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12 Great Classics of Science Fiction
Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, Literary Fiction
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1963
About the author
Groff Conklin
119 books26 followersEdward Groff Conklin (September 6, 1904, Glen Ridge, New Jersey - July 19, 1968, Pawling, New York) was a leading science fiction anthologist. Conklin edited 41 anthologies of science fiction, wrote books on home improvement and was a freelance writer on scientific subjects. From 1950 to 1955, he was the book critic for Galaxy Science Fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 3, 2021
This is a reprint anthology of good short science fiction from 1963. Conklin once again demonstrated his penchant for putting numbers in his titles. There's no unifying theme to the stories, other than he gathered stories he felt had been overlooked in the field since their original publication, much like Robert Silverberg accomplished with his Alpha series in later years. The stories all originally appeared in one of the top three digest magazines of the late 1950's to the early 1960's, Astounding, Galaxy, and The Magazine of F & SF. Rather than picking stories by the top names in the field, he found good stories by writers who were excellent but not as well known like A. Bertram Chandler, Zenna Henderson, Robert F. Young, and J. T. McIntosh, along with Algis Budrys, Poul Anderson, Robert Sheckley, and Fredric Brown. My favorite is the classic Cordwainer Smith story, The Ballad of Lost C'Mell.
March 4, 2022
ENGLISH: I have read this book in two different Spanish translations (one published in Mexico, the other in Spain), and I have also read a few of the stories in the original English. Comparing the different translations with the originals has been an interesting experience.
The best story (for me) is "Human man's burden," by Robert Sheckley, but the stories by Poul Anderson, William Stuart, J.T.McIntosh and J.F.Bone are also quite good.
ESPAÑOL: Leí este libro en dos traducciones diferentes al español (una publicada en México y la otra en España). También he leído algunos de los cuentos en el inglés original. Comparar las traducciones con los originales ha sido una experiencia interesante.
Para mí, el mejor de los 13 cuentos es "Los problemas humanos" de Robert Sheckley, pero los de Poul Anderson, William Stuart, J.T.McIntosh y J.F.Bone son también bastante buenos.
The best story (for me) is "Human man's burden," by Robert Sheckley, but the stories by Poul Anderson, William Stuart, J.T.McIntosh and J.F.Bone are also quite good.
ESPAÑOL: Leí este libro en dos traducciones diferentes al español (una publicada en México y la otra en España). También he leído algunos de los cuentos en el inglés original. Comparar las traducciones con los originales ha sido una experiencia interesante.
Para mí, el mejor de los 13 cuentos es "Los problemas humanos" de Robert Sheckley, pero los de Poul Anderson, William Stuart, J.T.McIntosh y J.F.Bone son también bastante buenos.
October 1, 2024
Groff Conklin (1904-1968) is one of the most important science fiction anthologists of the genre's literary history, although his repackagings of largely then-recently-published pulp stories served a different purpose than the genre-steering editorship of folks like John W. Campbell, Terry Carr, or Gardner Dozois; Conklin's numerous, often-chunky anthologies inspired budding authors like a young Robert Silverberg by displaying the genre's past rather than its possible futures. *12 Great Classics of Science Fiction*, one of his later titles (and my first of his), follows that kind of trajectory; published in 1963, it reprinted stories from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Galaxy, and Astounding Science Fiction with publication dates ranging from 1953 to 1962. These were not weathered classics, but relatively recent selections which this anthology put back in the hands of readers and made the authors a couple extra bucks. That's not to stay that all these stories are without value - I found some quite enjoyable - but very few people would make the argument that this is a singular and important piece of the genre's history, even if the editor's overall bibliography was of some substantial influence to various individuals, if not any particular movement.
--I read the first story of this anthology, "Due Process" by Algis Budrys (who I've read several short stories from this year), late at night after finishing another book; in retrospect, this was not a good idea, because this story is a bit confusing. It's about the politics around the future's material shipping and the conflict between the use of the "tubes" or zeppelins to get goods in and out of the water-logged European port of Atlantis. It wasn't bad, but to my personal experience, was a bit opaque and not altogether enjoyable. It's worth another reading on my part, but for now, it's a 6/10.
--I've also read a personal-record-breaking amount of Fredric Brown this year, so I was intrigued to see his two-page story "Earthmen Bearing Gifts." Like another story in here, it's told from the perspective of Martians, although unlike the other Martians later in this book, these ones . Irony might not be my kinda drug, but this is still amusing. 7.5/10.
--"Things" by Zenna Henderson has that level of quaintness that I've come to expect from her short stories, but it's also a story of outsiders and first contact. The main characters in this story are these aliens who've just seen one of their own come back from contact with "The Strangers" practically lobotomized. But one of their own comes back with . It's nothing too special, and you've surely seen its sentiment about (possibly warranted) resistance towards change in both SF and historical fiction/nonfiction, but that doesn't stop it from having an emotional edge that's hard to ignore. 7.25/10.
--"The Top" by George Sumner Albee struck me as faintly Ballardian, but as I've only read his debut novel *The Wind From Nowhere*, don't let that comparison scare you away. The short story in question is about an advertising guru who works in a pyramid-shaped company not knowing what products he's really advertising for. Even stranger is that . Other readers have said that these empty themes confused them, but I quite like how they were nailed down by the ending; 7.75/10.
--My favorite Poul Anderson story is "The Man Who Came Early," a story about how useless a modern man would find himself if he was transported into the past originally published in 1956. It's one of my favorite 50s short stories, period; this collection includes his story "My Object All Sublime..." which rifts off the same themes of a man from future trying to make his way into the past, which we see . The plot is quite different from "The Man Who Came Early," but it's about such a similar topic that I find it hard for it to escape that story's shadow. It shouldn't feel unoriginal just because of that, but it does, and I haven't been able to convince myself otherwise, so I'll have to give it a "lowly" 7.5/10...
--"Human Man's Burden" by Robert Sheckley is one of my favorite stories here and probably my favorite Sheckley. It merges the final frontier with mail-order brides and an army of robot servants (which reminded me of those from James White's forgotten novel *Second Ending*) with a twist; even though the main character ordered a frontier-model bride, he ends with a dainty one! ? Some readers may find this story sexist, for it surely is quant, but I enjoyed what was ultimately a charming sentiment and the different logical things that happened throughout the story. It's cute and fun, and I found it worthy of an 8/10 because it made me smile, even though it may make you gag.
--I've never heard of J. F. Bone, but his story "On the Fourth Planet" ain't bad. It's told from the perspective of a tentacled alien who trapes through the circumference of the world in a line with other aliens, trying to find enough nutrients to stay alive so his neighbors don't steal his territory. It's a unique and interesting perspective, which gets flipped on its head when he finds some weird source (a of some weird nutrients and , and it gets rather confusing. Sure, I read most of this book on a road trip with other, distracting people, but the sequence of events still got too murky for me even if everything else was cool. 6.5/10.
--I won't spend too much time on "The Ballad of Last C'mell" by Cordwainer Smith since it's the only story here that now counts as a classic, and I'd bet you've heard of it if you're in deep enough to have found this review. This is my second time reading it, but it's the only Rediscovery Story of Man story I've read, and I've never been convinced by Smith's storytelling ability despite the story's obvious strength. Still, I was stuck in that van, so maybe my opinion will change when I dive into Smith's whole universe sooner or later. For now, 7.25/10.
--If you like stories about technology tearing families and education apart, you might enjoy "Thirty Days had September" by Robert F. Young, which is set in a future where being taught by a robot is considered an archaic concept; now, it's only socially acceptable to have kids taught by the television, and when one nostalgic father buys a robotic teacher for his house, all Hell breaks loose, from . It predicted how technology would affect youth all too well, and the whole idea of looking into our future as nostalgic from the lens of the main character is always potent. Hell, I think this story deserves an 8/10 too.
--"The Cage" by A. Bertram Chandler (an Anglo-Australian merchant-marine I've never read from before) is about a space colony which gets trapped by aliens who end up realizing that It's a chilling sentiment made more relatable by Chandler's military experience, but in all reality, the story was not very memorable besides that closing line, so it balances out to a 7/10.
--Some stories mean different things in different time periods, and while I doubt William F. Stuart was thinking of the rise of in 1962 when he wrote "Star-Crossed Lover," this story of a man being seduced and married by an alien who could change its form into any body whom he desired certainly fits the bill. It's not a great story in and of itself, with the climax being . I'm probably deeply overthinking this, but I like reading those stories that would strike different generations; maybe Stuart was just concerned about the rise of or some crap like that, if he was thinking that much. Regardless, making me think will end up with a good rating, so "Star-Crossed Lover" gets 8/10.
--Finally, "Immortality... For Some" by J. T. McIntosh could've been more than it was. It's set in a future in which certain, skilled people are picked for Rebirth, where they're cloned or rolled back to younger versions of themselves who don't have their old memories who can take a different path in life. The story itself happens after a famous piano player goes through Rebirth and recommends the doorman she always liked for it. He's tested and found to be suitable, but he doesn't want the Rebirth, and ends up . I didn't find the writing altogether clear and I was a little confused at the end, but that was probably my fault. Rebirth is a good concept was was depicted a bit uniquely here, but like most of the stories here, it didn't have its own stylistic feel - the authorial voice didn't seem to special. But before we get to generalizations, let me give "Immortality... For Some" a rating of 7.5/10.
All these stories together average out to a 7.35/10, which leads to one thinking I should round up to a 7.5/10, but I don't think I'm going to do that; I think I'm going to let the rating fall to a 7/10. Why? Because I didn't find this a compelling anthology. I found some of the stories - more of them than not, honestly - compelling, but when read concurrently, the blandness of the individual writing styles compounds into a bigger problem than when you read these stories individually, and it just didn't strike me as too engaging. Sometimes, an anthology is less than the sum of its parts; but that's okay, because there were quite a few good stories in here, and I'll be sure to refer back to some of these tales in future critical analysis. Still, Conklin's style could be a bit dulling - not that I won't read more of his anthologies later on and review him right here. Until then, though, I've got Jack Finney and Greg Egan to read, which is sure to be fun. Thanks for reading my big analysis, and I hope to see you around more SF anthologies here on Goodreads soon. But - as always - bye for now.
--I read the first story of this anthology, "Due Process" by Algis Budrys (who I've read several short stories from this year), late at night after finishing another book; in retrospect, this was not a good idea, because this story is a bit confusing. It's about the politics around the future's material shipping and the conflict between the use of the "tubes" or zeppelins to get goods in and out of the water-logged European port of Atlantis. It wasn't bad, but to my personal experience, was a bit opaque and not altogether enjoyable. It's worth another reading on my part, but for now, it's a 6/10.
--I've also read a personal-record-breaking amount of Fredric Brown this year, so I was intrigued to see his two-page story "Earthmen Bearing Gifts." Like another story in here, it's told from the perspective of Martians, although unlike the other Martians later in this book, these ones . Irony might not be my kinda drug, but this is still amusing. 7.5/10.
--"Things" by Zenna Henderson has that level of quaintness that I've come to expect from her short stories, but it's also a story of outsiders and first contact. The main characters in this story are these aliens who've just seen one of their own come back from contact with "The Strangers" practically lobotomized. But one of their own comes back with . It's nothing too special, and you've surely seen its sentiment about (possibly warranted) resistance towards change in both SF and historical fiction/nonfiction, but that doesn't stop it from having an emotional edge that's hard to ignore. 7.25/10.
--"The Top" by George Sumner Albee struck me as faintly Ballardian, but as I've only read his debut novel *The Wind From Nowhere*, don't let that comparison scare you away. The short story in question is about an advertising guru who works in a pyramid-shaped company not knowing what products he's really advertising for. Even stranger is that . Other readers have said that these empty themes confused them, but I quite like how they were nailed down by the ending; 7.75/10.
--My favorite Poul Anderson story is "The Man Who Came Early," a story about how useless a modern man would find himself if he was transported into the past originally published in 1956. It's one of my favorite 50s short stories, period; this collection includes his story "My Object All Sublime..." which rifts off the same themes of a man from future trying to make his way into the past, which we see . The plot is quite different from "The Man Who Came Early," but it's about such a similar topic that I find it hard for it to escape that story's shadow. It shouldn't feel unoriginal just because of that, but it does, and I haven't been able to convince myself otherwise, so I'll have to give it a "lowly" 7.5/10...
--"Human Man's Burden" by Robert Sheckley is one of my favorite stories here and probably my favorite Sheckley. It merges the final frontier with mail-order brides and an army of robot servants (which reminded me of those from James White's forgotten novel *Second Ending*) with a twist; even though the main character ordered a frontier-model bride, he ends with a dainty one! ? Some readers may find this story sexist, for it surely is quant, but I enjoyed what was ultimately a charming sentiment and the different logical things that happened throughout the story. It's cute and fun, and I found it worthy of an 8/10 because it made me smile, even though it may make you gag.
--I've never heard of J. F. Bone, but his story "On the Fourth Planet" ain't bad. It's told from the perspective of a tentacled alien who trapes through the circumference of the world in a line with other aliens, trying to find enough nutrients to stay alive so his neighbors don't steal his territory. It's a unique and interesting perspective, which gets flipped on its head when he finds some weird source (a of some weird nutrients and , and it gets rather confusing. Sure, I read most of this book on a road trip with other, distracting people, but the sequence of events still got too murky for me even if everything else was cool. 6.5/10.
--I won't spend too much time on "The Ballad of Last C'mell" by Cordwainer Smith since it's the only story here that now counts as a classic, and I'd bet you've heard of it if you're in deep enough to have found this review. This is my second time reading it, but it's the only Rediscovery Story of Man story I've read, and I've never been convinced by Smith's storytelling ability despite the story's obvious strength. Still, I was stuck in that van, so maybe my opinion will change when I dive into Smith's whole universe sooner or later. For now, 7.25/10.
--If you like stories about technology tearing families and education apart, you might enjoy "Thirty Days had September" by Robert F. Young, which is set in a future where being taught by a robot is considered an archaic concept; now, it's only socially acceptable to have kids taught by the television, and when one nostalgic father buys a robotic teacher for his house, all Hell breaks loose, from . It predicted how technology would affect youth all too well, and the whole idea of looking into our future as nostalgic from the lens of the main character is always potent. Hell, I think this story deserves an 8/10 too.
--"The Cage" by A. Bertram Chandler (an Anglo-Australian merchant-marine I've never read from before) is about a space colony which gets trapped by aliens who end up realizing that It's a chilling sentiment made more relatable by Chandler's military experience, but in all reality, the story was not very memorable besides that closing line, so it balances out to a 7/10.
--Some stories mean different things in different time periods, and while I doubt William F. Stuart was thinking of the rise of in 1962 when he wrote "Star-Crossed Lover," this story of a man being seduced and married by an alien who could change its form into any body whom he desired certainly fits the bill. It's not a great story in and of itself, with the climax being . I'm probably deeply overthinking this, but I like reading those stories that would strike different generations; maybe Stuart was just concerned about the rise of or some crap like that, if he was thinking that much. Regardless, making me think will end up with a good rating, so "Star-Crossed Lover" gets 8/10.
--Finally, "Immortality... For Some" by J. T. McIntosh could've been more than it was. It's set in a future in which certain, skilled people are picked for Rebirth, where they're cloned or rolled back to younger versions of themselves who don't have their old memories who can take a different path in life. The story itself happens after a famous piano player goes through Rebirth and recommends the doorman she always liked for it. He's tested and found to be suitable, but he doesn't want the Rebirth, and ends up . I didn't find the writing altogether clear and I was a little confused at the end, but that was probably my fault. Rebirth is a good concept was was depicted a bit uniquely here, but like most of the stories here, it didn't have its own stylistic feel - the authorial voice didn't seem to special. But before we get to generalizations, let me give "Immortality... For Some" a rating of 7.5/10.
All these stories together average out to a 7.35/10, which leads to one thinking I should round up to a 7.5/10, but I don't think I'm going to do that; I think I'm going to let the rating fall to a 7/10. Why? Because I didn't find this a compelling anthology. I found some of the stories - more of them than not, honestly - compelling, but when read concurrently, the blandness of the individual writing styles compounds into a bigger problem than when you read these stories individually, and it just didn't strike me as too engaging. Sometimes, an anthology is less than the sum of its parts; but that's okay, because there were quite a few good stories in here, and I'll be sure to refer back to some of these tales in future critical analysis. Still, Conklin's style could be a bit dulling - not that I won't read more of his anthologies later on and review him right here. Until then, though, I've got Jack Finney and Greg Egan to read, which is sure to be fun. Thanks for reading my big analysis, and I hope to see you around more SF anthologies here on Goodreads soon. But - as always - bye for now.
March 31, 2019
12 Great Classics of Science Fiction, as told by Mr. Conklin himself, is a collection of hidden gems of science fiction, interspread through numerous science fiction magazines from the late 1950s through 1965.
Each story is varied in how the storytelling is portrayed and what the focus is - from robots, to philosophy, to simple fun, to mind-bending plot twists and the questioning of your own existance. Let's get started!
The first story, Due Process, (written by Algis Budrys and first published in Astounding Science Fiction, December 1960), is a confusingly written little tale about a Mr. Hertzog, who owns a tour business focused on cruise ships for tourists. Also the story takes place in Atlantis. On the surface. Maybe? This was certainly not the story to open up a short story collection, but at least the worst is over with. At least the dialogue is somewhat interesting. 2/5.
Second is Earthmen Bearing Gifts by Fredric Brown, first published in Galaxy, June 1960. Being the shortest story in here at about 3 pages, it also brings with it confused emotions that make you wonder if you should feel bad or amused. The basic gist is that psychic beings live on Mars, a peace-loving race that hasn't had war in almost 10,000 years. Apparently Martians have had psychic contact for years, but can't communicate with us. This comes at a bad time, because we're about to nuke Mars, (they explain that we're doing it to have more information about the atmosphere and the surface, but surely there's a better way of doing it?). The Martians are at peace with this though, because they are a dying race, and have made peace with it. A little paradox is also thrown in, with our technology possibly letting Mars thrive again, and their peacefulness and evolved psychic abilities possibly bettering the human race as a whole. But it was never meant to be. 3/5.
Third is Things, by Zenna Henderson, first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1960. The story is about a group of aliens on a unknown planet and their interactions with what is hinted to be Earthmen, (but only called The Strangers throughout the story). These interactions, however, invite greed to this peaceful race, and sometimes death also, making it difficult to establish contact with each other. In the end, their hidden colony is exposed, and they must move before The Strangers find them. A good story, with probably the most strangest and foreign style of writing in the book. This works for Mrs. Henderson however, because it really exposes how "alien" this alien species is compared to us, and how the writing becomes clearer when focusing on those who come in contact with The Strangers, having more modern language, but also the eating force of greed. 4/5.
Fourth is The Top by George Sumner Albee, first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, August 1962. The story involves a man named Jonathan Gerber, a advertising agent for a company named Allied. The company building is in the shape of a pyramid, with almost no windows throughout the building except for the top piller, the 14th floor, where almost nobody is allowed up to. Jonathan has been working at the company for years under his boss, L. Lester Leath, but it recently turns out that Leath may be dying. Jonathan is told with Leath's dying breath that Jonathan will succeed him as the new advertising executive, and he must meet with the CEO on the 14th floor, told to be the CEOs suite, with the CEO himself, a man named Hanscomb Ludlow Satherwaite the 2nd, (what a mouthful!), a man never seen by any employees except for his photograph, which doesn't seem to age from year to year.
Jonathan makes his way to the 14th floor, where the twist hits here - the 14th floor is empty. Unpainted, unfurnished, almost abandoned. There is no Hanscomb up here at the top, only a empty room. Jonathan sees the town below, smiles, and walks back down the stairs. No, I don't get the significance of the ending either. 3/5 for that confusing ending, but otherwise good.
Fifth goes to My Object All Sublime, (my personal favorite of the book), published by Poul Anderson in Galaxy, June 1961. The story consists of a unnamed narrator and a man named Michael. Michael is a nice man, unremarkable, but nothing harmful. Our narrator and Michael strike up a fast friendship, eventually bringing us to Thanksgiving dinner over a year later. Night comes fast, and while Michael's wife and kid are sleeping, the narrator and Michael strike up conversation while overlooking the city. Michael then begins to ask and describe about a hypothetical scenario about time travel and the future, of which he seems to know suspiciously much about. The topic turns to time travel as a punishment, which, by all means is talked about here as a interesting topic. We also learn a bit about Michael - he survived the Holocaust, and was able to create a business despite the hardships on himself.
Then here comes the twist - our narrator was a enforcer, or cop, not really described much, from the future. Michael is also from the future, his punishment being sent back in time to suffer in the Holocaust. But Michael survives and is happy, which does not suit well with the future council. Michael is taken and dropped off in even more ancient times to suffer further. A good story, with a decent but unhinted at twist. The best part is both the narrator and Michael discussing time travel, as it makes for a interesting topic. 4/5.
Sixth is Human Man's Burden, (another favorite), published by Robert Sheckley in Galaxy, September 1956. This story is more humorous then the others, but still serves as a good tale to lighten the mood. Edward Flaswell is a pioneer who buys a planetoid to mine, along with some bots to help farm the land and make a nice home there. Attending is his faithful robot servent Gunga-Sam, a robot loyal to the end.
Over the months Edward gets lonely. While flipping through a catalog, he spots a ad for mail order brides, (try to read this as more pulp then the last few stories, you'll enjoy it better). Edward orders a bride that's supposed to be able to work hard and act as more of a farmhand then a housewife. When the order comes, however, the wife is completely different from what was expected. For one, she's much more fancy. Two, she doesn't look like she's worked a day in her life, being too prim to do so. Edward is furious, and the bride, named Shelia, is also not satisfied. Edward calls for a replacement, but over the next week or so, we find that Shelia isn't so bad - she decorates, but also can work on robots to fix them, and is not so bad of a person in personality either. Edward also finds himself drawn to her, eventually falling in love. When he asks to propose to Shelia, however, even though she seems to show affection, she denies it and tells him to buzz off. When the replacement arrives though, the twist is revealed that she purposely came here and drew him on to fall in love, which she did, because she loves him too. She also reveals that there is no replacement since she staged that, so everything is happy. A charming story, somewhat sexist, but the writing is actually funny. 4/5.
Seventh is On The Fourth Planet by J. F. Bone, first published in Galaxy, April 1963. The story covers living blobs that live to eat, and one blob discovering that a rocket has landed in his yard, blocking him off from his food source. The rocket opens however to reveal food inside, and he greedily eats it all. A fellow blob tries to get in too, but burns to death because the rocket is super hot. Eventually the blob inside reproduces aesexually due to the pleasure, and uses his offspring to throw himself out of the ship. Just in time too, because the rocket seemingly blows up, and all returns to normal.
Confused? I am too, but at least the writing is alright. 3/5.
Eighth comes The Ballad of Lost C'mell, (probably one of the few stories in here with some fame in singular sci-fi circles), published by Cordwainer Smith in Galaxy, October 1962. The story involves a place somewhat similiar to Earth, except for ruled by a council of psychics, and also has genetically created Underpeople, the splices of humans and animals, as mere slaves to the population. A councilman named Jestocost, who seems stuck up and has almost a orgasmic fetish for justice, has it for a good cause - he wants to bring up the status of the Underpeople and let them be equal citizens. He works with a catwoman named C'mell, who works as a prostitute at a airport, and the leader of the Underpeople, a bird-man with incredible psychic powers that sometimes uses C'mell as a communication source by controlling her body. C'mell falls in love with the councilman for seemingly no reason, but Jestocoat cannot return his affections, for he loves justice too much and cannot enjoy personal relationships, (that is his excuse). Eventually through some odd plots, the Underpeople get more rights and Jestocoat is a folk hero to the Underpeople, but he doesn't think of it.
Ok story, but really odd choices, and a unlikeable protagonist I think we're supposed to root for. 3/5.
Ninth is Thirty Days Had September, (another favorite), published by Robert F. Young in The Magazine For Fantasy and Science Fiction, October 1957. The story focuses on a future society where education is taught from the television and teachers are ruled obsolete, but with the added emphasis that the TV is sponsored by cereal companies, who spread their commercials through daily lessons. Our protagonist is Danby, a father of a little boy, who discovers a antique Schoolteacher bot, incredibly lifelike and able to do other things like dish washing and laundry, (it was the 1950s, it was expected), in the window of a antique shop. Schoolteacher bots used to teach in classrooms until the rise of education on the television, where the bots were abandoned. Danby has nostalgia about the Schoolteacher bots though, and decides to buy it.
His wife and kid don't approve, the kid disliking it for criticizing his education shows that turn Romeo and Juliet into Westerns, (which is admittedly funny to think about), and the wife because of the "defect" that has Schoolteacher bots beat kids. Danby doesn't believe it and wants to keep it. Eventually things come to a head when the kid and wife accuse it of almost beating his kid. When Danby speaks to it personally though, we find out that the kid kicked her and was about to kick her again before she grabbed the kid's arm to stop him, which is the scene that the mother discovers first. The robot and Danby seem to share some chemistry when they recite poetry together, but the wife discovers them and demands the robot out. Danby sells it the next morning to the antique shop, where he discovers later that the bot is converted to work at a hot dog stand. Danby convinces the owner to let him work there on evenings, so he can spend more time with the reprogrammed Schoolteacher bot.
Despite my personal review not doing it justice, the story is great. Characters are good, plot is interesting, and the prediction of education television replacing actual teachers is a prophecy scarily being answered back today. My personal recommendation to start with if you buy this book, 5/5.
Tenth is The Cage, published by Bertram Chandler in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June 1957. The story follows a passenger cruise crashing on a uncontacted world that's always wet, but with no predators, and fungus to eat. The survivors become somewhat tribal, organizing a council and ruling that men must fight each other honorably in order to gain mating rights with the women. The story shifts though when a spaceship takes some of the survivors, including our narrator, and drop them in a alien zoo.
Without the ability to communicate, and to prove that they're intelligent enough to not be sealed up in a zoo, they must endure being treated like cattle, including two of their own being taken to be dissected on. While in captivity, they come across a mouse-like creature, and decide to take care of it by trapping it in their own designed cage. Later, more survivors are taken, but instead of being dissected, they return with new clothes and a message - they're going home! When the other survivors ask how the aliens found out they're intelligent enough to go home, they reveal, embaressingly, that "only rational beings put other beings in cages". Good story with a neat twist with the side story about the alien zoo. 4/5.
Eleventh is Star-Crossed Lovers, published by William W. Stuart in Galaxy, 1962. The story follows a unnamed narrator, who starts the tale by confessing that all the bodies buried near his house were not murdered. Glad we established that. But after that, we hear about how he got into all of this trouble:
Our narrator decides to walk a old lady across the street. Before they completely get across, though, he slips and pushes the lady onto the other side before he falls over and gets hit by a car. The lady is stronger then expected, though, and is able to pick him up and drag him over to the other side.
Impressed, the narrator, brings the old lady to his house, where the old lady reveals herself to be a "living atom", with the voice of a woman. The living atom also reveals that the old lady isn't just a persona - the old lady is a corpse the living atom took from the morgue and inhabited her body, it's purpose for coming to Earth being that it's race is dying, and they could use new genes to mix to make children. But our narrator doesn't mind. After burying the body near his aunt's rosebush, the living atom takes the form of a model that the narrator likes. Then they get married. Seemingly sweet.
When the atom switches bodies, that body becomes a corpse. Then the narrator buries it. One day, the atom becomes pregnant, somehow. When it gives birth, however, it does not make a new child, however. It splits apart, eliminating the "wife" entirely and giving our narrator two kids instead. Our narrator is pissed, but his kids tell him they'll visit sometime, and leave back to their own planet.
Drunk, the narrator buries the last corpse. This proves to be his downfall, for his neighbor hears him loudly singing, drunkly of course, and burying a corpse near his garage. The cops come, find the bodies, and arrest our narrator, which is where the story begins. Good story, fun perspective, and actually interesting idea for a short story. 5/5
Our final story is Immortality... For Some by J. T. McIntosh, first published in Astounding Science Fiction, March 1960. This is probably the best story in the entire collection, and also the only story I can't accurately portray here without making the story seem more complicated then it is. If you buy this collection, buy it for this and Thirty Days Had September.
Overall, this collection is great, for the stories it offers. I completely recommend it if you can find it cheap, (which it usually is at $3-$5). Four stars out of five, only because of some of the medicore stories. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Each story is varied in how the storytelling is portrayed and what the focus is - from robots, to philosophy, to simple fun, to mind-bending plot twists and the questioning of your own existance. Let's get started!
The first story, Due Process, (written by Algis Budrys and first published in Astounding Science Fiction, December 1960), is a confusingly written little tale about a Mr. Hertzog, who owns a tour business focused on cruise ships for tourists. Also the story takes place in Atlantis. On the surface. Maybe? This was certainly not the story to open up a short story collection, but at least the worst is over with. At least the dialogue is somewhat interesting. 2/5.
Second is Earthmen Bearing Gifts by Fredric Brown, first published in Galaxy, June 1960. Being the shortest story in here at about 3 pages, it also brings with it confused emotions that make you wonder if you should feel bad or amused. The basic gist is that psychic beings live on Mars, a peace-loving race that hasn't had war in almost 10,000 years. Apparently Martians have had psychic contact for years, but can't communicate with us. This comes at a bad time, because we're about to nuke Mars, (they explain that we're doing it to have more information about the atmosphere and the surface, but surely there's a better way of doing it?). The Martians are at peace with this though, because they are a dying race, and have made peace with it. A little paradox is also thrown in, with our technology possibly letting Mars thrive again, and their peacefulness and evolved psychic abilities possibly bettering the human race as a whole. But it was never meant to be. 3/5.
Third is Things, by Zenna Henderson, first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1960. The story is about a group of aliens on a unknown planet and their interactions with what is hinted to be Earthmen, (but only called The Strangers throughout the story). These interactions, however, invite greed to this peaceful race, and sometimes death also, making it difficult to establish contact with each other. In the end, their hidden colony is exposed, and they must move before The Strangers find them. A good story, with probably the most strangest and foreign style of writing in the book. This works for Mrs. Henderson however, because it really exposes how "alien" this alien species is compared to us, and how the writing becomes clearer when focusing on those who come in contact with The Strangers, having more modern language, but also the eating force of greed. 4/5.
Fourth is The Top by George Sumner Albee, first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, August 1962. The story involves a man named Jonathan Gerber, a advertising agent for a company named Allied. The company building is in the shape of a pyramid, with almost no windows throughout the building except for the top piller, the 14th floor, where almost nobody is allowed up to. Jonathan has been working at the company for years under his boss, L. Lester Leath, but it recently turns out that Leath may be dying. Jonathan is told with Leath's dying breath that Jonathan will succeed him as the new advertising executive, and he must meet with the CEO on the 14th floor, told to be the CEOs suite, with the CEO himself, a man named Hanscomb Ludlow Satherwaite the 2nd, (what a mouthful!), a man never seen by any employees except for his photograph, which doesn't seem to age from year to year.
Jonathan makes his way to the 14th floor, where the twist hits here - the 14th floor is empty. Unpainted, unfurnished, almost abandoned. There is no Hanscomb up here at the top, only a empty room. Jonathan sees the town below, smiles, and walks back down the stairs. No, I don't get the significance of the ending either. 3/5 for that confusing ending, but otherwise good.
Fifth goes to My Object All Sublime, (my personal favorite of the book), published by Poul Anderson in Galaxy, June 1961. The story consists of a unnamed narrator and a man named Michael. Michael is a nice man, unremarkable, but nothing harmful. Our narrator and Michael strike up a fast friendship, eventually bringing us to Thanksgiving dinner over a year later. Night comes fast, and while Michael's wife and kid are sleeping, the narrator and Michael strike up conversation while overlooking the city. Michael then begins to ask and describe about a hypothetical scenario about time travel and the future, of which he seems to know suspiciously much about. The topic turns to time travel as a punishment, which, by all means is talked about here as a interesting topic. We also learn a bit about Michael - he survived the Holocaust, and was able to create a business despite the hardships on himself.
Then here comes the twist - our narrator was a enforcer, or cop, not really described much, from the future. Michael is also from the future, his punishment being sent back in time to suffer in the Holocaust. But Michael survives and is happy, which does not suit well with the future council. Michael is taken and dropped off in even more ancient times to suffer further. A good story, with a decent but unhinted at twist. The best part is both the narrator and Michael discussing time travel, as it makes for a interesting topic. 4/5.
Sixth is Human Man's Burden, (another favorite), published by Robert Sheckley in Galaxy, September 1956. This story is more humorous then the others, but still serves as a good tale to lighten the mood. Edward Flaswell is a pioneer who buys a planetoid to mine, along with some bots to help farm the land and make a nice home there. Attending is his faithful robot servent Gunga-Sam, a robot loyal to the end.
Over the months Edward gets lonely. While flipping through a catalog, he spots a ad for mail order brides, (try to read this as more pulp then the last few stories, you'll enjoy it better). Edward orders a bride that's supposed to be able to work hard and act as more of a farmhand then a housewife. When the order comes, however, the wife is completely different from what was expected. For one, she's much more fancy. Two, she doesn't look like she's worked a day in her life, being too prim to do so. Edward is furious, and the bride, named Shelia, is also not satisfied. Edward calls for a replacement, but over the next week or so, we find that Shelia isn't so bad - she decorates, but also can work on robots to fix them, and is not so bad of a person in personality either. Edward also finds himself drawn to her, eventually falling in love. When he asks to propose to Shelia, however, even though she seems to show affection, she denies it and tells him to buzz off. When the replacement arrives though, the twist is revealed that she purposely came here and drew him on to fall in love, which she did, because she loves him too. She also reveals that there is no replacement since she staged that, so everything is happy. A charming story, somewhat sexist, but the writing is actually funny. 4/5.
Seventh is On The Fourth Planet by J. F. Bone, first published in Galaxy, April 1963. The story covers living blobs that live to eat, and one blob discovering that a rocket has landed in his yard, blocking him off from his food source. The rocket opens however to reveal food inside, and he greedily eats it all. A fellow blob tries to get in too, but burns to death because the rocket is super hot. Eventually the blob inside reproduces aesexually due to the pleasure, and uses his offspring to throw himself out of the ship. Just in time too, because the rocket seemingly blows up, and all returns to normal.
Confused? I am too, but at least the writing is alright. 3/5.
Eighth comes The Ballad of Lost C'mell, (probably one of the few stories in here with some fame in singular sci-fi circles), published by Cordwainer Smith in Galaxy, October 1962. The story involves a place somewhat similiar to Earth, except for ruled by a council of psychics, and also has genetically created Underpeople, the splices of humans and animals, as mere slaves to the population. A councilman named Jestocost, who seems stuck up and has almost a orgasmic fetish for justice, has it for a good cause - he wants to bring up the status of the Underpeople and let them be equal citizens. He works with a catwoman named C'mell, who works as a prostitute at a airport, and the leader of the Underpeople, a bird-man with incredible psychic powers that sometimes uses C'mell as a communication source by controlling her body. C'mell falls in love with the councilman for seemingly no reason, but Jestocoat cannot return his affections, for he loves justice too much and cannot enjoy personal relationships, (that is his excuse). Eventually through some odd plots, the Underpeople get more rights and Jestocoat is a folk hero to the Underpeople, but he doesn't think of it.
Ok story, but really odd choices, and a unlikeable protagonist I think we're supposed to root for. 3/5.
Ninth is Thirty Days Had September, (another favorite), published by Robert F. Young in The Magazine For Fantasy and Science Fiction, October 1957. The story focuses on a future society where education is taught from the television and teachers are ruled obsolete, but with the added emphasis that the TV is sponsored by cereal companies, who spread their commercials through daily lessons. Our protagonist is Danby, a father of a little boy, who discovers a antique Schoolteacher bot, incredibly lifelike and able to do other things like dish washing and laundry, (it was the 1950s, it was expected), in the window of a antique shop. Schoolteacher bots used to teach in classrooms until the rise of education on the television, where the bots were abandoned. Danby has nostalgia about the Schoolteacher bots though, and decides to buy it.
His wife and kid don't approve, the kid disliking it for criticizing his education shows that turn Romeo and Juliet into Westerns, (which is admittedly funny to think about), and the wife because of the "defect" that has Schoolteacher bots beat kids. Danby doesn't believe it and wants to keep it. Eventually things come to a head when the kid and wife accuse it of almost beating his kid. When Danby speaks to it personally though, we find out that the kid kicked her and was about to kick her again before she grabbed the kid's arm to stop him, which is the scene that the mother discovers first. The robot and Danby seem to share some chemistry when they recite poetry together, but the wife discovers them and demands the robot out. Danby sells it the next morning to the antique shop, where he discovers later that the bot is converted to work at a hot dog stand. Danby convinces the owner to let him work there on evenings, so he can spend more time with the reprogrammed Schoolteacher bot.
Despite my personal review not doing it justice, the story is great. Characters are good, plot is interesting, and the prediction of education television replacing actual teachers is a prophecy scarily being answered back today. My personal recommendation to start with if you buy this book, 5/5.
Tenth is The Cage, published by Bertram Chandler in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June 1957. The story follows a passenger cruise crashing on a uncontacted world that's always wet, but with no predators, and fungus to eat. The survivors become somewhat tribal, organizing a council and ruling that men must fight each other honorably in order to gain mating rights with the women. The story shifts though when a spaceship takes some of the survivors, including our narrator, and drop them in a alien zoo.
Without the ability to communicate, and to prove that they're intelligent enough to not be sealed up in a zoo, they must endure being treated like cattle, including two of their own being taken to be dissected on. While in captivity, they come across a mouse-like creature, and decide to take care of it by trapping it in their own designed cage. Later, more survivors are taken, but instead of being dissected, they return with new clothes and a message - they're going home! When the other survivors ask how the aliens found out they're intelligent enough to go home, they reveal, embaressingly, that "only rational beings put other beings in cages". Good story with a neat twist with the side story about the alien zoo. 4/5.
Eleventh is Star-Crossed Lovers, published by William W. Stuart in Galaxy, 1962. The story follows a unnamed narrator, who starts the tale by confessing that all the bodies buried near his house were not murdered. Glad we established that. But after that, we hear about how he got into all of this trouble:
Our narrator decides to walk a old lady across the street. Before they completely get across, though, he slips and pushes the lady onto the other side before he falls over and gets hit by a car. The lady is stronger then expected, though, and is able to pick him up and drag him over to the other side.
Impressed, the narrator, brings the old lady to his house, where the old lady reveals herself to be a "living atom", with the voice of a woman. The living atom also reveals that the old lady isn't just a persona - the old lady is a corpse the living atom took from the morgue and inhabited her body, it's purpose for coming to Earth being that it's race is dying, and they could use new genes to mix to make children. But our narrator doesn't mind. After burying the body near his aunt's rosebush, the living atom takes the form of a model that the narrator likes. Then they get married. Seemingly sweet.
When the atom switches bodies, that body becomes a corpse. Then the narrator buries it. One day, the atom becomes pregnant, somehow. When it gives birth, however, it does not make a new child, however. It splits apart, eliminating the "wife" entirely and giving our narrator two kids instead. Our narrator is pissed, but his kids tell him they'll visit sometime, and leave back to their own planet.
Drunk, the narrator buries the last corpse. This proves to be his downfall, for his neighbor hears him loudly singing, drunkly of course, and burying a corpse near his garage. The cops come, find the bodies, and arrest our narrator, which is where the story begins. Good story, fun perspective, and actually interesting idea for a short story. 5/5
Our final story is Immortality... For Some by J. T. McIntosh, first published in Astounding Science Fiction, March 1960. This is probably the best story in the entire collection, and also the only story I can't accurately portray here without making the story seem more complicated then it is. If you buy this collection, buy it for this and Thirty Days Had September.
Overall, this collection is great, for the stories it offers. I completely recommend it if you can find it cheap, (which it usually is at $3-$5). Four stars out of five, only because of some of the medicore stories. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 25, 2020
Interesante colección de historias que al abordar temas trascendentes de la vida humana a través de la ciencia ficción, logra confrontar al lector con sus determinaciones y su visión más profunda de la realidad. Algunos relatos son más difíciles de interpretar que otros.
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Interesting collection of stories that by addressing transcendent issues of human life through science fiction, manages to confront the reader with his determinations and his deepest vision of reality. Some stories are more difficult to interpret than others.
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Interesting collection of stories that by addressing transcendent issues of human life through science fiction, manages to confront the reader with his determinations and his deepest vision of reality. Some stories are more difficult to interpret than others.
February 16, 2019
This book contains as it's 4th story the Mindwebs audiobook 33 which is "The Top" by George Sumner Albee (also contains a Robert Sheckley!). Mindwebs version from "Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction" 1962. A strange possibly satirical story about an advertising executives rise towards both the top position and floor, of a claustrophobic pyramidal building within a profoundly dysfunctional corporation. Privately he resents the atmosphere of stifling loyality, and the obsequious toadying necessary to advance through the ranks of this paranoid organisation, but he sucks it up and gets responsibility for the whole caboodle dept. When he goes to meet the Boss he discovers the very pinnacle is perfectly representative of the capitalist philosophical attitude. Just like working for the bank really.
April 21, 2024
A fun collection of shorty stories by authors that I had never heard of.
There were a couple that I didn’t enjoy (or perhaps I just didn’t get) but most were at least neutral.
I particularly enjoyed “My object all sublime…”, “Human Man’s Burden”, “On the Fourth Planet”, and “Immortality…for Some”.
I did notice some of the horniness and sexism that old sci-fi is known for, that has somewhat faded in popular contemporary sci-fi. But I didn’t find it extreme in this collection.
There were a couple that I didn’t enjoy (or perhaps I just didn’t get) but most were at least neutral.
I particularly enjoyed “My object all sublime…”, “Human Man’s Burden”, “On the Fourth Planet”, and “Immortality…for Some”.
I did notice some of the horniness and sexism that old sci-fi is known for, that has somewhat faded in popular contemporary sci-fi. But I didn’t find it extreme in this collection.
March 6, 2020
Good anthology of SF classics. Stand out stories include “Things” by Zenna Henderson and “The Cage” by Bertram Chandler.
January 5, 2023
Wonderful stories from the late 1950s & early 1960s! This us a keeper.
November 15, 2015
fiction sf read
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