Great Classic Science Fiction (BBC Audio, editors)

Great Classic Science Fiction
BBC Audio, editors
Blackstone Audio
Fiction, Anthology/Fantasy/Sci-Fi
**** (Good)

DESCRIPTION: Compiled in audio format, eight classic tales of speculative fiction from eight masters of the field:
"The Door in the Wall", by H. G. Wells: A prominent politician at the height of his career is haunted by a green door and memories of a garden of great joy and wonder that lies beyond.
"All Cats Are Gray", by Andre Norton: A derelict spaceship hides an elusive danger.
"A Martian Odyssey", by Stanley G. Weinbaum: Rescued after several days lost on the surface of Mars, an explorer relates his wild adventures and even wilder alien companion.
"Victory", by Lester del Rey: With aliens waging war against humanoid allies and our own colony worlds, Earth's strangely passive stance infuriates one veteran.
"The Moon is Green", by Fritz Leiber: With all of humanity under lockdown following nuclear annihilation, a housewife discovers a strange face outside her window, where no human should be able to survive.
"The Winds of Time", by James H. Schmitz: A captain-for-hire grows suspicious of his secretive passenger's true motives when something flings their ship into utterly unknown space.
"The Defenders", by Philip K. Dick: Eight years into a forced underground existence, while a global war is waged by specially-designed machines, one man learns the startling truth.
"Missing Link", by Frank Herbert: After a starship disappears, possibly at the hands of uncontacted primitive aliens, a young diplomat investigates to learn the truth and whether the chimpanzee-like beings pose a greater galactic threat.

REVIEW: Yes, another audiobook to kill time at my job... Like many anthologies, the selection feels a bit random; I can't help wondering if these were really the greatest stories these authors wrote, though they were decent enough (even if they age around the edges, particularly in their presentation of women and races, plus the persistent belief - repeated across more than one story - that humanity is simply going through a stage with its pesky wars and evolution dictates that it must inevitably "grow up" and become a responsible adult species that puts all conflict behind it). The first story doesn't even seem like science fiction at all; a randomly-appearing door to a garden paradise (which might or might not be Heaven), returning at particular junctures in a character's life, seems far more in the realm of fantasy, even if the author might be better known for his science fiction titles. Several evoke a decent sense of wonder and adventure, but a couple felt scattered and a bit pointless, not to mention drawn out (especially for "short" stories). None of them were outright clunkers, though, even if a couple edged close, so - given my usual iffy luck with anthologies - I rounded up a half-star for a Good rating.

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