A Century of Science Fiction

by Damon Knight

This anthology Cease Fire by Frank Herbert; Sky Lift by Robert A. Heinlein; The Ideal by Stanley G. Weinbaum; The Wind People by Marion Zimmer Bradley; Unhuman Sacrifice by Katherine MacLean; What Was It by Fitz-James O'Brien; The First Days of May by Claude Veillot; Another World by J. H. Rosny Aine; Odd John by Olaf Stapledon; Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne; From the London Times of 1904 by Mark Twain; You Are With It by Will Stanton; The Crystal Egg by H. G. Wells; Call Me Joe by Poul Anderson; Angel's Egg by Edgar Pangborn; Day of Succession by Theodore L. Thomas; The Star by Arthur C. Clarke; What's It Like Out There by Edmond Hamilton; The Business As Usual by Mack Reynolds; Worlds of the Imperium by Keith Laumer; Sail On Sail On by Philip Jose Farmer; Of Time and Third Avenue by Alfred Bester; But Who Can Replace a Man by Brian W. Aldiss; Moxon's Master by Ambrose Bierce; and Reason by Isaac Asimov

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Damon Francis Knight was an American science fiction author, editor, and critic.
Knight's first professional sale was a cartoon drawing to a science-fiction magazine, Amazing Stories. His first story, "Resilience", was published in 1941. He is best known as the author of "To Serve Man", which was adapted for The Twilight Zone. He was a recipient of the Hugo Award, founder of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), cofounder of the National Fantasy Fan Federation, cofounder of the Milford Writer's Workshop, and cofounder of the Clarion Writers Workshop. Knight lived in Eugene, Oregon, with his wife Kate Wilhelm.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting anthology in which Knight presented selections in seven different science-fiction categories to show the way the perception of them, and the way in which they were handled in the literature, had changed in a hundred years. Unfortunately (in my opinion), he chose quite a few excerpts from longer works to illustrate his point, and (perhaps irrationally, I'll admit), that's not a practice that I find pleasing or effective. My favorites were What's It Like Out There by Edmond Hamilton, Unknown Sacrifice by Katherine Maclean, Angel's Egg by Edgar Pangborn, and Call Me Joe by Poul Anderson.

[Linus Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an interesting collection of science fiction short stories. As is per my usual--a story-by-story rating of the anthology.

1. The ideal--Stanley G. Weinbaum. 3/10. An inauspicious start for the collection.
2. Moxon's Master--Ambrose Bierce. 6/10. Now we're getting somewhere. This is most certainly a spooky science fiction tale. I enjoyed it, short though it was.
3. Reason--Isaac Asimov. 8/10. Ah yes, a self-aware machine that is only too aware of the flaws its creators have.
4. But Who can Replace a Man--Brian W. Aldiss. 6/10. Your standard apocalyptic story but with grades of mind.
5. A selection from the time machine--H.G. Wells. 7/10. One of the fathers of science fiction with one of the first depiction of time travel in literature
6. Of time and third avenue--Alfred Bester. 9/10. I really enjoyed this little story about messing with time.
7. Sail on! Sail on!--Philip Jose Farmer 8/10. Now we're starting to hit our stride. What if the world really was flat and radio waves were discovered and repackaged by the clergy? Hmm, what if.
8. Worlds of the Imperium--Keith Laumer. 5/10. Sometimes, a short story can be TOO short. This is one of those times.
9. The Business, as usual--Mack Reynolds. 8/10. When time travelers become commonplace, what do you do with them?
10. What's it like out there?--Edmond Hamilton. 8/10. Woof. Space is a rough, rough, place, and this story pulls few punches.
11.Sky Lift--Robert Heinlein. 9/10. What a story. Were it not for the next on this list, this would have been the best in the section. Heinlein is, as always, a master of the craft.
12. The Star--Arthur C. Clark. 10/10. Few stories in my reading experience hit quite as hard as this one. Amazing. I needed to put down the book for a little bit after this one.
13. The Crystal Egg--H. G. Wells. 6/10. We return to Mr. Wells, this time writing about martians again. The hints of "war of the worlds" are here.
14. The Wind People--Marion Zimmer Bradley. 7/10. Spooky. As close as this collection gets to horror.
15. Unhuman Sacrifice--Katherine MacLean. 8/10. Not bad, although there are ideas here that get close to being fleshed out but don't quite make it, specifically about the aliens and their society.
16. What was it?--Fitz-James O'Brien. 8/10. This story also approaches horror, but it's well done.
17. The first days of may--Claude Veillot. 8/10. The meaning of occupation, and also of resistance. I don't believe it's a coincidence that the author is French.
18. Day of Succession--Theodore L. Thomas. 5/10. This one doesn't have a /point/. I didn't care for it.
19. Angel's Egg--Edgar Pangborn. 10/10. I loved this one. It starts out a little weirdly but it's powerful later on.
20. Another World--J.H. Rosny Aine. 9/10. This was such a unique take on the superman mythos that I quite enjoyed the novelty
21. Odd John--Olaf Stapledon. 6/10. Another story that tries to get a point, and fails.
22. Call me Joe--Poul Anderson. 10/10. I loved this one. When the environment makes human exploration impossible, make something that isn't human. And who crews the vehicle? Well, it's hard to say but this story offers some ideas.
23. From the London Times of 1904--Mark Twin. 8/10. Hey look, computers.
24. a selection from Twenty Thousand Leagues under the sea--Jules Verne. 8/10. It's a classic and no more need be said about it.
25. You are with it!--Will Stanton. 5/10. I'm not quite sure what I was supposed to take away from this other than TV is the place for our fantasies.
26. Cease Fire--Frank Herbert. 9/10. War, war never changes.

[Raj · Rating 3 out of 5]

The oldest story in this collection is from about the 1860s and the newest from the 1960s so it does pretty much what it says on the tin. Each story has an introduction written by Knight and it contains stories by all the greats of the era, ranging from Mark Twain and H. G. Wells, through Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke to Marion Zimmer Bradley and Frank Herbert.

The stories neatly show how the genre has evolved over the decades, from the not-quite-supernatural stories of the middle of the 19th century to the hard science of the 20th. The stories have more than just historical value though, and remain enjoyable, fun and sometimes moving, even today. Poul Anderson's Call Me Joe and Edgar Pangborn's Angel Egg are probably my favourites in the collection, although the former shows its age when a character comments that native Jovians would probably never have invented radio because "think how thick the vacuum tubes would have to be" :).

[Reet · Rating 3 out of 5]

--Robots
Moxon's Master, by Ambrose Bierce
2 ⭐
Reason, by Isaac Asimov
3 ⭐
But Who Can Replace a Man? by Brian Aldiss
1 ⭐
--Time Travel
Of Time and Third Avenue, by Alfred Bester
2 ⭐
Sail On! Sail On! by Philip José Farmer
1 ⭐
The Business, as Usual, by Mack Reynolds
3 ⭐
--Space
What's it like out There, by Edmond Hamilton
3 ⭐
Sky Lift, by Robert Heinlein
3 ⭐ 4Gs? In a "torch ship" to Pluto
The Star, by Arthur C. Clarke
".. he [Clarke] now lives in Ceylon, and on his occasional visits to this country he complains that all the pale faces look alike. Religion interests Clarke as a psychological phenomenon."
4 ⭐
--Other Worlds and People
The Crystal Egg, by H.G.Wells
4 ⭐ The most awesome and, at the same time, sad story.
The Wind People, by Marion Zimmer Bradley
4 ⭐
Unhuman Sacrifice, by Katherine MacLean
4 ⭐
--Aliens Among Us
What Was It? by Fitz-James O'Brien
3 ⭐
The First Days of May, by Claude Veillot
4 ⭐
Day of Succession, by Theodore L. Thomas
4 ⭐
Angel's Egg, by Edgar Pangborn
4 ⭐
--Superman
Another World, by J.-H. Rosny aîné
2 ⭐
Call Me Joe, by Poul Anderson
3 ⭐
--Marvelous Inventions
You are With It, by Will Stanton
2 ⭐
Cease Fire, by Frank Herbert
2 ⭐

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finally decided to read this, since some other sci-fi anthologies refer to it. Knight went hog wild here with extensive introductions and commentaries. If you don't like Knight, skip this book. Even if you do, you'll find more misses than hits in this book.

My biggest beef is that it includes snippets from novels and novellas. If I wanted to read a novel, I'd read a novel. I wanted to read short stories, novellettes and novellas. Silly me.

Selections:

* "Introduction" by Our Editor. Long intro with paragraphs of quotes defining sci-fi, Knight's relationship with sci-fi and why he picked the selections he did. He does thumb his nose at Robert Silverberg here, and just about anyone who claims sci-fi started before the 1800's.

Robots
* "The Ideal" by Stanley G. Weinbaum. Just a page or two from the novella, which in turn was based on an Elizabethan play by Robert Greene called Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay. Yeesh.
* "Moxon's Master" by Ambrose Bierce. A guy too clever for his own good builds a chess playing robot. But this ain't Deep Blue. This robot doesn't like to lose.
* "Reason" by Isaac Asimov. Robots aside, this was the first story to mention solar power ... by satellites. This was from one of the good doctor's many loosely related stories about robots. A bored guy on a mile-long satellite builds himself a robot ... and lives to regret it.
* "Who Can Replace a Man?" By Brian W. Aldiss. Machines try to, but can't.

Time Travel
* "The Time Machine" by H. G. Wells. A few pages from the 1895 novel of the same name, showcasing the infamous machine, and Our Protagonist leaving his time for his adventures.
* "Of Time and Third Avenue" by Alfred Bester. One of those time travelling stories you wish could've come true.
* "Sail On! Sail On!" By Philip Jose Farmer. A tiresome alternate universe story, where Morse code was invented in the 1400s and used on Columbus' first trip to the New World.
* "Worlds of the Imperium" by Keith Laumer. About three pages from the novel, where a sort of movie is made of parallel universes flowing together.
* "The Business, As Usual" by Mack Reynolds. Short and amusing story of a guy who just keeps bumping into time travellers.

Space
* "What's It Like Out There?" By Edmond Hamilton. A sharp, poignant piece about a returning "spaceman" on the second Mars Expedition, forced to lie about what it's really like out there. This is similar to what veterans have to do, especially WWI veterans. This was written in the 1930s, but wasn't published until 1952, because it was considered too grim.
* "Sky Lift" by Robert A. Heinlein. This is basically a Navy story with sci-fi trappings, but it's still a good read. WARNING: Talk about a chimp killed in flying simulation experiment.
* "The Star" by Arthur C. Clarke. This is Clarke's second most anthologized story (the first being "The Nine Billion Names of God.") Christians love this story, for some reason. I'm tired of seeing it so many anthologies, even though it's a decent (but slow) story.

Other Worlds and People
* "The Crystal Egg" by H. G. Wells. An old, harassed shopkeeper tries to keep a crystal egg from being sold. Why? One of Wells' more enchanting stories.
* "The Wind People" by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Before she shifted permanently to writing mostly bad fantasy novels, MZB wrote mostly bad sci-fi, such as this story. MZB's big problem is that she sets up very promising situations ... and then has no idea what to do with them.
* "Unhuman Sacrifice" by Katherine MacLean. A spaceship with a fanatical preacher as the only passenger makes an emergency stop on a new world with humanoids -- so the preacher gotta preach. Who he winds up harming is a surprise. This is a good look at clashes of cultures ... and species.

Aliens Among Us
* "What Was It?" By Firz-James O'Brien. This 1859 story was the first to mention invisibility. Here, we have strange doings in a New York boarding house.
* "The First Days of May" by Claude Veillot. Translated from the French by Our Editor. IT'S THE INVASION OF THE GIANT PRAYING MANTISES! Despite that, it winds up being the real gem of this collection.
* "Day of Succession" by Theodore L. Thomas. The first alien ships land in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where the author lived (and where I lived in the '90s.) It's a frustratingly stupid story, filled with stereotypes and hardware and not much else.
* "Angel's Egg" by Edgar Pangborn. I think this was Pangborn's most popular story. It's a silly story about a weird egg found under a chicken. The egg hatches into what looks like a tiny angel, but is actually an alien. Told in the form of journal entries and government reports, it has a sinister beginning, but then spirals into nothing.

Superman
* "Another World" by J-H. Rosny Aine. Translated from the French by Our Editor. This remarkable 1895 story is narrated by a mutant with violet skin, superhuman abilities, but problems. Our Editor claims this is the first "superman" story.
* "Odd John" by Olaf Stapledon. Extract of a few pages from the novel of the same name. Told entirely as a conversation between Odd John and Our Narrator, Odd John finds another man similar to himself.
* "Call Me Joe" by Poul Anderson. This story was cool for 1957, but suffers from the advances in science we know now. Anderson thought up the most unnecessarily complicated and unethical way to explore Jupiter -- genetically engineered feline centaurs to act as puppets for scientists to control their minds. WARNING: Tons of critters die.

Marvellous Inventions
* "From the London Times, 1904" by Mark Twain/Samuel Clemens. First published in 1898, it begins in 1898 and moves on to 1904. This is the history of the telelectroscope -- which acts a lot like a combination television/CCTV camera. This is a murder mystery, but we never find out who the murderer is -- or even who the corpse was.
* "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" by Jules Verne. A few pages from the novel of the same name, about exploring the bottom of the ocean.
* "You are With It!" By Will Stanton. A hen-pecked husband gets to play at being James Bond on a fully immerse television show. You may have to read the ending twice in order to understand it.
* "Cease Fire" by Frank Herbert. Herbert was an overrated hack. This story about developing a weapon so powerful that it will end wars is not only dull, but racist. Herbert got one thing right -- America would be at war in 1972.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am such a sucker for collections of science fiction stories that were created pre-space-age.

In "Unhuman Sacrifice" (Katherine MacLean Katherine MacLean) I saw elements of Orson Scott Card's piggy society in Speaker for the Dead Speaker for the Dead (which kind of makes me want to re-read that one).

[Brad Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Partially completed. Picked up at Charles Town library and hope to finish it someday.

I left off on Another World. Ha!

I'll at least leave a review of what I've read so far. This is mostly great story telling with many stories new to me. Some stories are a bit of a drag and, yes, do show their age. But I'm enjoying the voyage.

July 2025. Withdrew from the library, happy it was still on the shelves although sadly I was also the last one to withdraw it from Feb 2024. But I finished it. No big insights but it was a fun read!

[Marsha Valance · Rating 3 out of 5]

From Jules Verne thru Asimov and Heinlein, Damon Knight offers a look at the growth of imaginative fiction from the 1850s thru the 1950s. A Science Fiction Book Club selection.

[James Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good introduction to the Science Fiction genre. Damon Knight, the editor, has selected stories from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and grouped them thematically. Thus there are sections for "Robots", "Time Travel", "Space", "Other Worlds and People", "Aliens among Us", "Superman"(not the 'Man of Steel'), and "Marvelous Inventions". Most of the selections are short stories from classic SF authors like Alfred Bester, Philip Jose Farmer, Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, Marion Zimmer Bradley, and Poul Anderson. However there are some excerpts that highlight great novels including Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne, Odd John by Olaf Stapledon, and The Time Machine by H. G. Wells. The result of these selection and others is a satisfying anthology of the most imaginative fiction offered over the century ending in the 1960s. A special plus is the inclusion of an introduction by the editor and a bibliography of selected readings for readers who are inspired to seek out more science fiction.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

An anthology of the best science fiction written up to 1962 selected by noted author Damon Knight.

Pretty much every story is really good and the majority are not well known now (except perhaps "The Star" by Arthur C. Clarke and "Reason" by Isaac Asimov.).

A few of my favorites:

Unhuman Sacrifice by Katherine Maclean - This story is so memorable, it has stuck in my head for 30 years.

Angel's Egg by Edgar Pangborn - Lyrical and beautiful

Call Me Joe by Poul Anderson - Great concept, now it makes me think of Avatar, but of course it was first by 50 years.