• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

Isaac Asimov Presents The Golden Years of Science Fiction Sixth Series Edited By Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg CONTENTS Foreword Introduction THE RED QUEEN’S RACE Isaac Asimov FLAW John D. MacDonald PRIVATE EYE Lewis Padgett MANNA Peter Phillips THE PRISONER IN THE SKULL Lewis Padgett ALIEN EARTH Edmond Hamilton HISTORY LESSON Arthur C. Clarke ETERNITY LOST Clifford D. Simak THE ONLY THING WE LEARN C.M. Kornbluth PRIVATE—KEEP OUT Philip MacDonald THE HURKLE IS A HAPPY BEAST Theodore Sturgeon KALEIDOSCOPE Ray Bradbury DEFENSE MECHANISM Katherine MacLean COLD WAR Harry Kuttner THE WITCHES OF KARRES James H. Schmitz NOT WITH A BANG Damon Knight SPECTATOR SPORT John D. MacDonald THERE WILL COME SOFT RAINS Ray Bradbury DEAR DEVIL Eric Frank Russell SCANNERS LIVE IN VAIN Cordwainer Smith BORN OF MAN AND WOMAN Richard Matheson THE LITTLE BLACK BAG C.M. Kornbluth ENCHANTED VILLAGE A.E. van Vogt ODDY AND ID Alfred Bester THE SACK William Morrison THE SILLY SEASON C.M. Kornbluth MISBEGOTTEN MISSIONARY Isaac Asimov TO SERVE MAN Damon Knight COMING ATTRACTION Fritz Leiber A SUBWAY NAMED MOBIUS A.J. Deutsch PROCESS A.E. van Vogt THE MINDWORM C.M. Kornbluth THE NEW REALITY Charles L. Harness Foreword The years 1949 and 1950 saw into print some of the best science fiction ever written. The technology and the fears brought about by the atomic age pressed new horizons and the concept of absolute mortality upon the world, and it was through this most disturbing vision that the science fiction giants finally found their wings. In this, the sixth volume in the highly acclaimed series of anthologies edited by Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg, the reader will find a thoroughly satisfying collection of stories guaranteed to beguile the mind and shake the soul. Selections by legendary writers such as Arthur C. Clark, Damon Knight, C. M. Kornbluth, Clifford D. Simak, and A. E. van Vogt make this volume a must-have for the science fiction addict or historian, readers just beginning to explore the field, and that eternal (and non gender-specific) audience, the Common Man, for whom many of these cautionary tales have been written. C.L.S. Introduction In the world outside reality it was a very violent year. On June 25 North Korean troops crossed the 38th parallel and invaded South Korea. The United States, under the banner of the United Nations (the Soviets were out of the building protesting some•thing else, and couldn’t use their veto), went to die assistance of South Korea with air strikes and an expeditionary force. The North Koreans advanced steadily, forcing the U.S. and Republic of Korea troops back to a small area on the southern coast of the peninsula. Defeat was narrowly averted when General Douglas MacArthur engineered a remarkable landing far behind enemy lines at Inchon. Allied forces then pushed the North Koreans back across the border, pursuing them all the way to within a few miles of the border with the People’s Republic of China at the Yalu River. However, on December 28 hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops crossed the Yalu and began to force the Allies back as the year ended. Earlier, on January 25, Alger Hiss was convicted of perjury in testimony regarding his membership in the American Communist Party. Anti-communism reached fever pitch with the emergence of Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin, who charged in a speech that he had a list of “known communists” working for the State Department, and the passage on September 20 of the McCarran Act, which forced even suspected communists and former Party members out of government service. Especially vicious was the publication Red Channels, a book that accused American citizens, particularly figures in the entertainment industry, of communist connections. Careers and lives were ruined on hearsay and through guilt by association. Other highlights of the year included American recognition of Vietnam, the seizure of Tibet by Chinese Communist forces, and the formal decision by the Truman administration to develop the hydrogen bomb. The biggest heist in American history oc­curred when seven men took $2,700,000 in cash and money orders from the Brink’s Express Company in Boston. French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman advocated a plan for the sharing of Europe’s coal and iron ore deposits—this proposal would eventually lead to the formation of the European Economic Community or “Common Market.” On August 25 President Truman ordered Federal troops to seize the railroads in order to prevent a threatened strike. The President was the object of an assassination attempt on November 1, when Puerto Rican nationalists attempted to break into Blair House, where the Trumans were staying—one guard and one attacker were killed. During 1950 the mambo became a dance craze in the United States. Uruguay defeated Brazil 5-4 to win soccer’s World Cup. The Federal Bureau of Investigation issued its first “Most Wanted” list, while What’s My Line and Your Show of Shows, the latter starring Sid Caeser, were hits on television. Minute Rice and Sugar Pops appeared on grocery shelves. Pablo Picasso sculpted “The Goat” as Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts debuted in the newspapers. Outstanding novels included The Wall by John Hersey, A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute, The Short Life by Juan Carlos Onetti, and Across The River and Through The Woods by Ernest Hemingway. There were 8,000,000 television sets in the United States, serviced by over 100 TV stations. Orion was introduced by DuPont. Joe Louis attempted to regain his heavyweight boxing championship, but lost a decision to Ezzard Charles. Americans were the mostly proud owners of over 40,000,000 cars. Top films of the year included The Asphalt Jungle, All About Eve, Sunset Boulevard starring Gloria Swanson, Jean Cocteau’s Orpheus, Kind Hearts and Coronets, and the wonderful The Lavender Hill Mob. The last two featured Alec Guinness. The Cleveland Browns won the National Football League Championship, while the New York Yankees defeated the surprising Philadelphia Phillies four games to none to take baseball’s World Series. Cyclamates and Sucaryl were introduced, and the Wallace and Wyeth laboratories developed tranquilizers. Two of the most influential books were The Human Uses of Human Beings by Norbert Wiener and The Lonely Crowd by David Riesman, Reuel Denney and Nathan Glazer. The Haloid Company of Rochester, New York, produced the first Xerox copying machine. Middleground won the Kentucky Derby, while Al Rosen and Ralph Kiner led the American and National Leagues in home runs. Marc Chagall painted “King David.” It was a wonderful year for the theater as The Country Girl by Clifford Odets, Come Back Little Sheba by William Inge, and Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers all opened on Broadway. The Diners Club was founded as book publishers rejoiced. Popular musicals included Irving Berlin’s Call Me Madam, and Frank Loesser’s Guys and Dolls. America was singing “Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White,” “It’s So Nice to Have a Man Around the House,” and “If I Knew You Were Comin I’d Have Baked a Cake.” Florence Chadwick broke the record for swimming the English Channel. Smokey the Bear became the symbol for fighting forest fires. There were about 2,520,000,000 people in the world. Death took George Bernard Shaw and painter Max Beckmann. Mel Brooks may have still been Melvin Kaminsky. In the real world it was a simply terrific year. In the real world the eighth World Science Fiction Convention (the Norwescon) was held in far away Portland, Oregon. Also in the real world Galaxy Science Fiction was born and under the editorship of H. L. Gold quickly established itself as one of the premier magazines in the field. If this was not enough, The Magazine of Fantasy, launched the year before, changed its name to The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and also rapidly achieved excellence, transforming Astounding Science Fiction from the “Big One,” to one of the “Big Three.” The tide continued to rise with the appearance of Damon Knight’s excellent Worlds Beyond, Raymond Palmer’s/Beatrice Mahaffey’s Imagination, Malcolm Reiss’ Two Complete Science Adventure Books, and a refurbished Future Combined With Science Fiction Stories. In England, Walter H. Gillings started Science-Fantasy, an uneven magazine but one that would enjoy a long life. These events overshadowed the folding of A. Merritt’s Fantasy Magazine in October. In the real world, more important people made their maiden voyages into reality: in January—Cordwainer Smith with “Scanners Live in Vain”, in February—Paul Fairman with “No Teeth for the Tiger”; in March—Gordon R. Dickson (co-authored with Poul Anderson) with “Trespass!”; in April—Mack Reynolds with “Isolationist”; in the summer—Richard Matheson with “Born of Man and Woman”; in November—Chad Oliver with “The Land of Lost Content”; and in December—J. T. McIntosh with “The Curfew Tolls.” More wondrous things happened in the real world as outstanding novels, stories and collections were published in magazines and in book form: James Blish began his “Oakie” series of novelettes, while L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt published their first “Gavagan’s Bar” story. The Dreaming Jewels by Theodore Sturgeon appeared in Fantastic Adventures, Judith Merril’s first anthology, Shot in the Dark, appeared in paperback, and sf fans had the pleasure of reading Pebble in the Sky by Isaac Asimov and The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury as part of Doubleday’s new science fiction line. A. E. van Vogt brought together earlier stories in an attractive package and produced The Voyage of the Space Beagle.

Load more

  610

Copy Link