This final volume of The Best Science Fiction Stories and Novels (1958) features Kate Wilhelm’s “The Mile-Long Spaceship”–later to be expanded into a novel and Poul Anderson’s famous “Call Me Joe.” I enjoyed Erie Frank Russell’s “Into Your Tent I’ll Creep.” The rest of the stories in this anthology are average. Anthony Boucher reviewed this book calling it an “assembly of the tedious, trite and ill-reasoned.” THE BEST SCIENCE FICTION STORIES AND NOVELS: NINTH SERIES (1958) is one of the weaker volumes in the Bleiler/Dikty series. GRADE: B-
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
The Science-Fiction Year, by T. E. Dikty
“2066: Election Day, by Michael Shaara
“The Mile-Long Spaceship, by Kate Wilhelm
“The Last Victory, by Tom Godwin
“Call Me Joe, by Poul Anderson
“Didn’t He Ramble, by Chad Oliver
“The Queen’s Messenger, by John J. McGuire
“The Other People, by Leigh Brackett
“Into Your Tent I’ll Creep, by Eric Frank Russell
“Nor Dust Corrupt, by James V. McConnell
“Nightsound, by Algis Budrys
“The Tunesmith, by Lloyd Biggle, Jr.
“Hunting Machine, by Carol Emshwiller
The Science-Fiction Book Index, by Earl Kemp
The Mile Long Spaceship was the title of Wilhelm’s first collection. It was not expanded into a novel as far as I recall. Michael Shaara would go on to win a Pulitzer Prize for his Civil War novel The Killer Angels. I’m familiar with all the authors here but not all the stories. I remember Call Me Joe and Didn’t He Ramble. Also the Wilhelm. I remember not caring for the Brackett.
Yes, George, perhaps you’re thinking of THE CLONE, where Wilhelm collaborated with Ted Thomas to expand his original novelet to an (excellent) novel (and her first sf novel), albeit a short one. Boucher was severely nasty to this one, too much so I’d say, but he was getting ready to give up F&SF at that point.
Todd, you are completely correct about my mixing up “The Mile Long Spaceship” and THE CLONE. Boucher wrote some snarky reviews in his long career.
Steve, you’re right about Kate Wilhelm and “The Mile Long Spaceship.” I must have been the one thinking “The Mile Long Spaceship” should have be turned into a novel!
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Weaker, but with stories worth reading, obviously. I liked THE KILLER ANGELS (which was filmed as GETTYSBURG.) “Call Me Joe” is probably the most well known story,
Jeff, “Call Me Joe” is the classic story in this anthology. Michael Shaara went on to fame with THE KILLER ANGELS, perhaps the best Civil War novel ever.
Michael Shaara made his first splash in sf writing, even though his first novel was a sports novel drawing on his boxing experiences (THE BROKEN PLACE) and THE KILLER ANGELS winning the Pulitzer did almost nothing for him financially or career-wise…till after he was dead. And had published a final sports novella, FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME, and an sf novel, as well as a fine collection of his sf stories, mostly from his early career in the ’50s.
Earl Kemp was basically (if uncredited) full co-editor as well as co-publisher of this last volume, the only primarily fiction book officially published by his Advent: Publishers…in an interesting co-operative deal with Doubleday’s SF Book Club (Doubleday actually printed all the copies, and gave a share to Advent to sell as a trade edition, while Dday sold the vast majority through the SFBC).
Todd, THE BEST SCIENCE FICTION STORIES AND NOVELS: NINTH SERIES (1958) is by far the most easily found volume in the BEST SF series because of all the copies Doubleday’s SF Book Club pumped out.
A few good stories there, the Anderson and Russell most familiar to me. I’ve not read that Oliver, but he wrote some good things.
By a coincidence, I just read KILLER ANGELS and enjoyed it a lot.
Rick, I’ve read THE KILLER ANGELS twice…decades apart. It’s a great book!
Jerry House’s selection this week is the Greenberg, et al., anthology which almost takes its title from the Shaara contribution to the annual above: “2066: Election Day” http://jerryshouseofeverything.blogspot.com/2018/08/forgotten-book-election-day-2084.html
Todd, thanks for pointing that out! I love those Asimov/Greenberg anthologies!
As in other fields too not every year was a good year for SF!
I’ve often been thinking aabout a correlation between the “real world” (politics e g) and the stories which were written.
Seems I’m getting old – don’t remember too many stories from those days!
Wolf, reading those Bleiler and Dikty YEAR’S BEST SF anthology series was a trip down Memory Lane!