''Big Book 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 cate ...
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 uni ...
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 hardcover by
Crown Publishers
The Crown Publishing Group is a subsidiary of Penguin Random House that publishes across several fiction and non-fiction categories. Originally founded in 1933 as a remaindered books wholesaler called Outlet Book Company, the firm expanded int ...
in August 1950. A later edition was issued by Bonanza Books/Crown Publishers in 1978 under the alternate title ''The Classic Books of Science Fiction''. An abridged paperback edition containing ten of its 32 stories was published by
Berkley Books
Berkley Books is an imprint of the Penguin Group.
History
Berkley Books began as an independent company in 1955. It was founded as "Chic News Company" by Charles Byrne and Frederick Klein, who had worked for Avon; they quickly renamed it Berkl ...
in April 1957, and reprinted in June 1957 and September 1964; the reprints bore the variant title ''The Big Book of Science Fiction''.
The book collects thirty-two novellas, novelettes and short stories by various science fiction authors, together with an introduction by the editor. The stories were previously published from 1889 to 1950 in various science fiction and other magazines.
Contents
Stories also appearing in the abridged paperback edition annoted with "TBB"
*"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 ...
)
*"Mr. Murphy of New York" (
Thomas McMorrow)
*"The Diminishing Draft" (
Waldemar Kaempffert)
*"Peacebringer" (
Ward Moore
Joseph Ward Moore (August 10, 1903 – January 29, 1978) was an American science fiction writer. According to ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'', "he contributed only infrequently to the field, uteach of his books became something of a clas ...
)
*"A Matter of Form" (
Horace L. Gold)
*"The Planetoid of Doom" (
Morrison Colladay)
*"One Leg Too Many" (
W. Alexander)
*"The Man with the Strange Head" (
Miles J. Breuer)
*"Defense Mechanism" (
Katherine MacLean
Katherine Anne MacLean (January 22, 1925 – September 1, 2019) was an American science fiction author best known for her short fiction of the 1950s which examined the impact of technological advances on individuals and society.
Profile
Damon Kn ...
)
*"Margin for Error" (
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 wel ...
(
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 ...
))
*"Isolationist" (
Mack Reynolds
Dallas McCord "Mack" Reynolds (November 11, 1917 – January 30, 1983) was an American science fiction writer. His pen names included Dallas Ross, Mark Mallory, Clark Collins, Dallas Rose, Guy McCord, Maxine Reynolds, Bob Belmont, and Todd Har ...
)
*"Nobody Saw the Ship" (
Murray Leinster
Murray Leinster (June 16, 1896 – June 8, 1975) was a pen name of William Fitzgerald Jenkins, an American writer of genre fiction, particularly of science fiction. He wrote and published more than 1,500 short stories and articles, 14 movie ...
) TBB
*"Mewhu's Jet" (
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 sh ...
) TBB
*"The Outer Limit" (
Graham Doar)
*"Rat Race" (
Dorothy de Courcy and
John de Courcy
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)
*"Dear Devil" (
Eric Frank Russell)
*"Emergency Landing" (
Ralph Williams)
*"The Ship That Turned Aside" (
Green Peyton)
*"Manna" (
Peter Phillips)
*"The Long Dawn" (
Noel Loomis
Noel Loomis (April 3, 1905 – September 7, 1969) was a writer, principally of western, mystery and science-fiction, in the middle of the 20th century.
Born and raised in the American West, he was sufficiently familiar with that territory to wr ...
)
*"E for Effort" (
T. L. Sherred)
*"The Roger Bacon Formula" (
Fletcher Pratt
Murray Fletcher Pratt (25 April 1897 – 10 June 1956) was an American writer of history, science fiction, and fantasy. He is best known for his works on naval history and the American Civil War and for fiction written with L. Sprague de Camp.
...
) TBB
*"The Wings of Night" (
Lester del Rey
Lester del Rey (June 2, 1915 – May 10, 1993) was an American science fiction author and editor. He was the author of many books in the juvenile Winston Science Fiction series, and the editor at Del Rey Books, the fantasy and scienc ...
) TBB
*"Desertion" (
Clifford D. Simak
Clifford Donald Simak (; August 3, 1904 – April 25, 1988) was an American science fiction writer. He won three Hugo Awards and one Nebula Award. The Science Fiction Writers of America made him its third SFWA Grand Master, and the Horror Wr ...
) TBB
*"Contact, Incorporated" (
Robertson Osborne)
*"Arena" (
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 ...
) TBB
*"Culture" (
Jerry Shelton)
*"
In the Year 2889" (
Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the '' Voyages extra ...
)
*"Forever and the Earth" (
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 ...
) TBB
*"The Miniature" (
Peter Reed) TBB
*"Sanity" (
Fritz Leiber
Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. ( ; December 24, 1910 – September 5, 1992) was an American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theater and films, playwright, and chess expert. With writers such as Robert ...
) TBB
*"The Only Thing We Learn" (
C. M. Kornbluth
Cyril M. Kornbluth (July 2, 1923 – March 21, 1958) was an American science fiction author and a member of the Futurians. He used a variety of pen-names, including Cecil Corwin, S. D. Gottesman, Edward J. Bellin, Kenneth Falconer, W ...
) TBB
*"Not With a Bang" (
Damon Knight )
References
{{Reflist
1950 anthologies
Science fiction anthologies
Groff Conklin anthologies