others see Science Fiction as, and the role it can play.

Penguin Science Fiction : Sole Solution - Eric Frank Russell
Penguin Science Fiction : Lot - Ward Moore
Penguin Science Fiction : The Short-Short Story of Mankind [We're Holding Our Own] - John Steinbeck
Penguin Science Fiction : Skirmish [Bathe Your Bearings in Blood!] - Clifford Simak
Penguin Science Fiction : Poor Little Warrior! - Brian W. Aldiss
Penguin Science Fiction : Grandpa - James H. Schmitz
Penguin Science Fiction : The Half Pair - Bertram Chandler
Penguin Science Fiction : Command Performance - Walter M. Miller
Penguin Science Fiction : Nightfall - Isaac Asimov
Penguin Science Fiction : The Snowball Effect - Katherine MacLean
Penguin Science Fiction : The End of Summer - Algis Budrys
Penguin Science Fiction : Track 12 - J. G. Ballard

Deity dream escape.

3 out of 5

Getting out of town is very important.

3.5 out of 5

Technology pioneer martyrs.

3.5 out of 5

Alien mini-machine awareness communication.

3.5 out of 5

He's got the dino crabs.

4 out of 5

Big ol' beast ride.

4 out of 5

Cuff link and hubby loss.

3 out of 5

New neural communication.

4 out of 5

Media and religion struggle with science. Still.

4 out of 5

Sociology maybe can do something.

3 out of 5

Immortal accidents and memories.

3.5 out of 5

Different sound score.

3.5 out of 5

4 out of 5

The second Penguin SF anthology by Aldiss, but not as good as the first, averaging only 3.41 compared to the 3.54 of the first, which is still fairly reasonable for a reprint anthology.

More Penguin Science Fiction : The Monkey Wrench - Gordon R. Dickson
More Penguin Science Fiction : The First Men - Howard Fast
More Penguin Science Fiction : Counterfeit - Alan E. Nourse
More Penguin Science Fiction : The Greater Thing - Tom Godwin
More Penguin Science Fiction : Built Up Logically [The Universal Panacea] - Howard Schoenfeld
More Penguin Science Fiction : The Liberation of Earth - William Tenn
More Penguin Science Fiction : An Alien Agony [The Streets of Ashkelon] - Harry Harrison
More Penguin Science Fiction : The Tunnel Under the World - Frederik Pohl
More Penguin Science Fiction : The Store of the Worlds [The World of Heart's Desire] - Robert Sheckley
More Penguin Science Fiction : Jokester - Isaac Asimov
More Penguin Science Fiction : Pyramid - Robert Abernathy
More Penguin Science Fiction : The Forgotten Enemy - Arthur C. Clarke

Big tin god bet.

3 out of 5

Super smart kids like bugs.

3 out of 5

Sick ship Venus copy.

3.5 out of 5

Underground last bullet escape observation.

4 out of 5

Resident alien galactic defense dishonesty.

3.5 out of 5

Native superstition addition.

4.5 out of 5

Brain capacity reduction circuit.

3 out of 5

Secret longing viewing.

3 out of 5

Computer humour intuition.

3 out of 5

Alien human observation biology power gain.

3 out of 5

There's a polar bear in there.

4 out of 5

3.5 out of 5

The third of Aldiss' 60s Penguin science fiction anthology series. It is not quite as good as the first, but better than the second, and overall the whole series average around 3.50. Right on that number, actually, for this volume.

Yet More Penguin SF : The Wall Around the World - Theodore R. Cogswell
Yet More Penguin SF : Protected Species - H. B. Fyfe
Yet More Penguin SF : Before Eden - Arthur C. Clarke
Yet More Penguin SF : The Rescuer - Arthur Porges
Yet More Penguin SF : I Made You - Walter M. MillerJr.
Yet More Penguin SF : The Country of the Kind - Damon Knight
Yet More Penguin SF : MS Found in a Chinese Fortune Cookie - C. M. Kornbluth
Yet More Penguin SF : The Cage - Bertram Chandler
Yet More Penguin SF : Eastward Ho! - William Tenn
Yet More Penguin SF : The Windows of Heaven [Two by Two] - John Brunner
Yet More Penguin SF : Common Time - James Blish
Yet More Penguin SF : Fulfillment - A. E. van Vogt

Broomstick flight all in the mind.

3 out of 5

Old ape hunt.

3.5 out of 5

Venusian botany on the run.

3 out of 5

Jesus time machine shoot.

3 out of 5

Leave me alone, Grumbler.

3.5 out of 5

Violent man gets odiferously ostracised.

4 out of 5

Writing monopoly maintenance.

3.5 out of 5

Prisons take brains.

3.5 out of 5

Paleface losers.

4 out of 5

Sun blowup restart.

4 out of 5

Flight observer experience rather wonky.

4 out of 5

Brain-Man partners.

3 out of 5

4 out of 5

One person found this helpful

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RICHARD GILBY

Superb range of SF

Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2022

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This is a well chosen collection and I know I shall go back and re-read many of the stories. Some famous stories and famous authors and some delightful surprises. Maximus the ginger cat and the heptapods were my all time favourites.

Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2011

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This is a major anthology of science fiction. I have the old PB edition and I think that this updated ebook volume is worth every penny. The collection, edited by Brian Aldiss ranges from the great "Golden Age" authors such as Asimov, Simak and A.E.Van Vogt to contemporary writers. I think it is comparable in quality to the great Golden Age anthology, "Adventures in Time and Space" edited by Healy and McComas. No science fiction fan should be without either of these books.

4 people found this helpful

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sandhlp

Good stories poor condition of book

Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2022

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Good stories book in gas condition

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MW

contains the extraordinary short story "Protected Species" H. B. Fyfe

Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2011

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This volume also contains the extraordinary short story "Protected Species" H. B. Fyfe. Totally mind boggling!

I have been trying to find this story again for decades. I read it in a Science Fiction Book Club edition from the 1960's of this great anthology and found it here!

5 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Perceptive Reader

Not Recommended

Reviewed in India on October 14, 2017

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Editing is a much more difficult job than writing, especially when it comes to authors. Almost all the famous authors are notorious for choosing inferior to bad stories, whenever they are given an opportunity to make a "best of" selection from their works. It proves, that making a selection requires an altogether different perspective, and a connect with the hoi-polloi readers, which most of our authors lack. A classic example would be this book, as well.
This selection, widely respected by critics, turned out to be a disappointingly depressing one, where the author has selected stories that might be elevating, from a philosophical point of view, but are dashed poor reads. Also, his selections seem to be influenced by a Biblical worldview, which is NOT shared by readers like me.
I had read a majority of these stories in different collections, and while several of them have had a lasting impact, the others were soporific and simply boring. To such pile, Aldiss had added several more dark, drab, dull stories, which the critics would lap-up. As far as I'm concerned, they only succeeded in souring the day.
There are MUCH MUCH better anthologies available. The modern selections made by Paula Guran, while the older classic anthologies edited by Asimov et.al. are books that you might actually enjoy, and treasure.

6 people found this helpful

R. Palmer

For what it is, this is worthwhile.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 30, 2010

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This anthology is an update of the now classic survey of the SF field published originally in 1973 (there were 3 books that made that version up published 1961, 3 and 4). Obviously there has been a *lot* of SF published in the intervening years, so, necessarily, the contents of this book have been updated. Naturally, however, it's hardly definitive, however, I think that it does a reasonable job of showing where SF came from and where it's going.

The oldest story in it is Asimov's 1941 story, Nightfall and the most recent stories from Gary Kilworth and Eliza Blair. Something that I did notice reading through it is that while, obviously, the immediate concerns of the stories changed, a lot of the earlier short stories seemed to be concerned with building to a pay-off of some kind (if you know Nightfall, or Fred Pohl's The Tunnel Under the World you'll know what I mean) while some of the later stories seem less concerned with this. I suspect that this has something to do with the market that they were writing for in the 40s, 50s and 60s.

It seems, therefore, churlish to criticise the earlier stories for being concerned with politics we don't consider relevant, or to be in some way "one-dimensional" (and, I think, some are) this book does what it sets out to do very well. The other thing that I've found is that, perhaps, some of the stories have been over-anthologised (for example, I think I've seen the Ted Chiang story in several: it is superb and deserves to be there, but if you read a lot of SF anthologies, you may well come accross it a lot - similarly for some of the older ones, the Asimov and Pohl stories have shown up a lot). I suppose, though, that demonstrates that there is, generally, a high standard of quality amongst this stuff.

If you like SF and want as decent a survey of the genre as you're likely to find in one volume, this is well worth a try. If you want up to the minute or more innovative stuff, I'd try elsewhere, though. I think that it would probably suit anybody not too familiar with the genre who wanted a decent in - if that's you, you could add an extra star! Furthermore, a couple of the stories should be an in to some excellent longer fiction (for example, Blood Music which became an superb full length novel: Blood Music (Gollancz S.F.) )

Sole Solution - Eric Frank Russell (1956)
Lot - Ward Moore (1953)
Skirmish - Clifford Simak (1950)
And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side - James Tiptree, Jr (1971)
Poor Little Warrior! - Brian Aldiss (1958)
Grandpa - James H. Schmitz (1955)
Nightfall - Isaac Asimov (1941)
The Snowball Effect - Katherine MacLean (1952)
Swarm - Bruce Sterling (1982)
Blood Music - Greg Bear (1983)
Answer - Frederic Brown (1964)
The Liberation of Earth - William Tenn (1953)
An Alien Agony - Harry Harrison (1962)
Track 12 - J.G. Ballard (1958)
Sexual Dimorphism - Kim Stanley Robinson (1999)
The Tunnel Under the World - Frederick Pohl (1954)
Friends in Need - Eliza Blair (2006)
The Store of the Worlds - Robert Sheckley (1959)
Jokester - Isaac Asimov (1956)
The Short-Short Story of Mankind - John Steinbeck (1958)
Night Watch - James Inglis (1964)
Ted Chiang - Story of Your Life (1998)
Protected Species - H. B. Fyfe (1951)
The Rescuer - Arthur Porges (1962)
I Made You - Walter M. Miller, Jr. (1954)
The Country of the Kind - Damon Knight (1956)
The Cage - Bertram Chandler (1957)
Fulfilment - A. E. van Vogt (1952)
Common Time - James Blish (1960)
Alien Embassy - Garry Kilworth (2006)
Great Work of Time - John Crowley (1989)

50 people found this helpful

Russell

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 10, 2015

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A bit battered but good enough.

northener

Book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 17, 2019

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