Thrilling Wonder Stories

THE RED PERI (1952) by Stanley G. Weinbaum

[L]ast time out, I had a look at one of the oldest and most valuable SF books in my collection, the original 1949 Fantasy Press US 1st Edition hardcover of A Martian Odyssey and Others, which contained a dozen of the best pieces of short fiction written by classic 1930\’s SF author Stanley G. Weinbaum. Now I\’m going to take a look at a second Weinbaum short fiction collection, The Red Peri, another US 1st Edition hardcover, also published by Fantasy Press, in 1952.

TITLE: THE RED PERI
AUTHOR: Stanley G. Weinbaum
COVER ARTIST: John T. Brooks
CATEGORY: Short Fiction
SUB-CATEGORY: Single-Author Collection
FORMAT: Hardback (with dustjacket), US 1st Edition, 270 pages
PUBLISHER: Fantasy Press, Reading, Pennsylvania, US, 1952.

Contents (8 stories):

\”The Red Peri\” (novella, Astounding Stories, November 1935)
\”Proteus Island\” (novella, Astounding Stories, August 1936)
\”Flight on Titan\” (novelette, Astounding Stories, January 1935)
\”Smothered Seas\” (novelette, Astounding Stories, January 1936)
\”Redemption Cairn\” (novelette, Astounding Stories, March 1936)
\”The Brink of Infinity\” (short story, Thrilling Wonder Stories, December 1936)
\”Shifting Seas\” (novelette, Amazing Stories, April 1937)
\”Revolution of 1950\” (novella, Amazing Stories, October-November 1938)

This one can be regarded as the companion collection to the earlier A Martian Odyssey and Others, and between them, they contain all but a couple of Weinbaum\’s entire short fiction output. There are fewer stories in this one – eight as opposed to twelve – but there are three novellas, four novelettes and only one short story in The Red Peri, whereas A Martian Odyssey and Others contained no novellas, eight novelettes and four short stories.

It\’s been a long, long time since I read this one, and my memories are understandably hazy. I do remember preferring A Martian Odyssey and Others to The Red Peri, as the earlier collection did contain more of Weinbaum\’s \”better\” stories. But this collection also contains several of his best longer-form stories. I distinctly remember enjoying both \”The Red Peri\” and \”Proteus Island\”, although my memories of the other stories range from extremely vague to non-existent.

Like A Martian Odyssey and Others, this 1st US hardcover edition of The Red Peri comes with the original dustjacket, showcasing some very nice art by John T. Brooks. As with the earlier collection, the dustjacket of this one is in remarkably good condition considering its age. A little frayed around the outside, but otherwise pretty intact.

Overall, The Red Peri is a very nice collection, and in great condition, considering the fact that it\’s almost sixty-five years old and has been around the block a bit. Along with A Martian Odyssey and Others, it\’s definitely one of the real treasures in my SF book collection.

THE RED PERI (1952) by Stanley G. Weinbaum

$\"Weinbaum,$

Last time out, I had a look at one of the oldest and most valuable SF books in my collection, the original 1949 Fantasy Press US 1st Edition hardcover of A Martian Odyssey and Others, which contained a dozen of the best pieces of short fiction written by classic 1930\’s SF author Stanley G. Weinbaum. Now I\’m going to take a look at a second Weinbaum short fiction collection, The Red Peri, another US 1st Edition hardcover, also published by Fantasy Press, in 1952.

Contents (8 stories):

\”The Red Peri\” (novella, Astounding Stories, November 1935)
\”Proteus Island\” (novella, Astounding Stories, August 1936)
\”Flight on Titan\” (novelette, Astounding Stories, January 1935)
\”Smothered Seas\” (novelette, Astounding Stories, January 1936)
\”Redemption Cairn\” (novelette, Astounding Stories, March 1936)
\”The Brink of Infinity\” (short story, Thrilling Wonder Stories, December 1936)
\”Shifting Seas\” (novelette, Amazing Stories, April 1937)
\”Revolution of 1950\” (novella, Amazing Stories, October-November 1938)

A MARTIAN ODYSSEY AND OTHERS by Stanley G. Weinbaum

$\"A$

[T]his time out, I\’m going to take a brief look at one of the oldest and most valuable SF books in my collection, the earliest collection of short fiction by classic 1930\’s SF author Stanley G. Weinbaum. I bought this book a long time ago from a UK used book dealer, must\’ve been thirty-five years ago or more, way back when I was just becoming an obsessive book collector for the first time. It actually came as part of Weinbaum two-book set by the same publisher, Fantasy Press, the other book being The Red Peri, another collection of Weinbaum\’s short fiction, which will also be the subject of the blog post after this one.

TITLE: A MARTIAN ODYSSEY AND OTHERS
AUTHOR: Stanley G. Weinbaum
COVER ARTIST: A. J. Donnell
CATEGORY: Short Fiction
SUB-CATEGORY: Single-Author Collection
FORMAT: Hardback (with dustjacket), US 1st Edition, 289 pages
PUBLISHER: Fantasy Press, Reading, Pennsylvania, US, 1949.

Contents (12 stories):

\”A Martian Odyssey\” (novelette, Wonder Stories, July 1934)
\”Valley of Dreams\” (novelette, Wonder Stories, November 1934)
\”The Adaptive Ultimate\” (novelette, Astounding Stories, November 1935)
\”The Mad Moon\” (novelette, Astounding Stories, December 1935)
\”The Worlds of If\” (short story, Wonder Stories, August 1935)
\”The Ideal\” (novelette, Wonder Stories, September 1935)
\”The Point of View\” (short story, Wonder Stories, February 1936)
\”Pygmalion\’s Spectacles\” (short story, Wonder Stories, June 1935)
\”Parasite Planet\” (novelette, Astounding Stories, February 1935)
\”The Lotus Eaters\” (novelette, Astounding Stories, April 1935)
\”The Planet of Doubt\” (novelette, Astounding Stories, October 1935)
\”The Circle of Zero\” (short story, Thrilling Wonder Stories, August 1936)

This collection is notable for containing Weinbaum\’s most famous short story, \”A Martian Odyssey\” and its sequel, \”Valley of Dreams\”. There are also a few other good ones, including \”Parasite Planet\” and its sequel \”The Lotus Eaters\”, \”The Mad Moon\”, \”The Worlds of If\” and \”The Adaptive Ultimate\”. \”The Adaptive Ultimate\” has also been (if you\’ll pardon the pun) adapted to film, television and radio a number of times over the years.

Overall, A Martian Odyssey and Others contains most of the best of Weinbaum\’s short fiction, and, combined with the eight stories in The Red Peri contains almost all of the short fiction that Weinbaum wrote, with the exception of a handful of stories.

The dustjacket is in pretty good condition, considering its age, showcasing some lovely artwork by A. J. Donnell. As an aside, the edition that I have also bears a very interesting hand-written inscription/dedication on the front inside page. The inscription goes as follows:

\”FROM SCIENTI-CLAUS 1955
FOR ALF GREGORY\’S HG WELLSIANS
IN RESPECT OF THE MEMORY
OF THE GREATEST*
OF THEM ALL.

*HGW: 1886-1946\”

It\’s an extremely sobering thought that, at the publication date of this book (1949), the Great Man (H.G. Wells) had only been dead a mere three years. 🙁

It looks like this book was bought as a Christmas gift for someone, and this dedication is a tribute to a H.G. Wells fan group active in the UK, possibly in the late-1940s and the 1950s. At least that\’s the assumption that I\’m making from this. I know that it\’s a long shot, as we\’re talking more than sixty years ago here, and this group may or may not have been anything more than a small local fan group. But does anybody out there have any information on an old UK-based SF/HG Wells fan group by the name of ALF GREGORY\’S HG WELLSIANS? If so, I\’d be very appreciative if you\’d let me know the details.

A MARTIAN ODYSSEY AND OTHERS (1949) by Stanley G. Weinbaum

$\"A$

This time out, I\’m going to take a brief look at one of the oldest and most valuable SF books in my collection, the earliest collection of short fiction by classic 1930\’s SF author Stanley G. Weinbaum. I bought this book a long time ago from a UK used book dealer, must\’ve been thirty-five years ago or more, way back when I was just becoming an obsessive book collector for the first time. It actually came as part of Weinbaum two-book set by the same publisher, Fantasy Press, the other book being The Red Peri, another collection of Weinbaum\’s short fiction, which will also be the subject of the blog post after this one.

Contents (12 stories):

\”A Martian Odyssey\” (novelette, Wonder Stories, July 1934)
\”Valley of Dreams\” (novelette, Wonder Stories, November 1934)
\”The Adaptive Ultimate\” (novelette, Astounding Stories, November 1935)
\”The Mad Moon\” (novelette, Astounding Stories, December 1935)
\”The Worlds of If\” (short story, Wonder Stories, August 1935)
\”The Ideal\” (novelette, Wonder Stories, September 1935)
\”The Point of View\” (short story, Wonder Stories, February 1936)
\”Pygmalion\’s Spectacles\” (short story, Wonder Stories, June 1935)
\”Parasite Planet\” (novelette, Astounding Stories, February 1935)
\”The Lotus Eaters\” (novelette, Astounding Stories, April 1935)
\”The Planet of Doubt\” (novelette, Astounding Stories, October 1935)
\”The Circle of Zero\” (short story, Thrilling Wonder Stories, August 1936)

\”FROM SCIENTI-CLAUS 1955
FOR ALF GREGORY\’S HG WELLSIANS
IN RESPECT OF THE MEMORY
OF THE GREATEST*
OF THEM ALL.

*HGW: 1886-1946\”

It\’s an extremely sobering thought that, at the publication date of this book (1949), the Great Man (H.G. Wells) had only been dead a mere three years. 🙁

STORIES FOR TOMORROW (1954) edited by William Sloane

$\"Stories$

[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.

BUG-EYED MONSTERS edited by Anthony Cheetham

[T]his is a nice little anthology, containing ten stories (more accurately NINE stories and one radio play adaptation) spanning thirty years 1938-1968. It is edited by Anthony Cheetham, with whom I am totally unfamiliar.

TITLE: BUG-EYED MONSTERS
EDITED BY: Anthony Cheetham
CATEGORY: Short Fiction
SUB-CATEGORY: Anthology
FORMAT: Hardback, 280 pages
PUBLISHER: Sidgwick & Jackson, London, 1972.
ISBN: 0 283 97864 3

CONTENTS:

Introduction by Anthony Cheetham
\”Invasion from Mars\” by Howard Koch (with Orson Welles) – 1938 radio adaptation of War of the Worlds, CBS, October 30, 1938
\”Not Only Dead Men\” by A. E. Van Vogt (1942) (Astounding Science Fiction, November 1942)
\”Arena\” by Fredric Brown (1944) (Astounding Science Fiction, June 1944)
\”Surface Tension\” by James Blish (Galaxy, August 1952)
\”The Deserter\” by William Tenn (1953) (reprinted from Star Science Fiction Stories, edited by Frederik Pohl, Ballantine, February 1953)
\”Mother\” by Philip José Farmer (1953) (Thrilling Wonder Stories, April 1953)
\”Stranger Station\” by Damon Knight (1956) (Fantasy & Science Fiction, December 1956)
\”Greenslaves\” by Frank Herbert (1965) (Amazing Stories, March 1965)
\”Balanced Ecology\” by James H. Schmitz (1967) (Analog, March 1965)
\”The Dance of the Changer & Three\” by Terry Carr (1968) (reprinted from The Farthest Reaches, edited by Joseph Elder, Trident 1968)

According to Cheetham\’s interesting little introduction, the title of the book is a gentle, fun jibe at the old, stereotypical \”bug-eyed monster\” of the pulps. However the ten stories in the anthology are of an altogether higher quality than those old yarns in the pulps, almost a \”rehabilitation\” of the old bug-eyed monster.

There\’s quite a mix in this anthology. We start off with one which is very apt, given the title of the anthology. Howard Koch\’s (and Orson Welles\’s) classic 1938 radio adaptation of H. G. Wells\’s seminal 1898 interplanetary invasion novel War of the Worlds. It first appeared in book form in the anthology Invasion from Mars), edited by Orson Welles (Dell, 1949). The Martian invaders are probably the original archetype for all the B.E.M.s that came afterwards, so this one is as good a place to start as any. I\’ve read it before in a number of publications, and it\’s always nice to revisit it.

As for the other nine stories, as usual, there are a few that I\’m familiar with, and a few that I\’m not. Fredric Brown\’s classic Arena and James Blish\’s Surface Tension are the two that I remember best. Both have always been favourites of mine. Frank Herbert\’s Greenslaves is another one that I recall liking, although my memory is a bit fuzzier on the details of that one. I have very vague memories about encountering the Van Vogt, Knight, Tenn and Carr stories at some point in the distant past, but don\’t recall anything about them except the briefest details. I don\’t recall ever reading either the Farmer or Schmitz stories before.

I may not know (or recall) a few of the stories, but with the exception of Koch, the other nine authors in the anthology are all VERY familiar to me. No obscure writers here, although I must admit that I\’m much more familiar with Terry Carr as one of my favourite anthologists, rather than as an author. Overall, this looks like a good one. With those names in it, how could it not be? I think I\’m going to really enjoy reading BUG-EYED MONSTERS. 🙂

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. 🙂

SCIENCE FICTION edited by S. H. Burton

TITLE: SCIENCE FICTION
EDITED BY: S. H. Burton
CATEGORY: Short Fiction
SUB-CATEGORY: Anthology
FORMAT: Hardback, 245 pages
PUBLISHER: Longman, The Heritage of Literature Series, London, 1967.

CONTENTS:

Introduction by S. H. Burton
\”Requiem\” by Robert A. Heinlein (Astounding Science Fiction, January 1940)
\”A Present from Joe\” by Eric Frank Russell (Astounding Science Fiction, February 1949)
\”Dark They Were and Golden-Eyed\” by Ray Bradbury (Thrilling Wonder Stories, August 1949, as \”The Naming of Names\”)
\”Protected Species\” by H. B. Fyfe (Astounding Science Fiction, March 1951)
\”The New Wine\” by John Christopher (Fantastic Story Magazine, Summer 1954)
\”Nightfall\” by Isaac Asimov (Astounding Science Fiction, September 1941)
\”The Windows of Heaven\” by John Brunner (New Worlds, May 1956, as \”Two by Two\”)
\”Youth\” by Isaac Asimov (Space Science Fiction, May 1952)
\”The Star\” by Arthur C. Clarke (Infinity Science Fiction, November 1955)

This is an unusual little book, a very small hardcover, only the size of a paperback. It\’s also interesting in that it was published as part of Longmans\’ prestige \”The Heritage of Literature Series\”, rather than as a commercial SF paperback or hardback. This series seems to be more of an academic line, covering not only science fiction, but detective fiction and general short fiction. Very interesting.

It\’s a fairly short anthology, and there are a few classic, well-known stories by big name authors, which have seen publication previously in many anthologies and single-author collections – Heinlein\’s \”Requiem\”, Bradbury\’s \”Dark They Were and Golden-Eyed\”, Asimov\’s \”Nightfall\” and Clarke\’s \”The Star\”. It\’s always nice to re-read these excellent stories, especially if you haven\’t read them for a while.

There are also several stories, by familiar authors, which are not so well known – Asimov\’s \”Youth\”, Russell\’s \”A Present from Joe\”, Brunner\’s \”The Windows of Heaven\” and Christopher\’s \”The New Wine\”. And finally, there is also a story by an author with whom I\’m totally unfamiliar, although I have seen his name in old magazine listings – H. B. Fyfe\’s \”Protected Species\”. I haven\’t read this one (or anything by this author) before.

I\’ve started reading this anthology with the least familiar, so right now I\’m part way through Fyfe\’s \”Protected Species\”, which is quite a good story, at least so far. It\’ll be interesting to see where it leads. After that, I\’ll move onto the other stories that I haven\’t read before, although the author\’s ARE familiar to me – Russell, Brunner and Christopher. And I\’ll finally finish off by re-reading the biggies from Clarke, Asimov, Heinlein and Bradbury.

As this anthology is short, it shouldn\’t take me very long to finish it. I\’m off to read the rest of \”Protected Species\”…

THE GREAT SF STORIES VOL. 1 (1939) edited by Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg

TITLE: ISAAC ASIMOV PRESENTS THE GREAT SF STORIES VOL. 1 (1939)
EDITED BY: Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg
CATEGORY: Anthology
SUB-CATEGORY: Short Fiction
FORMAT: Paperback, 432 pages
PUBLISHER: DAW Books, New York, 1st Printing, March 1979.

Those are the various general details, and here\’s a listing of the contents:

Introduction by Isaac Asimov
\”I, Robot\” by Eando Binder (Amazing Stories, January 1939)
\”The Strange Flight of Richard Clayton\” by Robert Bloch (Amazing Stories, March 1939)
\”Trouble with Water\” by H. L. Gold (Unknown, March 1939)
\”Cloak of Aesir\” by Don A. Stuart (John W. Campbell, Jr.) (Astounding Science Fiction, March 1939)
\”The Day is Done\” by Lester Del Rey (Astounding Science Fiction, May 1939)
\”The Ultimate Catalyst\” by John Taine (Thrilling Wonder Stories, June 1939)
\”The Gnarly Man\” by L. Sprague De Camp (Unknown, June 1939)
\”Black Destroyer\” by A. E. Van Vogt (Astounding Science Fiction, July 1939)
\”Greater Than Gods\” by C. L. Moore (Astounding Science Fiction, July 1939)
\”Trends\” by Isaac Asimov (Astounding Science Fiction, July 1939)
\”The Blue Giraffe\” by L. Sprague De Camp (Astounding Science Fiction, August 1939)
\”The Misguided Halo\” by Henry Kuttner (Unknown, August 1939)
\”Heavy Planet\” by Milton A. Rothman (Astounding Science Fiction, August 1939)
\”Life-Line\” by Robert A. Heinlein (Astounding Science Fiction, August 1939)
\”Ether Breather\” by Theodore Sturgeon (Astounding Science Fiction, September 1939)
\”Pilgrimage\” by Nelson Bond (Amazing Stories, October 1939)
\”Rust\” by Joseph E. Kelleam (Astounding Science Fiction, October 1939)
\”The Four-Sided Triangle\” by William F. Temple (Amazing Stories, November 1939)
\”Star Bright\” by Jack Williamson (Argosy, November 1939)
\”Misfit\” by Robert A. Heinlein (Astounding Science Fiction, November 1939)

This is a real gem of an anthology, and what a year 1939 was! It\’s hard to know where to start with this lot, but it would probably be with the three that really stand out for me, Van Vogt\’s \”Black Destroyer\”, John W. Campbell\’s (under his \”Don A. Stuart\” pseudonym) \”Cloak of Aesir\” and Milton A. Rothman\’s \”Heavy Planet\”, which are all stories that impacted greatly on me when I first started reading short SF way back in my early teens.

But there are also so many other good stories here, in particular C. L. Moore\’s \”Greater Than Gods\”, Jack Williamson\’s \”Star Bright\”, Lester Del Rey\’s \”The Day is Done\”, Eando Binder\’s \”I, Robot\”, Isaac Asimov\’s \”Trends\”, and the two Robert A. Heinlein stories \”Life-Line\” and \”Misfit\”. Most of the others I can\’t really remember, as I read them so long ago, and there are a few that I don\’t think I\’ve actually read before.

I\’m really looking forward to reading (or is that re-reading?) Henry Kuttner\’s \”The Misguided Halo\” (I\’m a big fan of his), Theodore Sturgeon\’s \”Ether Breather\” (likewise a big fan of his), Robert Bloch\’s \”The Strange Flight of Richard Clayton\” and the two L. Sprague De Camp stories \”The Gnarly Man\” and \”The Blue Giraffe\”. All big names that I\’ve enjoyed reading before.

This book was the first in a very long series, and Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories, Volumes 1-25, was one of the greatest ever series of science fiction anthologies. Published by DAW Books, the twenty-five volumes each covered a single year, and the entire series spanned the years 1939-1964.

The first twelve of these volumes were also later repackaged in a series of hardcovers, Isaac Asimov Presents the Golden Years of Science Fiction. There were six volumes in total of that one, First Series-Sixth Series, each one containing two of the original paperback volumes. For some reason (I\’ve never found out why), this series of hardcovers stopped at the half-way mark, and the remaining thirteen volumes of the paperbacks were never collected in hardback. Pity. Those hardbacks were really nice, and I\’m fortunate enough to have all six of them.

The twenty-five volume paperback set is a different matter. I only started to collect those several months ago, and so far I only have nine of them, although I continue to pick up the odd one here and there, with the intention of collecting the entire series, eventually. The books in this series are also quite expensive and hard to find, and most of the copies that I\’ve seen are from US sellers, so the shipping charges to the UK and Ireland are also very expensive. I\’ve often seen costs totalling up to $50 on Ebay for one of these paperbacks inclusive of shipping, as some of the US sellers charge ridiculously and inexcusably high transatlantic shipping charges. It\’s much better if you can find them on Amazon UK, as they only charge £2.80 shipping from all Amazon sellers, even those in the US.

Anyways, nine down, sixteen to go. Oboy! I guess it\’s time to get the credit card out and start buying a few more of these books…

PLANETS OF WONDER edited by Terry Carr

TITLE: PLANETS OF WONDER – A TREASURY OF SPACE OPERA
EDITED BY: Terry Carr
CATEGORY: Short Fiction
SUB-CATEGORY: Anthology
PUBLISHER: Thomas Nelson Inc., Nashville, Tennessee, 1976
FORMAT: Hardback, 1st Edition, 189 pages, ISBN: 0-8407-6526-6

CONTENTS:

Introduction by Terry Carr
\”Dust of Gods\” by C. L. Moore (Weird Tales, August 1934)
\”We Guard the Black Planet!\” by Henry Kuttner (Super Science Stories, November 1942)
\”The Veil of Astellar\” by Leigh Brackett (Thrilling Wonder Stories, Spring 1944)
\”Kingdoms of the Stars\” by Edmond Hamilton (Amazing Stories, September 1964)

This is one of my favourite SF anthologies, edited by one of the best anthologists out there, Terry Carr. It\’s also a pretty short one, at only 189 pages, with only four stories, but what stories they are.

What we have here are four of the genuine Classic Space Opera adventures from days gone by, one from the 1930s, two from the 1940s and one from the 1960s. Even more importantly, all of these stories were authored by four of the greatest proponents of that sub-genre of SF, Henry Kuttner, C. L. Moore, Leigh Brackett and Edmond Hamilton. These two great husband and wife author teams of the Thirties and Forties, are among my favourite SF writers of that era, and I\’ll read pretty much anything written by the four of them. Kuttner, Moore and Brackett, in particular, are three of my favourite SF authors ever.

This is a gem of an anthology, with four great stories and an excellent introduction by Terry Car. I reckon that it\’s been out of print for many years, but it would be well worth tracking down in used book stores. I wish that far more old anthologies like this would again be made available in electronic format for the Kindle, Nook and various other eReader devices out there, For the enjoyment of newer generations of SF readers, who have never seen these old classics before.

Poor kids. They don\’t know what they\’re missing!