113. Science Fiction Classics

Science Fiction Classics edited by Tom Pomplun
Graphic Classics, Volume 17

Pages: 144
Ages: 14+
Finished: June 19, 2009
First Published: May 15, 2009
Genre: graphic novel, short stories, science fiction
Rating: 4/5

First sentence:

Yes, in a thousand years people will fly on the wings of steam through the air, over the ocean!

Reason for Reading: I'm working my way through the series and it's not necessary to read them in any given order. I received a review copy from the publisher.

Comments: This graphic novel contains an anthology of graphic adaptations of one novel and five short stories. H.G. Well's War of the Worlds is included as are tales by authors such as Hans Christian Anderson, Conan Doyle, Stanley Weinbaum and E.M. Forster's one and only sci-fi short story.

As a big fan of this series the first big news about this volume is that it is the very first one to be printed in full colour. And they couldn't have picked a better theme to introduce colour. The book has a joyful feel of a 1950's sci-fi comic and even artwork to match in Stanley Weinbaum's "A Martian Odyssey" illustrated by George Sellas. The artwork in each story is suitable to the tale being told and goes from dark Victorian scenes to bright modern comic characters. A delightful set of stories which I enjoyed heartily and had never read before, except of course H.G. Wells' novel. I just love coming across Conan Doyle's stories that do not concern his famous detective and this one is no disappointment but my favourite in the volume is E.M. Forster's "The Machine Stops" which is a chilling dystopia of a world run by machines, amazingly written in 1909. The illustrations are wonderful and pay homage to his other work by showing a delightful Indian flavour both in the characters and colourful palette.

Another great book in the series! These books just don't disappoint. I only have one concern now and that is with the new addition of colour that they will continue to use colour for each new volume. I would hate to see the b/w volumes disappear altogether and hope they will give great thought on the theme of each volume as to whether colour or b/w is more appropriate. For ex. the Edgar Allan Poe volume just would not have been the same done in colour; you would lose the Gothic feel.

Great news, they already have another volume planned for this year. Out in November 2009 will be Louisa May Alcott, Volume 18.

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