Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tomorrow Lies In Ambush | 1973 | Bob Shaw | Buy |
| 2 | Cosmic Kaleidoscope | 1976 | Bob Shaw | Buy |
| 3 | Galactic Tours | 1981 | Bob Shaw | Buy |
| 4 | Better Mantrap | 1982 | Bob Shaw | Buy |
| 5 | Dark Night in Toyland | 1989 | Bob Shaw | Buy |
Bob Shaw’s short stories often contained his most concentrated ideas. Tomorrow Lies in Ambush (1973), his first collection, gathers work from the 1960s that established his reputation, including stories built around inventive scientific concepts and dry Northern Irish humor.
Cosmic Kaleidoscope (1976), Better Mantrap (1982), and Dark Night in Toyland (1989) collected work from successive decades, showing how Shaw’s concerns and style evolved while his core approach — take one idea, think it through, tell it cleanly — stayed consistent. Galactic Tours (1981) rounds out the collections with more of his distinctive blend of hard SF and understated wit.