STORIES FOR TOMORROW (1954) edited by William Sloane

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[I]\’ve got an interesting anthology in front of me at the moment. Actually, I\’ve got two different editions of it. Firstly an original US 1st Edition hardback, which I bought from a dealer on Amazon. This is an ex-library copy, and came without a dustjacket, otherwise the book itself is in excellent condition. The other edition is the UK 1st Edition hardback, complete with dustjacket (pictured here), which has slightly different contents to the US Edition.

The US edition first…

TITLE: STORIES FOR TOMORROW
EDITED BY: William Sloane
CATEGORY: Short Fiction
SUB-CATEGORY: Anthology
FORMAT: Hardback, 628 pages
PUBLISHER: Funk & Wagnalls, US, 1954

CONTENTS LISTING:

About This Book by William Sloane

PART I: THE HUMAN HEART

  • \”The Wilderness\” by Ray Bradbury (Today, April 6th 1952, revised for Fantasy & Science Fiction, November 1952)
  • \”Starbride\” by Anthony Boucher (Thrilling Wonder Stories, December 1951)
  • \”Second Childhood\” by Clifford D. Simak (Galaxy, Feb 1951)
  • \”Homeland\” by Mari Wolf (first published as \”The Statue\”, If Magazine, January 1953)
  • \”Let Nothing You Dismay\” by William Sloane (written for this anthology)
  • \”A Scent of Sarsaparilla\” by Ray Bradbury (Star Science Fiction Stories #1, February 1953

PART II: THERE ARE NO EASY ANSWERS

  • \”The Exile\” by Alfred Coppel (Astounding Science Fiction, October 1952)
  • \”The Farthest Horizon\” by Raymond F. Jones (Astounding Science
    Fiction
    , April 1952)
  • \”Noise Level\” by Raymond F. Jones (Astounding Science Fiction, December 1952)
  • \”First Contact\” by Murray Leinster (Astounding Science Fiction, May 1945)

PART III: SWEAT OF THE BROW

  • \”Franchise\” by Kris Neville (Astounding Science Fiction, February 1951)
  • \”In Value Deceived\” by H. B. Fyfe (Astounding Science Fiction, November 1950)
  • \”Okie\” by James Blish (Astounding Science Fiction, April 1950)
  • \”Black Eyes and the Daily Grind\” by Milton Lesser (If Magazine, March 1952)

PART IV: DIFFERENCE WITH DISTINCTION

  • \”Socrates\” by John Christopher (Galaxy, March 1951)
  • \”In Hiding\” by Wilmar H. Shiras (Astounding Science Fiction, November 1948)
  • \”Bettyann\” by Kris Neville (reprinted from New Tales of Space & Time, edited by Raymond J. Healey, 1951)

PART V: THE TROUBLE WITH PEOPLE IS PEOPLE

  • \”The Ant and the Eye\” by Chad Oliver (Astounding Science Fiction, April 1953)
  • \”Beep\” by James Blish (Galaxy, February 1954)
  • \”And Then There Were None\” by Eric Frank RussellAstounding Science Fiction, June 1951)
  • \”The Girls from Earth\” by Frank M. Robinson (Galaxy, January 1952)

PART VI: VISITORS

  • \”Minister Without Portfolio\” by Mildred Clingerman (Fantasy & Science Fiction, Feb 1952)
  • \”The Head-Hunters\” by Ralph Williams (Astounding Science Fiction, October 1951)
  • \”Dune Roller\” by Julian May (Astounding Science Fiction, December 1951)
  • \”Disguise\” by Donald A. Wollheim (Other Worlds Science Stories, February 1953)
  • \”The Shed\” by E. Everett Evans (Avon SF&F Reader, January 1953)

PART VII: THREE EPILOGS

  • \”The Nine Billion Names of God\” by Arthur C. Clarke (Star Science Fiction Stories #1, ed. Frederik Pohl, Ballantine, 1953)
  • \”The Forgotten Enemy\” by Arthur C. Clarke (King’s College Review, December 1948)
  • \”The Answers\” [also as “…And the Truth Shall Make You Free”] by Clifford D. Simak (Future, March 1953)

This is an ex-library copy, which came without a dustcover, when I bought it from a dealer on Amazon. Otherwise the book itself is in excellent condition.

There are a few stories here that I\’m familiar with, either being old favourites of mine, or having vague but fond memories of them – all of the stories by Clarke, Bradbury, Simak, Russell, Leinster and Blish. The rest I\’ve either not read at all or read so long ago that I can\’t remember them. Personal favourites among these are Blish\’s \”Beep\”, Leinster\’s \”First Contact\”, Russell\’s \”And Then There Were None\”, Simak\’s \”Second Childhood\”, Bradbury\’s \”The Wilderness\”, Robinson\’s \”The Girls from Earth\”, and both of the Clarke stories.

As I\’ve already said, the UK 1st edition is slightly different to the US edition:

TITLE: STORIES FOR TOMORROW
EDITED BY: William Sloane
CATEGORY: Short Fiction
SUB-CATEGORY: Anthology
FORMAT: Hardback, 476 pages
PUBLISHER: Eyre & Spottiswoode, London, 1955.

CONTENTS LISTING:

About This Book by William Sloane

PART I: THE HUMAN HEART

  • \”The Wilderness\” by Ray Bradbury
  • \”Starbride\” by Anthony Boucher
  • \”Homeland\” by Mari Wolf
  • \”Let Nothing You Dismay\” by William Sloane
  • \”A Scent of Sarsaparilla\” by Ray Bradbury

PART II: THERE ARE NO EASY ANSWERS

  • \”Noise Level\” by Raymond F. Jones
  • \”First Contact\” by Murray Leinster

PART III: SWEAT OF THE BROW

  • \”Franchise\” by Kris Neville
  • \”In Value Deceived\” by H. B. Fyfe
  • \”Black Eyes and the Daily Grind\” by Milton Lesser

PART IV: DIFFERENCE WITH DISTINCTION

  • \”Socrates\” by John Christopher
  • \”In Hiding\” by Wilmar H. Shiras
  • \”Bettyann\” by Kris Neville

PART V: THE TROUBLE WITH PEOPLE IS PEOPLE

  • \”The Ant and the Eye\” by Chad Oliver
  • \”Beep\” by James Blish
  • \”And Then There Were None\” by Eric Frank Russell
  • \”The Girls from Earth\” by Frank M. Robinson

PART VI: VISITORS

  • \”Minister Without Portfolio\” by Mildred Clingerman
  • \”The Head-Hunters\” by Ralph Williams

PART VII: THREE EPILOGS

  • \”The Nine Billion Names of God\” by Arthur C. Clarke
  • \”The Forgotten Enemy\” by Arthur C. Clarke
  • \”The Answers\” by Clifford D. Simak

As with many anthologies from that period, a number of the stories have been cut from the UK edition that were in the original US edition. There are seven fewer stories, and the UK edition is 152 pages shorter. My UK edition also has a nice dustjacket, although the one on my copy is a bit on the tatty side.

Overall, another very interesting anthology. I\’m looking forward to working my way through this one.

POSSIBLE WORLDS OF SCIENCE FICTION edited by Groff Conklin

[T]his is an interesting anthology, edited by one of the great classic SF anthologists, and another of my favourites, Groff Conklin.

TITLE: POSSIBLE WORLDS OF SCIENCE FICTION
EDITED BY: Groff Conklin
CATEGORY: Anthology
SUB-CATEGORY: Short Fiction
FORMAT: Hardback, 256 pages
PUBLISHER: Grayson & Grayson, Ltd, London, 1952.

CONTENTS:

Introduction by Groff Conklin

PART ONE: THE SOLAR SYSTEM

  • \”Operation Pumice\” by Raymond Z. Gallun (Thrilling Wonder Stories, April 1949)
  • \”Enchanted Village\” by A. E. Van Vogt (Other Worlds Science Stories, July 1950)
  • \”Lilies of Life\” by Malcolm Jameson (Astounding Science Fiction, January 1945)
  • \”Asleep in Armageddon\” by Ray Bradbury (Planet Stories, Winter 1948)
  • \”Not Final!\” by Isaac Asimov (Astounding Science Fiction, October 1941)
  • \”Moon of Delirium\” by D. L. James (Astounding Science Fiction, January 1940)
  • \”The Pillows\” by Margaret St. Clair (Thrilling Wonder Stories, June 1950)

PART TWO: THE GALAXY

  • \”Propagandist\” by Murray Leinster (Astounding Science Fiction, October 1947)
  • \”Hard-Luck Diggings\” by Jack Vance (Startling Stories, July 1948)
  • \”Space Rating\” by John Berryman (Astounding Science Fiction, October 1939)
  • \”Limiting Factor\” by Clifford D. Simak (Startling Stories, November 1949)
  • \”Exit Line\” by Samuel Merwin, Jr. (Startling Stories, September 1948)
  • \”The Helping Hand\” by Poul Anderson (Astounding Science Fiction, May 1950)

The theme of this anthology is \”Possible Worlds\”, mankind\’s possible future exploration of space, and the worlds and lifeforms he might encounter \”out there\”. The book is divided into two sections. The first, containing seven stories, deals with possible worlds within the solar system. The second section, comprised of six stories, takes us out to encounter worlds and life out in the galaxy.

There are quite a few familiar names here from the many anthologies I\’ve collected over the years. Anderson, Asimov, Vance, Simak, Van Vogt, Leinster, Bradbury and Gallun. The others – Merwin, St. Clair, Jameson, Berryman and James – aren\’t familiar to me at all. I either don\’t know them at all, or have met them so infrequently that they don\’t register in my fading memory. As for the stories, however, only the Van Vogt, Asimov, Bradbury and Leinster ring a bell. I don\’t recall the others at all. Maybe I\’ve read some or all of them at some point in the distant past, but I just don\’t remember them. So it should be fun making my way through this anthology, given that I really love vintage SF from this era.

We\’ve got thirteen stories in all, the oldest from 1939, the newest from 1950. They are culled from a range of SF magazines from that period – unsurprisingly there\’s a large contingent (six stories) from Astounding, and the rest are spread around Startling Stories (three stories), Thrilling Wonder Stories (two stories), and one story each from Planet Stories and Other Worlds Science Stories.

I\’ve had this anthology in my collection for many years, but I don\’t think I\’ve ever actually read it. As I have a rather huge collection of many thousands of SF books, it\’s not exactly on its lonesome there – so many books to read, not enough years left in my life to read \’em all. But at least this one has moved to the top of the list and will not remain unread before I shuffle off this mortal coil. 🙂