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The Best of Harry Harrison
Contents of The Best of Harry Harrison:
The Streets of Ashkelon
Capt. Honario Harpplayer, R.N.
Rescue Operation
At Last, the True Story of Frankenstein
I Always Do What Teddy Says
Portrait of the Artist
Mute Milton
A Criminal Act
Waiting Place
If
I Have My Vigil
From Fanaticism, or For Reward
By the Falls
The Ever-branching Tree
Brave Newer World
The Wicked Flee
Roommates
The Mothballed Spaceship
An Honest Days Work
We Ate the Whole Thing
Space Rats of the C.C.C.
The Streets of Ashkelon
Capt. Honario Harpplayer, R.N.
Rescue Operation
At Last, the True Story of Frankenstein
I Always Do What Teddy Says
Portrait of the Artist
Mute Milton
A Criminal Act
Waiting Place
If
I Have My Vigil
From Fanaticism, or For Reward
By the Falls
The Ever-branching Tree
Brave Newer World
The Wicked Flee
Roommates
The Mothballed Spaceship
An Honest Days Work
We Ate the Whole Thing
Space Rats of the C.C.C.
315 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1976
2 people are currently reading
91 people want to read
About the author
Harry Harrison
1,163 books1,028 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Harry Harrison (born Henry Maxwell Dempsey) was an American science fiction author best known for his character the The Stainless Steel Rat and the novel Make Room! Make Room! (1966), the basis for the film Soylent Green (1973). He was also (with Brian W. Aldiss) co-president of the Birmingham Science Fiction Group.
Excerpted from Wikipedia.
Harry Harrison (born Henry Maxwell Dempsey) was an American science fiction author best known for his character the The Stainless Steel Rat and the novel Make Room! Make Room! (1966), the basis for the film Soylent Green (1973). He was also (with Brian W. Aldiss) co-president of the Birmingham Science Fiction Group.
Excerpted from Wikipedia.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 24, 2018
Päris viisakas kogumik lühkareid. Kes lugenud ainult "Surmailma", sellele võib tulla üllatusena, et Harrisonil on ka intellektuaalsemaid tekste ja võiks öelda et lausa läbinägelikke ja andekaid ideid. On paremaid, on kehvemaid tekste, aga enamuses siiski paremaid. Hämmastab toonaste kirjanike viitsimine iga neetud ühiskondliku probleemi või valupunkti (automatiseerumine, vaesus, keskkond, religioon, rassism jne jne) ümber jutte vesta.
July 19, 2020
This was a trip through memory lane for me. I thought I would encoounter a lot of new (to me) stories, but a lot of these I remembered from collections I read as a teenager, often translated to Dutch (in the anthologies that my father had). A lot of them I had forgotten I'd read. This was not a drawback to me, as they were all great stories, and I liked finding out which of these I had read before. Harry Harrison is one of the greats of the SF-field and this collection makes it clear why. As one of the few of the SF-greats he likes to add humour to his stories, sometimes in wry asides, but he also likes to write parodies of the genre. He is well known from the humoristic series 'The stainless steel rat' and he has the 'ultimate space opera' on display here: 'Space rats of the C.C.C.' which had me grinning throughout. 'If' made me chuckle in its parody of the time travel tale. 'Captain Honario Harpplayer, R.N.' was fun too. Also Harrison was socially conscious. He has several stories about the wrongs of racism (one in a nominal utopia that still has biases in selecting which embryo's to cultivate - 'Brave Newer World'). The story 'Mute Milton' is a powerful little tale. Harrison was one of those authors that was at his best when he was angry at something, an injustice in particular. His passion then comes through in every word! He was also concerned about environmental topics, especially the problem of overpopulation. A couple of stories here touch on that subject, as does his well know work 'Make room! Make room!' that was filmed as 'Soylent Green'. The story 'Roommates' takes place in that universe and is suitably grim. 'A criminal act' takes more of a darkly humorous interpretation ... There are several stories here about the clash between reason and superstition. The opening story 'The streest of Ashkelon' is a hard hitting story, in which a priest lands on a planet with rational aliens, who want to put his beliefs to the test ... It has a tragic (but great) ending. The same theme comes to the fore in 'Rescue Operation', where an alien spacecraft is downed in the Mediterranean and the superstition of the locals means the pilot can't be saved. Very well written. 'I Always Do What Teddy Says' made a big impression on me as a teenager. I don't think morality is formed this way and morals are separated from each other in this way, but the story is powerful enough to still work. Chilling. 'The Mothballed Spaceship' was a fun tale in the 'Deathworld'-universe. Some stories didn't work that well. The metaphor in 'By The Falls' was labored and 'The Ever-Branching Tree' was a biology lesson in transparant disguise. Still, a fun collection for afficionado's of the SF-genre.
May 4, 2019
There are several stories in this collection that I forgot as soon as I turned the page, but I'm glad I picked it up anyway, for the following, in order of increasing quality:
5) "From Fanaticism, or For Reward" -- a sociologist robot detective delivers the ultimate punishment;
4) "Not Me, Not Amos Cabot!" -- a dark joke regarding the futility of life;
3) "Portrait of the Artist" -- a dark joke regarding the automation of labor;
2) "Always Do What Teddy Says" -- a fable on political struggle and moral judgment;
1) "The Streets of Ashkelon" -- a classic of the science fiction canon.
5) "From Fanaticism, or For Reward" -- a sociologist robot detective delivers the ultimate punishment;
4) "Not Me, Not Amos Cabot!" -- a dark joke regarding the futility of life;
3) "Portrait of the Artist" -- a dark joke regarding the automation of labor;
2) "Always Do What Teddy Says" -- a fable on political struggle and moral judgment;
1) "The Streets of Ashkelon" -- a classic of the science fiction canon.
February 22, 2024
Harry Harrison wrote many books and short stories, mostly in the 1960s and 70s.
There are two Harry Harrisons - the first writes humorous parody science-fiction (e.g. the Stainless Steel Rat series, Bob the Galactic Hero), while the other writes dark, dystopian science-fiction (most famously Make Room! Make Room!, filmed as Soylent Green). This collection of short stories has examples of both.
Harrison had an amazing scope of imagination. He was able to write stories on an astounding range of topics. One topic that he repeatedly came back to was cautionary tales about environmental collapse and specifically over-population. In the introduction to one tale, I was shocked to learn that he was unable to sell it in the US in the 1970s because the protagonist was an atheist.
One of the most prolific and talented SF writers of the last century, he was friends with most of the greats - Clarke, Aldiss, Heinlein, Asimov.... That is what I call good company.
There are two Harry Harrisons - the first writes humorous parody science-fiction (e.g. the Stainless Steel Rat series, Bob the Galactic Hero), while the other writes dark, dystopian science-fiction (most famously Make Room! Make Room!, filmed as Soylent Green). This collection of short stories has examples of both.
Harrison had an amazing scope of imagination. He was able to write stories on an astounding range of topics. One topic that he repeatedly came back to was cautionary tales about environmental collapse and specifically over-population. In the introduction to one tale, I was shocked to learn that he was unable to sell it in the US in the 1970s because the protagonist was an atheist.
One of the most prolific and talented SF writers of the last century, he was friends with most of the greats - Clarke, Aldiss, Heinlein, Asimov.... That is what I call good company.
January 30, 2025
Unfortunately I had read the majority of the first half of the book in previous compilations.
I still read all the little forewords from Harry though which were a really nice touch.
A lovely collection of great stories and Harrison is great for not just parking all of his morbid dark stories in short format like so many science fiction authors too. There are a range of styles and subjects from humour to political commentary but all are a good read. There is one bit which is a bit sexist and very much of its time, but it's clear Harrison wrote this with good intent, it was just a different era. In general he's very good at including strong independent women, albeit as side characters in most cases.
Lovely old cover and a great read!
I still read all the little forewords from Harry though which were a really nice touch.
A lovely collection of great stories and Harrison is great for not just parking all of his morbid dark stories in short format like so many science fiction authors too. There are a range of styles and subjects from humour to political commentary but all are a good read. There is one bit which is a bit sexist and very much of its time, but it's clear Harrison wrote this with good intent, it was just a different era. In general he's very good at including strong independent women, albeit as side characters in most cases.
Lovely old cover and a great read!
November 30, 2022
Enjoyed:
The streets of ashkelon
About a trader on a planet visited by religion
Rescue operation
A doctor and an alien
Mute Milton
Racism
A criminal act
Overpopulation - I liked this one, maybe the best
Waiting place
A prison in the universe an innocent man?
I have my vigil
Twisty ending, unsure on if it's a person alone believing they are a robot?
The wicked flee
Time travel done logically
Roommates
A nice well characterised short story
An honest days work
An amusing attempt at a working class hero
The mothballed spaceship
So 10 out of 21
The streets of ashkelon
About a trader on a planet visited by religion
Rescue operation
A doctor and an alien
Mute Milton
Racism
A criminal act
Overpopulation - I liked this one, maybe the best
Waiting place
A prison in the universe an innocent man?
I have my vigil
Twisty ending, unsure on if it's a person alone believing they are a robot?
The wicked flee
Time travel done logically
Roommates
A nice well characterised short story
An honest days work
An amusing attempt at a working class hero
The mothballed spaceship
So 10 out of 21
March 5, 2019
Interesting and kind of fun collection of short stories dating back to the 60s and early 70s. I liked most of them but didn't have any particular favorites. Some are a little grim and some are quite funny. This was my first introduction to Harry Harrison. I like his writing style and sense of humor. He was obviously obsessed with overpopulation, as this theme appears in several of the stories presented here. He also wrote the novel (Make Room! Make Room!) that inspired the film Soylent Green.
December 2, 2024
Like all vintage Sci-Fi novels, the contents of the stories sometimes fail the test of time. I'm not saying these are terrible stories, far from it, they're all delightful. But some of the dated science and habits of the characters have become "old."
February 12, 2013
Great science fiction writer! His stories hold up well even today.
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May 20, 2015Science-Fiction
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews