By limiting the list of anthologies to a somewhat arbitrary 15 or so in this video, I've left out a great many that deserve to be read and appreciated. (See my previous video for more information about the wide range of SF anthologies.) What anthologies do you consider essential? Which ones have I missed in my survey of the genre and its history, particularly anthologies focused on recent (post-2000) short fiction and translated works, where I have less experience? Thanks!

This man is like the Bob Ross of booktube

you are a cool dude

came for the anthologies, stayed for the golden voice.

I'm building a SF library (I'm surprised at how many little gems I already have), and I watched this video with eBay open. So I'm happily waiting on my mail in a few days to add to my shelves 🙂

This is very timely. I’m currently reading Flowers for Algernon and I thought “I’d like to read the original short story” so I looked it up online. But your video made me think, “wait a second, I have a bunch of anthology books on my shelves” and sure enough I have Asimov’s Hugo Winners anthology which contains the short story! Great video as always

🎉🎉🎉 a day with a new Library Ladder video is a day to celebrate! I love your content, and you have enriched my home library so much.

Brother. I could not be happier with your picks. Three thumbs up.

Why is it that no one is quiet in libraries anymore? Kids run around unsupervised, people carry on conversations and don’t silence their phones. I appreciate your quiet voice in these videos.

I have a special place in my heart for omnibus and anthology collections, so this video has single-handedly impacted my wallet more than any other that I can recall.

Makes me feel like a kid in a candy store! Glad to see I own several of these. I'll be ordering some of the others.. Thanks!

"Classic Science Fiction The First Golden Age" has one of my favorite Asimov stories: "Victory Unintentional". TLL, this post is epic. Can't tell you how many of the stories in these anthologies I've read, I lost count. Great walk down memory lane. Plush. Well done, sir!

I read Dangerous Visions in the early 1970s, after having have read most of the science fiction at my local libraries. It was mind-blowing to a 14-year old, and it definitely marked "old" versus "new" science fiction to me.

Thanx Bridger for sharing your vast wealth of knowledge about books with us. Your dedication will also help preserve the great authors and stories you love by continuously creating new readers that happen to stumble across your channel, and for many, many years to come!

Thank you for the thoughtful content, it is definitely helping to navigate through the SF genre!

I absolutely love the work you're doing on this channel. Such a great video!

Not including some honorable mentions, the list includes: 1. Adventures in Time and Space 2. The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volumes I and II 3. Dangerous Visions 4. The Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction 5. The Science Fiction Century 6. The Ascent of Wonder: The Evolution of Hard SF 7. The Prentice Hall Anthology of Science Fiction and Fantasy 8. Science Fiction: Stories and Contexts 9. Sense of Wonder: A Century of Science Fiction 10. The Norton Book of Science Fiction 11. The Big Book of Science Fiction (VanderMeer anthology) 12. A Science Fiction Argosy 13. Beyond Time and Space (1950, edited by August Derleth) - which I need 14. The Road to Science Fiction, 6 volumes 15. Asimov’s Hugo Winners 16. Great Tales of Science Fiction 17. The World Treasury of Science Fiction 18. The Science Fiction of Hall of Fame, Volume 3: Nebula Winners 1965-1969 19. Isaac Asimov Presents the Best SF of the 19th Century 20. Strange Ports of Call 21. Classic Science Fiction: The First Golden Age 22. The Spectrum Anthologies (did I hear Kingsley Amis?) 23. 25-volume The Great Science Fiction Stories series 24. The Best of the Best: 20 Years of the Year’s Best Science Fiction 25. The Best of the Best 2: 20 Years of the Best Short Science Fiction Novels 26. The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of the Years’ Best Science Fiction I’ll be looking out for and reading them all. Thank you very much for this video! 😊😊😊

Another fantastic video! Thank you for sharing your knowledge once again. I've been trying to educate myself in SF recently and it never occurred to me that anthologies are the way to go. Three of these are now on their way to me. Can't wait!

Another great video. That is a very impressive collection of science fiction. The anthologies have always been my go to for knowledge of the genre. Thank you for doing more of these videos.

Man, I love your videos

Another well done video! I’m truly impressed with the quality and depth of these presentations. Truly well done and informative!

Right on time! Discovered your channel yesterday and I've been binging your fantastical quality work. Just started reading The Year's Best Science Fiction: Eighteenth Annual Collection, so this was quite the welcomed surprise.

A hat tip to THE LIBRARY LADDER. Your Abobe Premeire _(or whatever video editor you use)_ efforts are impressive for the effort you go to for such a low subscription count. That is not to discount, I personally believe you deserve in the several hundred thousand. Your reviews are truly impressive.

Love watching your videos, thank you. Even the ones dealing with subjects I have no real interest in (such as the James Bond videos you did) I still ended up watching and thoroughly enjoying.

Would LOVE one on horror anthologies. I can't get enough of em

Great video. Very "comprehensive" and thoroughly researched. Showing the content pages of these is really helpful! I will "reacquire" a few that I traded long ago. "The Wesleyan Anthology" looks like something I should have. Thanks again.

Another outstanding video covering alot of books I own or owned throughout my life. All the Gardner Dozois edited Best of works are worthy of collecting. You touched on the Science Fiction Hall of Fame books which were the three books required for my Sci-Fi class back in college in 1978 and have been part of my library ever since. As well, I've posted a couple of times in your past videos about Dangerous Visions & Again, Dangerous Visions as being paramount in any serious collectors arsenal! Thanks again for such a wonderful trip back to some of my most memorable and enjoyable times when reading many of the stories you mentioned took me on journeys inside and outside of my mind and spirit.

Excellent content as usual!

What a great collection of anthologies! I can only think of one that might have deserved a place here: Epoch (1975) edited by Roger Elwood & Robert Silverberg. A fair amount of the stories weren't published anywhere else. There's a really strange story by Ward Moore called "Durance" and "The Dogtown Tourist Agency", a novel by Jack Vance. It also includes stories from Pohl, Niven, Le Guin, SImak, Lafferty, Harry Harrison, Jack Dann, GRRM, Gregory Benford & a few others.

Congratulations for this fine well-edited video!

This guy could probably be a very effective hypnotist with his voice control. Is he a book narrator?

I've been a reader of science fiction for more than fifty years. Your knowledge of the genre is very impressive. You have my respect. Might I recommend Beyond the End of Time edited by Fredrick Pohl and A Century of Science Fiction edited by Damon Knight.

YAY! NEW UPLOAD!

This is a great list, which I'm bound to say since I have and love all the anthologies you've mentioned! I've not bought many modern anthologies, but I do have the Dozois and VanderMeer books. I enjoy all the unique stories in the latter. I've liked their fantasy and weird tales anthologies as well. I started re-reading a number of my anthologies after your last video and am really enjoying myself. Thanks for the nudge in that direction!

What an exhaustive list! I think I'll be starting by picking up the Wesleyan Anthology. Thanks for another great video!

Generally the reprint anthologies are your best bet when it comes to seeking out quality in short SF - especially if you're seeking out short SF's history, traditions, & diversity. Almost all of them are still available from 2nd hand booksellers online. Although there have been a lot of anthologies featuring original works of fiction as well - as it's already been said, Dangerous Visions was the most influential of these - at least until the "cyberpunk" anthologies from the 80s.

Great video. Thank you.

another good video a great science fiction compass pointing to the best places to start a reading voyage. Many thanks.

This was such a great video Bridger! There is such a massive wealth of fiction to get to here. The volumes complied by Gardner Dozois sound really interesting to me as a place to start.

THANKS. I just ordered "Ascent of Wonder" I want to get back into reading science fiction.

That is a great collection of stories i will check them out, i start read in more short when you did a vid about them a short time ago i have read and fould some great authors thanks

Excellent! A wonderful video and an even better list of recommendations. I would also recommend The Best of the Nebulas edited by Ben Bova (Tor, 1989), a wonderful collection.

Another interesting and informative look at the SF genre. You've given me several books I'm going to have to find copies of, but one of your suggested anthologies (Science Fiction Hall of Fame vol 1-2) is already sitting on one of my bookshelves. I know what I'll be reading this weekend!

This is a great video analysis on the history of science fiction. I mistook the channel for a Tartarian themed cyberpunk one but after viewing a few videos realized I could not be more wrong. If I was to begin reading fantasy again tomorrow, I would pick up where I last left George R.R. Martin and would then proceed to read Brandon Sanderson, starting with The Way of Kings. Have always wanted to read The Wheel of Time series. I have built a good library of over 200 sci - fi works and love your channel man!

I'm particularly fond of the Harlon Ellison books: Dangerous Visions and Again, Dangerous Visions. There's a lot of great writerscontained in those 2 volumes.

I have great memories of the various Gollancz, Amis and other anthologies I found in my town's public library during the 70s, and then the first 4 James Gunn titles which I owned. I suscribed to Omni and MF&SF for a while too which gave me some more modern stuff. I'd also like call out Asimov & Greenberg's anthologies of short short SF and Fantasy which are great fun.

Thanks for an excellent video! Your comments on availability are spot on as well, even including ebook formats. After watching I went to Amazon to see if my favorite of those you discussed,, and certainly the preeminent one ssfar as us “New Wavers” are concerned, “Dangerous Visions”,” is not available in Kindle format! II was surprised.

Excellent video! One of thr most important books in my life is The Best of Fantasy and Science Fiction (Fifteenth Series) - in it, I discovered Roger Zelazny (The Doors of his Face, the Lamps of his Mouth) and Fritz Leiber (Four Ghosts in Hamlet).

So much good reading to look forward to! Thank you! Are you considering doing a similar video for other genres?

I've watched a number of your presentations over the last few days, lured in by you Eternal Champion series (when are you going to get to Elric and Corum and Jerry? - I can wait). I imagine that you may have read Illuminatus, by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea. If so, I look forward to your take, and on the expanded writings from that. And where is Larry Niven? Also, as an amateur narrator myself, your voice is amazing! Thank you for your inspiring work.

I second the Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction. It's a solid volume

Brian Attebery currently serves on my dissertation committee. He still considers his work on the Norton Book of Science Fiction one of the highlights of his career. Fun fact: Karen Joy Fowler was also on the team for that collection. They spent a weekend at Le Guin’s house in Portland, got a feel for what they wanted to do, and spent the next while reviewing stories and debating which ones to include. Sounds like it was a ton of fun, though a bit labor intensive in the pre-World Wide Web era.

Yes, yes those are the best. Several SF historians think that the forte of modern SF is the short story , exceeding almost any novel written in the genre.

I was a little surprised that I had a couple of those books in my collection. Somehow I have a 1970 copy of The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume 1, edited by Robert Silverberg. I found it at either a library book sale or a used book store. The condition isn't great, but it's definitely a worthwhile read. For honorable mention in the historical survey category, I'd recommend The Science Fiction Research Association Anthology edited by Patricia S. Warrick, Charles G. Waugh, and Martin H. Greenberg. We read it in my science fiction literature class in college. It contains some of the best classic science fiction from 1843 (Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Birthmark") to 1984 (Octavia Butler's "Bloodchild"). The stories cover themes such as biology, the environment, psychosocial interests, and technological ramifications. Just an excellent read all around.

Is this guy hypnotic or what!?

One of the few old anthologies still on my shelves is Apeman, Spaceman (Stover and Harrison eds, 1968). It's a mix of classic SF and some entertaining anthropological material, such as A Medal for Horatio and Body Ritual Among the Nacerima.

You should do a career review/ranking of Clive barker or Bret Easton Ellis’ works! :)

Very interesting and educational video, as always. I'm curious for your thoughts on the four Library of America volumes of collected science fiction, covering the 1950s and 1960s and released as two boxed sets in 2012 and 2019.

A glaring omission to my mind is The Space Opera Renaissance from 2006, edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer. Given that the last 30+ years have been the actual golden age of space opera.

I found an edition of The SF Hall of Fame🎉 gah thank you!!!

Never would have thought James P Hogan or Bob Shaw being 'lesser known' authors. Perhaps my age is showing 😅

0:08 I used to have "Dangerous Visions," by Harlan Ellison. I wonder what happened to it?

A good list but I think the best SF anthology is the A Treasury of Great Science Fiction edited by Anthony Boucher volumes 1 and 2. I reread it often when I want to read 50s scifi. Wyndham, Bradbury, Heinlein, Clarke, Anderson, van Vogt, Bester and more great writers.

Maybe another interesting subject for a future video. Could be interesting translated science fiction I can name a few examples. Invincible planets (short stories translated by Ken lui) Broken stars ( translated short story collection) Hold up the sky (by cixin Liu)

This is such a great video. I have put 11 of these books on a list to purchase in the future. Are there any of these that would be appropriate to read with my 11 year old son? Thank you so much for putting this list together. As you know it is overwhelming the number of books out there.

I know this isn't science fiction, but I did just finish reading "The Survivor and Others." Arkham House. 1957. There are some good tales in that book. I find that as I get older and closer to completing a collection of books I freeze. I actually get frightened in completing the collection. I have most of the key books for a complete collection, yet I hold back. It's not money. It's a subconscious block.

“I’ve applied several Criteria to narrow the selection” Me with goodreads open on another tab to add books to my want to read list: “That’s why I’m here.” 😂

Bridger, I recently chanced upon a book by Charles Sheffield, a sci fi writer active in the 90s, and very much enjoyed it (Cold as Ice). He seems to have faded into obscurity, are you aware of him? If so what other books might be worth a read?

What a wonderful video, and absolute catnip for an anthology nerd like me! Two minor quibbles: The Norton Book of Science Fiction was published in 1993. Secondly, Great Tales of Science Fiction is, respectfully, an odd choice. It is a reprint of The Arbor House Treasury of Science Fiction Masterpieces (1983), which should be the primary citation. This book has been reissued (within the last few months) as The Wildside Treasury ... Furthermore, there is one book which I regard as a glaring omission: The Arbor House Treasury of Modern Science Fiction (1980) Not so modern any more, perhaps, but essential because of the involvement of Robert Silverberg, who edited the first Hall of Fame anthology in 1970. Overlaps with Volume One of the SF Hall of Fame anthologies are studiously avoided. All three Arbor House anthologies are at least honorable mentions, if not essential. Two have been reissued by Wildside Press since late last year, but not, so far, the "Modern" volume. I'd like to add one random detail with regard to Dozois's The Very Best of the Best. Given the obvious depth of your knowledge, you may well know this, but it's easy to miss: The anthology is supposed to include Elizabeth Bear's "Mongoose", but the actual text that was printed is of a completely different story, "Boojum", appearing under the title of "Mongoose"! Thank you again for your video. I hope there will be more! 😊

Any young people reading this: Isaac Asimov books are always worth a look if you are shopping thrift stores even if the books are library remainders.

Any plans to make more anthology videos for other genres - Fantasy, Horror, literary? I know you've a busy itinerary, but maybe one year?

I veer more towards 'vintage' stories, maybe because I started reading SF at the very tender age of 10, a very long time ago. Plus by the time I was 15 I more or less opted for horror, not entirely dropping SF, however: whenever I happen on a book that tickles my fancy (mostly in 2nd-hand shops), I buy it. I like to re-read John Wyndham and Ray Bradbury for their superior language. Recently I tried Clarke's Cradle, but was sorely disappointed; let's hear it for "The Nine Billion Names of God" or 2001: a Space Odyssey!

Fantasy anthologies pls

I am *so* torn. This is such a useful resource, especially when paired with the previous video! However, I fear it's going to create such a groundswell of demand that it will RUIN the pricing algorithms for used SF anthologies online! 😭

You have such soft voice!

Thanks - that was a lot of writing, but now I'll have those names in my tablet for when I see a strange anthology in the bargain stores - it'll help avoid the risk of buying a subpar collection and feeling obliged to read it. It was nice to discover I already have 2 from your list: Hartwell's SF Century and James Gun's road to SF vol. 4. I also noticed that Gardner Dozois co-edited some of my Fantasy anthologies, as had Asimov, I wonder how good an editor they were in that realm... I also wonder if you've tried L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future? It's up to 38 volumes, where each year successful SF authors select stories from new talent to publish. I have not tried the one volume I found, but it sounds like a cool idea and has some really great art in it.

Thanks. I love sci-fi short stories. They're like a buffet of different tastes. I have an older volume also edited by Asimov called, "The Thirteen Crimes of Science Fiction". Each story covers a different type of crime story, such as whodunnit, procedural, locked room, etc. He said he put it together based on John W. Campbell saying something about sci-fi & crime not really mixing well. It's got some fascinating reads, including, "The Detweiller Boy" & "I'll Beat You Second Game". Also one by Dick. tavi.