New Worlds Nine

by Hilary Bailey (Editor), Keith Roberts, Michael Moorcock

Inludes:
Keith Roberts - The Ministry of Children
Michael Moorcock - Ancient Shadows
Joanna Russ - Daddy's Girl
John Sladek - The Hammer of Evil
Brian W. Aldiss - Patagonia's Delicious Filling Station
Giles Gordon - Maestro
Giles Gordon - The Illusionist
Charles Partington - Narrative of Masks
Matthew Paris - The Journal of Bodley Clive
M. John Harrison - Sweet Analytics
John Clute - Trope Exposure

Genres: Science Fiction, Anthologies

219 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Hilary Bailey was a British writer, critic and editor.

Reviews

[Peter Dunn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This disappointing collection does at least start with two gems: Keith Roberts ‘The Ministry of Children’ (a very dark but well told tale) and Michael Moorcock’s ‘Ancient Shadows’ (which has certainly made me want to read more stories from his ‘The Dancers at the End of Time’ setting).
Matthew Paris’s tale (which is towards the end of the collection) ‘The Journal of Bodley Clive’ is also worth a read, and will delight Lovecraft fans. The rest of the fiction, I am afraid to say, is dross that losses its way in abstract meanderings that often forgets, or never intends, to tell a story and fails even to leave just an interesting impression. The book ends with two bits of analysis - one that shows it age, and one that still holds true today. I will leave you all to decide which is which.

[M.D. Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came across a copy of this book in a remaindered book shop in about 1980. It blew my mind! It introduced me to a whole new world (!) of SF and fantasy. I had never read anything by Michael Moorcock at this point, and his short story in the book was weird but brilliant. A great introduction to the new wave SF of the sixties and seventies.