Mirror, Mirror: Classic SF Stories by the Star Trek and Fantastic Voyage Author: Jerome Bixby's Science Fiction

by Jerome Bixby, Emerson Bixby (Editor)

NEW JEROME BIXBY COLLECTION CONTAINS THREE SF MAGAZINE STORIES THAT INSPIRED TELEPLAYS HE WROTE FOR THE ORIGINAL STAR TREK TV SERIES (1966-69)"Mirror, Mirror", the first collection of Jerome Bixby's science fiction in nearly fifty years, showcases three forgotten pulp magazine stories by that Bixby adapted for the acclaimed Star Trek episode. Before he wrote four fan-favorite Star Trek episodes (receiving a nomination for the coveted Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation), and the screen story for the movie Fantastic Voyage, Jerome Bixby (1923-1998) was a highly regarded professional science fiction magazine editor and writer remembered for his "yeoman work in raising the standards of the science fiction action story (…) whose own stories, though few, are much sought after by discriminating readers." (Science Fiction Stories 1953) Bixby soon deserted magazine editing for Hollywood, where he wrote a number of low-budget, late-1950s monster movies including The Terror from Beyond Space (the acknowledged inspiration for Alien), and landed scripting chores on the documentaryesque early science fiction television series, Men Into Space, before striking it big when he sold Fantastic Voyage to a studio. Jerome Bixby is best remembered, however, for the four episodes he wrote for the original Star Trek television series, and is much revered by series fans for introducing, in "Mirror, Mirror," the concept of the "mirror universe" where The Federation and Kirk, Spock, et al, are all their evil exact opposites in character and deed. Bixby also wrote three other episodes, "By Any Other Name," "Day of the Dove," and, "Requiem for Methuselah," all of which critics and fans rank among the best in the series. Fans of all types will thrill to learn that this first-ever collection focusing on Jerome Bixby's science fiction will showcase a trio of never-before-reprinted novelettes containing ideas that Bixby would later mine and transmogrify in two of his highly regarded Star Trek episodes, "One-Way Street" and "Mirror, Mirror" (both used in the ST script "Mirror, Mirror") and "Cargo to Callisto" (used in "By Any Other Name"). The collection will also contain Bixby's most famous short story, "It's a Good Life," memorably dramatized first on The Twilight Zone, then in the Twilight Zone Movie, and finally reinterpreted for the twenty-first century on the series 2002-3 incarnation, in "It's Still a Good Life." Other Bixby classics include his first SF story for a pulp magazine, "Tubemonkey" (1949), and his very last, "The God Plllnk" (1964). You will also find a half-dozen other "lost" stories and novelettes reprinted for the first time since their original magazine publication in the 1950 and '60s. Mirror, Mirror was edited and features a long personal Introduction by his son, screenwriter and producer, Emerson Bixby.

Genres: Horror, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Science Fiction Fantasy

220 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 18, 2014

About the author

Drexel Jerome Lewis Bixby (January 11, 1923 Los Angeles, California – April 28, 1998 San Bernardino, California) was a American short story writer, editor and scriptwriter, best known for his comparatively small output in science fiction. He also wrote many westerns and used the pseudonyms D. B. Lewis, Harry Neal, Albert Russell, J. Russell, M. St. Vivant, Thornecliff Herrick and Alger Rome (for one collaboration with Algis Budrys).

He was the editor of Planet Stories from Summer 1950 to July 1951; and editor of Two Complete Science Adventure Novels from Winter 1950 to July 1951.

Probably his best-known work is the Star Trek: The Original Series 1967 episode "Mirror, Mirror", which introduced the series' concept of the Mirror Universe, also "Requiem for Methuselah" (Episode 76, Season 3:) about 'Flint' a 6,000 year old man. He also wrote the short story "It's a Good Life" (1953), adapted as a teleplay for The Twilight Zone by Rod Serling and parodied in the Simpsons Halloween episode "Treehouse of Horror II". His 1968 Star Trek episode "Day of the Dove" is also much respected by fans of science fiction. Bixby also conceived and co-wrote the 1966 film Fantastic Voyage, later novelized by Isaac Asimov.

Jerome Bixby's last work, a screenplay The Man From Earth, was conceived in the early 1960s and completed on his deathbed in April 1998. In 2007, Jerome Bixby's The Man From Earth (as it is now called) was turned into an independent motion picture executive produced by his son Emerson Bixby, directed by Richard Schenkman and starring David Lee Smith, William Katt, Richard Riehle, Tony Todd, Annika Peterson, Alexis Thorpe, Ellen Crawford and John Billingsley.

Bixby wrote the original screenplay for 1958's It! The Terror from Beyond Space, which was the inspiration for 1979's Alien. The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine seventh season (1999) Mirror Universe episode, "The Emperor's New Cloak," is dedicated to Bixby's memory.

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of science fiction and horror short stories from the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s by Jerome Bixby. His most famous tale, "It's a Good Life" which was adapted into a Twilight Zone episode, is included here and it was a pleasure to read this spooky tale once again. Also included are the short stories "One-Way Street" and "Mirror, Mirror" which inspired the "Mirror, Mirror" episode of classic Star Trek, which he also wrote. Other favorites in this collection are "Small War" about a human and alien encountering each other on a distant world, "Tubemonkey" about rebels who try to use a radiation-damaged pilot to help do their dirty work, and "The Bad Life" which takes us inside a hellish prison colony on an asteroid. The collection is introduced by Bixby's son, who gives a terrific overview of his father's career. Overall a great collection from an author who's not as well known as he ought to be.

[Bruce Stephenson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short stories published between 1949 and 1963 with an introduction by Emerson Bixby. Most of the stories are short fun reads and it was interesting to read a few of the stories that inspired episodes of Star Trek (One-Way Street and Mirror Mirror --> Mirror Mirror, and Cargo to Callisto --> By Any Other Name. The best story by far however is It's a Good Life which was one of the best Twilight Zone episodes. It is unfortunate that the story 'Broken Mirror' mentioned by Bixby's son Emerson in the intro is not included in this collection. Also, I found the story The Bad Life a very challenging (and at times offensive) read with a disappointing ending. If this story had been excluded and Broken Mirror put in in its place this would have been a far better collection. Overall, however, a worthy collection of Jerome Bixby's work.