Review: More Classic Science Fiction is Less
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 12 14, 2011
This is the second Science Fiction Megapack, following the success of the first volume,The Science Fiction Megapack: 25 Modern & Classic Tales by Masters.  These 25 additional stories are also from science fiction's golden age. Many show their years with plot clichés and out-of-date science.Five stories that stood out--Fritz Leiber's "What's He Doing in There?" joins an ordinary Earth family as they speculate about the bathroom habits of a visiting alien.  Yes, you read it right.Alfred Bester's "Adam and No Eve" explores a devastated planet with a man returning from space.  He doesn't see life anywhere around him.Nina Kiriki Hoffman's "Universal Donor" examines the growing connection between a lab worker and an organism being "farmed" for transplantable organs.Mack Reynolds' "Revolution" looks at the men and motives that lead to a revolution, and whatever comes after it.  It teaches a lesson from history.In Marion Zimmer Bradley's "The Planet Savers" a doctor creates a new identity to communicate with the natives who raised him.  The stakes are high.The collection has some interesting stories.  But set your expectations lower than the title suggests.  These stories are not the same caliber as those in the first volume.