Rating: 
Summary: Witty, Funny, Surprising!
Review: 90% of the short SF stories in this book are great. 10% are AMAZING - and they all make you laugh, gasp - and think things over.Brown is indeed the O.Henry of Science Fiction!
Rating:
Summary: Fredric Brown-- a classic writer
Review: For those who don't know, Fredric Brown was the writer of the story "Arena" from which the Star Trek episode was adapted. Brown was far more than a Trek writer though; his forte was thoughtful adventure SF, and this book covers most of his best work.
Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Fredric Brown-- a classic writer
Review: For those who don't know, Fredric Brown was the writer of the story "Arena" from which the Star Trek episode was adapted. Brown was far more than a Trek writer though; his forte was thoughtful adventure SF, and this book covers most of his best work.
Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: The O'Henry of Science Fiction
Review: Fredric Brown sets the standard for entertaining science fiction writers. This volume is full of short stories that are clever, fun, and engaging. Almost all of his stories have surprise endings, and try as you might you can't figure out what the surprise is going to be. You should read anything and everything you can find by this author.
Rating: 
Summary: Clever Little Puzzle Boxes
Review: Fredric Brown's stories are like little puzzle boxes. They are, or tend to be, based on ideas, rather than characters or plot. Brown starts with an idea and then prods it, pokes it, twists it and turns it, until it either unwinds or explodes. Many of these stories are slight-- 1,000 words or less-- bathroom reading! But they all have a sense of fun and wonder that is contagious. Brown's longer science fiction novels weren't that great... novels like Martians Go Home weren't capable of sustaining their ideas over the length of the story. But his short fiction really shines!
Rating:
Summary: Clever Little Puzzle Boxes
Review: Fredric Brown's stories are like little puzzle boxes. They are, or tend to be, based on ideas, rather than characters or plot. Brown starts with an idea and then prods it, pokes it, twists it and turns it, until it either unwinds or explodes. Many of these stories are slight-- 1,000 words or less-- bathroom reading! But they all have a sense of fun and wonder that is contagious. Brown's longer science fiction novels weren't that great... novels like Martians Go Home weren't capable of sustaining their ideas over the length of the story. But his short fiction really shines!
Rating:
Summary: THE master of the SF short story - a must have
Review: I first discovered Fredric Brown's short stories in a French translation in my high school library, at the same time I discovered Borges whom he resembles in some ways. For a long time, Brown's short stories were only available in print in their French translation, and NESFA did us all a great service in collecting and reprinting these gems. Fredric Brown's short stories always pack a surprising twist (sometimes viciously so). I you liked the original "Twilight Zone" series, you won't be disappointed by this book.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Sci-Fi Writers Ever
Review: I was delighted when I spotted this volume. I had read many stories by Brown and were delighted to read them again along with many new ones that I had never seen before. Brown's most famous story is probably Arena -- a great 'hard' sci-fi story. But most of his work is fantasy. His stories are witty and often
surprising. He is the undisputed master of the one page story. Note, I did skip the four of five 'Nightmare' stories -- I found
the first one too awful and so skipped the rest. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Sci-Fi Writers Ever
Review: I was delighted when I spotted this volume. I had read many stories by Brown and were delighted to read them again along with many new ones that I had never seen before. Brown's most famous story is probably Arena -- a great 'hard' sci-fi story. But most of his work is fantasy. His stories are witty and often
surprising. He is the undisputed master of the one page story. Note, I did skip the four of five 'Nightmare' stories -- I found
the first one too awful and so skipped the rest. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: The master of short-short SF
Review: If you like classic Science Fiction this volume should be in your collection. If you think you don't like SF, but enjoy well written fiction full of ideas, surprises, and humor you should try this.
Fredric Brown was deservedly famous, his short story "Arena" was voted into the SFWA Hall of Fame. His name may not be mentioned frequently anymore, but those that had the fortune of reading some of his stories never forgot him.
This is an excellent collection that brings back to print his unique and thoughtful stories. Many of the stories collected here are classics, many are less than one page long, but in that short space they pack their concept (and a punch) so effectively, and are so well crafted, that more words would only dilute the effect. Some of the stories may be a little outdated in the science part of the fiction, but even those stand the test of time as speculative fiction.
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