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Book Review of The 13 Crimes of Science Fiction

reviewed on + 3 more book reviews


This is a neat collection of sci fi stories. There is one from each of thirteen categories of crime story, whodunit, police procedural, etc. Some are excellent, some are just pretty good, but with a one page Asimov introduction to each and juxtaposed in this way, it's fun to read and makes you think about the varieties of crime drama and their relationship to science fiction, but since these are older stories you start thinking about how sci fi has changed and how crime stories have and have not changed. If you like classic sci fi this also gives you a chance to sample thirteen authors with short pieces. There are two or three I plan to seek out here on PBS and at the library.

I read this book book a couple times as a kid in the '70s; I reacquired it through PBS (thanks, PBS!) and read it again, and re-reading something after thirty years is always revealing.