''Robots Have No Tails'' is a
1952 collection 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 by
Lewis Padgett
Lewis Padgett was the joint pseudonym of the science fiction authors and spouses Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore,Nicholls 1979, p. 445. taken from their mothers' maiden names. They also used the pseudonyms Lawrence O'Donnell and C. H. Liddell, as w ...
(pseudonym of American writers
Henry Kuttner
Henry Kuttner (April 7, 1915 – February 3, 1958) was an American author of science fiction, fantasy and horror.
Early life
Henry Kuttner was born in Los Angeles, California in 1915. Kuttner (1829–1903) and Amelia Bush (c. 1834–1911), the ...
and
C. L. Moore
Catherine Lucille Moore (January 24, 1911 – April 4, 1987) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer, who first came to prominence in the 1930s writing as C. L. Moore. She was among the first women to write in the science fiction and ...
). It was first published by
Gnome Press
Gnome Press was an American small-press publishing company primarily known for publishing many science fiction classics. Gnome was one of the most eminent of the fan publishers of SF, producing 86 titles in its lifespan — many considered classi ...
in 1952 in an edition of 4,000 copies. The stories all originally appeared in the magazine ''
Astounding Stories
''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 ...
''.
It has been reprinted in 1973 by Lancer books with an introduction by C.L. Moore; in 1983 in the UK by Hamlyn Books as ''The Proud Robot'' with an introduction by Peter Pinto; and lastly in 2009 in the US by Paizo Publishing LLC's Planet Stories line of books, with an additional introduction (to the one of Catherine Moore) by F. Paul Wilson. Both later editions credit Henry Kuttner as being the author, as does the introduction by C.L. Moore in the 1973 and 2009 editions.
Contents
* "The Proud Robot"
* "Gallegher Plus"
* "The World Is Mine"
* "Ex Machina"
* "Time Locker"
Reception
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 ...
wrote in his
''Galaxy'' review column that ''Robots Have No Tails'' was not good science fiction, but "zany imaginings of a rather anti-scientific sort."
Boucher and
McComas praised the collection as "a great joy.".
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 stories as "pure entertainment, lavishly applied."
["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 ...
'', December 1952, pp.101-02
References
Sources
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External links
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{{Lewis Padgett
1952 short story collections
Science fiction short story collections
Works originally published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact
Works published under a pseudonym
Gnome Press books