The Good Stuff

by Gardner Dozois (Editor), A.E. van Vogt (Contributor), Cordwainer Smith (Contributor)

An omnibus of two anthologies (The Good Old Stuff and The Good New Stuff).

Contents
1 • The Good Old Stuff: Adventure SF in the Grand Tradition • [Good Stuff • 1] • (1998) • anthology by Gardner Dozois
9 • Preface (The Good Old Stuff) • (1998) • essay by Gardner Dozois
19 • The Rull • [Rull] • (1948) • novelette by A. E. van Vogt
45 • The Second Night of Summer • (1950) • novelette by James H. Schmitz
70 • The Galton Whistle • [Viagens Interplanetarias] • (1951) • novelette by L. Sprague de Camp
93 • The New Prime • (1951) • novelette by Jack Vance
116 • That Share of Glory • (1952) • novelette by C. M. Kornbluth
145 • The Last Days of Shandakor • (1952) • novelette by Leigh Brackett
173 • Exploration Team • [Colonial Survey] • (1956) • novelette by Murray Leinster
215 • The Sky People • [Maurai] • (1959) • novelette by Poul Anderson
254 • The Man in the Mailbag • [Dilbia] • (1959) • novelette by Gordon R. Dickson
281 • Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons • [The Instrumentality of Mankind] • (1961) • novelette by Cordwainer Smith
302 • A Kind of Artistry • (1962) • novelette by Brian W. Aldiss
325 • Gunpowder God • [Kalvan] • (1964) • novella by H. Beam Piper
368 • Semley's Necklace • (1964) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le Guin (aka The Dowry of Angyar)
386 • Moon Duel • (1965) • shortstory by Fritz Leiber
397 • The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth • (1965) • novelette by Roger Zelazny
428 • Mother in the Sky With Diamonds • (1971) • novelette by James Tiptree, Jr.
453 • Recommended Reading (The Good Stuff) • essay by Gardner Dozois
457 • The Good New Stuff: Adventure SF in the Grand Tradition • [Good Stuff • 2] • (1999) • anthology by Gardner Dozois
463 • Preface (The Good New Stuff) • essay by Gardner Dozois
469 • Good-Bye, Robinson Crusoe • [Eight Worlds] • (1977) • novelette by John Varley
497 • The Way of Cross and Dragon • (1979) • novelette by George R. R. Martin
515 • Swarm • [Shaper/Mechanist] • (1982) • novelette by Bruce Sterling
540 • The Blind Minotaur • (1985) • shortstory by Michael Swanwick
556 • The Blabber • [Zones of Thought] • (1988) • novella by Vernor Vinge
611 • The Return of the Kangaroo Rex • [Mirabile] • (1989) • novelette by Janet Kagan
645 • Prayers on the Wind • (1991) • novella by Walter Jon Williams
686 • The Missionary's Child • (1992) • novelette by Maureen F. McHugh
710 • Poles Apart • [Trimus] • (1992) • novella by G. David Nordley
753 • Guest of Honor • (1993) • novelette by Robert Reed
783 • Flowering Mandrake • (1994) • novelette by George Turner
820 • Cilia-of-Gold • (1994) • novelette by Stephen Baxter
844 • Gone to Glory • (1995) • novelette by R. Garcia y Robertson
870 • A Dry, Quiet War • (1996) • novelette by Tony Daniel
891 • All Tomorrow's Parties • (1997) • shortstory by Paul J. McAuley
907 • Escape Route • [Confederation Universe Stories] • (1997) • novella by Peter F. Hamilton
956 • The Eye of God • (1998) • novelette by Mary Rosenblum

Genres: Science Fiction, Anthologies

982 pages, Hardcover

First published December 10, 2013

About the author

Gardner Raymond Dozois was an American science fiction author and editor. He was editor of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine from 1984 to 2004. He won multiple Hugo and Nebula awards, both as an editor and a writer of short fiction.
Wikipedia entry: Gardner Dozois

http://us.macmillan.com/author/gardne...

Reviews

[Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best anthologies I've ever read, this massive tome is an omnibus of two separate anthologies (The Good Old Stuff, and The Good New Stuff, both edited by Gardner R. Dozois).

I've read this sporadically over the past couple years, picking it up now and then to read a story or two, just enough when I needed a break from other novels that I was reading. For this reason, I don't remember some stories as much as others, but I do recall that other than a few exceptions, nearly every story in this book was fantastic, easily worth 4 or 5 stars on their own.

Here are some standouts:

"The Rull" by A.E. van Vogt
"The Galton Whistle" by L. Sprague de Camp
"That Share of Glory" by C.M. Kornbluth
"The Sky People" by Poul Anderson
"The Man in the Mailbag" by Gordon R. Dickson
"Moon Duel" by Fritz Leiber
"The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth" by Roger Zelazny
"Goodbye, Robinson Crusoe" by John Varley
"The Blabber" by Vernor Vinge
"The Return of the Kangaroo Rex" by Janet Kagan
"Poles Apart" by G. David Nordley
"Flowering Mandrake" by George Turner
"Cilia-of-Gold" by Stephen Baxter
"A Dry, Quiet War" by Tony Daniel
"Escape Route" by Peter F. Hamilton

Highly recommended - not all of the stories will resonate with each reader, but there's enough top-calibre fiction here to appeal to any SF fan.

[Andrew Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

a 1000 pages of week written space opera; what's not to like?
This is an omnibus of two anthologies by Gardner Dozois, the first covering classic Space Opera from the 1950s & 1960s, the second Space Opera of the new era, 1980s & 1990s.
I must admit you not being impressed by the Good Old Stuff, finding only a couple of the stories palatable. The majority of them I felt were overly simplistic, careless of plot error (and that during a period when real editing was generally at work!), and in some cases not even the S.O. it was supposed to be!
The second half, the Good New Stuff, is almost entirely that: top drawer stories, a number of which I was already familiar with from various Year's Best, Nebula Award, & Hugo Award anthologies. My only gripe in this section is the RR Martin selection. In a choice between The Way of Cross & Dragon or Sandkings, Dozois chose 'The Way...', which is more of a fantasy than SF/Space Opera, where I see Sandkings as both a better story & a better example of the Space Opera type.

[Jim Mcclanahan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A combination of two books into an omnibus. The Good Old Stuff and The Good New Stuff put together for an amazing survey of space adventure tales that spans decades. And, because many of the authors are not well known, the editor's introductory remarks about each author for each story are invaluable (the reason for the fifth star) and make this big book one to keep as a reference. But there are many SF icons included as well, e.g., A. E. Van Vogt, Fritz Leiber, Brian Aldiss, Michael Swanwick, Vernor Vinge, etc. A great compilation by a man noted for editorial prowess. Very enjoyable.

[A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty good collection of Space Opera type stories, spanning from the 1940s to the 1990s. In a lot of ways it's a best-of album, unsurprisingly from the title, and as a result it's pretty good. But it has some stinkers in it, too, so there's that. Not a bad read, though. Recommended.