Science Fiction Tales: Invaders, Creatures and Alien Worlds

by Roger Elwood, Rod Ruth (Illustrator), Theodore Sturgeon (Introduction)

Book by Roger Elwood

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction, Anthologies

124 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Roger Elwood was an American science fiction writer and editor, perhaps best known for having edited a large number of anthologies and collections for a variety of publishers in the early 1970s. Elwood was also the founding editor of Laser Books and, in more recent years, worked in the evangelical Christian market.

Reviews

[Reet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doing research on Creature Features, the Friday night horror show aired on Channel 2, KTVU, Oakland, circa 1970s, this book came up. The story "Some Are Born Cats," by Terry and Carol Carr, is where the Creature Features reference comes from. The cat Gilgamesh, an alien from the planet Procyon, has shown up on Earth to retrieve a fellow planetarian who has escaped from the mines of Procyon to Live life as a lazing cat named George.
This, and the rest of the stories are just fine, for a 12-year-old, and I wish I had read it then.

[Erik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful memories of reading this as a child.

[Rogue-van (the Bookman) · Rating 4 out of 5]

After Theodore Sturgeon's introduction on "The Wonder-full Age," there are seven short stories to inspire wonder, especially for those between the ages of seven and thirteen. It begins with the blockbuster tale by Anne McCaffrey, "The Smallest Dragonboy," which fits in nicely with her other published dragon stories. The other stories are by A. Tofte, C.E. Street, D.H. Charney, R.F. Jones, Nick Boles, and Terry & Carol Carr.

Elwood has a flair for picking good stories. Getting the dragon story for an opener was a real coup, considering that some of us would have bought the book just to read that! "Two Years to Gaea" by Boles introduces an unusual boy to a newly discovered world like earth, if he can survive to see it. The final story is "Some Are Born Cats." Three winners, and the others are good too. This is an excellent introduction to science fiction for young adults.

[Muzzlehatch · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introductory book for young burgeoning SF/fantasy fans, as I was when I received this book for Christmas over 30 years ago as an 11-year-old. Stories by Anne McCaffrey -- an original Pern story which I'm not sure has been republished -- and lesser-known names like Arthur Tofte, Raymond F Jones and the late lamented Terry Carr, himself a great anthologizer. My favorite story, which has stuck with me all of these years, is "The Mysteious Gem" by one Claire Edwin Street, a complete unknown to me, about a couple of kids who accidentally pick up the title stone and find themselves caught up in an attempted alien invasion. Evocative black and white line drawings throughout by Rod Ruth; intro by Ted Sturgeon.

[Becky Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I owned this book when I was 11 or 12 and had it for a long time. I loaned it out to someone and never got it back, but I've found it again and won't let it go. The short stories are really good and have never left my memory all this time. I would recommend it for any adult science fiction fan who would like a handy book with great short stories to read and finish when you have a short amount of time to read. It's nice to begin and end a story in the span of 15 minutes. Sometimes I get time of reading this books that go on and on, sequel after sequel. This book is refreshing.