The full title of SPECULATIONS 17 (1982) is Stories Written Especially for This Volume By Well-Known Science Fiction Authors, But Their Names are Concealed by a Code and It’s Up to You to Figure Out Who Wrote What.
I’m a sucker for these kinds of gimmick books! Here’s the list of the 17 SF writers who contributed to this volume:
- Isaac Asimov
- Scott Baker
- Alan Dean Foster
- Phyllis Gotlieb
- Zenna Henderson
- Joe L. Hensley
- R. A. Lafferty
- Alice Laurance and William K. Carlson
- Jacqueline Lichtenberg
- Roger Robert Lovin
- Rachel Cosgrove Payes
- Bill Pronzini and Barry N. Malzberg
- Mack Reynolds
- Joanna Russ
- Robert Silverberg
- Jack Williamson
- Gene Wolfe
Isaac Asimov writes an insightful introduction explaining the growing popularity of Science Fiction–and this is 1982!–and predicting a bright future for the genre. Asimov also writes story introductions and is careful not to supply any hints as to the identity of the authors. If you’re looking for something fun and different, give SPECULATION 17 a try. (If you GOOGLE Isaac Asimov and SPECULATIONS 17, you’ll get a link to a Wiki page that identifies the writers of the stories without having to crack the Code.) GRADE: B+
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- Foreword: The Scope of Science Fiction, Isaac Asimov — ix
- Nor Iron Bars a Cage — 1
- Surfeit — 23
- The Winds of Change — 44
- Harpist — 59
- Great Tom Fool, or The Conundrum of the Calais Customhouse Coffers — 75
- The Hand of the Bard — 95
- The Man Who Floated in Time — 111
- Flee to the Mountains — 122
- Last Day — 135
- The Newest Profession — 140
- A Break for the Dinosaurs — 160
- Event at Holiday Rock — 168
- A Touch of Truth — 173
- “Do I Dare to Eat a Peach?” — 182
- …Old…As a Garment — 189
- Flatsquid Thrills — 198
- The Mystery of the Young Gentleman — 205
- Biographies of the Authors — 231
- To Break the Code — 239
I’ve read a few of those gimmick books too, though I don’t like them as much as George does. I do like Pronzini & Malzberg and Silverberg and a couple of the others, though.
Jeff, Asimov assembled a strong line-up of writers for SPECULATIONS 17. I could do without the Code, though. Fortunately, Wiki provides the answers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speculations_(book)
I suppose the future of the genre looked bright in 1982. Clarke, Heinlein, and Herbert had built on the late-’60s counter-culture popularity of 2001, STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND and DUNE to achieve mainstream visibility, and STAR WARS and STAR TREK were in the theaters. I’m not sure a lot has changed since then, aside from the metastatic growth of the STAR WARS empire. SF still seems locked into its own space on the Barnes & Noble shelves.
Fred, it’s hard to underestimate the impact of STAR TREK and STAR WARS on the Science Fiction genre. I read less SF now than I did in the 1980s. Fantasy is more fun. And, I love a good mystery!
If I remember correctly, the code was pretty easy to break (or, as Ryan George might put it, “barely an inconvenience”), which, to my my mind, tended to cheapen the “gimmicky” concept. It would have been better to have eliminated the authors’ names altogether, leaving the stories — many of which were very good — to stand on their own. Gimmick or not, the collection is worth reading.
Jerry, Isaac Asimov usually had a lot of help when his name was on the cover of an SF anthology–Martin Greenberg mainly–but with SPECULATIONS 17 Alice Lawrence must have helped recruit the writers while Asimov wrote the story Introductions.
D. S. Lewis for several years ran a magazine in a similar fashion–you had to wait till the next issue of NENOMYMOUS to be completely certain of the authors of every piece of work in the previous issue. Unless, of course, the prose was unmistakable…
Who’s utterly exhausted (more morning furniture moving for a dishwasher that wouldn’t fit the space allowed to it..apparently for some reason, this brand likes to lie about its dimensions).
That’s D. F. LEWIS, who edited and published NEMONYMOUS. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemonymous
Todd, I have ZERO mechanical talent so I use a band of skilled workers–a plumber, an electrician, a wood worker, a fix-it guy, etc.–to keep our household operating. If ever tried to fix anything, I’d only screw it up…and make the cost of the repair larger.
Todd, the prose can give some stories away. But in the case of SPECULATIONS 17, I knew immediately who wrote “Great Tom Fool, or The Conundrum of the Calais Customhouse Coffers” just based on the title.
I don’t need no stinkin’ gimmicks or puzzles, just publish the book!
Bob, in today’s publishing market, SPECULATIONS 17 wouldn’t be considered. Only a small press might take a chance on it.
I vaguely recall Asimov writing about this anthology in his second volume of autobiography (if we don’t count either OPUS 100 nor SCIENCE, NUMBERS AND I as primarily autobiographical, which would be a stretch in both cases)…but very vaguely.
So vaguely it’s another book. The one he contributed “The Bicentennial Man” to initially….and which fell apart, and “TBM” appeared in Judy-Lynn Del Rey’s STELLAR SF periodical book.
Todd, I think Judy-Lynn Del Rey is underrated.
Todd, I’ll have copies of Volume 2 of Asimov’s autobiography so I’ll see if I can find that reference to SPECULATIONS 17.
While I was still browsing the science fiction section of book stores in ’82 I was making fewer and fewer purchases. I remember feeling at the time that the genre seemed to be coasting while fantasy was gaining steam. The “Star Wars” and to a lesser extent “Star Trek” franchises were pulling in audiences and that summer in particular was something of a watershed moment for both genres breaking into the mainstream (there are at least two documentaries on the subject). It all seemed kind of exciting in the moment but I now would give anything to live in an era when most people were still going to Sidney Lumet and Alan Pakula films and you’d think long and hard about taking a date to a science fiction movie.
I only read the sci-fi magazines sporadically by this point but I do remember more than a few grumblings among the old guard about the way things were evolving post “Star Wars” and I confess I shared the sentiment. I don’t remember this title but I always thought there was a little too much of a low grade huckster vibe about Asimov and the puzzle gimmick would have equally turned me off.
Maybe science fiction’s moment has passed. Maybe it’ll have a fresh resurgence when we finally get to Mars. I just know the bloom has worn off for me. I still pick up the odd vintage mass market anthology but seldom anything published after the sixties.
Byron, your assessment of contemporary Science Fiction markets is spot on! The SF franchises of STAR TREK and STAR WARS continue to influence the genre. The decline of SF magazines contributed to the diminishment of the markets for SF writers.