Why Short Story Anthologies Are the Best Introduction to Science Fiction
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- Опубліковано 20 сер 2024
- Short stories have been incubators of experimental and speculative ideas since the emergence of the science fiction genre more than a century ago. They're also my favorite form of SF, as they distill and concentrate what makes much of the genre so appealing to me.
In this video, I provide a brief overview of the evolution of SF short fiction and its impact on the genre, with an emphasis on the anthologies that have collected and popularized the stories and authors that defined its early years.
0:36 Short stories as SF laboratories
2:54 Early SF readers
5:23 SF in the pulps
6:32 Tracing the history of SF short stories
10:29 The pulps get competition
11:55 Emergence of SF anthologies
13:08 Impact of SF anthologies
15:21 Wide range of anthologies
16:11 1940s & 50s anthologies
22:29 1960s & New Wave influence
28:14 Themed anthologies
28:55 1970s & 80s anthologies
29:32 1990s to present day
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Links to some of my other videos about SF history and anthologies:
A History of Gnome Press - • Modern Science Fiction...
A History of Arkham House - • The Greatest Small Pub...
Entry Points for Classic SF - • Where to Start Reading...
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I also have a Ko-Fi.com page if you enjoy my videos and would like to buy me a cup of coffee: ko-fi.com/thel...
#booktube #scifi #sfalliance #bookcollection #booktubesff
I feature more than 100 science fiction anthologies in this video, which might be difficult for viewers to keep track of. As a helpful reference, I've listed below most of the anthologies I mention or display, and in roughly the same order in which they appear in the video.
The Pocket Book of Science Fiction, edited by Donald Wollheim
Adventures in Time and Space, edited by Raymond Healy & J. Francis McComas
New Tales of Space and Time, ed. by Raymond Healy & J. Francis McComas
9 Tales of Space and Time, ed. by Raymond Healy
The Best of Science Fiction, ed. by Groff Conklin
Big Book of Science Fiction, ed. by Groff Conklin
Possible Worlds of Science Fiction, ed. by Groff Conklin
A Treasury of Science Fiction, ed. by Groff Conklin
Omnibus of Science Fiction, ed. by Groff Conklin
Invaders of Earth, ed. by Groff Conklin
Science Fiction Thinking Machines, ed. by Groff Conklin
Science-Fiction Adventures in Dimension, ed. by Groff Conklin
Science Fiction Adventures in Mutation, ed. by Groff Conklin
Giants Unleashed, ed. by Groff Conklin
Strange Ports of Call, ed. by August Derleth
The Other Side of the Moon, ed. by August Derleth
Beyond Time and Space, ed. by August Derleth
The Outer Reaches, ed. by August Derleth
Far Boundaries, ed. by August Derleth
Beachheads in Space, ed. by August Derleth
Worlds of Tomorrow, ed. by August Derleth
Time to Come, ed. by August Derleth
Portals of Tomorrow, ed. by August Derleth
My Best Science-Fiction Story, ed. by Leo Margulies
The Giant Anthology of Science Fiction, ed. by Leo Margulies & Oscar J. Friend
Adventures in Tomorrow, ed. by Kendell Foster Crossen
Future Tense, ed. by Kendell Foster Crossen
World of Wonder, ed. by Fletcher Pratt
Great Stories of Science Fiction, ed. by Murray Leinster
Tomorrow the Stars, ed. by Robert Heinlein
Beyond Human Ken, ed. by Judith Merril
Beyond the Barriers of Space and Time, ed. by Judith Merril
Flight into Space, ed. by Donald Wollheim
The Year After Tomorrow, ed. by Lester del Rey, Cecile Matschat & Carl Carmer
A Treasury of Great Science Fiction, ed. by Anthony Boucher
Star Science Fiction Stories, ed. by Frederik Pohl
Star Science Fiction Stories No. 2, ed. by Frederik Pohl
Star of Stars, ed. by Frederik Pohl
Science Fiction Omnibus, ed. by Everett F. Bleiler & T.E, Dikty
The Best Science Fiction Stories, 1950, ed. by Everett F. Bleiler & T.E, Dikty
The Best Science Fiction Stories, 1951, ed. by Everett F. Bleiler & T.E, Dikty
Journey to Infinity, ed. by Martin Greenberg
Travelers of Space, ed. by Martin Greenberg
Men Against the Stars, ed. by Martin Greenberg
Five Science Fiction Novels, ed. by Martin Greenberg
The Robot and the Man, ed. by Martin Greenberg
All About the Future, ed. by Martin Greenberg
Coming Attractions, ed. by Martin Greenberg
SF: The Year’s Greatest Science Fiction and Fantasy, ed. by Judith Merril
SF:57 The Year’s Greatest Science Fiction and Fantasy, ed. by Judith Merril
SF:58 The Year’s Greatest Science Fiction and Fantasy, ed. by Judith Merril
SF:59 The Year’s Greatest Science Fiction and Fantasy, ed. by Judith Merril
Science Fiction Terror Tales, ed. by Groff Conklin
Stories for Tomorrow, ed. by William Sloane
No Place Like Earth, ed. by John Carnell
Gateway to Tomorrow, ed. by John Carnell
The Astounding Science Fiction Anthology, ed. by John W. Campbell
Galaxy Reader of Science Fiction, ed. by H.L. Gold
The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction, ed. by Anthony Boucher
Science Fiction by Gaslight, ed. by Sam Moskowitz
Under the Moons of Mars, ed. by Sam Moskowitz
The Best SF of the 19th Century, ed. by Isaac Asimov, Charles Waugh & Martin H. Greenberg
Before the Golden Age, ed. by Isaac Asimov
Science Fiction of the 30’s, ed. by Damon Knight
Classic Science Fiction: The First Golden Age, ed. by Terry Carr
The Road to Science Fiction: From Gilgamesh to Wells, ed. by James Gunn
The Fantastic Pulps, ed. by Peter Haining
Dangerous Visions, ed. by Harlan Ellison
Again, Dangerous Visions, ed. by Harlan Ellison
An Exaltation of Stars, ed. by Terry Carr
Epoch, ed. by Roger Elwood & Robert Silverberg
Alpha One, ed. by Robert Silverberg
The Hugo Winners, Vols. 1-5, ed. by Isaac Asimov
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Vol. 1, ed. by Robert Silverberg
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Vol. 2, ed. by Ben Bova
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Vol. 3, ed. by Arthur C. Clarke & George Proctor
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Vol. 4, ed. by Terry Carr
Terror in the Modern Vein, ed. by Donald Wollheim
The Seven Deadly Sins of Science Fiction, ed. by Isaac Asimov, Charles Waugh & Martin H. Greenberg
Science Fiction Carnival, ed. by Fredric Brown & Mack Reynolds
The 13 Crimes of Science Fiction, ed. by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg & Charles Waugh
The Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century, ed. by Harry Turtledove & Martin H. Greenberg
Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology, ed. by Bruce Sterling
The Ascent of Wonder: The Evolution of Hard SF, ed. by David Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer
From the Twilight Zone, ed. by Rod Serling
They Came from Outer Space, ed. by Jim Wynorski
Reel Future, ed. by Forrest J. Ackerman & Jean Styne
Great Science Fiction Stories About the Moon, ed. by T.E. Dikty
Children of Wonder, ed. by William Tenn
The Pseudo-People: Androids in Science Fiction, ed. by William F. Nolan
Sisters of Tomorrow: The First Women of Science Fiction, ed. by Lisa Yaszek & Patrick Sharp
The Future Is Female!, ed. by Lisa Yaszek
A Century of Science Fiction, ed. by Damon Knight
A Science Fiction Argosy, ed. by Damon Knight
Great Tales of Science Fiction, ed. by Robert Silverberg & Martin H. Greenberg
The Golden Years of Science Fiction, ed. by Isaac Asimov & Martin H. Greenberg
The Prentice Hall Anthology of Science Fiction and Fantasy, ed. by Garyn G. Roberts
The Science Fiction Century, ed. by David Hartwell
Science Fiction Stories and Contexts, ed. by Heather Masri
The Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction, ed. by Arthur Evans et al
Masterpieces: The Best Science Fiction of the Century, ed. by Orson Scott Card
World’s Best SF (multiple annual volumes), ed. by Donald Wollheim
The Best Science Fiction of the Year (multiple annual volumes), ed. by Terry Carr
The Year’s Best Science Fiction (multiple annual volumes), ed. by Gardner Dozois
Year’s Best SF (multiple annual volumes), ed. by David Hartwell
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year (multiple annual volumes), ed. by Jonathan Strahan
The Best Science Fiction of the Year (multiple annual volumes), ed. by Neil Clarke
The Best of the Best: 20 Years of the Year’s Best Science Fiction, ed. by Gardner Dozois
The Best of the Best 2: 20 Years of the Best Short Science Fiction Novels, ed. by Gardner Dozois
The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of the Year’s Best Science Fiction, ed. by Gardner Dozois
The Secret History of Science Fiction, ed. by James Patrick Kelly & John Kessel
Thank You!
I am green with envy! I hope you have a good alarm system..
"Sense of Wonder" list. I have roughly 20 of these. I have a large used and very well run bookstore nearby. I need to make a list of what numbered collections I have from the magazines, so I do not buy duplicates!
Thank you for this list. I was taking notes as fast as I could type, with frequent pauses to copy down book titles and authors, but gave up 2/3rds of the way though. This really helped!
Nice one, that helps, thanks
I'm your latest subscriber, being an avid enthusiast for sci-fi writing of my own creation with inspiration of only a small list of existing works. I soon expect to watch a few of your video to see if I can expand on my knowledge of the sci-fi genre. Recently I've been fascinated by the Trappist-1 habitable zone that includes 7 planets. Imagine what relationships would form for such neighbors.
I'm way behind schedule uploading this one, so thanks for your patience! A companion video to this one will be forthcoming within the next week or so. In it, I'll recommend several essential SF anthologies.
take your time, these are quality videos and wouldn't want you to compromise on them
we can enjoy it the same amount even if it is late
Very much worth waiting for - thank you
Sir, you are always welcome to take your time. Your videos are always so high quality it doesn't matter. A steak once a month is far better than pizza everyday
Just found out about your channel, excellent work! Really, really good videos. I would like to suggest something though, hopefully as constructive criticism: in many of your videos there is a lot of what people in audio work call "sibilance", that strong whistling-like 'S' sound. I found this video very helpful on the topic: ua-cam.com/video/9_WkZYwDWG4/v-deo.html as Mr. Terzza mentions, there is a type of plugin called a "de-esser" that is designed to remedy exactly this problem. If you consider it a problem, of course - I'm absolutely not trying to police anyone's way of speaking, just thought this could help from a content production standpoint. (:
I'm way behind watching it 3 days after upload, thanks for the patience! ;) :P
This book collection is absolutely bananas. The host is not just a scholar but an amazing collector of vintage books.
Thanks! I'm just a longtime book collector and book enthusiast across a variety of genres. It's a labor of love for me.
I started reading science fiction as a teen in the 70s. I got so many of my books at used bookstores so many of these anthologies are very familiar. I only wish I’d kept them. Thanks for the walk down memory lane!
Thanks! While some of the anthologies shown in the video are quite scarce today, many are still readily available at affordable prices on the used market if you have an interest in picking up a few.
This is one of the best videos on this subject I've ever seen!
I mentioned Dangerous Visions & Again Dangerous Visions in a post for the video of yours that you refer to here, so it's great to see your inclusion of these two ground breaking collections in this one.
The collection of books you show here is simply 'Astounding"!
I have a number of them and will look for others you showcased to add to my library.
Thank you for doing this. Your videos are so well thought out and composed and your attention to detail for each one you make is a hallmark, along with your perfect vocal qualities, of your channel. Your subscriber base warrants being so very much larger than it is.
I truly appreciate the time and effort you clearly put into your channel!
Thank you for your wonderful comment!
Short stories can be so powerful in such a small word count. Love them
I feel the same way about them.
What's that famous micro or phrase story? advert stating one child's clothes and unused cot for sale
It was Ernest Hemingway's attempt at writing the world's shortest story, and it was only six words long. It read: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn."
On the other hand, it can be disappointing to get to the end of a short story and realize there's no more. Nowadays, you can search for the author online and often find other works ... and if you're very lucky, other stories in the same world/setting of the story you loved.
@@thelibraryladder thanks. Those 6 words are more powerful than the 1000 page part of a trilogy books we get nowadays
This was a wonderful overview of anthologies, which often don't get enough credit on today's BookTube. So envious of your collection, but I'm glad I have several of the ones you mentioned, including The Science Fiction Century and The Hard SciFi Renaissance. Absolutely cannot overstate the impact those pulp covers had on me and how much those stunning visuals were an invitation to the genre.
Thanks, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! The early pulp covers are amazing. One of these days, I'm going to get around to framing some of the ones I have and hang them on my wall (and I hope my wife will appreciate the decor aesthetic).
Yes! A new video!!! I get excited every time you upload. These are so well done and informative. Thank you!
Thanks! I hope you enjoy it.
The science fiction anthology is my favorite type of book. I have a collection of 300 - 400 of them (this includes author collections) and have created an Excel index of the contents. By US standards, this is quite a modest collection, especially since most of the books are paperbacks, often bought in used condition. But in my country (South Africa), just about nobody has this stuff. All you see in bookstores is fantasy series doorstops and the like. I'm really looking forward to your "best of the best" selection!
It sounds like you have a great collection of SF short fiction! I once considered making a spreadsheet of the contents of my classic anthologies so I could find specific stories and authors, but then I discovered a couple of early fan-produced bibliographies published in the 1950s and 1980s that contained much of what I wanted. In recent years, I tend to rely on the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (isfdb.org) to keep track of where I can find short stories. It's a terrific resource.
J. Michael Straczynski is the executor of Harlan Ellison's estate, and has made a deal to republish both Dangerous Visions and Again, Dangerous Visions. And at last, finally, JMS has put together Ellison's near-mythical Last Dangerous Visions, to be published almost 50 years since it was first announced. Some of the stories were withdrawn by the authors, some rewritten, and a few new ones commission by contemporary authors to adds to the volume.
That's great news! Thanks for sharing it. I'm excited to finally read the third Dangerous Visions volume.
That is so exciting.
Wondering which person or university received Ellison's papers and manuscripts? True story... About 20 years ago I asked him that very question... where were his papers and manuscripts going (after his death) and he replied "Whoever will offer me the most money!"
I always feel I've learned something from your videos, Thanks.
Thank you! My goal is to make them informative in an entertaining way.
This is magnificent. It was fun spotting the anthologies I have copies of. So many I wish I had! Thank you for another wonderful video!
Thanks, Michael! There are so many I still want to read. I think I've hit most of the essentials, though. I'm not looking forward to putting away all those anthologies and pulps later today. I kept many in the hidden recesses of cabinets and boxes, and it's going to take me a couple of hours to clean up the mess (stacks of books and mags on every surface). :)
Yes! You posted! Haha, love the videos, keep them coming, I always find them interesting. Particularly the deep dives on specific writers' work!
Thanks! I have several author deep dives in the pipeline for the remainder of the year (such as Jack Vance, Lord Dunsany, Connie Willis, Robert McCammon and Tim Powers) in addition to some other overview videos. I hope I can get to them all by December (alas, they take a lot of time and effort to produce).
I am embarrassingly under-read when it comes to SF short stories. There are so many novels I want to read that it's hard to take a break and dive into the short stories but I hope to remedy that thanks to this and the videos to come. Glad to have you back.
Thanks! I'm glad to be back, and I should be more frequent with my uploads going forward. I've had a lot going on the past couple of months. I hope my next video gives you a good starting point for reading SF short stories. :)
Beautiful.
An aspect I am completely underread on in SF. Thank you. 🙏🏽
Wonderful!! I'm going to send a link to your video to every sci-fi fan I know. I'll focus especially on those who claim not to like or have time for shorter sci-fi. I have many of the anthologies you mention, including The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Vol. 1, which is in a class by itself, and both the Dangerous Visions anthologies. Keep up the great work!
Thanks! Those sound like the kind of people I was aiming this video toward. The SFHOF and DV anthologies are some of the all-time greats.
I've always been partial to a good short story. Bradbury was really who got me started reading SF, and his stories have a permanent place in my brain/heart.
Bradbury is my favorite short story writer in any genre.
I was not a real fan of Bradbury when I was younger, but I reread The Martian Chonicals a couple years ago and finally realized how beautiful his prose is and what a great writer he was.
Thanks for this. As a long-time reader of old SF short stories, this was a neat trip through memory lane.
Worth the wait Bridger!! No rush :) it was a fantastic overview and taught me more patience for those fix up novels. Thanks for your dedication!!
Thanks, Whitney! I've had a lot of things pulling me in different directions for the past couple of months and haven't been able to focus on making videos as much as I'd like. (It didn't help matters that this one was a beast to make.) :D
Wonderful!
One of your most important videos! (As it can be so hard to convince the modern SF audience, weaned as they are on multiple volume series, of the importance of short stories to the field.)
THANK YOU!
And thanks for giving Harlan his due. 😉
Thank you for the wonderful comment! Harlan was a supremely talented writer.
Excellent. Now I want them all! 😊
Honorable mention, TLL; "The Sentinel" by Clarke, regarding your examples of short stories that became great novels. And your observation that many a bloated novel should have been left as a novella or "short" story is spot on. I enjoy these episodes immensely, always a great experience, especially when I daydream about one day having a personal library like yours. A virtual Nirvana. A Utopia. As always, great content, quality, production and presentation! Cheers.
Thanks! The Sentinel is a great example.
Thanks for the list in the pinned comment! Found GGK because of you, Lions an all time great
Return of the King!!!
Another great video packed with knowledge of science fiction's golden age. I am looking forward to future videos like this one and maybe covering my favorite anthology series: the 25 book series Asimov Presents the Great SF stories covering the late 30s to the early 60s.
Thanks! That's a great series of anthologies. Asimov was a very savvy promoter. As SF evolved in the 1970s and 80s, Asimov, perhaps more than any other Golden Age author, recognized the value in keeping older SF works in print as a way to secure the reputations and legacies of their authors.
Looking forward to your follow-up video with recommendations! I appreciate the high quality information in these videos.
I own many of the anthologies that are featured in your video. Short stories are my favorite way to read SF! Thank you for highlighting this form, which I feel is often neglected by a lot of booktubers.
Thanks! Many of my favorite science fiction works are in the shorter formats (short stories, novelettes, novellas) that deserve far more attention than they receive on BookTube.
I was born in 81 and started reading scifi in earnest while in catholic school from ages 12 to 14. They had several anthologies but my favorite was always the science fiction hall of fame edited by Isaac Asimov. Anytime i saw an anthology i had to pick it up. I would read all the shortest ones first then slowly work on the longer ones. I've never really met anyone my age who loves scifi from the 30s through the 70s the way i do.
One of my goals is to convince more people to give older SF works a try. Some works haven't aged well, but many are still very entertaining and thought-provoking, and help provide historical context for the literary inspirations of the stories written today.
Read about 40 years of pulp Sci fi inherited from family. Have read most of the anthologies shown. Feeling blessed to read these great works
Definitely looking forward to your list of essential SF anthologies 🫡
Thanks! I just uploaded it, and it should go live within the next hour. :)
Two thumbs up for excellent content!!! For over forty years I have had Damon Knight's "A Science Fiction Argosy" on my bookshelves and I have been planning to read "The Demolished Man" by Alfred E. Bester but kept putting it off. Finally, during the COVID season of way too much time on my hands I read the novel and absolutely LOVED it. There are some other great stories in this fine collection!
Thanks! I agree about Argosy and Bester, and I wish more readers today would give older SF a try. There are plenty of gems there (and plenty of dreck too, which makes well-curated anthologies so useful).
@@thelibraryladder 100% agree on the gems from back in the day! I am a one man blow horn for my favorite author, Theodore Sturgeon, who could write about any aspect of the science fiction realm. "More than human" should be required reading for any serious reader of the genre. Regards...
@@mikesnyder1788 I’m a big fan of Sturgeon. He’s my second favorite SF short story writer (after Bradbury). At some point, I intend to make retrospective videos about both writers.
@@thelibraryladder So glad to hear you are a big fan of Sturgeon! We need to keep his name out there because he never wrote the sprawling, multi-volume sagas that seem to be the rage today. Fahrenheit 451 is, of course, an unparalleled classic, but for reasons I won't discuss here, I have not read any Bradbury. "Live long and prosper..." (Theodore Sturgeon)
Thank you for all the work you put into this Bridger. I definitely want to look into some of these.
I love making these kinds of videos, Chas, but you're right, they're a challenge to produce. I hope my next video, in which I'll provide anthology recommendations, is helpful to you in prioritizing where to start (which is always a challenge when one has a long TBR list, as I do). :)
@@thelibraryladder I’ll be looking forward to it
Looking forward to the best of the best video! Very much interested in looking into some of these.
I'm not anywhere near as familiar with SF anthologies as I'd like to be (the sheer volume of them is just so intimidating!), so I'll look forward to your next video eagerly.
I understand completely. I find the volume of stories and anthologies intimidating too. I have yet to read many of the ones I own, although I think I've hit nearly all of the essentials. I hope my next video will help prioritize your choices.
Wow! I've been around yt commenting that SF short stories are very important and should be read and discussed. Hence the importance of anthologies and collections. Now I can send people to this video. Thank you!
Thanks! I agree with you, and I made this video in large part because short stories deserve more attention on BookTube.
Great overview! So many anthologies here I'd love to track down.
Thanks! Many of the older anthologies were reprinted in paperback editions. Unfortunately, they often excluded several stories to keep production costs low.
Awesome video! Thank you for taking the time to make this, I learned a lot as usual. My favorites to find are Asimov's Magical World of Fantasy anthologies, but mostly because of the cover art.
Thanks, Wiley! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Those Asimov anthologies do have distinctive covers. :)
This is a great video. alway love getting a history of my favourite genre.
Fantastic video. Hope to see some Zelazny representation.
Thanks! Zelazny's on my list of planned videos. I hope to get to him next year.
@@thelibraryladderI look forward to that video! Zelazny is one of my favorite authors.
Another thoughtful and informative video. As a long-time SF reader, I recognize some of these older anthologies as books I've read many years ago, while others are found on my own shelves. In the last couple of years, I've been rediscovering short stories, and I've been searching out story collection to add to my home library, so this video is particularly appropriate for me. 😄
Thanks! I hope my next video identifying some of the anthologies I think are essential will be helpful too.
@@thelibraryladder I'll be looking forward to it!
My favourite Sci-fi authors are Poul Anderson, Jack Vance and Andre Norton. 🤖
Great list! I plan to do retrospectives about all three. Vance's will be forthcoming this fall.
Vance and Anderson do fantasy too !!! 😅😅😅
The Jack Vance store is my favorite book store: no DRM, downloadable ebooks for all his work. For someone with little space, ideal, and no DRM means I actually own the book files. A shame they only sell Vance's works 😄
@@thelibraryladder Looking forward to a Norton retrospective - will it be her sci-fi only or will it include Witch World?
@@silverparrot1147 All of the above.
Amazing video...I want to see more!
Thanks! More is coming in the next hour. :)
Great video as per usual, Bridger. I've been reading Clark Ashton Smith recently and some of his stories are definitely in the vein of traditional sci-fi (traveling to other planets, encountering alien cultures, etc.). The Immeasurable Horror & The Door to Saturn are excellent.
Thanks! I agree with you that some of Smith's works having a strong science fiction aspect, such as his Xiccarph stories.
Wow, what a great collection of science fiction anthologies. I fondly remember reading short story collections that I borrowed from my local public library as an adolescent.
The amount of info in this video is... Austanding, Amaizing even.
Thanks! But was it "Thrilling," "Startling" or possibly "Fantastic?" :D
Just for reading purposes, some of these classic anthologies have also been harvested for blanket reprint lines that can be had very cheap. I have "Baker's Dozen" as "The Mammoth Book of Short Science Fiction Novels." Several Asimov-edited volumes were repurposed for that series, and there are other examples.
Yep. Bonanza Books and Galahad reprinted a lot of them under different titles in the 1980s and 90s.
Always exciting to see a new one of your videos. It takes me so long to watch due to all the book wish lists I make online while watching. And of course, getting lost in the book descriptions haha. Judith Merril is new to me. Definitely checking her work out 😊
Thanks! I appreciate you taking the time to watch my videos. Judith Merril is woefully underappreciated. Moorcock shaped the SF New Wave in Britain, but Merril arguably had a greater impact in the US as perhaps the most vocal advocate here for SF's evolution in the 1950s and early 60s.
I have fond memories of Heinlein’s Tomorrow the Stars. It was read many times when I was young and had little access to Sci Fi books.
Another banger - athough this topic boggles my mind. I've got a large amount of SF anthologies, and yet I've yet read very little from them as if I'll discover the right way to wade into it (or into any SF for that matter). I usually like to take things chronologically, and so I'd love to get James Gunn's 6 "Road to Science Fiction", but I've only found #4 so far. Or I might read all the shorts from one author I like, or I think I'll like; Herbert, Clarke, Mieville or Jemisin but I've been busy getting through fantasy and horror shorts from Howard, Lovecraft, King and Bradbury (kind of soft SF) which has satisfied my need for occasional short fiction.
With every thing I have to read, I easily can put off this genre for a long time, but really, I should know what I like about it outside of film - maybe I should just bite the bullet and read "the Science Fiction Century" straight through as I would a long book. Or just go straight into recent Hugo nominees as SF that's maybe more relevant.
Anyway, I'll be quite interested in your followup recommendations!
Thanks! It sounds like you're already finding ways to enjoy short fiction, and you've picked some good ones to explore. I hope my next video is helpful, as I'll recommend some classic and newer anthologies that I think are essential reads. The classic ones can help explain how the genre got to where it is today, and the newer ones point where it's heading. Personally, I like sampling short fiction in small doses between longer works as a kind of palate cleanser rather than binge-reading them.
@@thelibraryladder I can spread my short stories out so much it can take years to finish any one anthology, especially since I have a few on the go at once - which makes my overall opinion on the collection becomes a little vague. I need to step it up a bit, and at least read a solid block of shorts together sometimes - particularly for SF.
The one short SF I read that really stands out as great is Frank Herbert's "Try to Remember", it was like a 50's version of "Arrival".
Nice video. One of the gateway SF books for me is the Norton Anthology that I found on my fathers shelf. The gray one published around 1990 with Ursula Le Guin as the co-editor. I chipped away at the stories in that one for close to 10 years, always using it to sample a new author as an interlude between the novels I was reading. Such a milestone to finish it that I remember the Starbucks where I completed the last story! I think anthologies are a great way to wet your appetite and find out which authors have a style that speak to you. You can say that one has to read a
book as the “seminal” SF, but that’s always going to be subjective, even for the books that are canon. A good anthology though lets you sample different approaches to SF for a thoughtful curator so you can prioritize your reading times to writing personalities that are the most intriguing.
Thanks for sharing! Those are some of the reasons I like anthologies, too. The Norton SF anthology is a very good one.
A new video 🎉 Greatttt
I especially look forward to the Connie Willis video. She seems to be under appreciated for her contribution. I read Doomsday Book this year and was so impressed I tried to find stuff on Booktube about her and there really isn’t much available.
I suggest "Bellwether" if you can find it - hilarious send-up of chaos theory and academia. "To Say Nothing of the Dog" is longer and a heavier subject matter but still very funny and fascinating. Happy reading!
She's one of my favorites. I was excited to discover that she just released a new book, which I'll need to read before I can make my overview video about her.
@@thelibraryladder Wait, what! A new Connie Willis book?! Thanks for the tip, and your wonderful videos.
"To say nothing of the dog" is one of my favorite SF novels but, yes, despite her many awards and honors, she doesn't seem to receive the buzz that other great writers do.
Fascinating!!!
If there's a heaven it's going to look like your book collection!
The first sf anthology I read was Adventures in Time and Space, picked up at a yard sale for about a dime. I still have my copy. So many of those stories just hit me hard, like Nerves, Adam and No Eve, The Roads Must Roll, Nightfall. It made me a lifelong fan. I've collected a number of anthologies over the years and have only kept about 100, but they're ones I still return to.
I love short stories so much. They seem to have lost some favor recently so I'm glad to see some appreciation of the form from someone on UA-cam, especially someone who speaks so eloquently in their favor.
Thanks for sharing that wonderful comment! I'm a huge fan of short stories, and I hope to generate wider interest in them. I also think they're a great entry point to the science fiction genre for people who might not be inclined toward it or know where to start.
Amazing video! There's just so much to take in.
Incidentally, what do you think of Ann and Jeff VanderMeer's Big Book of Science Fiction, Time Traveler's Almanac and, tangential but often overlapping, The Weird anthologies?
Thanks! I have mixed feelings about the VanderMeer anthologies (which I have in Kindle editions). I think the VanderMeers excel at unearthing obscure and forgotten works that deserve new audiences. Their strength is in the weird fiction realm, and I think those are their best anthologies. It's also a weakness for them, as they tend to let their preference for the weird shape the narratives of their broader SF and fantasy anthologies.
It's a lot like how August Derleth tended to view SF and fantasy through a weird-/horror-tinged lens, and his anthologies showed the same heavy preference. They're enjoyable, but a little frustrating if you're looking for a collection that's more broadly representative of different aspects of a genre.
Great vid! looking forward for the promise ones
Very cool!
Always worth the wait. Looking forward to the next installment of this. As the old-school extreme sports folks used to say, and far all I know still do , " A very sick collection you have Bro"
Sf is not really my thing, (and I never can get myself to start exploring the genre), but I love short story collections and anthologies in the fantasy and horror genre. I did really enjoy your video though, your works are always informative and entertaining and very well produced. Thank you and kudos
Thanks! I hope you find an SF anthology in my next video that convinces you to give it a try. The genre as a whole is incredibly diverse, so I believe it really does have something for everyone (if you can figure out what that something is and can find it). :)
Great and impressive overview. I feel that the most relevant collections for most viewers are probably the ones published after the magical year of 2000. Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
Thanks! I hope to give viewers a wide, but still appetizing, buffet to choose from in the recommendations contained in my next video. :)
@@thelibraryladder Looking forward to your next video, brother. Some of my most cherished "Best of SF" short story collections (all paperbacks) were assembled by Richard Horton, David Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer. I'm not sure I would have become a science fiction writer if I hadn't read their publications, so they are real heroes of mine (beside of course legends like Campbell and Pohl).
You need to do a video about how to start collecting vintage… SF, fantasy, children’s, etc.
Thanks for the suggestion! I made a video a few months ago with general tips for book collecting, but it's not tailored to specific genres.
Very interesting entry. Lately I've been reading my silverberg collections of short stories. Alongside r a lafferty and Tiptree jnr. I've never been that much into anthologies though but maybe I'll check some out soon. All the best
What do you think about early television's impact on the genre? From fare such Captain Video, Space Patrol - through Tales of Tomorrow, Science Fiction Theater, One Step Beyond, Twilight Zone, etc.
Did one boost the other? Did readership rise or fall with the advent of SF television?
Great question! I'm not an expert, but I'd say it's highly likely that the television (and radio) shows of the 1950s had a very positive impact on SF readership. At the time, SF fans had limited options, and written SF stories and novels were the most plentiful, by far. Thus, TV/radio and books/magazines weren't really competing against each other for SF fans at the time, because there wasn't nearly enough supply of broadcast SF material (episodes were broadcast live typically only once a week). Thus, the early TV and radio shows were created in response to rising interest in SF authors, and the shows acted primarily as feeders that generated interest in SF books and magazines, often among younger viewers/readers. For example, the Tom Corbett, Space Cadet TV series of the early 1950s was initially inspired by Heinlein's kid novel Space Cadet, but it then inspired its own multi-volume book series featuring Corbett.
I think the influence began to swing the other way with Star Trek in the 1960s, and it accelerated rapidly through the 1970s, after which SF shows and films dominated the public's interest.
Some of the best anthologies to look out for are the annual books that were edited by Gardner Dozois and published in the uk as "The Mammoth book of best new SF ##". I've slowly been trying to get the full set of them, you can often pick them up second hand and each one is a great snapshot of that years SF publishing featuring some of the best stories of that year and a fascinating essay about the state of the genre as well.
If fact any anthology edited by Gardner Dozois is always going to be worth picking up.
Thanks for sharing that info! The Mammoth anthologies edited by Dozois were published in the US as 'The Year's Best Science Fiction' -- a series I mentioned near the end of the video. I didn't realize the series was published under a different title in the UK. It's a great set of anthologies.
Man. I think you got them all. Good shooting.
I didn't quite understand the sci-fi short story until I read one named "Call Me Joe" by Poul Anderson. Absolutely brilliant. Not an idea that would've worked as a novel but a really engaging short read. And it has excellent descriptions of space and planets, something I'm always eager for. Will definitely read more from Anderson.
Great example, and Anderson was such a terrific writer! I plan to do an overview of his works at some point. Thanks for sharing!
For the first five or six years after I graduated high school, I didn't have time/the attention span for novels. I consumed so many anthologies during that time. I spotted a few of them in this video, actually. I got back into reading novels, and then drifted more into history and science. But I've got a hankerin' for short stories, so I think I'll have to dig out some of my unread anthologies and maybe acquire a few new ones.
I hope you can find anthologies that will scratch that itch. I know the feeling. :)
Another wonderful video! Reminded me that I have a ton of old sci-fi anthology audiobooks saved to my shelf on Storytel. They just added The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Vol. 1 1929-1964 edited by Silverberg, and Vol. 2-A & 2-B edited by Ben Bova a few months ago, and I keep looking at them thinking that I'll read them soon. But knowing myself and how I am with short stories, they'll probably disappear from the service before I get to them. Hell, I've had Complete Short Stories of J.G. Ballard staring at me from my living room bookshelf for three or four years now, and almost every day I go "one of these days..."
Thanks! I think those SF Hall of Fame volumes are essential reads. Some of the stories haven't aged well, but most are still top-notch. Given a choice between the Hall of Fame volumes and the Ballard collection, I'd definitely go with the Hall of Fame.
@@thelibraryladder Yeah, there needs to be some expectation adjusting. I just read Robert Silverberg's Woman's World (1957) month or two ago, which I'm pretty sure was his first ever published short story, and I did not manage to adjust my expectations for that one. I'd previously read Man In the Maze, Downward to the Earth, Nightwings, and Sailing to Byzantium from him. All huge successes and wonderful books, well, parts 2 & 3 in Nightwings weren't that great. But when I eventually get to those anthologies, maybe I now have a baseline for what to expect from the bottom of the barrel.
Great to see some attention paid to anthologies! There's nothing like a tight, well-written short story and some of today's authors could stand to keep that in mind when editing their larger works. Over the years, I've enjoyed seeing some of my favorite authors like Marion Zimmer Bradley (I noticed one of your screen shots showed her novel "The Heritage of Hastur" which is a fave of mine) both expand their own worlds (the Darkover anthologies) AND promote certain themes (female-based stories in the Sword & Sorceress anthologies). Plus, she was instrumental in launching a number of today's most popular authors (Mercedes Lackey & others) via those anthologies. My three favorite short story anthologies are Roger Zelazny's "Unicorn Variations" and the two Alan Dean Foster books "With Friends Like These..." & "...Who Needs Enemies". The stories that have remained strongest in my memory are Zelazny's "Devil Car/Last of the Wilde Ones" (you won't get in a Tesla again!) and the title story "Unicorn Variation." In Foster's book, I always remember "Why Johnny Can't Speed" (especially now as I'm teaching my own child to drive!) and I think about "The Empire of T'ang Lang" every time I go in my back yard. Plus, the cover art on "Friends" is fantastic! Thanks again for another great video! I look forward to the follow-ups!
I feel the same way about short stories. Zelazny's a favorite of mine, and I hope to do a retrospective of his works next year. I've read very little of Foster's short fiction, although I've enjoyed his Spellsinger and Pip and Flinx series. 'Why Johnny Can't Speed' is one of the few short stories of his that I've read, and you're right, it's very timely as I teach my own kids to drive (especially when many people drive like maniacs where I live). :D
I think a video about bloat or fluff in modern literature would be interesting. Imo I think it's partly down to us buyers where we want value for money so would rather by a doorstopper huge book than something that's about 150 pages
I’d recommend Stanislaw Lem’s The Truth and other stories; Harlan Ellison’s The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World and other stories; and Karin Tidbeck’s Jagannath.
Great suggestions! I haven't read Tidbeck's collection. Thanks.
harry Bates is the author of "Farewell to the Master," on which the movie "The Day the Earth Stood Still" was based. The story has a much different ending than the movie!
Oh thank you! I started writing short-stories inspired by Martin H. Greenberg's anthologies in the 90s (Like "Alternate Presidents.") Now I'm a published writer!
Congratulations! You're living proof of the power of short stories to seed new ideas and new literary approaches to SF. Thanks for sharing!
Nice to see a Van Vogt mentioned here, shame his work is so hard to find these days.
I included three or four of his books in the video footage, although if you blinked you could miss them. Some of them were included in the clips of fix-up novels and Fantasy Press. I plan to do a retrospective of his works at some point (although my list of planed videos is rather long at the moment).
@@thelibraryladder Looking forward to it!
1:26 This is why I'm subscribed to your channel hahahaha
Yes I can agree actually, SCI FI is a little better to get into in short stories before going head first into epic books.
Maybe thats why people love 'The outer limits', Twilight Zone and Star Trek because they can pack so much detail in such a short space of Time. They get straight to the point but leave an impact on the veiwer, or in this case reader.
Good point about the appeal of SF anthologies on TV.
Might try some PKD’s short stuff soon
I prefer his short fiction to his novels.
The Electric Ant is fantastic.
His short story "Second Variety" is a very fine short story! The setting is a post apocalyptic landscape when frontline soldiers can't be sure who is friend or who is foe. Sound familiar?
Good job. I own many, if not most, of the anthologies you highlighted up until the end of the 20th century. There's not that much SF I enjoy from the last 20 years.
Thanks! Most of my favorites predate the year 2000 as well.
Thank you for the insightful history overview. I wonder whether there were any attempts to digitize all of the old pulp publications, before they are lost into history?
Great question, and the answer is yes. Archive.org has an extensive collection of scanned pulp magazines, many of which are downloadable in text, pdf, html and ebook formats. They don't yet have every magazine issue scanned, but they've managed to digitize a lot of them.
Hi Bridger. Have you read anything by John M. Ford? I had read the article about how he went out of print and how his works came back to light but I didn’t buy Tor’s enthusiasm… until I read Growing Up Weightless. I’m raving about that book and I think it’s just the perfect fit for your channel
I've read Ford's The Dragon Waiting, as well as some of his short fiction, all of which I've enjoyed. Growing Up Weightless sounds intriguing. Thanks for the suggestion!
I have a good many of these anthologies if only because they have/had covers by Richard Powers.
We need a resurgence of short story mags. digging through submission grinder, it really lays bare how few places there are to get sci fi short stories. At first glance it seems like there are a lot, but a lot are specialty that are very limited in scope, many don't publish anything longer than flash fiction, and fewer still pay a reasonable rate.
I agree. I'm not an author, but I can imagine how discouraging it must be for them to have so few magazines accepting SF story submissions. The rise of online periodicals has helped, but they lack brand recognition and marketing muscle, so their readership remains relatively small and niche.
0:02 - 2 Millennias - if you start from Lucianus.
I think I'm fairly well-read in science fiction, but there's just been so much that I know I've missed plenty of authors and stories. Especially when I was also busy reading fantasy, mysteries, and comic books, along with the science fiction. Short story anthologies provide a way to at least be familiar with an author and their style, even if you haven't read much by them. And if you find someone you really like, then you know to look for them elsewhere.
That's another great reason to read short stories!
An interesting if heavily US based view, with British SF only getting an occasional look in, and nothing much beyond that at all. Many of the names are new to me, whilst some names seem missing altogether.
The main picture here seems to be a broad brush view of short stories, rather than a qualitative assessment (which would be more divisive, I’d imagine). You do mention some editors preferring a more literary style, but no further indication of what that means or who would qualify as that. I do like a thoughtful style that makes good use of novum, rather than westerns in space or space opera. I loved SF as a kid, then lost it for many years, before rediscovering it via P K Dick’s short story collections, amongst others. So I’m averse to door stops and series novels. I might enjoy Dune as a film, but I’m never going to read any of the books.
You are clearly pretty knowledgeable about SF, and I will look out your short story volume recommendations when you post it, with an eye on which seem to fit my interests. Thank you for sharing your interests and knowledge!
Thanks for your comment! This video isn't intended to be a comprehensive survey or history lesson about the genre. Instead, I intended it primarily as a high-level overview that touches on historical highlights, but excludes a lot (a necessity in a video only 30 minutes long). My hope is to inspire relative newcomers to SF to explore on their own the wide variety of stories and anthologies representing the genre's different eras while giving them a little context to help them navigate their choices. People who are already well-read in the genre and knowledgeable about it aren't my primary target audience for this video.
I agree with you that there's a stronger emphasis on American SF short stories in the video. It reflects the fact that US authors were more prolific short fiction writers, owing in part to the greater proliferation of pulp magazines in the US during SF's Golden Age. Thus, US anthologies (and authors) are more represented in the video (while another contributing factor is simply that I have far fewer UK anthologies in my collection). I'll note, though, that two of the anthologies I show in the video (one edited by Sam Mosokowitz and one by Peter Haining) spend time discussing the different evolutions of the genre in the US and UK during the late 1800s and early 1900s.
I once found a copy of Young Extraterrestrials signed by Asimov at my local used bookstore. It didn’t have a price on it, so I brought it to the cashier to ask. She opened it and kind of went, “…OH.” She said that the store would contact me after they had figured out the price. They never got back to me. 😭
Oh, that's heartbreaking! Someone in the store probably claimed it for themselves. I've stumbled across a few hidden gems like that in my years of book collecting. I've purchased used books on eBay and then to my great surprise discovered when they arrived that they were signed by the author or were previously owned by someone famous (based on owner bookplates and inscriptions). The sellers didn't realize what they had when they sold them.
I Love your videos. Thank you for another good one. Pardon me for asking, are you getting over a cold?
Thanks! After I've been talking for a while, my voice starts to get hoarse.
If this guy wrote a novel, the cover would HAVE to be by Bob Ross!
Your knowledge of the genre and other areas of literature is quite amazing. Where have you pulled from to build the historic knowledge in this and other areas?
Thanks! I'm just an enthusiast with 50+ years of experience reading widely in many different genres. I think it's amazing how much one can learn simply from reading the introductions and forewords that authors and editors include in their books. I also enjoy reading histories that have been written about the different genres, particularly ones written by people with a first-hand perspective (such as author memoirs).
Please, please, please, a video related to care and preservation of books of all kind, no only for those owners in the States, some of the products found there may not be found on other countries...
Thanks for the suggestion! I've added it to my list of planned videos.
❤
Great vid very informative thanks, may I ask what the little vid you used at 7 min in the ship and the dust pyramid image was thanks
Thanks! I knew I should have zoomed in more on that video clip. It's actually a time lapse CGI animation of Manhattan's development.
I did not know Doomsday Book came from a short story. What was the name of the short story?
It was the 1982 novelette Fire Watch, which introduced the idea of a group of Oxford University time travelers. Its plot deals primarily with traveling back to WW2 London, but at one point, there's a discussion of Kivrin's journey back to the 14th century plague time. Willis took that brief idea and turned it into Doomsday Book. Fire Watch has been anthologized many times over the years, and can be found in one of the anthologies I'll be recommending in my next video.
@@thelibraryladder Fire Watch! I’ll have to reread it, thanks! Great video, by the way.
Hon sir there are large no of books shown on screen it cannot be written to make a list so to buy you are a little faster pls give a list of books in video in description amazing reads never heard before nor seen I was quite impressed first of all by yr title of video I clicked soon I found it amazing and wonderful I will buy much of these you mentioned but pls give list I hope you will reply awaiting many graceful thnx for nice content
Thank you! I just included a list of most of the anthologies shown in the video in a comment pinned above at the top of the comments section.
As soon as you said “opinionated Iconoclast” I figured you would say Ellison or Moorcock…and you said both lol
I think another reason for the decline in short SF stories is the death of episodic SF TV. Up till the broadcast of Babylon 5, most television Sf programs, while often having an overarching framework story, were primarily self-contained in terms of the story told in each episode. This provided a big market for short stories, whereas todays programs are almost all serialized long-form stories: in fact one often sees single story episodes of thes shows dismissed as 'filler' episodes, which means that there's much fewer opportunities for short story writers to sell their work.
That's an interesting point that has multiple dimensions. Not only has long-form SF altered the expectations and preferences of readers and viewers; it also has reduced opportunities for writers to sell shorter works. From the 1950s to the 1970s, SF authors frequently moonlighted as scriptwriters for TV shows or they had their short fiction adapted for TV episodes. That's far less common today as you pointed out. Thanks for sharing!
Whatever the cause, short, self-contained stories are underappreciated and underrepresented on both the page and the screen these days.
I disagree. Episodic sci-fi on TV just lead to in house writers on the show writing episodic stories. I think ONLY the original Star Trek series had one off episodes written by WRITERS that were famous outside of TV. It's probably the reason why the original Star Trek is more loved than say Deep Space Nine
You might want to check out more early television SF. In the 1950s, 60s and 70s, TV shows in the US such as Captain Video, Tales of Tomorrow, The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, One Step Beyond, Night Gallery, and Kolchak, the Night Stalker, among others, enlisted established SF writers to pen scripts for individual episodes. Some of the authors who wrote for TV shows other than Star Trek during those years included Arthur C. Clarke, C.M. Kornbluth, James Blish, Damon Knight, Jack Vance, Isaac Asimov, Robert Sheckley, Richard Matheson, Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, Fredric Brown, and Charles Beaumont. And many of those authors had short stories adapted by other writers for TV episodes.
@@thelibraryladder And before that, some radio programs (e.g. X Minus One) adapted short stories by classic science fiction writers.
Does anyone know of the 1979 annual worlds best SF was ever published in Hardback? It sticks out like a sore thumb in my collection. 25:48
According to ISFDB, the 1979 volume was published only in paperback. www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?33541
also Low risk low commitment way to sample new Authors : )
A little harsh on "Heavy Weather" perhaps? ;-)
I quite liked the premise of the novel and the ideas it contained, but the execution left me underwhelmed. :)
A great attempt at a difficult subject. I have, however, a few minor quibbles.
Firstly, your categorisation of Gold's editorship as "leaniing towards dystopia(s)" was a bit simplistic IMO. I would say that he leant towards psychological, anthroprological, and ontological fiction. Sure, these often lead to dystopian ideas, but that was not the intent.
Secondly, while you mention Moorcock as an editor, there is virtually no mention of New Worlds. The New Wave WAS British. Authors like Disch & Delaney could not get those stories published in the US. New Worlds and the like have, in turn, led to literally hundreds of anthologies.
Lastly, and probably least importantly, no mention of the Spectrum anthologies. To have a prominent historian (Conquest) and a literary "giant" (Amis) put their names on the cover of a science fiction anthology "legitimized" SF in many peoples eyes at the time. I do not think it's importance in the acceptance of the genre as literature can be overstated. By the by, their taste was also excellent, giving the full spectrum (as per the title) of the field.
Thanks for your thoughtful comment! I agree that there were many more anthologies (such as the Spectrum series) that played roles in shaping and popularizing the genre and in educating readers about its evolving boundaries. This video was intended primarily as a high-level overview for readers who are not already familiar with the genre's history. It's not intended to be a comprehensive inquiry or history lesson. To do the subject full justice would require far more time than this video's 30-minute length. With this video, my hope is to inspire relative newcomers to SF to explore on their own the wide variety of stories and anthologies representing the genre's different eras while giving them a little context to help them navigate their choices.
I respectfully disagree with your description of the New Wave as being solely (or primarily) British. Certainly, Moorcock and New Worlds played influential roles, particularly in creating opportunities for some of the more experimental and transgressive authors and stories. But the New Wave was far more than its most extreme elements that garnered much of the press and controversy, and there was a significant New Wave movement in the US spearheaded by US authors and editors, many of which I mentioned in the video.
Finally, I think you might have missed the sentence in my video that immediately preceded my reference to Gold and Galaxy "gravitat[ing] to dystopian visions" that said:
"Gold was a pessimist who liked stories that explored psychological and sociological themes and critiques, often through political allegory and satire."
Galaxy published much more than just dystopian stories, but a comparison with its contemporaries Astounding and MF&SF clearly shows that it had a preference for them.
@thelibraryladder thank you for your erudite & considerate reply. Disagreements are a good thing. If everybody liked the same thing, the world would be boring. Sorry for mis-categorising your remarks about Gold. I clearly did miss part of it.
I agree that respectful disagreement is healthy thing. Without differing viewpoints, there can be no innovation, making a dystopian future inevitable. I try to be more Campbellian in my outlook. :)
Wasn´t The Dying Earth published in one piece from the beginning? It also doesn´t really pretend to be a novel. Actually, it seems to me that it´s the opposite of a fixup, since it´s more like a novel pretending to be a bunch of short stories rather than the other way around
Great question! As I understand it, The Dying Earth was a quasi-fixup. Vance wrote the stories while serving aboard ship in the merchant marines. He tried to publish them individually, but the only taker was Hillman, a comic book publisher that had just launched a paperback book division. Vance combined the stories at Hillman's request and added light linkages between them for their initial publication in 1950 as The Dying Earth.
@@thelibraryladder That´s very interesting, thank you! And somewhat surprising, as those subtle links really contribute to the book imo. Perhaps an instance where a publisher´s requested changes actually made a book better
Lovecraft was very much a science fiction writer, fusing science fiction and horror.
You're right. Lovecraft incorporated a lot of science fiction themes, although his science tended to be relatively unscientific. Thanks for sharing!