Books like Masterpieces: The Best Science Fiction of the Twentieth Century

Well, I finally finished it going about 1 story a day. "sandkings," "call me joe," "all you zombies--," "tunesmith," "dark they were, and golden-eyed," "repent harlequin," and "inconstant moon" are probably my favorites in this collection. Overall a wonderful collection. A must read for everyone. I would highly recommend this book to others. Another compilation book to tackle, another batch of individual reviews. My review of the book overall is subject to change with each story read.1. "Call me Joe" - FANTASTIC! A great story. This had me hooked from the very beginning. 5/52. "All You Zombies--" - Decent story. It was pretty short, but I don't feel that anything was left out. Brings a whole new meaning to the "grandfather paradox" in a sense. Not quite killing your grandpa in the past, but still a massive effect. 4/53. "Tunesmith" - A little slow starting off, but not bad overall. I enjoy stories, such as this, that touch on media/entertainment in the future. This particular story, in reference to visiscopes "ruling" the world, reminds me of "Harrison Bergeron." 4/5 4. "A Saucer of Loneliness" - A straightforward story that deals with loneliness at face value. I prefer the part that shows just how humanity would act if something alien happens or what they would expect to achieve/do with the alien presence. 3/55. "Robot Dreams" - Another classic tale of "what would happen if robots became self aware?" Doesn't seem to be much new here. Pretty much ends the way you expect it to. 2/56. "Devolution" - Interesting concept. Tackles evolution in an entire new way. I can't recall ever reading anything like this before. Definitely help my attention and had me wishing for more at the end. 4/57. "The Nine Billion Names of God" - Classic religion/end of the world story. Easy read, amusing. 4/58. "A Work of Art" - An interesting spin on bringing people back to life. As a psychology major, this was particularly interesting to me. 4/59. "Dark they Were, and Golden-eyed" - Amusing, is all I can say without giving spoilers. Definitely an amusing spin on the concept of life on other planets. 4/510. "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the ticktockman" - At first I didn't like this one, but I kept reading. Shortly into the story it became my favorite so far. Nothing beats the classic line (in this story) "Repent, Harlequin!" Response: "Get Stuffed." 5/511. "Eurema's Dam" - Interesting to say the least. Says a lot about how the author views human intelligence and those who are "geniuses." 4/512. "Passengers" - This story left me with a lot of questions about the story itself. I'm sure the questions I have are meant to be left unanswered. "who are the passengers," "where did they come from," "whats the purpose of it all?" Reminded me a lot of the movie "Gamer" in which people control others because of a brain implant. The concept was alright, but not sure if i truly like it or not. 3/513. "The Tunnel Under the world" - Interesting story, but almost too predictable a few pages in. The end still did manage to surprise me a bit, though it wasn't too far off from what I was expecting. Rather enjoyable. 4/514. "Who can Replace a Man?" - This story brought up some things I had never thought about myself. Life what would AI do, if it existed, when man no longer existed? 4/515. "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" - A bit brief. Seems more a bit on morality rather than a story. Still fairly good though. 4/516. "Inconstant Moon" - The concept of the end of the world is something that is extremely common in science fiction. Though, this is the first "nova" end I have ever read about. I've heard it spoken of in real life as something that will eventually happen after millions of years but never thought of it being applied to a story. I really liked the writing style in this story, I will surely be checking out some more of Niven's stuff. 5/517. "Sandkings" - Fantastic story. Possibly the first time I've actually felt horror with what i was reading. I think I'm going to have trouble sleeping after this one.. 5/518. "The Road not Taken" - Good read. Thought the concept was rather fascinating. People "find" or "stumble upon" high tech stuff rather than invent it. 4/519. "Dogfight" - interesting concept. what do you have left to lose rather than everything you have left. 4/520. "Face value" - Not too much to say about this one. Wasn't bad, wasn't great. 2/521. "Pots" - 3/522. "snow" - 3/523. "rat" Didn't care for this one at all. 1/524. "Bears discover fire" - Amusing, to say the least. Not quite sure if there is meant to be some underlying meaning or if it is all just meant for a fun read. 4/525. "A Clean Escape" - a lot like pleading the "insanity" case but a level up. 3/526. "tourists" - reminded me of a lot of "dark they were, and golden-eyed" earlier in this book. you become where you are. 3/527. "one" - a solemn tale. 4/5