A Decade of Fantasy and Science Fiction

The People

by Robert P. Mills (Editor), Howard Fast, Ogden Nash

Science fiction and fantasy stories, along with one poem, from Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine. This might be considered F&SF's second best stories from its first decade. The editor of this volume avoided using stories from the nine previously published annual Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction as well as any stories that had been previously anthologized.

* 6 • Introduction (A Decade of Fantasy and Science Fiction) • essay by Robert P. Mills
* 9 • The Martian Shop • (1959) • novelette by Howard Fast
* 33 • Walk Like a Mountain • [Silver John] • (1955) • shortstory by Manly Wade Wellman
* 50 • Men of Iron • (1940) • shortstory by Guy Endore
* 58 • Rabbits to the Moon • (1959) • shortstory by Raymond E. Banks
* 74 • The Certificate • (1959) • shortstory by Avram Davidson
* 79 • The Sealman • (1913) • shortstory by John Masefield
* 83 • The Sky People • [Maurai] • (1959) • novelette by Poul Anderson
* 131 • The Causes • (1952) • shortstory by Margaret St. Clair [as by Idris Seabright ]
* 143 • The Hypnoglyph • (1953) • shortstory by John Ciardi [as by John Anthony]
* 154 • A Tale of the Thirteenth Floor • (1955) • poem by Ogden Nash
* 159 • Spud and Cochise • (1935) • novelette by Oliver La Farge
* 183 • Unto the Fourth Generation • (1959) • shortstory by Isaac Asimov
* 192 • Jordan • [The People] • (1959) • novelette by Zenna Henderson
* 224 • Will You Wait? • (1959) • shortstory by Alfred Bester
* 232 • Proof Positive • (1947) • shortstory by Graham Greene
* 237 • Shock Treatment • (1954) • novelette by J. Francis McComas
* 270 • Gandolphus • [Fergus O'Breen] • (1952) • shortstory by Anthony Boucher
* 280 • The Last Shall Be First • (1958) • shortstory by Robert P. Mills
* 283 • A Trick or Two • (1957) • shortstory by John Novotny
* 292 • Lot's Daughter • [David Jimmon] • (1954) • novelette by Ward Moore
* 323 • Saturnian Celia • (1774) • letter excerpt by Horace Walpole
* 325 • Fear Is a Business • (1956) • shortstory by Theodore Sturgeon
* 345 • Meeting of Relations • (1941) • shortstory by John Collier
* 348 • First Lesson • (1956) • shortstory by Mildred Clingerman
* 360 • To Fell a Tree • (1959) • novelette by Robert F. Young

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Short Stories, Anthologies, Poetry

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This anthology has a somewhat unusual and interesting idea. The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction first appeared late in 1949, edited by J. Francis McComas and Anthony Boucher. McComas left after a few years and Boucher edited it alone until turning the reins over to Mills in 1958. There was an annual anthology that presented the editors' picks of the best of the previous year, and in this book Mills selected what he felt were good stories they should have picked, stories from the first decade of the magazine that McComas and Boucher neglected for their annual best-of anthologies. He included a story each from the previous two editors, as well as good ones from authors such as Margaret St. Clair (writing as Idris Seabright), Avram Davidson (who became the editor when Mills left a few years later), Isaac Asimov, Alfred Bester, Manly Wade Wellman, Theodore Sturgeon, Robert F. Young, Mildred Clingerman, and several others, including literary heavy-weights like John Collier, Graham Greene, Oliver LaFarge, Ogden Nash, etc. It's not a best-of volume, but a best-of-the-rest.

[Oleksandr Zholud · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of shorter fiction (short stories to novellas) published in one of the main SFF periodicals, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction founded in 1949. However, because the annual collections were also published, like The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction Fifth Series, this is ‘the best of the rest’ gathering of works not included in those collections. Also, sometimes the magazine re-printed older stuff, so actually, there are stories written as early as 1774. There are a lot of smoking and male white protagonists, but stories are sometimes good.

Here are the contents with individual story reviews.
Introduction (A Decade of Fantasy and Science Fiction) essay by Robert P. Mills a very brief intro to the anthology.
The Martian Shop (1959) novelette by Howard Fast then-present-day, in the most prominent cities across the globe, in prominent places, someone rents buildings to open shops with Product of Mars and beautiful if masked shop girls. Global powers unite to investigate. 4*
Walk Like a Mountain [John the Balladeer](1955) short story by Manly Wade Wellman a bard meets a giant and a lot of stories about giants from David vs Goliath to fairy tales are discussed. This giant is a weather-controlling mage living on the top of a hill and villagers say that he stole a beauty from the village. 3*
Men of Iron (1940) short story by Guy Endore an old worker is bit by bit replaced with a machine for greater efficiency and as the machine is praised it replaces the man elsewhere. 3.5*
Rabbits to the Moon (1959) short story by Raymond E. Banks a humorous piece, a clothes manufacturer doesn’t want to go with times and make spacesuits, his mad scientist nephew experiments with beaming up rabbits, but there is a problem – skeletons don’t beam up as fast, so rabbits are more blobs of matter. 4*
The Certificate (1959) short story by Avram Davidson aliens won and subjugated the Earth. The protagonist, Dr. Roger Freeman runs through their labyrinthine bureaucratic hell to get the certificate. With a punch-line ending. 3.5*
The Sealman (1913) short story by John Masefield a retelling of an Irish (?) legend about a son of a seal growing among humans, falling in love with a human girl and brings her to undersea… 3*
The Sky People [Maurai] (1959) novelette by Poul Anderson the earliest installment in Maurai series. The idea – after the nuclear war old developed world was in ruins, however, New Zealand was relatively spared, so locals created a new environment-friendly culture there and explored the globe. Here, Maurai’s ship comes to what once was Mexico, which turned into something like medieval Spain, why they are attacked by ‘Sky People’ – Vikings on dirigibles from the former USA. The story is both very progressive and retrograde. 5*
The Causes (1952) short story by Margaret St. Clair [as by Idris Seabright] people met at a bar and discussed why the world runs to hell nowadays. Each tells his own story, from Olympic gods retiring in NZ to stolen trumpet of doom, so that the apocalypse couldn’t start. 4*
The Hypnoglyph (1953) short story by John Ciardi [as by John Anthony] a space adventurer turned collector shows a visiting doctor an alien artifact, which once touched cannot be left alone. A humorous horror. 4*
A Tale of the Thirteenth Floor (1955) poem by Ogden Nash a crazy gunman enters the lift and orders a porter to go to the 13th floor, where his cheating girlfriend is. 3*
Spud and Cochise (1936) novelette by Oliver La Farge a fantasy Western, where to kill a bad guy and protect a damsel in distress, Spud meets Indian’s chief and they drink and wander the dreamland to finally steal a malachite bullet to kill Snakeweed. 3*
Unto the Fourth Generation (1959) short story by Isaac Asimov a man runs across the city, because he vaguely recalls seeing Levkowich written, but reads Levkovich or Levkowitz or even Lafkowitz but he doesn’t understand why he cares. 5*
Jordan [The People] (1959) novelette by Zenna Henderson this is the last of the People series and as such heavily needs earlier installments. People with special abilities may finally hope to return to the Earth from their colony planet, but what is ‘home’? 3*
Will You Wait? (1959) short story by Alfred Bester all those those antiquated stories about bargains with the Devil leave the formal signing a minor issue, but here we meet the true bureaucracy of the process with Satan, Shaitan, Carnage & Bael sending prospective soul sellers to Beelzebub, Belial, Devil & Orgy, who also bury themselves in paperwork… 5*
Proof Positive (1935) short story by Graham Greene an experimenter proves that a soul can survive a body’s death, but unexpected adverse effects are the problem. 3*
Shock Treatment (1954) novelette by J. Francis McComas About 300 people are marooned on a planet and decided to build an ideal society. Now they have to judge one David Tasker, a ne’er-do-gooder, who killed the sole pharmacist of the colony, Leon Jacoby, with the intent to steal Jacoby's stock of drug and get high. Can an ideal society order capital punishment is the case? 3.5*
Gandolphus [Fergus O'Breen] (1952) short story by Anthony Boucher Fergus O'Breen is a detective who solves paranormal cases. Here he chiefly reads a diary of Charles Harrington, deceased, who had Jakkyl/Hide symptoms. 3.5*
The Last Shall Be First (1958) short story by Robert P. Mills when the last man with the last ship was left, the time turned back… 2.5*
A Trick or Two (1957) short story by John Novotny each person has a magic trick, usually not useful, like disappearing small objects. Jesse fawns over Laura, but she doesn’t care for an affair. Jesse suggests: "Then you agree that should you stand before me unclothed, I might assume, rightfully, that I have won the game?” and uses his talent, but Laura has a trick too. 3.5*
Lot's Daughter [David Jimmon] (1954) novelette by Ward Moore a post-nuclear war family of survivors who hope and fear that there are other people somewhere. 3*
Saturnian Celia (1774) essay by Horace Walpole the first interplanetary love story. 2*
Fear Is a Business (1956) short story by Theodore Sturgeon Josephus Macardle Phillipso is a successful author who writes about how saucer men want to subjugate us. A true alien visits him asking not to be ‘McCarthy of UFOs’, and almost persuades, but fear just sells better. Fake news story. 5*
Meeting of Relations (1941) short story by John Collier a strange man comes to herders, offers great things, punchline he is Cain 3*
First Lesson (1956) short story by Mildred Clingerman a wife sees her paratrooper husband dying impaled during a jump, and finds a woman/witch to prevent it. 3*
To Fell a Tree (1959) novelette by Robert F. Young a planet where locals lived under giant (mile-long) trees. Earthmen came for lumber, and the protagonist sees a Dryad that tries to stop him, but it is too good business to leave it be. Killing buffalos killed Indians, falling trees let’s men colonize. 3.5*

[Nolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a compilation of 25 stories that originally appeared in the magazine “Fantasy and Science Fiction” between 1949 and 1959. So, why would I read short stories that are scientifically silly and outdated considering our more recent discoveries? Because these guys get it closer than we give them credit for sometimes. For example, in “The Martian Shop” by Howard Fast (Published in 1959), one of the items sold is a calculator that will respond to commands from the human voice. A scant 64 years later, you have a device that can do just that somewhere near you as you read this review. I love the almost-prophecy these writers come up with, and it’s fascinating to see when they get things spectacularly wrong based on the knowledge they had at the time of their writing.

In “The Martian Shop” by Howard Fast, a series of stores open in Tokyo, New York, and Paris. Each store is open concurrently for one week, and purchasers could buy one of three items. A precision clock, a calculator-like device to which you could give vocal commands, and an atomic outboard motor. The sales staff consisted of two men and nine tall women in face masks in each store.

Finally, at 3 a.m. Saturday after the stores had been open all week, U.S. law-enforcement officials raided The New York store. (Officials also raided the Tokyo and Paris stores.) They found empty buildings in all cases, and they gathered what evidence they could. A key piece of evidence from the New York store was a tiny strip of film. It included both English and Martian writing, enabling translators to translate that portion that wasn’t in English.

I’m not a sophisticated science-fiction reader; as a result, the end left me bewildered, confused, and frustrated. But to those who are deep into the genre, I’m sure that ending made sense.

Manly Wade Wellman’s “Walk Like a Mountain, Silver John” (1955) was fantastic. A small town is on the verge of annihilation by floods. There’s a giant who lives above the town, and he has the power to rearrange massive boulders to prevent water from a swollen waterfall. Silver John is an itinerate musician who takes it upon himself to negotiate with the giant. The giant has taken a statuesque woman from the town hostage. His thinking is if he destroys the town, he could isolate himself with the woman in his house. This is a fun, memorable story.

Men of Iron by Guy Endore (1940) fascinated me because it focuses on the same debates between labor and automation that we talk about today. How much automation is too much? This is a thoughtful story worth reading.

“Rabbits to the Moon” by Raymond E. Banks (1959) is wonderfully whimsical and fun to read. A clothing company executive doesn’t want to expand his company into space suit manufacture. One of his proxy voters is on the moon, and he must get there, procure the supportive vote, and get home in time to meet a deadline. This is a quirky story you’ll likely enjoy.

Avram Davidson’s “The Certificate” (1959) is a chilling story that focuses on what happens to humans should aliens occupy and govern the world. It’s super short, but it carries a big impact.

“The Sealman” by John Masefield made no sense to me; it felt kind of trippy or something.

In Poul Anderson’s “The Sky People,” a 1959 novelette, a beautiful Hispanic woman and a naval officer from New Zealand fall for one another. When flying warriors invade her nation, (they were a group of balloonists from what was once the mountain west of the United States), she and the navy man concoct a plan to lure the sky people to move the scenes of battle into the sea. Read this to see who prevails.

In “The Causes” by Idris Seabright AKA Margaret St. Clair, a group of people at a bar insist they know what’s wrong with the country and how to fix it. One insists the problem is the hydrogen bomb. Another says the nation no longer cares about the pantheon of Greek gods. Someone else says it’s because the last trump declaring the end of the world has yet to blow, and he insists he has the trumpet.

“The Hypnoglyph,” originally published in 1953, by John Ciardi, is one that male readers will especially remember. A space traveler has come to Earth bringing a strange box that, when men touch it, becomes irresistible to them. They continue to stroke it and stroke it until it brings to pass a hypnotic effect. On a faraway planet is a group of obese alien women who run the place, but who have hypnotized their men to such a degree that they are weak, vapid, and unable to breed. It turns out Earthmen can successfully breed with these alien women. What’s a girl gotta do to get some action?

Ogden Nash’s “A Tale of the Thirteenth Floor” originally appeared in 1953. It’s a delightful poem about a hotel’s 13th floor. I enjoyed it.

Oliver La Farge released “Spud and Cochise” in 1953. This is a great story about a damsel in distress, a white guy who wants to rescue her, and an Apache thief who makes it all happen. The story successfully blends science fiction and the old west in a unique way.

In 1959, Isaac Asimov published “Unto the Fourth Generation.” This is a somewhat unsatisfying amalgam of genealogy and science fiction. But hey, if you’re into family history, (and I’m not, this could be your kind of story.

On Labor Day weekend of 2020, I read Zenna Henderson’s entire compilation of The People. I’ll be surprised if that doesn’t go down as my favorite science fiction book of my entire life. Naturally, I loved reading “Jordan” a novelette excerpt from Henderson’s The People. It will make you think of how you define home, love, and beauty. It’s well worth your reading time.

“Will You Wait” is a 1959 short story by Alfred Bester that made me chuckle. It’s a good-natured swipe at bureaucracy. A man who’s tired of being perennially broke determines to sell his soul to Satan. He finds him employed as an attorney, naturally. This is a great takeoff on the typical bargain with the devil story. You’ll smile to the last word.

Graham Greene’s “Proof Positive,” originally appeared in 1947. It left me in a state of comatose ennui.

“Shock Treatment” by J. Francis McComas first appeared in 1954. It’s an entertaining look at how humans adapt to a new world and deal with capital punishment.

Anthony Boucher’s short story “Gandolphus” was a disappointment. I would have thought with a famous name like that they could have found a better offering.

Robert P. Mills’s “The Last Shall be First” is an interesting look at the cycles of life and civilizations.

“A Trick or Two” by John Novotny is a fantasy indeed. It seems that everyone can do one bit of magic, but we don’t know what it is until we discover it. One man can make things disappear. Another can instantaneously disrobe anyone who agrees to step into a private place like a closet. Seems our main character has the power to cause women to disrobe and have their clothes disappear. He did it to his secretary, who had no problem at all with the arrangement. But when he tried it on Laura, the woman about whom he most obsessively fantasized, it worked. But so did her trick! Yikes! Read this one.

The 1955 novelette “Lot’s Daughter” y Ward Moore looks at the impact of a nuclear devastation on the lives of one man, his daughter, and the son born to her. Yeah, in case you’re wondering, the guy was both dad and grandpa. Wow! It’s worth reading.

In 1956, Theodore Sturgeon published “Fear is a Business.” It looks at the money those who exploit the fears of others make, especially where UFOs are concerned. One author is making serious bank by capitalizing on those fears until he gets a visitor. That conversation changes everything!

Robert F. Young’s novella, “To Fell a Tree,” originally published in 1959, ends the anthology, and it’s a memorable ending for sure. A logger cuts down a 200-foot-tall tree that bleeds blood-colored sap. The tree’s soul, which manifests itself in the form of a dryad, cries out to the logger and forces him to reexamine everything he believes about living creatures.

[Marsha Valance · Rating 3 out of 5]

Because the editor avoided previously anthologized stories, many of the best from the 1st decade aren't here. A Science Fiction Book Club selection.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book full of different unique story’s that keeps you interested

[Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag. None of the stories rated a 1 or a 5. I read the hardcover version, which isn't yet in the GR database. I'll add it this weekend.

The editor called one of the stories a "bar-fantasy," a phrase I liked having just read Draco Tavern and having read Gavagan's Bar not long ago.

[Shawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this through inter-library loan, simply to read Robert F. Young's story "To Fell A Tree", from 1959 (IIRC). It was on my short story read list and so I tracked down a book that had it. I don't know why it was on my list - I'm not a sci-fi fan but this story echoes my youthful memories of reading sci-fi - interesting worlds and imaginative scenarios and a little moral at the end. This may have been on my list because it features a dryad, and I was gathering info on dryads once-upon-a-time for a short story I have yet to write.

Anyway, this was also mentioned online as being considered a fore-runner of AVATAR, but as I haven't seen that film, I can't say. What it is is an enjoyable read about the harvesting of the last giant tree (1100 feet tall) on same alien planet in the future. The main character is a lone, futuristic lumberjack sent up the enormous tree (with carefully explained equipment that really I couldn't care too much about - rational descriptions of gadgets, one of the many reasons I don't read much sci-fi) to begin trimming the branches from the top and work his way down. He runs into an elusive dryad-like being who pleads with him, as well as cajoles and threatens, as he camps out over a period of days, hacking up the enormous old tree that bleeds a reddish sap like blood. It's an effective ecological tale from before such things were fashionable and it held my interest.

[TrumanCoyote · Rating 3 out of 5]

My biggest problem was trying to figure out the angle. Fantasy and Science Fiction didn't really publish Horace Walpole and Ogden Nash, did they? And John Masefield...so why use the mag's name (and the editor) for just a straight fantasy collection? Of the stories, liked best Zenna Henderson's "Jordan"--and "First Lesson" by Mildred Clingerman. Also "Proof Positive" by Graham Greene (although of course I'd read it somewhere else...); and then there was the weirdly Hasidic Asimov tale. Howard Fast story corny--definitely a Hoary Chestnut.

[Icarus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun golden age style scifi. This is the sort of stuff that got me hooked at a young age. Mind-bending what-ifs.

[Brett]

Science Fiction,Anthology

[John Willemse · Rating 5 out of 5]

The foremost reason I wanted to read this book was the story by Robert F. Young, "To Fell a Tree." I'd recommend this to anyone who loves to get lost in fantasy and science fiction!

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

"To Fell A Tree" & "The Sky People" stood out for me.