''12 Great Classics of Science Fiction'' is an
anthology
In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors.
In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...
of
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 unive ...
short stories edited by
Groff Conklin
Edward Groff Conklin (September 6, 1904 – July 19, 1968) was an American science fiction anthologist. He edited 40 anthologies of science fiction, one of mystery stories (co-edited with physician Noah Fabricant), wrote books on home improvemen ...
. It was first published in paperback by
Gold Medal Books
Gold Medal Books, launched by Fawcett Publications in 1950, was an American book publisher known for introducing paperback originals, a publishing innovation at the time. Fawcett was also an independent newsstand distributor, and in 1949 the c ...
in December 1963 and reprinted by Fawcett Gold Medal in May 1966, February 1970, and 1973.
The book collects twelve novelettes and short stories by various science fiction authors, together with an introduction by the editor. The stories were previously published from 1953-1963 in various science fiction and other magazines.
Contents
*"Introduction" (
Groff Conklin
Edward Groff Conklin (September 6, 1904 – July 19, 1968) was an American science fiction anthologist. He edited 40 anthologies of science fiction, one of mystery stories (co-edited with physician Noah Fabricant), wrote books on home improvemen ...
)
*"Due Process" (
Algis Budrys
Algirdas Jonas "Algis" Budrys (January 9, 1931 – June 9, 2008) was a Lithuanian-American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He was also known under the pen names Frank Mason, Alger Rome (in collaboration with Jerome Bixby), John ...
)
*"Earthmen Bearing Gifts" (
Fredric Brown
Fredric Brown (October 29, 1906 – March 11, 1972) was an American science fiction, fantasy, and mystery writer.D. J. McReynolds, "The Short Fiction of Fredric Brown" in Frank N. Magill, (ed.) ''Survey of Science Fiction Literature'', Vol. 4 ...
)
*"Things" (
Zenna Henderson
Zenna Chlarson Henderson (November 1, 1917 – May 11, 1983) was an American elementary school teacher and science fiction and fantasy author. Her first story was published in ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' in 1951. Her work is cit ...
)
*"The Top" (
George Sumner Albee)
*"My Object All Sublime" (
Poul Anderson
Poul William Anderson (November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001) was an American fantasy and science fiction author who was active from the 1940s until the 21st century. Anderson wrote also historical novels. His awards include seven Hugo Awards and ...
)
*"Human Man's Burden" (
Robert Sheckley
Robert Sheckley (July 16, 1928 – December 9, 2005) was an American writer. First published in the science-fiction magazines of the 1950s, his many quick-witted stories and novels were famously unpredictable, absurdist, and broadly comical.
...
)
*"On the Fourth Planet" (
J. F. Bone)
*"
The Ballad of Lost C'Mell
"The Ballad of Lost C'Mell" is a science fiction novella by American writer Cordwainer Smith. It was first published in October 1962 in ''Galaxy Magazine'', and since reprinted in several compilations and omnibus editions.
The main characters ar ...
" (
Cordwainer Smith
Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger (July 11, 1913 – August 6, 1966), better known by his pen-name Cordwainer Smith, was an American author known for his science fiction works. Linebarger was a US Army officer, a noted East Asia scholar, and a ...
)
*"Thirty Days Had September" (
Robert F. Young
Robert Franklin Young (June 8, 1915 – June 22, 1986) was an American science fiction writer born in Silver Creek, New York. Except for the three and a half years he served in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II, Pacific Theatre duri ...
)
*"The Cage" (
A. Bertram Chandler
Arthur Bertram Chandler (28 March 1912 in Aldershot, Hampshire, England – 6 June 1984 in Sydney, Australia) was an Anglo-Australian merchant marine officer, sailing the world in everything from tramp steamers to troop ships, but who later tur ...
)
*"Star-Crossed Lover" (
William W. Stuart)
*"Immortality ... for Some" (
J. T. McIntosh
James Murdoch MacGregor (14 February 1925 – 22 July 2008National Library of ScotlandSpecial and Named Printed Collections in the National Library of Scotland ''J.T. McINTOSH COLLECTION'') was a Scottish journalist and author best known for wri ...
)
Notes
1963 anthologies
Science fiction anthologies
Groff Conklin anthologies
Gold Medal Books books
{{1960s-sf-story-collection-stub