The Ascent of Wonder: The Evolution of Hard SF

Rating:
Summary: An excellent resourse, a wonderful read.
Review: "The Ascent of Wonder" should be on the shelf of any reader, and especially any writer, of science fiction. There are enough stories packed inside to keep any fan, new or old, drifting through the myriad universes that some of the best minds in the genre could concieve.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent resourse, a wonderful read.
Review: "The Ascent of Wonder" should be on the shelf of any reader, and especially any writer, of science fiction. There are enough stories packed inside to keep any fan, new or old, drifting through the myriad universes that some of the best minds in the genre could concieve.

Rating:
Summary: See http://ebbs.english.vt.edu/exper/kcramer/aow.html.
Review: Don't miss the interactive introduction to The Ascent of Wonder at http://ebbs.english.vt.edu/exper/kcramer/aow.html. Also, you may enjoy David Hartwell's home page at http://www.panix.com/~dgh and Kathryn Cramer's home page at http://ebbs.english.vt.edu/exper/kcramer/kc.html

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Hard Science Fiction Anthology
Review: Perhaps the best of its kind, "The Ascent of Wonder" is quite large, but full of thoughtful and thought-provoking stories, all based in scientific fact (or widely accepted supposition). Clearly these stories are all fiction, playing out ideas that science has created and extending them into the realm of the "what-if?" I was immensely impressed by the range of authors, dates of pubication -- ranging from 1800's pioneers Verne, Wells, and Kipling through to modern-day masters such as Clarke, Dick, Gibson, and Benford -- and variety of stories. Truly a fine example of the growth of Science Fiction through history. A must-read for those interested in the exploration of science and the future.

Rating:
Summary: Great authors, so-so editors
Review: This book presents a massive collection of excellent "hard" science fiction stories. (The precise definition of "hard" s-f is left as an exercise to the alert reader.) While the stories are unimpeachable, the introductions and section headings written by the editors range from merely dull to painful. Buy the book, love the book, read the stories, skip the editorial matter.

Rating:
Summary: Great authors, so-so editors
Review: This book presents a massive collection of excellent "hard" science fiction stories. (The precise definition of "hard" s-f is left as an exercise to the alert reader.) While the stories are unimpeachable, the introductions and section headings written by the editors range from merely dull to painful. Buy the book, love the book, read the stories, skip the editorial matter.

Rating:
Summary: From HG Wells to David Brin, such scope!
Review: This weighty tome, is absolutely packed with some of the definitive stories of hard science fiction. The introductions to the stories illustrate the trends from the late 19th century to today. Although there is an annoying misuse of the word 'affect' for 'effect', the story reviews are illuminating as to the great authors and their stories. To have read this book is to have gained an overview of the evolution science fiction, to see where it all came from, to see the stories that started the subgenres, to know what IS the core of SF, hard SF.