''Cloak of Aesir'' is a collection of
science fiction stories by American writer
John W. Campbell, Jr.
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
It was published in
1952
Events January–February
* January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses.
* February 6
** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...
by
Shasta Publishers
Shasta Publishers was a science fiction and fantasy small press specialty publishing house founded in 1947 by Erle Melvin Korshak, T. E. Dikty, and Mark Reinsberg, who were all science fiction fans from the Chicago area. The name of the press was ...
in an edition of 5,000 copies. The stories originally appeared in the magazine ''
Astounding SF
''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 C ...
'' under Campbell's pseudonym Don A. Stuart.
Contents
* Introduction
* "Forgetfulness"
* "The Escape"
* "The Machine"
* "The Invaders"
* "Rebellion"
* "Out of Night"
* "Cloak of Aesir"
Six of the seven stories were later included in the 1976 collection ''The Best of John W. Campbell'' (Ballantine/Del Rey).
Reception
Writing in ''
The New York Times'',
J. Francis McComas
Jesse Francis McComas (June 9, 1911 – April 19, 1978) was an American science fiction editor. McComas wrote several stories on his own in the 1950s using both his own name and the pseudonym Webb Marlowe.
He entered publishing in 1941 as a sale ...
"warmly recommended" ''Cloak of Aesir'', noting that "none of these stories follows its chosen path to an expected destination."
Groff Conklin characterized the collection as "somewhat overwritten, but still well done."
Boucher and
McComas, however, praised ''Cloak'' for the stories' "amazing modernity of concept and extrapolation
nd theirrarely achieved combination of original thinking and high adventure.".
P. Schuyler Miller
Peter Schuyler Miller (February 21, 1912 – October 13, 1974) was an American science fiction writer and critic.
Life
Miller was raised in New York's Mohawk Valley, which led to a lifelong interest in the Iroquois Indians. He pursued this as ...
praised the collection as "all top-notch idea-stories . . . laying the foundations of the more adult stuff we know today."
["The Reference Library", '']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 C ...
'', August 1952, p.128
References
Sources
*
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External links
* {{isfdb title, id=37622
1952 short story collections
Science fiction short story collections
Works originally published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact