Beyond Time and Space

by August Derleth (Editor), A.E. van Vogt, Olaf Stapledon

Here are magnificent tales of the incredible future when mankind will have fulfilled his destiny and when the Sputniks will seem as outdated as the horse and buggy seems today.
You will read about life on other planets, the problems of driving a space ship to the stars, the ages to come when machines have evolved into unbelievable complexity. Man is at the dawn of a whole new era and these stories explore the question of what this new era will be like.

Contents:

The Long Watch by Robert A. Heinlein
Minority Report by Theodore Sturgeon
Colossus by Donald Wandrei
A Voyage to Sfanomoe by Clark Ashton Smith
The Seesaw by A.E. Van Vogt
The Flying Men by Olaf Stapledon
Fessenden's Worlds by Edmond Hamilton
Humpty Dumpty Had a Great Fall by Frank Belknap Long

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories

174 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1950

About the author

August William Derleth was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first book publisher of the writings of H. P. Lovecraft, and for his own contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos and the Cosmic Horror genre, as well as his founding of the publisher Arkham House (which did much to bring supernatural fiction into print in hardcover in the US that had only been readily available in the UK), Derleth was a leading American regional writer of his day, as well as prolific in several other genres, including historical fiction, poetry, detective fiction, science fiction, and biography

A 1938 Guggenheim Fellow, Derleth considered his most serious work to be the ambitious Sac Prairie Saga, a series of fiction, historical fiction, poetry, and non-fiction naturalist works designed to memorialize life in the Wisconsin he knew. Derleth can also be considered a pioneering naturalist and conservationist in his writing

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augus...]

Reviews

[Chris Warneke · Rating 4 out of 5]

My copy of Beyond Time and Space is not the original hardcover, it's the paperback reprint from 1958 containing only the final 8 stories of the original 1950 edition.

Some ambitious extrapolations take us on many weird and wonderful journeys. My favourite example of this was the Donald Wandrei story "Colossus", which takes us to the far reaches of the universe... and beyond. It takes the idea that our universe is only an atom in a much larger space. This idea has surely been the basis of many science fiction stories over the years, this is a fairly early one and a terrific example of the Sense of Wonder branch of SF.

"Fessendon's World" by Edmond Hamilton turns the idea of "Colossus" upside-down by following a person on earth to the home of a fellow scientist who has created a microcosmic universe in his study and is observing the effects of creating major problems for intelligent lifeforms on the tiny planets. These problems may be environmental or astronomical (as when he moves an ice and snow planet with suitably adapted intelligent lifeforms closer to its sun. What an asshole!).

Another ambitious segment is an excerpt from Olaf Stapledon's novel "First and Last Men". Or is it a novel? It doesn't read like one, though that didn't stop me from finding this excerpt intermittently fascinating. Contemporary opinion seems split on the worth and merit of First and Last Men, but this piece should give the reader a fair idea whether this novel is for them. (For all I know the whole thing may be available on Project Guttenberg anyway, and maybe half the other stories here too.)

That seems almost enough about this heavily trimmed version of "Beyond Time and Space". Just briefly, the Heinlein piece is a nicely structured and satisfying story of the Moral Hero. "Humpty Dumpty Had a Great Fall" is a highly imaginative story mainly set in a horrific nursery rhyme world but has a tenuous SF denoument. Perhaps one of Long's best. Beyond Time and Space is a quality anthology and the stories read well together. Some share a couple of themes or ideas or whatever but it never becomes too similar or dull.

[Johnny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow. Colossus, is a hard one for me to write about. So much of the story is written with amazing and detailed descriptions. Like a very lengthy part of the man Duane as he flies through deep space before bursting out of the universe into a strange place of huge, colossal beings. I both enjoyed these descriptions and also couldn't stand how long and drawn out they are. They are also written so well that I was pulled into the story and seemingly lost in his journey. Then, things began to take quite a different turn as he encounters these enormous beings and slowly comes to understand them, learning of their deep intelligence.
Before they decide to dissect him.

Brothers from a distant place called Atlantis begin to focus on a far away planet, Sfanomoe. Great scientists in their land, they gather together people who can build a giant sphere shaped ship which they use to travel to the planet. I really enjoyed the language in this story. It is almost like reading a poem. Once the two brothers arrive on the planet they find a beautiful land blooming with flowers. The final paragraphs are both shocking and beautiful.

A strange story about people witnessing a shop appearing out of nowhere and with access seemingly impossible. Until one man finds himself inside the shop and interacting with a woman and her father. Soon he begins to travel, see-sawing through time and finding himself a ticking time bomb due to this. He may be the cause of the big bang.

The Flying Men is a description of a race of human like people who can fly and detailing how they live and enjoy life.

Fessondon is a scientist who has created a miniature universe filled with many planets of containing different systems and peoples. He quickly becomes obsessed with testing and destroying the lives of these inhabitants and various and disturbing ways.

[Corey Butler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short collection of vintage, pulp sci-fi stories, with an emphasis on space travel and other world themes.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best stories by these authors, far more speaking than action, the best was the Humpty Dumpty story at the end by Frank Long.