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Great Classic Science Fiction  By  cover art

Great Classic Science Fiction

By: Stanley G. Weinbaum, Lester Del Rey, Fritz Leiber, James Schmitz, Philip K. Dick, Frank Herbert, H. G. Wells
Narrated by: Simon Vance, Barbara Rosenblat, Nick Sullivan, Robert Fass, Katherine Kellgren, Scott Brick, Stephen Thorne, Greg Itzin
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Publisher's summary

This superlative collection of futuristic tales explores ground-breaking supernatural themes from the founding heroes of the science-fiction genre. The short story form is perfect for capturing the atmospheric tension of these legendary stories. The collection includes: "The Door in the Wall" by H. G. Wells, "All Cats Are Gray" by Andre Norton, "A Martian Odyssey" by Stanley G. Weinbaum, "Victory" by Lester del Rey, "The Moon Is Green" by Fritz Leiber, "The Winds of Time" by James H. Schmitz, "The Defenders" by Philip K. Dick, and "Missing Link" by Frank Herbert.

©2010 BBC Audio (P)2010 BBC Audio

What listeners say about Great Classic Science Fiction

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    269
  • 4 Stars
    179
  • 3 Stars
    90
  • 2 Stars
    13
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    5
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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Great authors, good stories

A very interesting and quite good collection.

These are some of the greatest authors in Sci-Fi, although the stories aren't necessarily the best written, or best known, short stories in the authors' respective portfolios (with the exception of Weinbaum's "Martian Odyssey").

For the most part, these are classic style sci-fi stories, crawling with aliens, spaceships and strange new worlds. Two of the stories (Leiber's and Dick's) are post-nuclear-holocaust Earth and Wells' story is set in contemporary (to him) Earth.

Well delivered by a mix of great readers.

Worth a listen, particularly for genre fans who want to explore some great authors' "b-list" stories.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Poorly organized

This is the second audible shorty story compilation I have read like this. Chapters are poorly labeled and some stories span more than one, while others are in a single very long chapter.

Content was good but not amazing.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

some good some bad

The first three stories were absolute crap. The rest were good. "Victory" was excellent.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Classic stories

All if these are solidly told stories in the great tradition of 50s/60s sci-fi. They might be minor stories by major writers. But they’re good.

I think a lot of today’s readers simply aren’t used to authors coming from a time when the written word wasn’t yet completely pushed out by the tv picture, much less the 140 mental limits of today’s media. Read to learn, would be my advice.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Some material I hadn't seen before

I particularly liked Del Rey, Leiber, Schmitz (the first material I had read by him), Dick and Herbert.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

excellent anthology

I love a good anthology and this one did not disappoint though a couple of the stories have been featured in other recent anthologies.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Sci-Fi Stories

If you are into this genre there are some very good stories here. The several narrators also did a very good job narrating. Recommended, check this audiobook out, I am sure you will enjoy the stories.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Enjoyed it.

All pretty interesting. One about the soldier who thought earth should have intervened in wars more was too long and could have made its point faster. Otherwise I liked it.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Generally Excellent Collection! 😱

5 stars is excellent.
4 stars is good.
3 stars is OK.
This 2010 production from the BBC has generally excellent stories with several truly excellent stories remarkably thought provoking in the vein of Asimov's future history series.
Favorites of mine were "Victory" by Lester Del Rey which examines the prohibitive cost of future warfare between species possessing weaponry of star-level power;
And "Missing Link" examines the problem of mature developed species (during extra stellar exploration) bringing less developed aggressive immature species into their developed species federation, and exposing these less mature cultures to planet busting technologies without creating a threat to the less mature species or to the members of the federation themselves.
And what if theses less mature species possess a unique species-specific ability (eg. telepathic control of other sentient species) or a particularly advanced development is a field of science far beyond the more mature species of the federation? What then? 😱

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Worst stories of great authors

The minor works of major authors. Disappointed unfortunately. Not terrible but just not what I was hoping for. A little too predictable and trite endings.

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