When readers first encounter science fiction, they find adventures on other planets and in future worlds, explorations of future technology and its implications, and extrapolations of social trends and warnings of where they may lead-but they also encounter concepts heretofore undreamed of, and the impact on the readers' thinking does nothing less than turn their world upside down. Now, David Drake, Jim Baen and Eric Flint gather together some of the greatest science fiction ever written in one volume, with each story chosen for a startling breakthrough concept which left readers stunned, and changed the course of science fiction. In the Golden Age of science fiction, the SF magazines weren't given titles such as Astounding, Amazing, Startling, etc., for nothing! Pick up this generous serving of the very best of science fiction and prepared to be astounded, amazed, startled-and entertained.
The World Turned Upside Down
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From Booklist
Emulating You've Got to Read This (1994), this sizable collection consists of stories that influenced famous writers during their upbringings. The difference is that this is a genre anthology and the influenced authors in question are the editors; these are their personal favorites. Given those limitations, the chosen tales are varied and entertaining, and the work of relative unknowns as well as late, great genre veterans. The enduring classics include Arthur C. Clarke's "Rescue Party," featuring aliens who scour Earth for survivors before the sun goes nova; John W. Campbell's "Who Goes There?" which inspired the Hollywood monster flick The Thing; and Isaac Asimov's "The Last Question," which speculatively traces the evolution of computer intelligence into the far future. One surprising entry is an early sf tale on interstellar exploration by Pulitzer Prize-winning historical novelist Michael Shaara. With the emphasis on pulp sf from the 1940s and '50s, fans get to discover some lost gems among the forgotten (and remembered) classics. Carl Hays
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
About the Author
David Drake was attending Duke University Law School when he was drafted. He served the next two years in the Army, spending 1970 as an enlisted interrogator with the 11th armored Cavalry in Viet Nam and Cambodia. Upon return he completed his law degree at Duke and was for eight years Assistant Town Attorney for Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He has been a full-time freelance writer since 1981. Besides the bestselling Hammer's Slammers series, his books for Baen include With the Lightnings and its sequel Lt. Leary, Commanding, Ranks of Bronze, Starliner, All the Way to the Gallows, Redliners, and many more. His most recent novels are Paying the Piper, a new Hammer's Slammers novel, and The Far Side of the Stars, the latest in the popular Lt. Leary series.
Jim Baen has been the editor of Galaxy magazine, of Ace Books, of Tor Books, and has for two decades helmed Baen Books, a powerhouse in science fiction publishing and the world's leading publisher of military science fiction.
Eric Flint's impressive first novel, Mother of Demons (Baen), was selected by SF Chronicle as one of the best novels of 1997. His next solo novel, 1632, sold out its first hardcover printing and went back to press almost immediately, and received enthusiastic critical praise. With David Drake he has written five popular novels in the Belisarius series. Flint has also begun a highly-praised fantasy adventure series, so far comprising The Philosophical Strangler and Forward the Mage. Flint received his masters degree in history from UCLA and was for many years a labor union activist. He lives in East Chicago, IN, with his wife. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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Amazon.com:
4.1 out of 5 stars
10 reviews
16 of 19 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A big pile of great stuff you've probably read already
Feb 8 2005
By HaloJonesFan
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I'm conflicted about how to review this, because--on the one hand--I'd read a good three-quarters of the stuff in it before (in some cases, quite a long time before.) On the other hand, there was some new stuff, and the "liner notes" for each story were often interesting. You could probably put together a very good literature class around the stories in this volume.
On the gripping hand...riffing on classic sci-fi is a bit pretentious.
Anyway...as with most compilations of early sci-fi, this is a good selection of famous short stories. If you're looking for a book to get someone started on science fiction (or trying to give some culture to someone who buys John Ringo for the covers) then you couldn't go far wrong with "World Turned Upside-Down". Be warned, though, that the content in some of the stories is a rather PG-13 (and some of them involve themes that younger kids simply won't get.)
On the gripping hand...riffing on classic sci-fi is a bit pretentious.
Anyway...as with most compilations of early sci-fi, this is a good selection of famous short stories. If you're looking for a book to get someone started on science fiction (or trying to give some culture to someone who buys John Ringo for the covers) then you couldn't go far wrong with "World Turned Upside-Down". Be warned, though, that the content in some of the stories is a rather PG-13 (and some of them involve themes that younger kids simply won't get.)
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not Free SF Reader
Aug 3 2007
By Blue Tyson
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
The three editors in this case have put together a selection of stories that influenced them as kids, some are obscure, some most definitely not. Certainly an interesting bunch, and definitely no junk here.
Rescue Party - Arthur C. Clarke
The Menace from Earth - Robert A. Heinlein
Code Three [Clay Ferguson] - Rick Raphael
Hunting Problem - Robert Sheckley
Black Destroyer [Beagle] - A. E. van Vogt
A Pail of Air - Fritz Leiber
Thy Rocks and Rills - Robert Ernest Gilbert
A Gun for Dinosaur [Reginald Rivers]
Goblin Night [Telzey Amberdon] - James H. Schmitz
The Only Thing We Learn - C. M. Kornbluth
Trigger Tide - Wyman Guin
The Aliens - Murray Leinster
All the Way Back - Michael Shaara
The Last Command [Bolo] - Keith Laumer
Who Goes There? [as by Don A. Stuart] - John W. Campbell, Jr.
Quietus - Ross Rocklynne
Answer - Fredric Brown
The Last Question - Isaac Asimov
The Cold Equations - Tom Godwin
Shambleau [Northwest Smith] - C. L. Moore
Turning Point - Poul Anderson
Heavy Planet [with Frederik Pohl] - Lee Gregor
Omnilingual - H. Beam Piper
The Gentle Earth - Christopher Anvil
Environment - Chester S. Geier
Liane the Wayfarer [Dying Earth] - Jack Vance
Spawn - P. Schulyer Miller
St. Dragon and the George [Jim Eckert] - Gordon R. Dickson
Thunder and Roses - Theodore Sturgeon
An alien survey ship is surprised to find that the Earth system sun is going nova well ahead of schedule, and gets in trouble itself when it goes to look for people to save and can't find signs of life, until much later.
3.5 out of 5
The cozy friendship between two teenage would be spaceship designers on the moon is interrupted when a well built actress from Earth arrives from a holiday, utilising both their services as guides.
4 out of 5
Future traffic policing is a 24 hour a day live in your vehicle job for these officers. Their banter is very entertaining.
3.5 out of 5
Alien scouts go for gruesome merit badge.
3 out of 5
A ship's crew lands on a planet and meets an alien with extraordinarily dangerous abilities.
3.5 out of 5
A dark star interloper rips the earth out of its orbit, and everything freezes. One family finds a way to construct a shelter to survive the freezing.
3.5 out of 5
A man and his mutant bull rebel against their society's liking for violence.
3.5 out of 5
History full of blowing stuff up and big fat fibs.
3.5 out of 5
Secret agent man gadget sabotage predictions.
3.5 out of 5
For friendly encounters, get rid of the xenophobic psychos.
4 out of 5
Aggressive sleepers may be waiting.
3.5 out of 5
A Bolo is a cybernetic supertank, basically. In this story, an old inactive one comes to life.
3 out of 5
A discovery of a lifeform buried in the Antarctic ice causes serious problems for an isolated research team.
5 out of 5
Crow not as smart as it looks.
3.5 out of 5
Computer god.
3 out of 5
Immortal humans breed too fast for the universe.
4 out of 5
Kid is a waste of oxygen.
5 out of 5
Shoot vampire gorgon women, don't ask them in for dinner.
4.5 out of 5
Assimilating smart people is key.
4 out of 5
Tough conditions for deadly conflict.
3.5 out of 5
Archaelogists working on the extinct Martian civilisation discover a different sort of Rosetta stone.
4.5 out of 5
Alien invasion couldn't stand the weather.
4 out of 5
The city can change people, and also learn 'em.
3 out of 5
Stuff is not very likely, especially spores from space making a mangod facsimile.
3.5 out of 5
Human, dragon and knight team-up vs the bad guys.
3.5 out of 5
With everything nuked, limitation, hope and waiting is all that can be done.
4.5 out of 5
Rescue Party - Arthur C. Clarke
The Menace from Earth - Robert A. Heinlein
Code Three [Clay Ferguson] - Rick Raphael
Hunting Problem - Robert Sheckley
Black Destroyer [Beagle] - A. E. van Vogt
A Pail of Air - Fritz Leiber
Thy Rocks and Rills - Robert Ernest Gilbert
A Gun for Dinosaur [Reginald Rivers]
Goblin Night [Telzey Amberdon] - James H. Schmitz
The Only Thing We Learn - C. M. Kornbluth
Trigger Tide - Wyman Guin
The Aliens - Murray Leinster
All the Way Back - Michael Shaara
The Last Command [Bolo] - Keith Laumer
Who Goes There? [as by Don A. Stuart] - John W. Campbell, Jr.
Quietus - Ross Rocklynne
Answer - Fredric Brown
The Last Question - Isaac Asimov
The Cold Equations - Tom Godwin
Shambleau [Northwest Smith] - C. L. Moore
Turning Point - Poul Anderson
Heavy Planet [with Frederik Pohl] - Lee Gregor
Omnilingual - H. Beam Piper
The Gentle Earth - Christopher Anvil
Environment - Chester S. Geier
Liane the Wayfarer [Dying Earth] - Jack Vance
Spawn - P. Schulyer Miller
St. Dragon and the George [Jim Eckert] - Gordon R. Dickson
Thunder and Roses - Theodore Sturgeon
An alien survey ship is surprised to find that the Earth system sun is going nova well ahead of schedule, and gets in trouble itself when it goes to look for people to save and can't find signs of life, until much later.
3.5 out of 5
The cozy friendship between two teenage would be spaceship designers on the moon is interrupted when a well built actress from Earth arrives from a holiday, utilising both their services as guides.
4 out of 5
Future traffic policing is a 24 hour a day live in your vehicle job for these officers. Their banter is very entertaining.
3.5 out of 5
Alien scouts go for gruesome merit badge.
3 out of 5
A ship's crew lands on a planet and meets an alien with extraordinarily dangerous abilities.
3.5 out of 5
A dark star interloper rips the earth out of its orbit, and everything freezes. One family finds a way to construct a shelter to survive the freezing.
3.5 out of 5
A man and his mutant bull rebel against their society's liking for violence.
3.5 out of 5
History full of blowing stuff up and big fat fibs.
3.5 out of 5
Secret agent man gadget sabotage predictions.
3.5 out of 5
For friendly encounters, get rid of the xenophobic psychos.
4 out of 5
Aggressive sleepers may be waiting.
3.5 out of 5
A Bolo is a cybernetic supertank, basically. In this story, an old inactive one comes to life.
3 out of 5
A discovery of a lifeform buried in the Antarctic ice causes serious problems for an isolated research team.
5 out of 5
Crow not as smart as it looks.
3.5 out of 5
Computer god.
3 out of 5
Immortal humans breed too fast for the universe.
4 out of 5
Kid is a waste of oxygen.
5 out of 5
Shoot vampire gorgon women, don't ask them in for dinner.
4.5 out of 5
Assimilating smart people is key.
4 out of 5
Tough conditions for deadly conflict.
3.5 out of 5
Archaelogists working on the extinct Martian civilisation discover a different sort of Rosetta stone.
4.5 out of 5
Alien invasion couldn't stand the weather.
4 out of 5
The city can change people, and also learn 'em.
3 out of 5
Stuff is not very likely, especially spores from space making a mangod facsimile.
3.5 out of 5
Human, dragon and knight team-up vs the bad guys.
3.5 out of 5
With everything nuked, limitation, hope and waiting is all that can be done.
4.5 out of 5
19 of 24 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Classic science fiction stories
Jun 18 2005
By Geoffrey A. Landis
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
From the title and the cover painting, you would expect this to be alternate history, but the cover and title are extremely misleading. It is, in fact, an anthology of old "classic" science fiction stories. Two of the three editors of this compilation--Drake, and Flint-- are two of the most popular authors at Baen books, and Jim Baen, of course, is the publisher. The stated purpose of the collection is to showcase works that "turned the world upside down" for the editors-- the science fiction stories that shaped and focussed their thinking at a young age. So the book gives you a window to see what the classic SF influences were on (at least some of) the works that Baen Books publishes. Each story comes with an introduction or afterward (or both), by one of the three editors, explaining why this story was selected, and how it "turned the world upside down" for them. The stories range from 1933 ("Shambleau") to 1967 ("The Last Command"). Some have been highly reprinted; others never before in book form.
With that said, the quality of the stories is amazingly erratic. Some of them are genuine SF classics. Some of them are feel-good stories, fun plots but not well written. A handful of the stories are simply awful: "Code Three," for example, by justly-forgotten author Rick Raphael, is bad in almost every possible way: unbelievable society, wooden characters, no noticible plot, laughable speculation. Even this, though, is in its way a useful reminder not to look at the past with gilded glasses-- it wasn't all wonderful, some of it was forgettable indeed.
Overall, a good addition to a library of old classics of sf.
With that said, the quality of the stories is amazingly erratic. Some of them are genuine SF classics. Some of them are feel-good stories, fun plots but not well written. A handful of the stories are simply awful: "Code Three," for example, by justly-forgotten author Rick Raphael, is bad in almost every possible way: unbelievable society, wooden characters, no noticible plot, laughable speculation. Even this, though, is in its way a useful reminder not to look at the past with gilded glasses-- it wasn't all wonderful, some of it was forgettable indeed.
Overall, a good addition to a library of old classics of sf.
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