The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Vol. 2-B: The Greatest Science Fiction Novellas of All Time Chosen by the Members of the Science Fiction Writers of America

Isaac Asimov began his Foundation Series at the age of twenty-one, not realizing that it would one day be considered a cornerstone of science fiction. During his legendary career, Asimov penned pver 470 books on subjects ranging from science to Shakespeare to history, though he was most loved for his award-winning science fiction sagas, which include the Robot, Empire, and Foundation series. Named a Grand Master of Science Fiction by the Science Fiction Writers of America, Asimov entertained and educated readers of all ages for close to five decasdes. He died, at age of seventy-two, in April 1992.

Others, as in, not you

Ben Bova, scientist, multiple Hugo Award winner, and prolific science fiction author and editor, died on November 29, 2020, of complications from Covid-19 and a stroke. He was 88. Bova wrote more than a hundred books, edited some of science fiction’s best-known publications, and was president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for two terms 1990-1992 and was president of the National Space Society.He began his career in a way that, Tor.com said, “brought experience to the science fiction genre that few authors could match”: he was a technical editor for Project Vanguard, the U.S.‘s first effort to launch a satellite into space in 1958. Bova then was a science writer for Avco Everett Research Laboratory, which built the heat shields for the Apollo 11 module.Bova published his first novel, The Star Conquerors, in 1959, and followed up with dozens of others, as well as numerous short stories that appeared in, among other publications, Amazing Stories, Analog Science Fact and Fiction and Galaxy Magazine, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.In 1971, Bova became editor of Analog following the death of its longtime editor, John W. Campbell Jr. According to the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Bova maintained the publication’s tendencies towards technological realism and Hard SF, “but considerably broadened its horizons.” While there, he published notable stories such as Joe Haldeman’s “Hero” (which became The Forever War) and earned the Hugo Award for Best Editor for numerous consecutive years before stepping down in 1977. He then became the first editor of Omni magazine, until leaving in 1982, and consulted on television shows such as The Starlost and Land of the Lost.Among other honors and awards, as noted by the SFWA, Bova was the Author Guest of Honor at Chicon 2000, the 58th Worldcon, was a lifetime achievement recipient from the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation, a Robert A. Heinlein Award winner, a Skylark recipient, and an inductee into the First Fandom Hall of Fame. In 1995, his story “Inspiration” was a Nebula finalist.Bova’s best-known works, Tor.com observed, involved “plausible sciences about humanity’s expansion into the universe, looking at how we might adapt to live in space with novels such as 1992’s Mars, about the first human expedition to the red planet. He followed that novel up with additional installments, forming the Grand Tour series, which explored all of the solar system’s major bodies.” The latest installment, Uranus, was published in July, and was scheduled to be the first of a trilogy. The second installment, Neptune, is scheduled for release next year

Read by Kevin Pariseau, Mark Boyett, L. J. Ganser, Angelo Di Loreto, Vivienne Leheny, Marc Vietor, Gabriel Sloyer, Oliver Wyman, Michael David Axtell, Stephen Bel Davies, and Holter Graham

Mark Boyett is an actor and AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator.

L. J. Ganser is a triple Audie Award-winning narrator with over 600 titles recorded to date. Prized for versatility, his work ranges from hard science to magical fantasy, from stinging ants to the Civil War, from Roger Rabbit to infinity-and yes, even beyond. Some of his favorite titles include: Jurassic Park, Capital in the 21st Century, The Guns at Last Light, and The Game of Stars and Comets. He lives in New York City with his family and dog, Mars.

Angelo Di Loreto is an experienced audiobook narrator, pianist, composer, and actor as well as a three-time ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award winner. The narrator of over sixty audiobooks, he has self-produced more than ten full-length titles.

Marc Vietor, an AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator, is an actor working with the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Sundance Theatre Lab, Ravinia Festival, Royal Shakespeare Company, The Old Globe, and many others. His film and television credits include Asylum Seekers, Law & Order, and Onion News Network. He has narrated many books for Audible.com, including the award-winning 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. He is a graduate of Yale University and The Juilliard School.

Oliver Wyman, a native New Yorker, has appeared on stage as well as in film, and television. He is one of the founders of New York City's Collective Unconscious theater, and his performances include the award-winning “reality play” Charlie Victor Romeo and A.R. McElhinney's cult classic film A Chronicle of Corpses. He also lent his voice to several episodes of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Oliver's work as a narrator extends to over 150 audiobooks and has won many him awards, including Audie awards for his reading of Lance Armstrong's autobiography, It's Not About the Bike, and Thomas L. Friedman's The World is Flat. He also read James Frey's A Million Little Pieces, Tim Dorsey's Atomic Lobster, and David Weber's By Schism Rent Asunder. Oliver has won five Audie Awards from the Audio Publisher's Association, fourteen Earphone Awards from AudioFile Magazine, and two Listen Up Awards from Publisher's Weekly. Oliver was named a 2008 Best Voice in Nonfiction & Culture by AudioFile Magazine.

Michael David Axtell is a voice talent and audiobook narrator.

Stephen Bel Davies has recorded over a hundred titles in association with Audible Studios, Deyan Audio, Brilliance, and Tantor. He has narrated books by several New York Times bestselling authors, including Jeffrey Toobin, Jennifer Roberson, Piers Anthony, Walter Kern, J. A. Redmerski, and A. G. Riddle. He was trained at The Juilliard School Drama Division.

Holter Graham is an actor and voiceover artist whose principal film credits include Fly Away Home, Hairspray, and Stephen King’s Maximum Overdrive. His television credits include Army Wives, Damages, and Rescue Me. A multiple Audie Award Nominee, Graham has received Best of the Year awards from AudioFile magazine.