Cover of Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories 3, 1941
Book 214 Anthology 1980
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3 spaceships-and-suns
Asimov fan
3 spaceships-and-suns
Target reader

Asimov Selects

1941 may have been one of the greatest years science fiction ever had. It was the year in which possibly more memorable classics were first published and in which more great sf writers made their banner appearances. In this, the third of Isaac Asimov’s continuing series of commemorative anthologies, you will find:

  • Nightfall by ISAAC ASIMOV
  • Shottle Bop by THEODORE STURGEON
  • Jay Score by ERIC FRANK RUSSELL
  • Adam and No Eve by ALFRED BESTER
  • Snulbug by ANTHONY BOUCHER
  • The Words of Guru by C.M. KORNBLUTH
  • Solar Plexus by JAMES BLISH

and more and more…

There isn’t a loser in the book—every tale is the kind of story that would have won awards if there had been such things back in the Golden Era of the great science fiction magazines.

Read—and try to select your own Hugo winner for 1941!

For general comments on this series, see Isaac Asimov Presents the Great sf Stories 1, 1939.

The main plus for the Asimov fan is the original Susan Calvin story, “Liar!” in its pre-I, Robot state, although the omnipresent “Nightfall” is also included.

(It is an interesting observation regarding this series that there are few volumes with more than one story by Asimov and many without any. One wonders why.)

There are still a lot of excellent stories (and would have been more if permission had been obtained to include the four titles by Heinlein slated to be included): Theodore Sturgeon’s “Shottle Bop” is perhaps my favorite. Definitely a volume worth getting if possible.

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