The Oxford Book of Science Fiction Stories edited by Tom Shippey

This is the definitive collection of the twentieth-century's most characteristic genre-science fiction. The tales are organized chronologically to give readers a sense of how the genre's range, vitality, and literary quality have evolved over time. Each tale offers a unique vision, an altered reality, a universe all its own. Readers can sample H.G. Well's 1903 story "The Land Ironclads" (which predicted the stalemate of trench warfare and the invention of the tank), Jack Williamson's "The Metal Man," a rarely anthologized gem written in 1928, Clifford D. Simak's 1940s classic, "Desertion," set on "the howling maelstrom that was Jupiter," Frederik Pohl's 1955 "The Tunnel Under the World" (with its gripping first line, "On the morning of June 15th, Guy Burckhardt woke up screaming out of a dream"), right up to the current crop of writers, such as cyberpunks Bruce Sterling and William Gibson, whose 1982 story "Burning Chrome" foreshadows the idea of virtual reality, and David Brin's "Piecework," written in 1990. In addition, Shippey provides an informative Introduction, examining the history of the genre, its major themes, and its literary techniques.

Publishers Weekly
These 30 SF tales, arranged chronologically from 1903 to 1990, cover a typically wide and uneven range in the genre. The omission of some authors might raise eyebrows--notably Isaac Asimov, Harlan Ellison, and Robert A. Heinlein, all known for their short fiction. Only three women are represented: C. L. Moore (whose The Piper's Son is written under the collaborative pseudonym Lewis Padgett), Ursula K. Le Guin and Racoona Sheldon (Alice Sheldon, better known under the James Tiptree Jr. pseudonym). Only Sheldon's The Screwfly Solution, a devastatingly scary story about misogyny gone mad, dates from the past 20 years, during which women have made serious progress in the genre; thus, the final third of the book is less representative than it might be. Standouts include Le Guin's 0. Henry-esque The Dowry of the Angyar, Gene Wolfe's frightening How the Whip Came Back, H. G. Wells's anticipation of modern weapons in The Land Ironclads, Thomas M. Disch's insightful Problems of Creativeness, George R.R. Martin's fascinating religious study The Way of Cross and Dragon and Frederik Pohl's The Tunnel Under the World, which opens with the now-classic line, On the morning of June 15th, Guy Burckhardt woke up screaming out of a dream.

Author - Short Story Title - Year of first publication

H.G. Wells - The Land Ironclads - 1903
Frank L. Pollack - Finis - 1906
Rudyard Kipling - As Easy as ABC - 1912
Jack Williamson - The Metal Man - 1928
Stanley G. Weinbaum - A Martian Odyssey - 1934
John W. Campbell Jr. - Night - 1935
Clifford D. Simak - Desertion - 1944
Lewis Padgett - The Piper's Son - 1945
A. E. van Vogt - The Monster - 1948
James H. Schmitz - The Second Night of Summer - 1950
Arthur C. Clarke - Second Dawn - 1951
Walter M. Miller Jr. - Crucifixus Etiam - 1953
Frederik Pohl - The Tunnel Under the World - 1955
Brian Aldiss - Who Can Replace a Man? - 1958
J.G. Ballard - Billennium - 1961
Cordwainer Smith - The Ballad of Lost C'Mell - 1962
Ursula K. Le Guin - Semley's Necklace - 1964
James Blish - How Beautiful with Banners - 1966
Harry Harrison - A Criminal Act - 1967
Thomas M. Disch - Problems of Creativeness - 1967
Gene Wolfe - How the Whip Came Back - 1970
Larry Niven - Cloak of Anarchy - 1972
Norman Spinrad - A Thing of Beauty - 1973
Raccoona Sheldon - The Screwfly Solution - 1977
George R. R. Martin - The Way of Cross and Dragon - 1978
Bruce Sterling - Swarm - 1982
William Gibson - Burning Chrome - 1982
Hilbert Schenck - Silicon Muse - 1984
Paul J. McAuley - Karl and the Ogre - 1988
David Brin - Piecework - 1990