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The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction: Sixth Series
Ace Books, 1962. First paperback edition, cover code F-131. Includes an introduction by the editor, and these works: The Cosmic Expense Account (1956) by C. M. Kornbluth; Mr. Sakrison's Halt (1956) by Mildred Clingerman; The Asa Rule (1956) by Jay Williams; King's Evil (1956) by Avram Davidson; The Census Takers (1956) by Frederik Pohl; The Man Who Came Early (1956) by Poul Anderson; Final Clearance (1956) by Rachel Maddux; The Silk and the Song (1956) by Charles L. Fontenay; The Shoddy Lands (1956) by C. S. Lewis; The Last Present (1956) by Will Stanton; No Man Pursueth (1956) by Ward Moore; I Don't Mind (1956) by Ron Smith; The Barbarian (1956) by Poul Anderson; And Now the News . . . (1956) by Theodore Sturgeon; Icarus Montgolfier Wright (1956) by Ray Bradbury; The Woods Grow Darker (1955, poem) by Leah Bodine Drake; Blaze of Glory [Poor Willie] (1955, poem) by Randall Garrett; Bright Destruction (1956, poem) by Winona McClintic; Free Flight (1956, poem) by P. M. Hubbard; The Anti-Climax (1956, poem) by Winona McClintic; Interview (1955, poem) by Bird Ferguson.
254 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1958
About the author
Anthony Boucher
685 books43 followersWilliam Anthony Parker White, better known by his pen name Anthony Boucher, was an American author, critic, and editor who wrote several classic mystery novels, short stories, science fiction, and radio dramas. Between 1942 and 1947, he acted as reviewer of mostly mystery fiction for the San Francisco Chronicle. In addition to "Anthony Boucher", White also employed the pseudonym "H. H. Holmes", which was the pseudonym of a late-19th-century American serial killer; Boucher would also write light verse and sign it " Herman W. Mudgett" (the murderer's real name).
In a 1981 poll of 17 detective story writers and reviewers, his novel Nine Times Nine was voted as the ninth best locked room mystery of all time.
In a 1981 poll of 17 detective story writers and reviewers, his novel Nine Times Nine was voted as the ninth best locked room mystery of all time.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 21, 2021
This is the sixth anthology of the editors' choice of the best from F & SF magazine, with stories and poems that originally appeared 1956. There are good stories from Will Stanton, C.M. Kornbluth, Mildred Clingerman, a rare story by C.S. Lweis, Frederik Pohl, Poul Anderson (The Barbarian, a funny Conan parody), and Ray Bradbury. My favorites were No Man Pursueth by Ward Moore and And Now the News... by Theodore Sturgeon.
January 24, 2026
The title is actually The Best From Fantasy and Science Fiction, Sixth Series. For some really annoying reason, the table of contents only lists stories and none of the many short poems sprinkled throughout.
The 1950s are idealized by many, but it was actually a time of high anxiety. This is reflected in several of these selections, where hatred of something of other simmers under the surface of urban fantasy or sci-fi lite.
Although there were some selections I liked, they were few and far between. Some giants show feet of clay here, such as C. S. Lewis, Ray Bradbury and Theodore Sturgeon. Overall, this was a far inferior anthology than the previous year's.
Selections:
* "Introduction" by Our Editor. Our Editor is scandalized by an article in The Saturday Review by John W. Campbell, Jr.
* "The Cosmic Expense Account" by C. M. Kornbluth. Shitty way to start the book. WARNING: A lot of animal deaths and suffering, including a rabbit bludgeoned to death.
* "Blaze of Glory" by Randall Garrett. Rhymed quatrain, supposed to be funny, but isn't.
* "Mr. Sakriston's Halt" by Mildred Clingerman. Sad, but familiar small town train to the past flavor later made familiar in a Twilight Zone episode. (Not of this story, but something similar.)
* "The Woods Grow Darker" by Leah Bodine Drake. Poignant poem comparing fearsome woodlands of childhood to the fearsome woodlands of adulthood.
* "The Asa Rule" by Jay Williams. One of those stories where you don't know if you like it or not.
* "King's Evil" by Avram Davidson. Cute little story set in England of the late 1700s.
* "Interview" by Bird Ferguson. A very good poem of a human reminiscing about Earth.
* "The Census Takers" by Frederick Pohl. Apparently, this was the first story of Pohl's published in F & SF ... but not Pohl's first story. However, there's a lot left out of this story about a future America with extreme overpopulation ... at least, I think that's what it was about.
* "Flying Chaucer" by Anthony Brode. Sci-fi parody poem written in the style of Geoffrey Chaucer.
* "The Man Who Came Early" by Poul Anderson. Very good but ultimately puzzling narration of an Icelander from 1000 CE telling a priest about a strange guy claiming to be from some place called the United States. WARNING: An old horse is shot.
* "The Anti-Climax" by Winona McClintic. Short poem about the ants taking over.
* "Final Clearance" by Rachel Maddux. Urban fantasy that's sort of a 1950s version of Beetlejuice.
* "The Silk and the Song" by Charles L. Fontanay. Humans are used as horses by aliens for a thousand years, but there's a strange object in the city that's the subject of human legend. A bit predictable, very violent and a bit sad. Somewhat like a sci-fi version of Black Beauty.
* "The Shoddy Lands" by C. S. Lewis. Yes ... that C. S. Lewis. He wrote a short urban fantasy that you probably never heard of ... for good reason. This sucks.
* "I Want My Name In the Title" by Winona McClintic. Short poem narrated by Frankenstein's monster.
* "The Last Present" by Will Stanton. Told from an American child's point of view, it begins as the perfect birthday. And then ... well ... your guess is as good as mine.
* "No Man Pursueth" by Ward Moore. This novella is the anthology's longest selection. Our Editor plays a cameo role ... which was probably why this shitty story got published, then put in the Year's Best anthology. Just skip this. The author clearly hates women and believes in religion. WARNING: Cat shot with an arrow.
* "I Don't Mind" by Ron Smith. Now we go from the longest to the shortest story in the collection. It's the old Last Man and Woman on Earth bit, with a cruel twist.
* "The Barbarian" by Poul Anderson. Parody of Conan the Barbarian, with Cronkheit the Barbarian. I'm not sure if this was poking fun at Walter Cronkite, since he's about as opposite of a barbarian as you can get.
* "Bright Destruction" by Winona McClintic. Yet another throwaway poem. What -- did this gal sleep with Our Editor or something?
* "And Now the News ..." by Theodore Sturgeon. Man, Sturgeon has some major beef against psychiatrists.
* "Icarus Montgoflier Wright" by Ray Bradbury. More of a prose poem than a story, praising human efforts at flight over the centuries. It seems odd that Icarus here gets the praise, since he crashed and died, but his dad Daedalus succeeded, and yet isn't mentioned. Ah, well ...
* "Free Flight" by P. M. Hubbard. And we end on a poem about humans flying which is actually quite good.
The 1950s are idealized by many, but it was actually a time of high anxiety. This is reflected in several of these selections, where hatred of something of other simmers under the surface of urban fantasy or sci-fi lite.
Although there were some selections I liked, they were few and far between. Some giants show feet of clay here, such as C. S. Lewis, Ray Bradbury and Theodore Sturgeon. Overall, this was a far inferior anthology than the previous year's.
Selections:
* "Introduction" by Our Editor. Our Editor is scandalized by an article in The Saturday Review by John W. Campbell, Jr.
* "The Cosmic Expense Account" by C. M. Kornbluth. Shitty way to start the book. WARNING: A lot of animal deaths and suffering, including a rabbit bludgeoned to death.
* "Blaze of Glory" by Randall Garrett. Rhymed quatrain, supposed to be funny, but isn't.
* "Mr. Sakriston's Halt" by Mildred Clingerman. Sad, but familiar small town train to the past flavor later made familiar in a Twilight Zone episode. (Not of this story, but something similar.)
* "The Woods Grow Darker" by Leah Bodine Drake. Poignant poem comparing fearsome woodlands of childhood to the fearsome woodlands of adulthood.
* "The Asa Rule" by Jay Williams. One of those stories where you don't know if you like it or not.
* "King's Evil" by Avram Davidson. Cute little story set in England of the late 1700s.
* "Interview" by Bird Ferguson. A very good poem of a human reminiscing about Earth.
* "The Census Takers" by Frederick Pohl. Apparently, this was the first story of Pohl's published in F & SF ... but not Pohl's first story. However, there's a lot left out of this story about a future America with extreme overpopulation ... at least, I think that's what it was about.
* "Flying Chaucer" by Anthony Brode. Sci-fi parody poem written in the style of Geoffrey Chaucer.
* "The Man Who Came Early" by Poul Anderson. Very good but ultimately puzzling narration of an Icelander from 1000 CE telling a priest about a strange guy claiming to be from some place called the United States. WARNING: An old horse is shot.
* "The Anti-Climax" by Winona McClintic. Short poem about the ants taking over.
* "Final Clearance" by Rachel Maddux. Urban fantasy that's sort of a 1950s version of Beetlejuice.
* "The Silk and the Song" by Charles L. Fontanay. Humans are used as horses by aliens for a thousand years, but there's a strange object in the city that's the subject of human legend. A bit predictable, very violent and a bit sad. Somewhat like a sci-fi version of Black Beauty.
* "The Shoddy Lands" by C. S. Lewis. Yes ... that C. S. Lewis. He wrote a short urban fantasy that you probably never heard of ... for good reason. This sucks.
* "I Want My Name In the Title" by Winona McClintic. Short poem narrated by Frankenstein's monster.
* "The Last Present" by Will Stanton. Told from an American child's point of view, it begins as the perfect birthday. And then ... well ... your guess is as good as mine.
* "No Man Pursueth" by Ward Moore. This novella is the anthology's longest selection. Our Editor plays a cameo role ... which was probably why this shitty story got published, then put in the Year's Best anthology. Just skip this. The author clearly hates women and believes in religion. WARNING: Cat shot with an arrow.
* "I Don't Mind" by Ron Smith. Now we go from the longest to the shortest story in the collection. It's the old Last Man and Woman on Earth bit, with a cruel twist.
* "The Barbarian" by Poul Anderson. Parody of Conan the Barbarian, with Cronkheit the Barbarian. I'm not sure if this was poking fun at Walter Cronkite, since he's about as opposite of a barbarian as you can get.
* "Bright Destruction" by Winona McClintic. Yet another throwaway poem. What -- did this gal sleep with Our Editor or something?
* "And Now the News ..." by Theodore Sturgeon. Man, Sturgeon has some major beef against psychiatrists.
* "Icarus Montgoflier Wright" by Ray Bradbury. More of a prose poem than a story, praising human efforts at flight over the centuries. It seems odd that Icarus here gets the praise, since he crashed and died, but his dad Daedalus succeeded, and yet isn't mentioned. Ah, well ...
* "Free Flight" by P. M. Hubbard. And we end on a poem about humans flying which is actually quite good.
January 2, 2020
Another collection of short stories from 1957, this time selecting the best stories in F&SF magazine. As such it isn't as great as Judith Merrill's collection of the same year, which was freer to select from disparate sources, but it is still a fun collection with some stories of it's own worth reading.
The two highlights for me here are Theodore Sturgeon's "And Now the News..." and especially Poul Anderson's "The Barbarian", which being a spoof of Conan the Barbarian is particularly close to my heart being a fan of the character.
It's as usual a bit of a hit and miss, but it's overall entertaining fare. However, I would definitely recommend the Judith Merrill anthology of the same year if you are interested in some Science Fiction short stories of the time.
The two highlights for me here are Theodore Sturgeon's "And Now the News..." and especially Poul Anderson's "The Barbarian", which being a spoof of Conan the Barbarian is particularly close to my heart being a fan of the character.
It's as usual a bit of a hit and miss, but it's overall entertaining fare. However, I would definitely recommend the Judith Merrill anthology of the same year if you are interested in some Science Fiction short stories of the time.
April 27, 2019
I got this book while looking for a short story by Avram Davidson. It doesn't contain it but, I found these stories fascinating. The compilation was published in 1957 and contain great stories from the "Golden Age" of scifi. There is one exception, "No Man Persueth" by Ward Moore which uses racist characture for one of the people in it. One of the unifying features is the use of irony like Rod Serling was fond of in Twilight Zone some years later. I found interesting the themes of racism, sexism and inequality that are still part of our society. I suggest reading this book.
January 10, 2024
A mixed bag of 50's SF and fantasy with a bit of poetry. Most of it is forgettable. The lead-off anti-Dianetics story is ahead of its time and a winner. There are two by Pohl Anderson here that are both quite good. One begins with the same premise as his excellent novel "Three Hearts and Three Lions," which was published a few years after this book. The idea must have been bouncing around. The other is a comic take on Conan called "The Barbarian." I only rated one story as "terrible."
January 10, 2022
An above average collection of sf stories from 1957
November 20, 2010
Whether or not the '50s were the "golden age of science fiction," these tales from the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction have a flavor that you don't meet in most modern SF stories. While Astounding SF was hewing to a mostly technical-problem line, F&SF was featuring writing firmly based on character, borderline and over-the borderline strangeness, and skewed, experimental writing. Naturally, Theodore Sturgeon and Bradbury are in this collection, plus other standard-bearers of the time (Poul Anderson, Frederick Pohl, Avram Davidson), but also a lot of really interesting writers who have pretty much disappeared over the years. This collection was a delight to read.
September 26, 2015
A raft of stories by recognized masters of the short story. One gem by Ward Moore stood out - "No Man Pursueth."
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews