You can see subtle changes in Science Fiction in 1946. Sure, ASTOUNDING still dominated the genre, but SF was becoming more international. Asimov and Greenberg included THREE stories by Arthur C. Clarke! Will F. Jenkins (aka, “Murray Leinster”) captured the essence of computers in “A Logic Named Joe.” My two favorite stories in The Great SF Stories #8 are Ray Bradbury and Leigh Brackett’s dreamy “Lorelei of the Red Mist” and Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore’s classic “Vintage Season.” With World War II over, big changes to the Science Fiction world were right around the corner. But this anthology does a great job in capturing the essence of the SF genre in the mid-1940s. GRADE: A-
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION By Martin H. Greenberg & Isaac Asimov 9
“A Logic Named Joe” by Will F. Jenkins (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, March 1946) 13
“Memorial” by Theodore Sturgeon (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, April 1946) 30
Loophole” by Arthur C. Clarke (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, April 1946) 45
The Nightmare” by Chan Davis (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, May 1946) 53
Rescue Party” by Arthur C. Clarke (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, May 1946) 74
Placet is a Crazy Place” by Fredric Brown (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, May 1946) 101
Conqueror’s Isle” by Nelson S. Bond (BLUE BOOK MAGAZINE, June 1946) 116
“Lorelei of the Red Mist” by Ray Bradbury and Leigh Brackett (Planet Stories, Summer 1946) 131
The Million Year Picnic” by Ray Bradbury (PLANET STORIES, Summer 1946) 189
“The Last Objective” by Paul A. Carter (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, August 1946) 199
Meihem in ce Klasrum” by Dolton Edwards (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, September 1946) 228
Vintage Season” by Lawrence O’Donnell (aka, Henry Kuttner & C.L. Moore) (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, September 1946) 232
Evidence” by Isaac Asimov (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, September 1946) 276
Absalom” by Henry Kuttner (STARTLING STORIES, Fall 1946) 299
“Mewhu’s Jet” by Theodore Sturgeon (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, November 1946) 316
Technical Error” by Arthur C. Clarke (FANTASY [Great Britain], December 1946) 351
Familiar with most of these stores. the exception are the ones by Paul Carter and Dolton Edwards. Vintage Season is one of my favorites.
Steve, it was a joy to reread “Vintage Season.” It’s one of the wonderful stories from the 1940s.
Yes to VINTAGE SEASON. I first became aware of it when reading Robert Silverberg’s answer/homage to it, “In Another Country.” Tor issued a paperback with the two stories back to back, as well as Silverberg’s introduction.
Jeff, I have that TOR paperback around here. I need to find it and reread Silverberg’s “In Another Country.”
The Murray is a classic, as is Bradbury’s “Million Year Picnic”. I thought Lorelei of the Red Mist was a novel? Not familiar with Edwards or Carter.
Paul A. Carter was a contributor in the pulp era to a number of the magazines, and in later life became an academic…wrote the first scholarly book on sf in the magazines I read, THE CREATION OF TOMORROW…which clued me into the Rev. Willie Pan joke on a FIresign Theater album, DON’T CRUSH THAT DWARF, HAND ME THE PLYERS, that I might never have caught otherwise (a Will F. Jenkins story featured Willie Pan as a hypnotizing cartoon character used for nefarious purposes against theater audiences…).
Todd, that Willie Pan reference is pretty subtle!
Rick, I like that Asimov & Greenberg include forgotten writers like Edwards and Carter. That’s what makes THE GREAT SF STORIES series a cut above all the others.
I’d have to give this collection a full A or even an A+ because it contains “Vintage Season,” “Rescue Party,” “A Logic Named Joe,” and “The Million Year Picnic” – which are some of the best SF ever.
Jim, I agree with you on the great stories in this anthology. But the quality falls after the stories you list.
I had Computer Problems and needed to travel to Germany (couldn’t really work with a Hungarian Keyboard 🙂 ) and now I found your list of Wonderful stories – there just isn’t enough time to reread them all!
Of Course I read all These (in German Translation mostly) in the late 60s – but they were still Fresh and inspiring!
Wolf, glad to have you back! We’ve missed you!
It’s hard to pick a favorite from these great tales, but this is certainly one of the best volumes in the series — no small feat.
Jerry, there were a lot of home runs in this anthology!
I’d actually forgotten that “Vintage Season” had been published as by Lawrence O’Donnell, because it is so generally considered one of C.L. Moore’s best stories. Looking around, I see that some people do think Kuttner had some involvement, but there’s no way to know. I don’t even know if the stories that are credited solely to one of them are actually without any contribution from the other.
Even the wiki entry is full of praises:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vintage_Season
I remember being flabbergasted as a young man by the ideas behind the story.
A bit OT:
Time travellers watching catastrophes happening has become one of the favourite constipation, sorry conspiracy theories around …
Wolf, thanks for the link!
Jeff, I’ve read several critics who seem to think Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore worked together on most of their stories. But, I agree with you “Vintage Season” seems to be more Moore than Kuttner.