Rating: 
Summary: Don't get no better than that
Review: This collection features some of the best Science Fiction short stories ever written, and is probably Wolfe's best collection. It exemplifies his amazing ability to construct a fantastic new world, with unforgettable imagination and scenery, using the Baroc-like prose with the archaic and ancient echoing in the background.If you still haven't read anything by Wolfe, and prefers not to begin with his mega Suns series, this could be a great starting point. Most recommended:
- The Island of Dr. Death and Other Stories
- The Death of Dr. Island
- Tracking Song
- Seven American Nights (I wish there was a 6 stars scale)
Read it!
Rating:
Summary: Discover why Wolfe is considered the 20th century's finest
Review: This collection is a perfect example of why people read stories. Whether to be entertained or to do soemthing as crazy as discover something knew about our world, our culture, Wolfe puts it all together (as usual) in this book. You'll remember these stories like you would a garden of roses blooming in the Sahara. Bizarre yet beautiful, out of place yet right there in front of you. If "a must read" wasn't now a cliche, it would fit this book. But nothing about this book is cliche, yet it is a must read.
Rating: 
Summary: A superb collection
Review: This is one of the best collections of short fiction ever published, of similar quality to the major collections of Joyce, Poe, Woolf, or Flannery O'Connor. "Seven American Nights," "Tracking Song," "The Alien Stones," the title story, "The Death of Doctor Island," and others collected here are dazzling, mysterious, inventive, true and wise. Wolfe's other collections also include masterpieces, but this is the single highest concentration of great short fiction he's produced.
Rating:
Summary: Wolfe's Best Collection
Review: This is one of the best collections of short fiction ever published, of similar quality to the major collections of Joyce, Poe, Woolf, or Flannery O'Connor. "Seven American Nights," "Tracking Song," "The Alien Stones," the title story, "The Death of Doctor Island," and others collected here are dazzling, mysterious, inventive, true and wise. Wolfe's other collections also include masterpieces, but this is the single highest concentration of great short fiction he's produced.
Rating:
Summary: A Treasury of Magnificent Fiction
Review: Two fantastic stories, "The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories" and "Seven American Nights" bookend another excellent collection from the masterful Wolfe. Several of the stories contained herein were award nominees...and rightfully so. With each story, the reader gains more appreciation for the skill employed by Wolfe. Truly he is a master storyteller. The two stories mentioned above stand out as the masterworks of the collection. Each is a touching and delicate rumination on love and the tender connections that bind us to one another. In "The Island..." a young boy retreats into the fantasy setting of a Dr. Moreau-type novel when his chaotic family situation comes to a head. (This is only one way to read the story. A literal interpretation makes the story even more interesting and is hardly improbable in a Wolfe story) "Seven American Nights" tells thte tale of a young Middle Eastern man who comes to a ruined (post-apocalyptic?) America in search of a nebulous goal (Wolfe twice tantalizingly mentions something hidden beneath a mountain. Nuclear Weapons?) The young man is entranced by a young actress and his quest is subsumed by desire. A masterful piece. Other standout stories inlcude "The Toy Theater" about a powerful puppeteer and "The Eyeflash Miracles" wherein a blind boy travels with a deranged ex-school superintendent. Wolfe tells dense yet powerful stories. I don't claim to fully understand his works, but I do make the attempt. I've yet to read the Gene Wolfe story that wasn't worth my time. He is one of th most accomplished American writers today. This collection of his early short fiction is a marvelous collection and should be read. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A Treasury of Magnificent Fiction
Review: Two fantastic stories, "The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories" and "Seven American Nights" bookend another excellent collection from the masterful Wolfe. Several of the stories contained herein were award nominees...and rightfully so. With each story, the reader gains more appreciation for the skill employed by Wolfe. Truly he is a master storyteller. The two stories mentioned above stand out as the masterworks of the collection. Each is a touching and delicate rumination on love and the tender connections that bind us to one another. In "The Island..." a young boy retreats into the fantasy setting of a Dr. Moreau-type novel when his chaotic family situation comes to a head. (This is only one way to read the story. A literal interpretation makes the story even more interesting and is hardly improbable in a Wolfe story) "Seven American Nights" tells thte tale of a young Middle Eastern man who comes to a ruined (post-apocalyptic?) America in search of a nebulous goal (Wolfe twice tantalizingly mentions something hidden beneath a mountain. Nuclear Weapons?) The young man is entranced by a young actress and his quest is subsumed by desire. A masterful piece. Other standout stories inlcude "The Toy Theater" about a powerful puppeteer and "The Eyeflash Miracles" wherein a blind boy travels with a deranged ex-school superintendent. Wolfe tells dense yet powerful stories. I don't claim to fully understand his works, but I do make the attempt. I've yet to read the Gene Wolfe story that wasn't worth my time. He is one of th most accomplished American writers today. This collection of his early short fiction is a marvelous collection and should be read. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Dr. Island
Review: Wolfe is at his best when he has room to develop a theme, thus his most engaging stories are the longer ones in this collection: 'The Death of Dr. Island', 'Tracking Song', and 'Eyeflash Miracles', but Wolfe's wit is all that sustains cute sleight-of-hand parlor stories such as 'La Befana', 'Feather Tigers', and 'Cues'. Bottom line: the three story variations on Dr./ Death/ Island make this volume a Must-Have.
Rating:
Summary: The best short story collection I've yet encountered.
Review: Wolfe is rightly considered a master (if not THE master) of the science-fiction/fantasy novel, and yet I believe his greatest strength lies in writing short stories. This collection is his best. I've read collections by Borges, Tolstoy, Babel, Hemingway, Joyce, and on. This one tops them all, regardless of genre. Wolfe's writing is a miracle to behold. His characterizations are always disarming, and his language is unparalleled. Other reviews have given some clue as to the stories in this collection, which are all speculative and challenging. Although the concept is now overused, this would be the one book I would take with me to the desert island to read for pure pleasure.
Rating:
Summary: THIS IS IT
Review: You need search no further to find the epitome of sci-fi/fantasy writing. This collection is it. It delivers like nothing you've read. Buy two...one copy won't last forever.
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