The Best Science Fiction Short Story Anthologies

[@thelibraryladder]

By limiting the list of anthologies to a somewhat arbitrary 15 or so in this video, I've left out a great many that deserve to be read and appreciated. (See my previous video for more information about the wide range of SF anthologies.) What anthologies do you consider essential? Which ones have I missed in my survey of the genre and its history, particularly anthologies focused on recent (post-2000) short fiction and translated works, where I have less experience? Thanks!

[@dylanpurchase6344]

you are a cool dude

[@thewatchfemme4051]

Agreed!

[@MrigankaRoy]

right

[@thebigshep]

This man is like the Bob Ross of booktube

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! I try to paint with words rather than a brush.

[@MagusMarquillin]

@@thelibraryladder You paint with words, your camera and careful selections from your laddered library palette - "we'll just put a happy little Tree Grows in Brooklyn here" ☺

[@oscarchavezart]

came for the anthologies, stayed for the golden voice.

[@DKBiedron]

The Rod Serling of reading

[@Tokayd13]

I'm building a SF library (I'm surprised at how many little gems I already have), and I watched this video with eBay open. So I'm happily waiting on my mail in a few days to add to my shelves 🙂

[@thelibraryladder]

Buy them while they're still available at reasonable prices! :D

[@mgmartin51]

Why is it that no one is quiet in libraries anymore? Kids run around unsupervised, people carry on conversations and don’t silence their phones. I appreciate your quiet voice in these videos.

[@Don-nl1ec]

My wife asked the same question after a recent visit to a local branch........🤷‍♂

[@BirdBird112]

I would argue, unfortunately, libraries are not really about books and studying anymore, but about public outreach. I blame the lack of funding in public services.

[@levimatthew8911]

It's just the breakdown of society

[@NevsBookChannel]

This is very timely. I’m currently reading Flowers for Algernon and I thought “I’d like to read the original short story” so I looked it up online. But your video made me think, “wait a second, I have a bunch of anthology books on my shelves” and sure enough I have Asimov’s Hugo Winners anthology which contains the short story! Great video as always

[@thelibraryladder]

I have the same problem sometimes. Thank goodness for isfdb.org, which helps me keep track of which anthologies contain which stories. Otherwise, I'd spend a lot of time hunting through countless tables of contents. :) As an aside, although both versions are terrific, I prefer the short story of Flowers for Algernon.

[@NevsBookChannel]

@@thelibraryladder I’ll let you know which I prefer when I’ve finished

[@bark_madly]

🎉🎉🎉 a day with a new Library Ladder video is a day to celebrate! I love your content, and you have enriched my home library so much.

[@StopFear]

This guy could probably be a very effective hypnotist with his voice control. Is he a book narrator?

[@thelibraryladder]

For fun, I recorded a couple of short stories for Halloween last year that are here on my channel. I plan to record more classic stories in the near future and make them available here.

[@andreasboe4509]

Brother. I could not be happier with your picks. Three thumbs up.

[@rickkearn7100]

"Classic Science Fiction The First Golden Age" has one of my favorite Asimov stories: "Victory Unintentional". TLL, this post is epic. Can't tell you how many of the stories in these anthologies I've read, I lost count. Great walk down memory lane. Plush. Well done, sir!

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! The anthology "Classic Science Fiction: The First Golden Age" edited by Terry Carr is one of my absolute favorites. Almost every story in that collection is very memorable. Carr did a great job selecting them, and his lengthy introduction essay is well worth reading too, for insight into how stories were written and published at the start of the Golden Age.

[@rickkearn7100]

I don't have this anthology, but I'm intrigued now that you've mentioned the introduction by Carr, and shall seek it out. Cheers. @@thelibraryladder

[@Cyberdactyl]

A hat tip to THE LIBRARY LADDER. Your Abobe Premeire _(or whatever video editor you use)_ efforts are impressive for the effort you go to for such a low subscription count. That is not to discount, I personally believe you deserve in the several hundred thousand. Your reviews are truly impressive.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thank you for the wonderful comment! Part of the fun of making these videos is learning how to create them. Before starting my channel, I'd never used any video editing software, so I've been teaching myself for the past two years. For most of my videos, I try to learn and incorporate at least one new technique (although ironically, this video is one of the very few that didn't break new ground for me). Because I'm still learning, it also means it takes me longer to create each video. However, I'm not in a rush. I'm taking the long view with my channel. My goal is to create videos that have a long shelf life, potentially viewable many years from now. [And FYI, I use Davinci Resolve to edit my videos. :) ]

[@wileyschmitt]

Thanx Bridger for sharing your vast wealth of knowledge about books with us. Your dedication will also help preserve the great authors and stories you love by continuously creating new readers that happen to stumble across your channel, and for many, many years to come!

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks, Wiley! Preserving the legacies of authors and works at risk of being forgotten is one of my primary goals.

[@wileyschmitt]

@@thelibraryladder Well you're doing an amazing job of it. Keep up the great work :)

[@bfitzger2]

I read Dangerous Visions in the early 1970s, after having have read most of the science fiction at my local libraries. It was mind-blowing to a 14-year old, and it definitely marked "old" versus "new" science fiction to me.

[@Seven-Planets-Sci-Fi-Tuber]

Makes me feel like a kid in a candy store! Glad to see I own several of these. I'll be ordering some of the others.. Thanks!

[@samhoward8573]

I absolutely love the work you're doing on this channel. Such a great video!

[@summerkagan6049]

I've been a reader of science fiction for more than fifty years. Your knowledge of the genre is very impressive. You have my respect. Might I recommend Beyond the End of Time edited by Fredrick Pohl and A Century of Science Fiction edited by Damon Knight.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thank you for your kind words! I'm just an enthusiast who likes to dive deep into the things that interest me. I agree with you about the two anthologies you recommend. I have both of them (and I think they appeared briefly in my previous video). It was difficult narrowing my list for this video because of how many very good anthologies I had to leave out.

[@conorquinn607]

Another fantastic video! Thank you for sharing your knowledge once again. I've been trying to educate myself in SF recently and it never occurred to me that anthologies are the way to go. Three of these are now on their way to me. Can't wait!

[@josephd5879]

Another great video. That is a very impressive collection of science fiction. The anthologies have always been my go to for knowledge of the genre. Thank you for doing more of these videos.

[@dionysianapollomarx]

Not including some honorable mentions, the list includes: 1. Adventures in Time and Space 2. The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volumes I and II 3. Dangerous Visions 4. The Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction 5. The Science Fiction Century 6. The Ascent of Wonder: The Evolution of Hard SF 7. The Prentice Hall Anthology of Science Fiction and Fantasy 8. Science Fiction: Stories and Contexts 9. Sense of Wonder: A Century of Science Fiction 10. The Norton Book of Science Fiction 11. The Big Book of Science Fiction (VanderMeer anthology) 12. A Science Fiction Argosy 13. Beyond Time and Space (1950, edited by August Derleth) - which I need 14. The Road to Science Fiction, 6 volumes 15. Asimov’s Hugo Winners 16. Great Tales of Science Fiction 17. The World Treasury of Science Fiction 18. The Science Fiction of Hall of Fame, Volume 3: Nebula Winners 1965-1969 19. Isaac Asimov Presents the Best SF of the 19th Century 20. Strange Ports of Call 21. Classic Science Fiction: The First Golden Age 22. The Spectrum Anthologies (did I hear Kingsley Amis?) 23. 25-volume The Great Science Fiction Stories series 24. The Best of the Best: 20 Years of the Year’s Best Science Fiction 25. The Best of the Best 2: 20 Years of the Best Short Science Fiction Novels 26. The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of the Years’ Best Science Fiction I’ll be looking out for and reading them all. Thank you very much for this video! 😊😊😊

[@christianblair8663]

Right on time! Discovered your channel yesterday and I've been binging your fantastical quality work. Just started reading The Year's Best Science Fiction: Eighteenth Annual Collection, so this was quite the welcomed surprise.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks and welcome aboard!

[@Hellblazer1138Audio]

What a great collection of anthologies! I can only think of one that might have deserved a place here: Epoch (1975) edited by Roger Elwood & Robert Silverberg. A fair amount of the stories weren't published anywhere else. There's a really strange story by Ward Moore called "Durance" and "The Dogtown Tourist Agency", a novel by Jack Vance. It also includes stories from Pohl, Niven, Le Guin, SImak, Lafferty, Harry Harrison, Jack Dann, GRRM, Gregory Benford & a few others.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! I have Epoch. It's a great one, and I gave serious consideration to including it in this video. I had a tough time excluding many excellent anthologies from the final list of essentials.

[@nikk345]

Love watching your videos, thank you. Even the ones dealing with subjects I have no real interest in (such as the James Bond videos you did) I still ended up watching and thoroughly enjoying.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thank you! That's been a goal of mine -- to help viewers gain a greater appreciation of different genres (or genre segments) that they don't normally read. I plan to expand my coverage of genres such as mystery, historical fiction and horror over the next year (I enjoy them all).

[@funbahai]

I have a special place in my heart for omnibus and anthology collections, so this video has single-handedly impacted my wallet more than any other that I can recall.

[@thelibraryladder]

I hope I didn't impact your wallet _too_ much! :)

[@beethoven2351]

Excellent! A wonderful video and an even better list of recommendations. I would also recommend The Best of the Nebulas edited by Ben Bova (Tor, 1989), a wonderful collection.

[@thelibraryladder]

Great suggestion! Thanks!

[@didaccatalannabau2740]

Congratulations for this fine well-edited video!

[@thelibraryladder]

Moltes grácies!

[@BogWraith1]

Another outstanding video covering alot of books I own or owned throughout my life. All the Gardner Dozois edited Best of works are worthy of collecting. You touched on the Science Fiction Hall of Fame books which were the three books required for my Sci-Fi class back in college in 1978 and have been part of my library ever since. As well, I've posted a couple of times in your past videos about Dangerous Visions & Again, Dangerous Visions as being paramount in any serious collectors arsenal! Thanks again for such a wonderful trip back to some of my most memorable and enjoyable times when reading many of the stories you mentioned took me on journeys inside and outside of my mind and spirit.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! I really believe anyone who wants to understand science fiction should read those early SF Hall of Fame volumes. They're absolutely essential reading, and most of the stories in them hold up well despite their age.

[@marianaazeredo6575]

Thank you for the thoughtful content, it is definitely helping to navigate through the SF genre!

[@joebrooks4448]

Great video. Very "comprehensive" and thoroughly researched. Showing the content pages of these is really helpful! I will "reacquire" a few that I traded long ago. "The Wesleyan Anthology" looks like something I should have. Thanks again.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! I'm glad it was helpful.

[@wadejohnston4305]

Would LOVE one on horror anthologies. I can't get enough of em

[@thelibraryladder]

I plan to feature more anthologies from different genres in the future. I love short fiction.

[@lonniepaulson7031]

THANKS. I just ordered "Ascent of Wonder" I want to get back into reading science fiction.

[@Yatukih_001]

This is a great video analysis on the history of science fiction. I mistook the channel for a Tartarian themed cyberpunk one but after viewing a few videos realized I could not be more wrong. If I was to begin reading fantasy again tomorrow, I would pick up where I last left George R.R. Martin and would then proceed to read Brandon Sanderson, starting with The Way of Kings. Have always wanted to read The Wheel of Time series. I have built a good library of over 200 sci - fi works and love your channel man!

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! Please believe me when I say I'm more likely to believe in the lost continent of Atlantis than I am to believe in the Tartarian flood of mud. :D As a starting point to begin reading fantasy again, I'd suggest avoiding those long, multi-volume series by Martin, Sanderson and Jordan. I think highly of them, but they require a substantial investment of time that you might not be ready to make yet. Standalone novels by authors such as Neil Gaiman (American Gods), Scott Lynch (Lies of Locke Lamora --technically not a standalone, but it reads like one), Tim Powers (Last Call), Guy Gavriel Kay (A Song for Arbonne, or A Brightness Long Ago), Tad Williams (The War of the Flowers), David Gemmell (Legend), or short series such as Roger Zelazny's First Chronicles of Amber, might be a better way to sample a variety of different types of fantasy fiction and get reacclimated to the genre.

[@Yatukih_001]

@@thelibraryladder Thank you. We Icelanders tried to disbelieve these mudflood stories, until we started to have our own mud floods. Then, we began to take them more seriously. We use the term ´mud avalanche floods´. But you are right. There is a lot of disinformation going on in the world of mudflood research. If I start to read any of these fantasy works, the more simple the language is, the better. And then I would progress towards reading slightly more complex fantasy novels. In 2021 I became less interested in mudflood stories, because I live in Iceland, and we have so few such accounts. Recently as of 5 to 6 years ago a number of new fantasy authors started to show up in Iceland, so we now have a few fantasy books too!

[@thelibraryladder]

I used to live in Vermont (USA), where the springtime season is better known as "mud season." If there is a shortage of fantasy books in Iceland, are you able to purchase ebook editions to read on a phone/tablet/computer instead?

[@coffemuse]

So much good reading to look forward to! Thank you! Are you considering doing a similar video for other genres?

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! Yes, I'd like to do similar videos for fantasy, horror and mystery anthologies. I'm not sure when I'll get to them, though. My list of planned videos is quite long. :)

[@jbrichardson8891]

another good video a great science fiction compass pointing to the best places to start a reading voyage. Many thanks.

[@RedFuryBooks]

What an exhaustive list! I think I'll be starting by picking up the Wesleyan Anthology. Thanks for another great video!

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks, Josh! If you don't already have it, I'd suggest The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume 1 as a follow-up (and Volumes 2A & 2B after that).

[@RedFuryBooks]

Thanks!

[@grahamguy4656]

That is a great collection of stories i will check them out, i start read in more short when you did a vid about them a short time ago i have read and fould some great authors thanks

[@mruser-p7y]

What a great man! Will you make more SF videos ? I like fantasy but love SF I appreciate what you doing for us! The style and quality of your videos are top notch! Than you a lot sir!!! P.S The Voice though

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! I plan to continue making content about overlooked science fiction authors and works. I'm currently working on trio of linked essays about an early and influential SF publisher.

[@Verlopil]

This is a great list, which I'm bound to say since I have and love all the anthologies you've mentioned! I've not bought many modern anthologies, but I do have the Dozois and VanderMeer books. I enjoy all the unique stories in the latter. I've liked their fantasy and weird tales anthologies as well. I started re-reading a number of my anthologies after your last video and am really enjoying myself. Thanks for the nudge in that direction!

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks, and you're welcome! My hope is that newcomers to SF will be encouraged to pick up some of these anthologies too.

[@dudarino666]

James Gunns "Shill" short story was so good its from an old Sci Fi magazine. Had a very good twist at the end. Very unique imo.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks for the suggestion! I've never read that story. I just looked it up, and it was published only once -- in the April 1955 issue of (Worlds of) If magazine -- and never anthologized. Fortunately, archive.org has pdf and ebook copies of that magazine issue. archive.org/details/1955-04_IF

[@jpotter2086]

The Ascent of Wonder is amazing. Got it new, hauled it around for a year.

[@thelibraryladder]

It's quite a tome, both mind- and muscle-expanding. :)

[@mike-williams]

I have great memories of the various Gollancz, Amis and other anthologies I found in my town's public library during the 70s, and then the first 4 James Gunn titles which I owned. I suscribed to Omni and MF&SF for a while too which gave me some more modern stuff. I'd also like call out Asimov & Greenberg's anthologies of short short SF and Fantasy which are great fun.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks for sharing! I loved reading Omni back in the 70s and early 80s. Such a great magazine. Also, I agree that those anthologies of super-short stories are a lot of fun.

[@marksterling7110]

I'm particularly fond of the Harlon Ellison books: Dangerous Visions and Again, Dangerous Visions. There's a lot of great writerscontained in those 2 volumes.

[@kufujitsu]

Generally the reprint anthologies are your best bet when it comes to seeking out quality in short SF - especially if you're seeking out short SF's history, traditions, & diversity. Almost all of them are still available from 2nd hand booksellers online. Although there have been a lot of anthologies featuring original works of fiction as well - as it's already been said, Dangerous Visions was the most influential of these - at least until the "cyberpunk" anthologies from the 80s.

[@BookishChas]

This was such a great video Bridger! There is such a massive wealth of fiction to get to here. The volumes complied by Gardner Dozois sound really interesting to me as a place to start.

[@thelibraryladder]

For modern SF, those Dozois volumes are a great place to start, Chas.

[@digitalquixote3086]

Thanks for an excellent video! Your comments on availability are spot on as well, even including ebook formats. After watching I went to Amazon to see if my favorite of those you discussed,, and certainly the preeminent one ssfar as us “New Wavers” are concerned, “Dangerous Visions”,” is not available in Kindle format! II was surprised.

[@Verlopil]

Ellison famously hated ebooks because of the potential for piracy so he wouldn't allow his books to be released that way. Thankfully that's now changed and they're coming out. I would suspect that when the Last Dangerous Visions is released, the first two will come out for Kindle.

[@malcolmhays2726]

That's a little weird that Dangerous Visions isn't on Kindle, even though Again, Dangerous Visions is available. I ended up buying the paperback version of Dangerous Visions as a result of this video...

[@michaeljdauben]

Another interesting and informative look at the SF genre. You've given me several books I'm going to have to find copies of, but one of your suggested anthologies (Science Fiction Hall of Fame vol 1-2) is already sitting on one of my bookshelves. I know what I'll be reading this weekend!

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! Enjoy those volumes!

[@paulwilliams6913]

Brian Attebery currently serves on my dissertation committee. He still considers his work on the Norton Book of Science Fiction one of the highlights of his career. Fun fact: Karen Joy Fowler was also on the team for that collection. They spent a weekend at Le Guin’s house in Portland, got a feel for what they wanted to do, and spent the next while reviewing stories and debating which ones to include. Sounds like it was a ton of fun, though a bit labor intensive in the pre-World Wide Web era.

[@thelibraryladder]

What a connection! I imagine that was a wonderful collaboration for him. Isfdb.org is such a great resource today for finding the publication history of SF short stories. Before its existence, historians, anthologists and collectors had to rely on fan-produced bibliographies that often were produced in small quantities and distributed at SF conventions as cheap photocopies. A few were professionally bound, but they're very scarce these days. I'm fortunate to have some of them, including the very first one, 1948's The Checklist of Fantastic Literature, edited by Everett Bleiler and pubished by Shasta Publishers, but they're mainly curiosities today, due to the existence of ISFDB.

[@codycummins4]

Another well done video! I’m truly impressed with the quality and depth of these presentations. Truly well done and informative!

[@undead_mole6809]

Man, I love your videos

[@poxyclypse]

I've watched a number of your presentations over the last few days, lured in by you Eternal Champion series (when are you going to get to Elric and Corum and Jerry? - I can wait). I imagine that you may have read Illuminatus, by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea. If so, I look forward to your take, and on the expanded writings from that. And where is Larry Niven? Also, as an amateur narrator myself, your voice is amazing! Thank you for your inspiring work.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! My next Eternal Champion video, coming soon, will focus on the Nomad of the Time Streams, Oswald Bastable. Elric will follow that one in the series. I read the Illuminatus! trilogy many years ago. I've been trying to figure out an angle to work it into a video. I might give it a shoutout in an upcoming video about Jack Vance's works (since Robert Shea authored some Dying Earth novels featuring Nifft the Lean). Larry Niven is on my list of authors I plan to make retrospectives about. It's a long list, though, so it might take me a little while to get to him.

[@jackasswhiskyandpintobeans9344]

0:08 I used to have "Dangerous Visions," by Harlan Ellison. I wonder what happened to it?

[@astronomicafilms]

Excellent video! One of thr most important books in my life is The Best of Fantasy and Science Fiction (Fifteenth Series) - in it, I discovered Roger Zelazny (The Doors of his Face, the Lamps of his Mouth) and Fritz Leiber (Four Ghosts in Hamlet).

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! That's one of the things I love about short story anthologies. They allow you to experience a wide range of authors that can help prioritize future reading.

[@bukharagunboat8466]

One of the few old anthologies still on my shelves is Apeman, Spaceman (Stover and Harrison eds, 1968). It's a mix of classic SF and some entertaining anthropological material, such as A Medal for Horatio and Body Ritual Among the Nacerima.

[@thelibraryladder]

That's one I've never run across. I just looked it up, and it has quite the eclectic mix of stories and authors. Thanks for sharing that!

[@bookmarkswithjason9445]

Excellent content as usual!

[@malcolmhays2726]

I was a little surprised that I had a couple of those books in my collection. Somehow I have a 1970 copy of The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume 1, edited by Robert Silverberg. I found it at either a library book sale or a used book store. The condition isn't great, but it's definitely a worthwhile read. For honorable mention in the historical survey category, I'd recommend The Science Fiction Research Association Anthology edited by Patricia S. Warrick, Charles G. Waugh, and Martin H. Greenberg. We read it in my science fiction literature class in college. It contains some of the best classic science fiction from 1843 (Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Birthmark") to 1984 (Octavia Butler's "Bloodchild"). The stories cover themes such as biology, the environment, psychosocial interests, and technological ramifications. Just an excellent read all around.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks for the suggestion! That Warrick/Waugh/Greenberg anthology is one I haven't run across before. I just looked it up, and it does have a terrific selection of stories, although it overlaps substantially with some of the other anthologies I mentioned. Nonetheless, it's a great anthology.

[@malcolmhays2726]

It's why I recommended it, even though I, too, have most of those stories scattered about in various anthologies. For someone who is new to the genre, this gives them a pretty good distribution of stories across time and themes. Then readers can decide which authors they'd like to read more about. For me, it was C.L. Moore. I read "No Woman Born" which was interesting in and of itself, then discovered she'd written a bunch of weird fiction, so I checked out those stories, especially the Northwest Smith and Jirel of Joiry collections. Thanks to your video, I went ahead and purchased Harlan Ellison's Dangerous Visions, as that's one anthology I've always been meaning to read. Thanks for creating your videos! Always informative and interesting.

[@ianmartinezcassmeyer]

I second the Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction. It's a solid volume

[@თemo]

Great video. Thank you.

[@BL-mf3jp]

You should do a career review/ranking of Clive barker or Bret Easton Ellis’ works! :)

[@thelibraryladder]

Great suggestions! First, I'll need to read more of their works (especially Barker, who has a lot of them). :)

[@haroldyoung2361]

YAY! NEW UPLOAD!

[@dalejones4322]

This is such a great video. I have put 11 of these books on a list to purchase in the future. Are there any of these that would be appropriate to read with my 11 year old son? Thank you so much for putting this list together. As you know it is overwhelming the number of books out there.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! Depending on your son's reading and maturity levels, I'd suggest starting with short stories written between the 1930s-1950s, when the stories were written for magazines that catered to people with a sixth-grade reading level. They also tended to be less graphic regarding sex and violence. The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume 1, edited by Robert Silverberg has some great stories that your son might enjoy, such as A Martian Odyssey, Mimsy Were the Borogoves, Arena, Surface Tension, The Nine Billion Names of God, and Flowers for Algernon (not the novel). Some of the other stories might be a little beyond him at this point. Also, Terry Carr's anthology Classic Science Fiction: The First Golden Age has several stories that might appeal to him, including The Mechanical Mice, And He Built a Crooked House, By His Bootstraps, and The Twonky. (If you can find it at a reasonable price, I'd suggest starting with this book rather than the SF Hall of Fame.) Not covered by this video, but discussed in one of my earlier videos about SF for kids, is Ray Bradbury's short story collection R Is for Rocket, which he compiled for adolescent and teen readers. It's out of print, but nearly all of the stories in it are included in his reprint collection The Golden Apples of the Sun and Other Stories (which combines two of Bradbury's earlier collections -- The Golden Apples of the Sun and R Is for Rocket).

[@dalejones4322]

@@thelibraryladder thank you so much for taking the time to answer my question so thoroughly. As you know, sci-fi books are tricky to navigate for young readers and their attention span is short. I decided that maybe short stories would be a good way to share my love of sci-fi and still hold his interest. I can't wait to get started and thanks a lot.

[@richarddeese1991]

Thanks. I love sci-fi short stories. They're like a buffet of different tastes. I have an older volume also edited by Asimov called, "The Thirteen Crimes of Science Fiction". Each story covers a different type of crime story, such as whodunnit, procedural, locked room, etc. He said he put it together based on John W. Campbell saying something about sci-fi & crime not really mixing well. It's got some fascinating reads, including, "The Detweiller Boy" & "I'll Beat You Second Game". Also one by Dick. tavi.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! I agree, that Asimov anthology of SF mysteries is a lot of fun, as are some of the mystery stories he wrote in his Tales of the Black Widowers series, inspired by his participation in a small literary club of SF authors, editors and enthusiasts, the Trap Door Spiders.

[@J.MichaelCole]

Very interesting and educational video, as always. I'm curious for your thoughts on the four Library of America volumes of collected science fiction, covering the 1950s and 1960s and released as two boxed sets in 2012 and 2019.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! Those Library of America anthologies of novels from the 1950s and 60s look terrific. I've read all but two of the 17 novels they contain. I've enjoyed most of them, and several are all-time greats, in my opinion.

[@alexhillyer8390]

Maybe another interesting subject for a future video. Could be interesting translated science fiction I can name a few examples. Invincible planets (short stories translated by Ken lui) Broken stars ( translated short story collection) Hold up the sky (by cixin Liu)

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks for the suggestions! Translated SF is an area where my experience is more limited, and I want to remedy that.

[@alexhillyer8390]

@thelibraryladder maybe you could make multiple videos out of it. Like in the past when you had multiple part videos on thomas covenant, Dan Simmons and so on. One video devoted to Chinese translated works. Another Japanese French so on and so fourth.

[@zkinak2107]

“I’ve applied several Criteria to narrow the selection” Me with goodreads open on another tab to add books to my want to read list: “That’s why I’m here.” 😂

[@kid5Media]

A glaring omission to my mind is The Space Opera Renaissance from 2006, edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer. Given that the last 30+ years have been the actual golden age of space opera.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks for the suggestion! I considered including that Hartwell/Cramer anthology, but since I've read only a few of the stories it contains, I didn't feel comfortable recommending it.

[@aajiv1748]

Yes, yes those are the best. Several SF historians think that the forte of modern SF is the short story , exceeding almost any novel written in the genre.

[@PFNel]

What a wonderful video, and absolute catnip for an anthology nerd like me! Two minor quibbles: The Norton Book of Science Fiction was published in 1993. Secondly, Great Tales of Science Fiction is, respectfully, an odd choice. It is a reprint of The Arbor House Treasury of Science Fiction Masterpieces (1983), which should be the primary citation. This book has been reissued (within the last few months) as The Wildside Treasury ... Furthermore, there is one book which I regard as a glaring omission: The Arbor House Treasury of Modern Science Fiction (1980) Not so modern any more, perhaps, but essential because of the involvement of Robert Silverberg, who edited the first Hall of Fame anthology in 1970. Overlaps with Volume One of the SF Hall of Fame anthologies are studiously avoided. All three Arbor House anthologies are at least honorable mentions, if not essential. Two have been reissued by Wildside Press since late last year, but not, so far, the "Modern" volume. I'd like to add one random detail with regard to Dozois's The Very Best of the Best. Given the obvious depth of your knowledge, you may well know this, but it's easy to miss: The anthology is supposed to include Elizabeth Bear's "Mongoose", but the actual text that was printed is of a completely different story, "Boojum", appearing under the title of "Mongoose"! Thank you again for your video. I hope there will be more! 😊

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! You're right, I overlooked the Arbor House trilogy of anthologies (and missed that the Great Tales volume is a reprint of one of them). Preparing a comprehensive list of potential candidates and then narrowing it down to only a few was a challenge, and I'm sure I missed some others, particularly among those published in recent years.

[@PFNel]

@@thelibraryladder You missed nothing important! Well, maybe Dozois's Modern Classics and Silverberg's Robert Silverberg's Worlds of Wonder-not omissions from your main selections, but worth a passing mention. Oh, and The Super Hugos and The Best of the Nebulas. I tried to answer your question about recent years-but as you discovered, there's nothing. I'm hoping fror some comprehensive retrospectives around 2026, the 100th anniversary of SF magazines.

[@ryanconnolly1411]

Bridger, I recently chanced upon a book by Charles Sheffield, a sci fi writer active in the 90s, and very much enjoyed it (Cold as Ice). He seems to have faded into obscurity, are you aware of him? If so what other books might be worth a read?

[@thelibraryladder]

I've read only a few of his works, mainly short fiction and one novel (Brother of Dragons). His McAndrew stories are fun, hard SF (although a little formulaic at times), and they've been published as collections a couple of times (The McAndrew Chronicles and The Compleat McAndrew). Also, his collection 'Georgia on My Mind and Other Places' includes some of best short fiction. I enjoyed his novel Brother of Dragons as well.

[@apilgrim8715]

A good list but I think the best SF anthology is the A Treasury of Great Science Fiction edited by Anthony Boucher volumes 1 and 2. I reread it often when I want to read 50s scifi. Wyndham, Bradbury, Heinlein, Clarke, Anderson, van Vogt, Bester and more great writers.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! I agree that Boucher's two-volume Treasury is an excellent anthology. In a video last December, I recommended it as one of the best entry points to reading science fiction. I didn't include it in this video because I think a significant part of what makes it so great is its inclusion of the all-time classic novels by Bester and Anderson, while the emphasis in this list of anthologies is on short stories.

[@jackasswhiskyandpintobeans9344]

I know this isn't science fiction, but I did just finish reading "The Survivor and Others." Arkham House. 1957. There are some good tales in that book. I find that as I get older and closer to completing a collection of books I freeze. I actually get frightened in completing the collection. I have most of the key books for a complete collection, yet I hold back. It's not money. It's a subconscious block.

[@thelibraryladder]

Derleth sometimes gets a bad rap for posthumously finishing (and in some cases, rewriting) some of Lovecraft's story fragments and then publishing them. However, in many cases, I'd argue that Derleth improved the original material, and The Survivor and Others is one of the best of those story collections Derleth produced. I'm a completist by nature, but there are limits to my efforts to round out my book collection. I have most of the Arkham House series and all but one title from Gnome Press, but I doubt I'll ever complete either collection, because the prices for the missing volumes far exceed what I'm willing to pay for them. If I ever find Asimov's I, Robot (my lone missing Gnome title) in very good condition for a reasonable price, I'll jump on it in a heartbeat, though.

[@MagusMarquillin]

Any plans to make more anthology videos for other genres - Fantasy, Horror, literary? I know you've a busy itinerary, but maybe one year?

[@thelibraryladder]

Short answer: Yes. Longer answer: Unclear when I'll get to them.

[@MagusMarquillin]

@@thelibraryladder Cool. I agree Sci Fi was the priority for shorts stories. Perhaps horror next, for it excels there.

[@missclairessa]

I found an edition of The SF Hall of Fame🎉 gah thank you!!!

[@thelibraryladder]

Wonderful! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

[@garthok6224]

Is this guy hypnotic or what!?

[@bakakafka4428]

Never would have thought James P Hogan or Bob Shaw being 'lesser known' authors. Perhaps my age is showing 😅

[@thelibraryladder]

I can empathize. I intended that comment to reflect (a) the reality that most newcomers to reading SF today likely have heard of only the biggest names from decades past, and (b) the fact that those authors' works were anthologized very infrequently, providing fewer opportunities for readers to discover them. My primary target audience for this video is SF newcomers (to give them starting points) and not longtime fans of the genre (thanks for watching, though). :)

[@e-artemas7295]

You should do audiobooks

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! For fun, I've recorded a few classic short stories and uploaded them to the Audiobooks here on my channel.

[@hubertvancalenbergh9022]

I veer more towards 'vintage' stories, maybe because I started reading SF at the very tender age of 10, a very long time ago. Plus by the time I was 15 I more or less opted for horror, not entirely dropping SF, however: whenever I happen on a book that tickles my fancy (mostly in 2nd-hand shops), I buy it. I like to re-read John Wyndham and Ray Bradbury for their superior language. Recently I tried Clarke's Cradle, but was sorely disappointed; let's hear it for "The Nine Billion Names of God" or 2001: a Space Odyssey!

[@thelibraryladder]

I too have an affinity for older SF short fiction. Many of the ideas seem fresher and aren't burdened with the pretentiousness many newer works seem to display. Bradbury is my all-time favorite writer of short fiction (in any genre). Of the so-called 'Big Three' SF authors of the Golden Age (Asimov, Heinlein & Clarke), I prefer Clarke, but I've learned from experience to avoid his later collaborations with other authors (particularly Gentry Lee). :)

[@hubertvancalenbergh9022]

@@thelibraryladder Bradbury can be profoundly moving, melancholy and horrifying at the same time, e.g. "The Emissary" or "Kaleidoscope". The Captain's monologue in Fahrenheit 451 is a tour de force, so entirely prescient of our times it boggles the mind. I went through an Asimov period when I was 12, beginning with his noveilzation of Fantastic Voyage (which I still like). I can recommend Sam Moskowitz's The Immortal Storm (1954), a history of SF fandom. Fascinating reading matter.

[@genghisgalahad8465]

What is it about Sci-Fi that lends itself to anthologies more prominently than fantasy, at least in my limited perception and reading experience! Perhaps Fantasy more often requires a singular epic theme and world? Sci-fi just seems more prolific and branching in this regard, notwithstanding prominent fantasy author short story collections! Also, fantasy authors seem less popular, when venturing into Sci-fi, then their wildly popular signature marquee works they're famous for! One wild branching within one world is Dune. Although one can argue that the fantastical Cosmere by Sanderson and the multiverse of Stephen King centered in his Dark Tower series are both examples of fantasy's wider prolificness. But in anthologies, Sci-fi might have the more prolific market on variously authored anthologies!

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks for watching and commenting! Similar thoughts about the disparities between SF and fantasy short fiction have crossed my mind over the years. Some of it might just be a supply issue, though-i.e., science fiction authors have had far more opportunities and incentives to write short fiction over the past 100 years than fantasy authors have, leading to a deeper pool of potentially great stories from which to choose. An exception to that is in the area of dark fantasy/horror, which has an even longer history of excellent and influential short fiction than SF does.

[@genghisgalahad8465]

@@thelibraryladder Dark fantasy/horror! That's right! Prolific and terrific as it is terrifying, which brings to mind your excellent overview of Dan Simmons and his writing style with your concise screen notes to enhance memory and recall of discussion!

[@antonchigurh22]

Fantasy anthologies pls

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks for the suggestion! It's on my list of videos I want to make in the coming year.

[@jackasswhiskyandpintobeans9344]

Any young people reading this: Isaac Asimov books are always worth a look if you are shopping thrift stores even if the books are library remainders.

[@ЕленаЖелезняк-ъ4х]

You have such soft voice!

[@thelibraryladder]

I don't enjoy shouting. :D

[@ЕленаЖелезняк-ъ4х]

@@thelibraryladder I want this voice.

[@waltera13]

I am *so* torn. This is such a useful resource, especially when paired with the previous video! However, I fear it's going to create such a groundswell of demand that it will RUIN the pricing algorithms for used SF anthologies online! 😭

[@thelibraryladder]

Get them while you can! :D

[@Vitaly3548]

If anyone here likes latin american fantasy/horror, check out the Black Water anthologies by Alberto Manguel, I am beyond impressed with whats in there.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks for the suggestion! That's a great anthology featuring a wide range of authors from different time periods and different parts of the world.

[@MagusMarquillin]

Thanks - that was a lot of writing, but now I'll have those names in my tablet for when I see a strange anthology in the bargain stores - it'll help avoid the risk of buying a subpar collection and feeling obliged to read it. It was nice to discover I already have 2 from your list: Hartwell's SF Century and James Gun's road to SF vol. 4. I also noticed that Gardner Dozois co-edited some of my Fantasy anthologies, as had Asimov, I wonder how good an editor they were in that realm... I also wonder if you've tried L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future? It's up to 38 volumes, where each year successful SF authors select stories from new talent to publish. I have not tried the one volume I found, but it sounds like a cool idea and has some really great art in it.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! FYI, I pinned a comment to my previous video that lists the 100+ anthologies featured in it. Nearly all of the anthologies I mentioned in this video are included in that longer list. Dozois and David Hartwell were terrific and prolific editors of fantasy anthologies. Asimov was okay as a fantasy editor, but not as good as the other two, in my opinion. I haven't encountered the Writers of the Future series, but it sounds like I ought to track it down. Thanks for the suggestion!