Some were really good; others not. ( )

A few of these were decent or had decent elements, but the collection contained too much moralizing about war. A Martian Odyssey by Stanley G. Weinbaum was good, and I liked Victory by Lester Del Rey and The Defenders by Philip K. Dick. ( )

Interesting collection of eight classic science fiction short stories or novellas, on a set of seven compact discs. These stories, from some of the giants in the genre -- H.G. Wells, Andre Norton, Stanley Weinbaum, Lester del Rey, Fritz Leiber, James Schmitz, Philip K. Dick and Frank Herbert -- run the gamut from thought-provoking and timeless to kitchy, dated and awkward. But, if you're looking to sample some works by any of the included authors, this is a nice starting point -- especially if you're on a road trip and looking for something mild to pass the time. I particularly enjoyed the Wells, Del Rey and Herbert stories...but your mileage may vary.

Originally reviewed for my local library's website: http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide/srec/staffrec12-03.htm ( )

Just as the title says, this audio book included eight unabridged science fiction stories, all of which were rather fantastic. In "The Door in the Wall" by H. G. Wells, a gentleman relates the story of his friend, who wandered through a strange door in a wall as a child and discovered a magical garden and he spent the rest of his life desiring to go back. Not really scifi, but it was an enjoyable story.

"All Cats Are Gray" by Andre Norton, is about a woman known for always having the inside scoop. She tells a spacer at a bar one evening that she knows where a spaceship, thought to be haunted or cursed, is going to be. The two go to investigate. This story was by far my favorite in the set. I loved the tone and the main character, who is very catlike in manner herself, is rather awesome.

"Victory" by Lester del Rey presents a disturbing look at interplanetary war, showing just how ugly and how brutal war can be. It's very dark with not much light at the end of the tunnel. Even so, the way the story was told and the way the characters evolved in such a small space put this at the top of my list, too.

"A Martian Odyssey" by Stanley G. Weinbaum is about a spacer's adventures in the martian landscape after his ship crashes. The aliens in this are very alien to the point of being incomprehensible, and I like that the language barriers are an integral part of the story.

"The Moon Is Green" by Fritz Leiber is a strange and haunting tale about a post-apocalyptic world. A woman is trapped behind lead shutters with the rest of humanity, due to the radioactive fallout from nuclear war. I loved it, even though I hated the voice of the actress who read the story, who would go from talking very soft (forcing me to turn up the volume), to suddenly being very loud (and thus blowing out my ears).

"The Winds of Time" by James H. Schmitz is an adventure about a spaceship that is knocked out of regular space into the time stream. Lots of stereotypes abound -- mad scientist, strange and plucky and clever hero, woman who is only there to have someone for the hero to save and explain things to -- so not a great story, but was fun enough to keep me entertained.

In "The Defenders" by Philip K. Dick, the people of earth are stuck beneath the surface, hiding from the radiation as their robotic servants work above ground to continue the war. Still a good story about the harmful nature of war, despite the more obvious moralizing tone.

"Missing Link" by Frank Herbert was my least favorite of the collection. It involves the discovery of an alien race and how the humans approach them and tried to pull them into their federation. It annoyed me in the way humans come off as superior and how everyone interacts and all that. Only shrug-worthy. ( )