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Rating: 
Summary: HIGHLY PERSONALIZED
Review: All anthologies run the risk of being to broad or to narrow in its choice of selections of a particular writer or genre. Dozois readily admits that his selections are highly personalized choices of works that he likes. He eliminates time lines, political correctness and other superficial criteria which would get in his way. He is to be praised for his individual taste but with a title that implies a broad selection, he falls very short of the task. Modern Classics contains stories of known and not so well known science fiction writers (with the latter predominating). Many of the stories you will not find in similar anthologies. In fact some are very quirky (The Ugly Chickens) and you wonder how in the world did the editor decide it was a classic. Each story presented is preceded by a brief introduction of the author's publishing history and his or her standing in the science fiction community. Some of the writers have fallen into the web of obscurity while others have slowed down in their output. One of the most disappointing aspects of this work is its poor representation of African-Americans, women and other ethnic groups who are writing in this field. Sure, Dozois is entitled to his own partisen tastes but is science fiction still the ghetto for white males with a few tokens here and there? On a positive note, the fact that it intoduces us to writers that are obscure is good. A recovery of their works will bring a deeper appreciation for the genre.
Rating: 
Summary: great book
Review: great selection and commentaries on books, highly enjoyed the book
Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: It is very rare for me to enjoy more than half of any anthology, but I loved 75% of this one. The stories in here, although by "classic" authors, are rare and fun. This volume knocks the socks off of any "Year's Best ..." I can't praise it enough. Here are the three best stories: The Fifth Head of Cerberus -- Gene Wolfe
This Moment of the Storm -- Roger Zelazny
The Edge of the World -- Michael Swanwick
Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: It is very rare for me to enjoy more than half of any anthology, but I loved 75% of this one. The stories in here, although by "classic" authors, are rare and fun. This volume knocks the socks off of any "Year's Best ..." I can't praise it enough. Here are the three best stories: The Fifth Head of Cerberus -- Gene Wolfe
This Moment of the Storm -- Roger Zelazny
The Edge of the World -- Michael Swanwick
Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: It is very rare for me to enjoy more than half of any anthology, but I loved 75% of this one. The stories in here, although by "classic" authors, are rare and fun. This volume knocks the socks off of any "Year's Best ..." I can't praise it enough. Here are the three best stories: The Fifth Head of Cerberus -- Gene Wolfe
This Moment of the Storm -- Roger Zelazny
The Edge of the World -- Michael Swanwick
Rating: 
Summary: Some superb stories, some simply good
Review: This collection of modern classic sci-fi novels by well-known authors is highly recommended. The authors represented include, amoung others, Robert Siverberg, Poul Andreson, Brian Aldiss and Gene Wolfe. The quality of the stories ranges from the "just" very good (Nancy Kress' AND WILD TO HOLD, for example) to the superb (Aldiss' TOTAL ENVIORMENT and Silverberg's SAILING TO BYZANTIUM) to the extremely odd but brilliant (Cordwainer Smith's ON THE STORM PLANET and and James Kelly's MR. BOY). If you like science fiction - and do not already have most of these previously-published short stories from other sources - buy this book.
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