Literature / 18 Greatest Science Fiction Stories

First published as Masters' Choice in 1966, by Laurence M Janifer. This Genre Anthology features stories from eighteen of the best Science Fiction authors ever. Each of the stories present here are, in the author's opinion, their best work to date.

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Works published in this Anthology:

• "Liar! (1941)", by Isaac Asimov (1941)
• "It's a Good Life", by Jerome Bixby (1953)
• "The Veldt", by Ray Bradbury (1950)
• "The Golem", by Avram Davidson (1955)
• "Helen O Loy", by Lester del Rey (1938)
• "The Cold Equations", by Tom Godwin (1954)
• "The Dwindling Sphere", by Willard Hawkins (1940)
• "Requiem", by Robert A. Heinlein (1940)
• "Theory Of Rocketry", by Cyril M. Kornbluth (1958)
• "Dont Look Now", by Henry Kuttner (1948)
• "Seven Day Terror", by R. A. Lafferty (1962)
• "Coming Attraction", by Fritz Leiber (1950)
• "Politics", by Murray Leinster (1932)
• "Memento Homo", by Walter M Miller Jr (1954)
• "The Bright Illusion", by C. L. Moore (1934)
• "And Now the News ...", by Theodore Sturgeon (1956)
• "The Custodian", by William Tenn (1953)
• "The New Accelerator", by H. G. Wells (1901)

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This Anthology provides examples of:

• "Best Of" Anthology: Picked by famous authors, the Tagline claims these are the "best Science Fiction stories of all time - chosen by the masters of science fiction".
• Book Ends: When "The Golem" begins, Mrs Gumbiner is writing to a friend, and Mr Gumbiner asks what she'll write. During the story, an android appears, announces the death of its creator, threatens them, and gets deactivated by Mr Gumbiner's attack. Then they fix it up and get it to do chores for them. Mrs Gumbiner goes back to her letter, and Mr Gumbiner asks what she'll write.
• Boxed Set: This Anthology was released in a six-volume box by Tempo Books, along with Planets For Sale, The Weapon Makers, Minds Unleashed, Great Stories Of Space Travel, and Voyagers In Time. The title of the box set was Tempo Science Fiction Library.
• Divided for Publication: In Australia, this anthology was separated into two volumes, Masters' Choice 1 has ten, and Masters' Choice 2 included the remaining eight.
• Literary Allusion Title: In "The Golem", the title refers both to the old legend about Rabbi Loeb (which is summarized in the story) and the stranger that has come to their porch.
• Novelette:
  • "And Now the News ...", by Theodore Sturgeon
  • "The Cold Equations", by Tom Godwin
  • "The Custodian", by William Tenn
  • "Politics", by Murray Leinster
• One-Word Title:
  • "Politics", by Murray Leinster
  • "Requiem", by Robert A. Heinlein
• Pygmalion Plot: In "Helen O'Loy", by Lester del Rey, an endocrinologist and a roboticist have a bet as to whether a robot could be made to act like a real woman. The endocrinologist insists no robot could duplicate the complex biological system that created emotions, the roboticist insists it could. The roboticist wins, when the endocrinologist not only has to admit that Helen has human-like emotions, but eventually marries her. (The roboticist, who narrates the story, eventually admits to the audience that he fell in love with her as well.)
• Ridiculously Human Robots: The whole point of "Helen O'Loy", by Lester del Rey, is an attempt to make a robot indistinguishable from a human woman. It succeeds.
• Robotic Spouse: In "Helen O'Loy", by Lester del Rey, a medical student (Phil) and a mechanic (Dave) modify a household robot to have emotions. While Phil is away Dave activates Helen, who learns about love (from watching soap operas!) When Phil comes back home Dave has already fled from her affections, but changes his mind and marries her. On his death Helen requests that Phil shut her down and bury her with Dave.
• Short Story:
  • "The Bright Illusion", by C. L. Moore (1934)
  • "Coming Attraction", by Fritz Leiber
  • "The Dwindling Sphere", by Willard Hawkins
  • "Dont Look Now", by Henry Kuttner
  • "The Golem", by Avram Davidson
  • "Helen O Loy", by Lester del Rey
  • "It's a Good Life", by Jerome Bixby
  • "Memento Homo", by Walter M Miller Jr
  • "The New Accelerator", by H. G. Wells
  • "Requiem", by Robert A. Heinlein
  • "Seven Day Terror", by R. A. Lafferty
  • "Theory Of Rocketry", by Cyril M. Kornbluth
  • "The Veldt", by Ray Bradbury
• Shout-Out:
  • In "The Golem":
    • The android mentions having read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.
    • The android mentions having read R.U.R. by Karel Čapek.
    • The android mentions having read Isaac Asimov.
    • The old couple summarize the Jewish legend of the Golem. R.U.R. and Frankenstein were both influenced by the golem legend.
• Tagline:
  • "The best Science Fiction stories of all time - chosen by the masters of science fiction"
  • "The stories the experts picked ..."
• Title 1: The Australian edition was Divided for Publication, so the two books were published as Masters' Choice 1 and Masters' Choice 2.

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