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Without Sorcery
''Without Sorcery'' is a collection of science fiction and fantasy short stories by American writer Theodore Sturgeon. The collection was first published in 1948 by Prime Press in an edition of 2,862 copies of which 80 were specially bound, slipcased and signed by the author and artist. The stories first appeared in the magazines '' Astounding'' and ''Unknown''. Contents * Introduction, by Ray Bradbury * "The Ultimate Egoist" * " It!" * "Poker Face" * "Shottle Bop" * "Artnan Process" * "Memorial" * "Ether Breather" * "Butyl and the Breather" * "Brat" * "Two Percent Inspiration" * "Cargo" * "Maturity" * "Microcosmic God" "It!" To promote ''Without Sorcery'', Prime Press published the story " It!" in advance of the full collection. The book was published in paperback in an edition of 200 copies (). Fifty copies were given away at the Associated Fantasy Publishers party at the 6th World Science Fiction Convention and most were signed by Sturgeon. Few of the remaining copies w ...
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Theodore Sturgeon
Theodore Sturgeon (; born Edward Hamilton Waldo, February 26, 1918 – May 8, 1985) was an American fiction author of primarily fantasy, science fiction and horror, as well as a critic. He wrote approximately 400 reviews and more than 120 short stories, 11 novels and several scripts for ''Star Trek: The Original Series''. Sturgeon's science fiction novel ''More Than Human'' (1953) won the 1954 International Fantasy Award (for SF and fantasy) as the year's best novel, and the Science Fiction Writers of America ranked "Baby Is Three" number five among the " Greatest Science Fiction Novellas of All Time" to 1964. Ranked by votes for all of their pre-1965 novellas, Sturgeon was second among authors, behind Robert Heinlein. An overview of his work by science fiction critic Sam Moskowitz can be found in the collective biography ''Seekers of Tomorrow''. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inducted Sturgeon in 2000, its fifth class of two dead and two living writers. Bio ...
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It! (short Story)
"It" is a horror short story by American writer Theodore Sturgeon, first published in ''Unknown'' of August 1940 (volume 3, number 6). The story deals with a muck-monster that emerges from a swamp, and terrorizes a family who lives nearby. The creature has no emotions, and is simply curious about the things that it observes. Its terrifying strength allows it to grab animals and people and tear them apart, to see how they work. Ultimately, the creature is revealed to have formed around a human skeleton. P. Schuyler Miller described "It" as "probably the most unforgettable story ever published in ''Unknown''". The story was published in book form in Sturgeon's first short story collection, '' Without Sorcery'' (1948). The story inspired many similar characters in comic books, including Swamp Thing and Man-Thing. Similar characters Plant-based swamp monsters similar to that in the story appear in various comic books. Among these characters are Hillman Comics' the Heap i ...
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1948 Short Story Collections
Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British Railways. * January 4 – Burma gains its independence from the United Kingdom, becoming an independent republic, named the ''Union of Burma'', with Sao Shwe Thaik as its first President, and U Nu its first Prime Minister. * January 5 ** Warner Brothers shows the first color newsreel (''Tournament of Roses Parade'' and the ''Rose Bowl Game''). ** The first Kinsey Report, ''Sexual Behavior in the Human Male'', is published in the United States. * January 7 – Mantell UFO incident: Kentucky Air National Guard pilot Thomas Mantell crashes while in pursuit of an unidentified flying object. * January 12 – Mahatma Gandhi begins his fast-unto-death in Delhi, to stop communal violence during the Partition of India. * January 17 &nda ...
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Advent (publisher)
Advent:Publishers is an American publishing house. It was founded by Earl Kemp and other members of the University of Chicago Science Fiction Club, including Sidney Coleman, in 1955, to publish criticism, history, and bibliography of the science fiction field, beginning with Damon Knight's ''In Search of Wonder''. With books like ''In Search of Wonder'' and James Blish's ''The Issue at Hand'', Advent became the genre's first scholarly publisher. Authors Authors in the field who have either written or edited Advent books, or been the subject of an Advent book, include: * Cy Chauvin * Reginald Bretnor *Theodore Cogswell *Robert A. Heinlein *Cyril Kornbluth *Alfred Bester *Robert Bloch *L. Sprague de Camp * Howard DeVore *E. E. Smith * Ron Ellik *Lloyd Arthur Eshbach *Damon Knight *Alexei Panshin *Donald H. Tuck *Harry Warner Jr Footnotes on First Beginnings: Advent & the UofCSF Club… “After exchanging a few letters with Mari Wolf (who was conducting “Fandora’s Bo ...
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Astounding Science Fiction
''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William Clayton, and edited by Harry Bates. Clayton went bankrupt in 1933 and the magazine was sold to Street & Smith. The new editor was F. Orlin Tremaine, who soon made ''Astounding'' the leading magazine in the nascent pulp science fiction field, publishing well-regarded stories such as Jack Williamson's '' Legion of Space'' and John W. Campbell's "Twilight". At the end of 1937, Campbell took over editorial duties under Tremaine's supervision, and the following year Tremaine was let go, giving Campbell more independence. Over the next few years Campbell published many stories that became classics in the field, including Isaac Asimov's ''Foundation'' series, A. E. van Vogt's ''Slan'', and several novels and stories by Robert A. Heinl ...
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F&SF
''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy fiction magazine, fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence E. Spivak, Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Publications, Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher and J. Francis McComas had approached Spivak in the mid-1940s about creating a fantasy companion to Spivak's existing mystery title, ''Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine''. The first issue was titled ''The Magazine of Fantasy'', but the decision was quickly made to include science fiction as well as fantasy, and the title was changed correspondingly with the second issue. ''F&SF'' was quite different in presentation from the existing science fiction magazines of the day, most of which were in pulp magazine, pulp format: it had no interior illustrations, no letter column, and text in a single column format, which in the opinion of science fiction historian Mike Ashley (writer), ...
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Anthony Boucher
William Anthony Parker White (August 21, 1911 – April 29, 1968), 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. Background White was born in Oakland, California, and went to college at the University of Southern California. He later received a master's degree from the University of California, Berkeley. After a friend told him that "Willia ...
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6th World Science Fiction Convention
The 6th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as Torcon, was held on 3–5 July 1948 at RAI Purdy Studios in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. This was the first Worldcon held outside the United States. The chairman was Ned McKeown. Participants Attendance was approximately 200. Guests of Honour * Robert Bloch (pro) * Bob Tucker (fan) See also * Hugo Award * Science fiction * Speculative fiction * World Science Fiction Society * Worldcon References See also * World Science Fiction Society Worldcon, or more formally the World Science Fiction Convention, the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), is a science fiction convention. It has been held each year since 1939 (except for the years 1942 to 1945, during ... {{DEFAULTSORT:World Science Fiction Convention 006 1948 conferences 1948 in Canada Science fiction conventions in Canada Worldcon ...
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Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and realistic fiction. Bradbury wrote many works and is widely known by the general public for his novel ''Fahrenheit 451'' (1953) and his short-story collections ''The Martian Chronicles'' (1950) and ''The Illustrated Man'' (1951). Most of his best known work is speculative fiction, but he also worked in other genres, such as the coming of age novel ''Dandelion Wine'' (1957) and the fictionalized memoir ''Green Shadows, White Whale'' (1992). He also wrote and consulted on screenplays and television scripts, including ''Moby Dick'' and ''It Came from Outer Space''. Many of his works were adapted into television and film productions as well as comic books. ''The New York Times'' called Bradbury "the writer most responsible for bringing modern ...
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Science Fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universes, extraterrestrial life, sentient artificial intelligence, cybernetics, certain forms of immortality (like mind uploading), and the singularity. Science fiction predicted several existing inventions, such as the atomic bomb, robots, and borazon, whose names entirely match their fictional predecessors. In addition, science fiction might serve as an outlet to facilitate future scientific and technological innovations. Science fiction can trace its roots to ancient mythology. It is also related to fantasy, horror, and superhero fiction and contains many subgenres. Its exact definition has long been disputed among authors, critics, scholars, and readers. Science fiction, in literature, film, television, and other media, has beco ...
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Unknown (magazine)
''Unknown'' (also known as ''Unknown Worlds'') was an American pulp fantasy fiction magazine, published from 1939 to 1943 by Street & Smith, and edited by John W. Campbell. ''Unknown'' was a companion to Street & Smith's science fiction pulp, ''Astounding Science Fiction'', which was also edited by Campbell at the time; many authors and illustrators contributed to both magazines. The leading fantasy magazine in the 1930s was ''Weird Tales'', which focused on shock and horror. Campbell wanted to publish a fantasy magazine with more finesse and humor than ''Weird Tales'', and put his plans into action when Eric Frank Russell sent him the manuscript of his novel '' Sinister Barrier'', about aliens who own the human race. ''Unknown''s first issue appeared in March 1939; in addition to ''Sinister Barrier'', it included H. L. Gold's "Trouble With Water", a humorous fantasy about a New Yorker who meets a water gnome. Gold's story was the first of many in ''Unknown'' to combine commonpl ...
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Astounding
''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William Clayton (publisher), William Clayton, and edited by Harry Bates (author), Harry Bates. Clayton went bankrupt in 1933 and the magazine was sold to Street & Smith. The new editor was F. Orlin Tremaine, who soon made ''Astounding'' the leading magazine in the nascent pulp science fiction field, publishing well-regarded stories such as Jack Williamson's ''Legion of Space Series, Legion of Space'' and John W. Campbell's Twilight (Campbell short story), "Twilight". At the end of 1937, Campbell took over editorial duties under Tremaine's supervision, and the following year Tremaine was let go, giving Campbell more independence. Over the next few years Campbell published many stories that became classics in the field, including Isaac Asimov's Foun ...
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