The most famous story in The Great SF Stories #15 is Arthur C. Clarke’s classic “The Nine Billion Names of God.” But the best story is Jerome Bixby’s chilling “It’s a Good Life.” Theodore Sturgeon’s “A Saucer of Loneliness” is one of the early SF stories with a homosexual theme. And Theodore R. Cogswell’s “The Wall Around the World” made a big impression on me when I first read it decades ago. Do you see any of your favorite SF stories here? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION by Martin H. Greenberg 9
“The Big Holiday” by Fritz Leiber (THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION, January 1953) 13
“Crucifixus Etiam” by Walter M. Miller, Jr. (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, February 1953) 24
“Four in One” by Damon Knight (GALAXY, February 1953) 48
“A Saucer of Loneliness” by Theodore Sturgeon (GALAXY, February 1953) 86
“The Liberation of Earth” by William Tenn (FUTURE SCIENCE FICTION, May 1953) 102
“Lot” by Ward Moore (THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION, May 1953) 123
“The Nine Billion Names of God” by Arthur C. Clarke (STAR SCIENCE FICTION STORIES, 1953) 155
“Warm” by Robert Sheckley (GALAXY, June 1953) 164
“Impostor” by Philip K. Dick (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, June 1953) 176
“The World Well Lost” by Theodore Sturgeon (UNIVERSE SCIENCE FICTION, June 1953) 194
“A Bad Day for Sales” by Fritz Leiber (GALAXY, June 1953) 216
“Common Time” by James Blish (SCIENCE FICTION QUARTERLY, August 1953) 224
“Time is the Traitor” by Alfred Bester (THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION, September 1953) 250
“The Wall Around the World” by Theodore R. Cogswell (BEYOND, September 1953) 277
“The Model of a Judge” by William Morrison (GALAXY, October 1953) 308
“Hall of Mirrors” by Fredric Brown (GALAXY, December 1952) 322
“It’s a Good Life” by Jerome Bixby (STAR SCIENCE FICTION STORIES 2, 1953) 331
Great selection this year. The only one I don’t remember reading is the Morrison. The ones that stand out for me are the Clarke, Bixby (also one of the better Twilight Zone episodes on both the series and movie), Sturgeon, Miller, Knight, Cogswell, and Moore. A couple I can’t remember well but I know I enjoyed the,. The best in the series so far. Less stories from Astounding.
Does less from Astounding equal better for you, Steve? I always liked Astounding a lot, Galaxy second, F&SF third.
I always preferred F%SF and Galaxy, but I didn’t start reading the magazines until about 1961and it was Analogy by then. I always preferred social satire and literary SF to the nuts and bolts stuff.
Rick, I liked the stories in ASTOUNDING just fine. But better stories started to be published in GALAXY and F&SF at this time.
The diversity of sources doesn’t ever hurt. I’d disagree the TZ film version of “It’s a GOOD Life–” is all that good…particularly as the film’s version has the godlike boy’s babysitter gain influence over him, but it doesn’t begin to occur to her to have him undo the damage he’s done.
Bixby one of the undersung heroes of ’50s sf…he was the editor who helped PLANET STORIES become much more impressive at the turn of the ’50s, as well as a fine writer. Went on to work on both GALAXY and the Thrilling Group.
Steve, you’re right. You can see that ASTOUNDING was slipping in quality stories while GALAXY and THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION were improving.
The A C Clarke story I also remember of course – with the others (which I’ve surely all read also) I have the problem of connecting the dots , I mean I don’t remember the title.
Especially if I read it in German translation where the titles were often totally different in meaning.
Sometimes I like to go to my library and just open any book, especially anthologies – and start reading anything from those good old days and I’ve never been disappointed.
There must have been an intensive competition between those magazines then!
Wolf, I think the 1950s writers loved all the markets they had for their stories. It encouraged innovation.
Some good things here, I too liked the Cogswell, and Clarke, and that Blish, if I remember it correctly, was pretty good too.
Hope you’re having a good time at B’con.
Rick, we loved the Dallas BOUCHERCON. But there were some problems.
George, you’re confusing “A Saucer of Loneliness” (which is pretty het) with “The World Well Lost” among Sturgeon’s stories…
As both stories are in the book, as they might well be. (I should check Sturgeons other stories this year!…a good period for him, to say the least, artistically, at least.)
Todd, Sturgeon was talking risks in his stories at this time. His writing was amazing as well.
Indeed. “The Wold Well Lost” was the one with a gay aliens fleeing oppression theme. “A Saucer of Loneliness” was more about love conquering suicidal depression. Love above all.
Todd, exactly. But gay aliens in the 1950s blew a lot of minds back then.
Yes…a lot of Sturgeon stories did in those years, by intent! But I think you’re missing my more focused point…you attribute that them to the wrong Sturgeon story in your post. “The World Well Lost” is the gay-themed story, not “A Saucer of Loneliness”.
Todd, oops! You’re right, of course.
Or even That Theme.