Science Fiction Stories

Children's Literature

This collection of stories is a treasury for science fiction lovers because it contains selections by most of the classic writers of science fiction, including H. G. Wells, John Christopher, Jules Verne, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, and Arthur C. Clarke. The selections, which were originally published between 1954 and 1979, were chosen by the Carnegie Medal winning author, Edward Blishen. One notable omission is Phillip K. Dick, one of the most prominent writers of science fiction, whose stories would have added to the collection. Nine of the twenty selections in this book are chapters from science fiction novels. Since the short story is a unique genre, and chapters taken from a novel do not have the same kind of integrity apart from the whole, I would have preferred it if Blishen had included only those stories written to be read as short stories. Nevertheless, the book would be useful in a study of classic science fiction writers, giving students a taste of the diversity of writing style and subject matter in this genre. However, it should be supplemented with some of the literature from the past twenty-five years. 2003 (orig. 1993), Kingfisher/Houghton Mifflin, Ages 9 to 14.
—Kathy Egner, Ph.D.