Platinum Pohl: The Collected Best Stories by Frederik Pohl

From Barnes & Noble

The Barnes & Noble Review
The aptly titled Platinum Pohl is a superb collection of the best short stories from the iconic Frederik Pohl -- legendary writer, editor, agent, and genre ambassador -- whom editor James Frenkel characterizes as a giant who achieved "just about everything that one can do in the field of science fiction."

The 30 classic stories gathered in this mammoth collection span more than half a century and include the 1973 Hugo Award–winning "The Meeting" (co-written with C. M. Kornbluth), a heartrending tale about a couple struggling with a monumental decision concerning their emotionally disturbed child; and 1949's "Let the Ants Try," one of the coolest time-travel stories ever written. Also included is the 1986 Hugo Award–winning "Fermi and Frost," one of Pohl's many stories concerning nuclear war, which follows two survivors -- a SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) scientist and an orphaned boy -- to Iceland, where they must deal with devastating radioactive fallout.

Although Pohl has written numerous groundbreaking novels -- the Starchild trilogy with Jack Williamson, the Nebula Award–winning Man Plus, the Hugo and Nebula Award–winning Gateway, Beyond the Blue Event Horizon, et al. -- he has had just as much -- if not more -- success with his short fiction. Platinum Pohl is so much more than a collection of literary gems by a legendary author; it's almost like a thematic genre retrospective of the past half century. This is one collection that's worth its weight in, well, platinum. Paul Goat Allen

From the Publisher

For over forty years Frederik Pohl has been a famous science fiction writer, and much of his fame is due to his wonderful short stories. He's won the Hugo and Nebula Awards as well as many other awards for both novels and shorter works. Included in this new collection is "Fermi and Frost," the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning novelette that perhaps best exemplifies the qualities that have made Pohl's SF so popular for so long: an intriguing science fictional premise, a bold political assertion, subtly shaped characters who command your respect and engage your sympathy, and a surely told narrative that holds you to the end.

In all the tales in this wonderful collection of memorable stories, Pohl draws you into a delightful mulittude of worlds and times, some familiar, some utterly alien, but all compulsively inviting. Which is why this is Platinum Pohl—only the highest standard applies!

A special treat exclusive to Platinum Pohl is a never-before-published Heechee story!

Publishers Weekly

Spanning the five decades of SFWA Grand Master Pohl's career, these 30 stories stand out for their gritty, straightforward style and for their insightful ideas about our political, social and ecological future. The opener, "The Merchants of Venus," is an old-fashioned SF adventure yarn, but most of the rest are cautionary tales of environmental and ideological catastrophes. Stories such as "My Lady Green Sleeves" and "Spending a Day at the Lottery Fair" take social attitudes to the extreme and explore what horrible places we might end up and find normal. "The Greening of Bed-Stuy," in which New York City has crumbled to all but dust, shows how a child could still call it home and love it. Not every selection has a point to make. In "The Mapmakers," "Shaffery Among the Immortals" and other "what if" stories, the idea is all that matters. Pohl has won Hugo, Nebula and other major SF awards many times. (Dec.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

A thrilling collection of stories spanning Pohl's 50-year career. Featuring memorable characters and deft writing, these tales are must-reads for any serious fan. "The Merchants of Venus" features a vagabond pilot desperate for money for a new liver. "The Gold at the Starbow's End" tells a wonderfully layered story through communiques between a doomed exploratory spaceship and its unenthusiastic funders on Earth. In the poignant "To See Another Mountain," ailing nonagenarian genius Noah Sidorenko discovers that even an old, damaged mind can accomplish incredible feats. The collection ends with the Hugo Award-winning "Fermi and Frost," written near the end of the Cold War, which with horrifying realism demonstrates the effects of a nuclear war on Earth through the experiences of two survivors: an orphaned boy and a SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) scientist. A fine sampler.

Product Details

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents