What do you think?
Rate this book
The Hugo Winners #2A
Stories from The Hugo Winners, Vol. II
The Dragon Masters by Jack Vance;No Truce With Kings by Poul Anderson;Soldier, Ask Not by Gordon R. Dickson;"Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman by Harlan Ellison;The Last Castle by Jack Vance;Neutron Star by Larry Niven.
310 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1971
6 people are currently reading
193 people want to read
About the author
Isaac Asimov
4,645 books27k followersWorks of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles,
The Foundation Trilogy
(1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.
Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.
Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).
People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.
Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.
Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...
Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.
Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).
People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.
Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.
Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
Want to read
August 31, 2024Includes the stories:
The Dragon Masters by Jack Vance
No Truce with Kings by Poul Anderson
Soldier, Ask Not by Gordon R. Dickson
Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman by Harlan Ellison - 4/5 - a wicked satire of modern culture emerges eventually
The Last Castle by Jack Vance
Neutron Star by Larry Niven
The Dragon Masters by Jack Vance
No Truce with Kings by Poul Anderson
Soldier, Ask Not by Gordon R. Dickson
Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman by Harlan Ellison - 4/5 - a wicked satire of modern culture emerges eventually
The Last Castle by Jack Vance
Neutron Star by Larry Niven
August 12, 2017
An anthology of winners of the Hugo award for short fiction and novelettes, edited by Isaac Asimov. There were quite a few of these books covering different year ranges.
The novelettes and short stories in this volume are:
The Dragon Masters by Jack Vance
No Truce with Kings by Poul Anderson
Soldier, Ask Not by Gordon R. Dickson
Repent, Harlequin by Harlan Ellison
The Last Castle by Jack Vance
Neutron Star by Larry Niven
Some have worn more successfully than others. There also seems to have been a big interest in militaristic fiction at the time, given that most of the stories, other than the Ellison and the Niven, concern wars of one kind or another. In the case of the Anderson story and the Dickson, actual formal armies are the main feature.
For me, the two long stories by Jack Vance were least interesting. The first one, The Dragon Masters, with the remnants of humanity living in isolated valleys on a rocky planet which is periodically invaded by another race called the Basics who are bent on the destruction of humans, apart from those they have genetically engineered to serve them in various ways, comes across as rather silly. There is a enclave called the sacerdotes who practice ritual nudity and a form of transcendental meditation and are waiting for the ordinary humans to be wiped out. There are 'dragons' who are various strange creatures, not described very well especially when you are expected to believe that some fight with weapons such as swords etc. The big 'surprise' about them wasn't one to me . Most of the story is about the rivalry between two men who lead different valley communities. The only female character is a kind of ritual prostitute who, when faced with the latest invasion by the Basics, in effect goes to pieces and is treated by one of the male protagonists as a nuisance.
The other Vance story is a little better, dealing with the inhabitants of castles on a future Earth. Most of humanity left Earth long ago and founded various interstellar communities, with the remnant who remained behind taking up a tribal existence. Then about 800 years previously, various aristocratic types returned and set up huge castles where they could live a hedonistic lifestyle supported by various aliens whom they had genetically engineered to serve them as Mecks (mechanics), Peasants and others. Suddenly the Mecks leave the castles, then start besieging each, massacring the inhabitants when they break into each one. (It isn't explained why they don't just stay in each castle and kill the inhabitants without all that bother.) The story deals with the rulers of the final castle which remains. It is rather uneven in its (omniscient) viewpoint as it seems at first to be about a particular non-conformist character who has a bit more sense than the rest, as he isn't loathe to get his hands dirty when survival is at stake, but then switches to another character who is more of an action hero. Women are again very much sidelined and trivialised.
The other stories are more interesting. Anderson's concerns an American civil war in the future, long after a nuclear war has reduced the country to thousands of competing, sometimes co-ooperating, fiefdoms. An outside force decides to interfere and reduce the competition by supporting a faction who wants to reunite the States as a dictatorship, and the story details the progression of the war that follows, mainly from the point of view of Colonel Mackenzie and his son -in-law who find themselves on opposite sides. It is quite an interesting tale with enough characterisation to hold the reader's interest.
Gordon R Dickson's Soldier, Ask Not narrates what happens when a newsman from Earth who has a grudge against a particular planetary society in a future where all humans who left Earth have evolved into specialist types, seeks revenge. Again, there is enough interest in the character conflict and ethical dilemma to hold interest. This story features the Dorsai, the race who have developed into perfect soldiers, who were the subject of many of Dickson's novels.
Ellison's story is a tale of a future society hidebound by clock-driven conformity, extrapolating from what were contemporary trends, and what happens when one individual decides to kick over the traces. It is one of his most famous and prize-winning short stories.
The final story in the collection is also well remembered. By Larry Niven, it concerns one man's attempt to discover why two people who previously tried to investigate a neutron star came to grief.
Although the Vance stories are not of much interest personally, the other stories raised the rating of the collection, overall, to 3 stars.
The novelettes and short stories in this volume are:
The Dragon Masters by Jack Vance
No Truce with Kings by Poul Anderson
Soldier, Ask Not by Gordon R. Dickson
Repent, Harlequin by Harlan Ellison
The Last Castle by Jack Vance
Neutron Star by Larry Niven
Some have worn more successfully than others. There also seems to have been a big interest in militaristic fiction at the time, given that most of the stories, other than the Ellison and the Niven, concern wars of one kind or another. In the case of the Anderson story and the Dickson, actual formal armies are the main feature.
For me, the two long stories by Jack Vance were least interesting. The first one, The Dragon Masters, with the remnants of humanity living in isolated valleys on a rocky planet which is periodically invaded by another race called the Basics who are bent on the destruction of humans, apart from those they have genetically engineered to serve them in various ways, comes across as rather silly. There is a enclave called the sacerdotes who practice ritual nudity and a form of transcendental meditation and are waiting for the ordinary humans to be wiped out. There are 'dragons' who are various strange creatures, not described very well especially when you are expected to believe that some fight with weapons such as swords etc. The big 'surprise' about them wasn't one to me . Most of the story is about the rivalry between two men who lead different valley communities. The only female character is a kind of ritual prostitute who, when faced with the latest invasion by the Basics, in effect goes to pieces and is treated by one of the male protagonists as a nuisance.
The other Vance story is a little better, dealing with the inhabitants of castles on a future Earth. Most of humanity left Earth long ago and founded various interstellar communities, with the remnant who remained behind taking up a tribal existence. Then about 800 years previously, various aristocratic types returned and set up huge castles where they could live a hedonistic lifestyle supported by various aliens whom they had genetically engineered to serve them as Mecks (mechanics), Peasants and others. Suddenly the Mecks leave the castles, then start besieging each, massacring the inhabitants when they break into each one. (It isn't explained why they don't just stay in each castle and kill the inhabitants without all that bother.) The story deals with the rulers of the final castle which remains. It is rather uneven in its (omniscient) viewpoint as it seems at first to be about a particular non-conformist character who has a bit more sense than the rest, as he isn't loathe to get his hands dirty when survival is at stake, but then switches to another character who is more of an action hero. Women are again very much sidelined and trivialised.
The other stories are more interesting. Anderson's concerns an American civil war in the future, long after a nuclear war has reduced the country to thousands of competing, sometimes co-ooperating, fiefdoms. An outside force decides to interfere and reduce the competition by supporting a faction who wants to reunite the States as a dictatorship, and the story details the progression of the war that follows, mainly from the point of view of Colonel Mackenzie and his son -in-law who find themselves on opposite sides. It is quite an interesting tale with enough characterisation to hold the reader's interest.
Gordon R Dickson's Soldier, Ask Not narrates what happens when a newsman from Earth who has a grudge against a particular planetary society in a future where all humans who left Earth have evolved into specialist types, seeks revenge. Again, there is enough interest in the character conflict and ethical dilemma to hold interest. This story features the Dorsai, the race who have developed into perfect soldiers, who were the subject of many of Dickson's novels.
Ellison's story is a tale of a future society hidebound by clock-driven conformity, extrapolating from what were contemporary trends, and what happens when one individual decides to kick over the traces. It is one of his most famous and prize-winning short stories.
The final story in the collection is also well remembered. By Larry Niven, it concerns one man's attempt to discover why two people who previously tried to investigate a neutron star came to grief.
Although the Vance stories are not of much interest personally, the other stories raised the rating of the collection, overall, to 3 stars.
March 25, 2022
Muy bien otra vez. Quizá me haya gustado un poquito menos que el primer volumen. Puede ser debido a que los tres primeros relatos emanan un ligero tufillo militarista que a mí (que no tuve que ir a la mili y que me siento más cerca de la vida esquimal que de la marcial) no me atrae. Desventajas de ser joven y guapo. El chiste es de Asimov, que sigue tan cansino en este volumen que hasta su sentido del humor acaba pegándose. Qué cruz.
Como digo, los tres primeros no me han entusiasmado. Mucho bicho y demasiada dragonada en el primero de Vance. El de Paul Anderson va bien, aunque el final lo veo un poco atropellado. Lo mismo le pasa al de Dickson. Aún así, merece mucho la pena leerlos.
Seguidos de estos vienen los platos fuertes. El cuento de Harlan Ellison es una reflexión ingeniosa y divertidísima sobre la revolución y el mayor estado totalitario que uno pueda imaginar. Y el segundo de Vance armoniza aventura, política, sociedades feudales, sentido del humor y un largo etcétera. Desborda imaginación.
Y cierra el volumen un cuento hard de Larry Niven. Muy interesante y un buen contraste para concluir.
Como digo, los tres primeros no me han entusiasmado. Mucho bicho y demasiada dragonada en el primero de Vance. El de Paul Anderson va bien, aunque el final lo veo un poco atropellado. Lo mismo le pasa al de Dickson. Aún así, merece mucho la pena leerlos.
Seguidos de estos vienen los platos fuertes. El cuento de Harlan Ellison es una reflexión ingeniosa y divertidísima sobre la revolución y el mayor estado totalitario que uno pueda imaginar. Y el segundo de Vance armoniza aventura, política, sociedades feudales, sentido del humor y un largo etcétera. Desborda imaginación.
Y cierra el volumen un cuento hard de Larry Niven. Muy interesante y un buen contraste para concluir.
December 10, 2012
Mix of memorable shorts & novellas here. The two Vance pieces appear to be Anything-Goes concoctions of science fiction & fantasy, wherein each we're led to sympathize with a deplorable ruling class, though it's not unambiguous. Anderson's is post-apocalyptic with fascistic protagonists and benevolent aliens. Dickson's is something of an evolutionary thriller, with military elements, and an improbable schwerpunkt. Ellison's short is like Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron," just with a different central absurdity. Niven's short is a pleasant little astronomy lesson.
Asimov's editorial remarks are appropriately comical & ironically self-derogatory.
Nothing godsawful, probably should be read by speculative fiction readers.
Asimov's editorial remarks are appropriately comical & ironically self-derogatory.
Nothing godsawful, probably should be read by speculative fiction readers.
July 26, 2019
'The writers were far more conservative than we imagined.' M. Moorcock.
A bit of a disappointment after reading the '68 - '70 selection, more than half this volume has Not Aged At All Well. Vance's 'Dragon Masters' is a piece of turgid militarism with a leavening of genetic engineering, lacking utterly the charm of his 'Dying Earth' or 'Eyes of the Overworld.' Worse is Poul Anderson's offering; when he didn't have the kind of Big Idea with which he was to make 'The Sharing of the Flesh' so riveting, the sheer dullness of his suet pudding prose really does show.
Things only take a turn for the better after the '65 convention - which was held in London, and one is tempted to think that exposure to Moorcock, JG Ballard and Brian Aldiss might have given the complacent and uninspired Yanks the kicks up the asses some of them clearly needed: 'The Last Castle', Vance's second contribution here, has twice the zip and creativity of 'The Dragon Masters.' And, of course, there's Harlan Ellison, the exception to any rule, whose 'Repent Harlequin' remains one of the finest little dystopias ever to grace a printed page.
A bit of a disappointment after reading the '68 - '70 selection, more than half this volume has Not Aged At All Well. Vance's 'Dragon Masters' is a piece of turgid militarism with a leavening of genetic engineering, lacking utterly the charm of his 'Dying Earth' or 'Eyes of the Overworld.' Worse is Poul Anderson's offering; when he didn't have the kind of Big Idea with which he was to make 'The Sharing of the Flesh' so riveting, the sheer dullness of his suet pudding prose really does show.
Things only take a turn for the better after the '65 convention - which was held in London, and one is tempted to think that exposure to Moorcock, JG Ballard and Brian Aldiss might have given the complacent and uninspired Yanks the kicks up the asses some of them clearly needed: 'The Last Castle', Vance's second contribution here, has twice the zip and creativity of 'The Dragon Masters.' And, of course, there's Harlan Ellison, the exception to any rule, whose 'Repent Harlequin' remains one of the finest little dystopias ever to grace a printed page.
Want to read
August 16, 2024(3/6 read)
6 stories:
**** The Dragon Masters (1962) • Jack Vance
No Truce with Kings (1963) • Poul Anderson
Soldier, Ask Not (1964) • Gordon R. Dickson
*** "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman (1965) • Harlan Ellison
**** The Last Castle (1966) • Jack Vance
Neutron Star • (1966) • Larry Niven
6 stories:
**** The Dragon Masters (1962) • Jack Vance
No Truce with Kings (1963) • Poul Anderson
Soldier, Ask Not (1964) • Gordon R. Dickson
*** "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman (1965) • Harlan Ellison
**** The Last Castle (1966) • Jack Vance
Neutron Star • (1966) • Larry Niven
October 3, 2020
La idea de la serie sigue siendo estupenda, el formato con los comentarios de Asmimov muy disfrutable, pero de alguna manera casi ninguna de las narraciones premiadas me ha despertado interés o emoción. Espero con ganas quitarme el mal sabor con el próximo volumen.
October 23, 2020
Both of Jack Vance's stories drew me in. Will look for more of his sci-fi.
"The full moon was rising, a great yellow globe casting a smoky saffron glow, like an antique lamp."
"You are both alien folk and sooner or later your bones must bleach together."
"The full moon was rising, a great yellow globe casting a smoky saffron glow, like an antique lamp."
"You are both alien folk and sooner or later your bones must bleach together."
December 24, 2024
The Dragon Masters (Jack Vance) - 2/5
No Truce With Kings (Poul Anderson) - 1/5
Soldier, Ask Not (Gordon R Dickson) - 3/5
"Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman (Harlan Ellison) - 4/5
The Last Castle (Jack Vance) - 3/5
Neutron Star (Larry Niven) - 2/5
No Truce With Kings (Poul Anderson) - 1/5
Soldier, Ask Not (Gordon R Dickson) - 3/5
"Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman (Harlan Ellison) - 4/5
The Last Castle (Jack Vance) - 3/5
Neutron Star (Larry Niven) - 2/5
July 28, 2017
as always with Asimov, 5 stars for the introductions
February 21, 2019
I enjoyed Harlan Ellison and Larry Niven's short stories. The rest were lackluster.
December 27, 2019
I really enjoyed the two stories by Jack Vance: "The Dragon Masters" and "The Last Castle." The rest were just ok, including the story by Harlan Ellison, who is overrated.
August 22, 2023
Encontrar en un mismo libro a los dorsai de Dickson, los titerotes de Niven, las biologías sorprendentes de Jack Vance (por partida doble), los mundos alternativos de Anderson o la fantasía desbocada de Ellison es todo un lujo. Esta selección de relatos tiene la garantía de que en su día fueron elegidos por los lectores para ganar el premio Hugo, lo que asegura que no van a decepcionar. Los comentarios de Asimov hacen de hilo conductor entre cuento y cuento.
March 9, 2017
Fun to see SF and Fantasy of the 60s. Too tiered to write out a full review but all stories were at least interesting.
February 24, 2016
A hard-to-find anthology of Hugo-winning short fiction from 1963 to 1967. The stories include:
The Dragon Masters by Jack Vance
No Truce with Kings by Poul Anderson
Soldier, Ask Not by Gordon R. Dickson
Repent, Harlequin by Harlan Ellison
The Last Castle by Jack Vance
Neutron Star by Larry Niven
"The Dragon Masters" was a silly imaginative story about a war between two valleys-worth of dragon warriors, some off-worlders in space ships, and a strange race of unspeaking torc-wearing philosophers. Epically daft.
"No Truce with Kings" is a forgettable retelling of the American civil war.
The strongest in the collection was "Soldier, Ask Not", which concerns the ethics of intervention and unintended consequences. A journalist tries to destroy a race of religious fanatics, with disastrous consequences.
I'd previously heard of "Repent, Harlequin". I didn't see what the fuss was about, although it has the arch 'literary' style of later fiction.
"The Last Castle" is a tale of off-world humanoids on a far-future Earth whose technician slaves rebel against them and attack their castles. They try to fight back, somewhat stupidly, by recruiting the humans around the castle. Sufficiently silly to be memorable while pacy enough to remain interesting.
In "Neutron Star" a pilot is hired to investigate the damage to a spaceship hull from an expedition to a neutron star. The story delightfully combines space adventure with real physics. Short and sweet.
The Dragon Masters by Jack Vance
No Truce with Kings by Poul Anderson
Soldier, Ask Not by Gordon R. Dickson
Repent, Harlequin by Harlan Ellison
The Last Castle by Jack Vance
Neutron Star by Larry Niven
"The Dragon Masters" was a silly imaginative story about a war between two valleys-worth of dragon warriors, some off-worlders in space ships, and a strange race of unspeaking torc-wearing philosophers. Epically daft.
"No Truce with Kings" is a forgettable retelling of the American civil war.
The strongest in the collection was "Soldier, Ask Not", which concerns the ethics of intervention and unintended consequences. A journalist tries to destroy a race of religious fanatics, with disastrous consequences.
I'd previously heard of "Repent, Harlequin". I didn't see what the fuss was about, although it has the arch 'literary' style of later fiction.
"The Last Castle" is a tale of off-world humanoids on a far-future Earth whose technician slaves rebel against them and attack their castles. They try to fight back, somewhat stupidly, by recruiting the humans around the castle. Sufficiently silly to be memorable while pacy enough to remain interesting.
In "Neutron Star" a pilot is hired to investigate the damage to a spaceship hull from an expedition to a neutron star. The story delightfully combines space adventure with real physics. Short and sweet.
June 20, 2013
These are all Hugo winners, but not all are standard sci-fi.
I found it curious that four of the six stories (and close to 90% of the words, since all four are novellas) were centered around war. Not only that, but the good guys in each story were conflicted rationalists who saw the need but were reluctant to fight, and these were contrasted against a group of outright pacifists who refused to take up arms. Clearly these stories were shaped to some degree by the Vietnam War, even though all were written before the anti-war sentiment had really begun to ramp up.
Several of them barely qualify as science fiction, though. Strand some humans on a planet, several thousand years after an apocalypse or abandonment, and you're free to assume that their civilization is at any (pre-technological) level you like. One of the stories is essentially a western, one features caricatures of English landed gentry, and one is basically medieval fantasy, complete with dragons.
I enjoyed the two shorter works considerably more: Harlan Ellison's '"Repent, Harlequin!" said the Ticktockman", a lyrical and playful critique of our obsession with time, and Larry Niven's "Neutron Star", an old-fashioned science mystery.
I found it curious that four of the six stories (and close to 90% of the words, since all four are novellas) were centered around war. Not only that, but the good guys in each story were conflicted rationalists who saw the need but were reluctant to fight, and these were contrasted against a group of outright pacifists who refused to take up arms. Clearly these stories were shaped to some degree by the Vietnam War, even though all were written before the anti-war sentiment had really begun to ramp up.
Several of them barely qualify as science fiction, though. Strand some humans on a planet, several thousand years after an apocalypse or abandonment, and you're free to assume that their civilization is at any (pre-technological) level you like. One of the stories is essentially a western, one features caricatures of English landed gentry, and one is basically medieval fantasy, complete with dragons.
I enjoyed the two shorter works considerably more: Harlan Ellison's '"Repent, Harlequin!" said the Ticktockman", a lyrical and playful critique of our obsession with time, and Larry Niven's "Neutron Star", an old-fashioned science mystery.
July 20, 2016
Just like volume I, this book has been on my shelf forever, and it shows. Sigh! But that's how beloved books should be. Of course, beloved books are more likely to be ragged from being read over and over. Now I have reread this book through the years, but far more often for Asimov's introductions than for the stories themselves, as good as they are. The funniest, of course, is Asimov's description of handing a Hugo to himself after accusing the committee of unspeakable things for not handing a Hugo to him. I don't suppose there is a film of this out there somewhere. I would love to see it.
July 1, 2014
Es un compilado interesante, mas aun para los que les interese la ciencia ficción bélica. A excepción de los cuentos de Harlan Ellison y Larry Niven, los demás siguen esa temática (los cuentos de Jack Vance incluso se mezclan bastante con la fantasía)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 31, 2009
Another fine collection, although I'm not a huge Jack Vance fan and he has two stories in here.
Read
February 6, 2011Published Dec 1973
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews