The Big Book of Science Fiction Review
The Big Book of Science Fiction is an anthology of a century’s worth of sci-fi short stories. It is a large collection with 1216 pages! Before each short story, there is a short biography of the author, which sometimes helps frame the story you’re about to read. Considering that some of the stories were written in the early 1900’s, the framing helps explain why there are two moons on mars, for example.
However, sometimes the biography is not very interesting. Too often there is a long list of the author’s publications, which doesn’t add much to the story ahead. So, I often read the first few lines, which told me when and where the author lived and just skip the rest.
Some of the stories are also not very interesting. They might have been good at the time and are definitely part of the “conte philosophique”, but the only interest they present now is of an anthropological/historical nature. I would recommend just skipping the stories you don’t like. There are plenty of good ones in here that your time is better spent on.
So, I’d say that if you are an avid sci-fi reader, then definitely ‘read it!’ However, if you are relatively new to the genre, I’d recommend something a bit more modern that has familiar pacing and story structure. For an anthology, I’d say read Infinity’s End, for a novel try Shards of Time.
