17 X Infinity Science Fiction

by Groff Conklin (Editor), Alan Nelson (Contributor)

Introduction '63 Groff Conklin essay
The Simian Problem '60 Hollis Alpert
Strikebreaker '57 Isaac Asimov
Come Into My Cellar/Boys! Raise Giant Mushrooms in Your Cellar! '62 Ray Bradbury
MS Fnd in a Lbry '61 Hal Draper
Cato the Martian '60 Howard Fast
The Spaceman Cometh '55 Henry Gregor Felsen
The Machine Stops '09 E.M. Forster
Frances Harkins '52 Richard Goggin
The Day They Got Boston '61 Herbert Gold
A-W-F, Unlimited '61 Frank Herbert
As Easy as ABC '12 Rudyard Kipling
MacDonough's Song '12 Rudyard Kipling poem
Silenzia '53 Alan Nelson
What to Do Until the Analyst Comes/Everybody's Happy But Me! '56 Frederik Pohl
Short in the Chest '54 Margaret St.Clair/aka Idris Seabright
The Last of the Spode '53 Evelyn E. Smith
Never Underestimate... '52 Theodore Sturgeon
Brooklyn Project '48 William Tenn

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

272 pages, paper

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

Edward Groff Conklin (September 6, 1904, Glen Ridge, New Jersey - July 19, 1968, Pawling, New York) was a leading science fiction anthologist. Conklin edited 41 anthologies of science fiction, wrote books on home improvement and was a freelance writer on scientific subjects. From 1950 to 1955, he was the book critic for Galaxy Science Fiction.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Conklin again demonstrated his predilection for putting numbers in his titles in this 1963 anthology. The stories are pretty good ones, and the fact that he presented not-so-well-known titles from very-well-known authors shows his phenomenal knowledge of the field. He also included some pre-genre classics by E.M. Forester and Rudyard Kipling. Some of the stories appear to have aged poorly, but there are good pieces by Ray Bradbury, Idris Seabright (a pseudonym of the under-appreciated Margaret St. Clair), Evelyn Smith (no relation to E.E. Smith, but another under-appreciated female writer of the time), Theodore Sturgeon, and Howard Fast. My favorites are What to Do Until the Analyst Comes by Frederik Pohl and a terrific time-travel story by William Tenn, Brooklyn Project.

[Paul Bryant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contains one of PB's Classic SF Stories

"Brooklyn Project" by William Tenn

It's a time travel spoof which should have stopped anyone else writing time travel stories but didn't.

[Thom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Groff Conklin put together some of the best science fiction collections, and this is no exception to that rule. Any time I find one in a paperback store, I gleefully snag it for future reading. This collection contains 17 stories, including the prophetic "The Machine Stops" by E.M. Forster.

This collection also contains "Silenzia" (released after the 5000 Fingers of Dr. T - so who had the idea first?), "The Day They Got Boston" (released before Eugene Burdick's serialized story "Fail-Safe") and one of two ultimate time travel stories "The Brooklyn Project" (the other is Heinlein's "All You Zombies").

Flipping back through the last six months of occasional reading and waiting (for a kid at school, for a ferry, or even just for the game to start), I can't find which story I like the least. An excellent collection!

[Natalie S · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story I love the most and wanted to share with everyone is Never Underestimate by Theodore Sturgeon.

I loved the intelligence of MS FND IN A LBRY by Hal Draper.

I would have liked to read even more of Strikebreaker by Isaac Asimov.

The story that haunted me the most was Come into my Cellar by Ray bradbury.

[Steve Stuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice collection of vintage sci-fi, but is definitely a bit dated.

There are some absolute classics in here. "The Machine Stops", by E.M. Forster (yes, the author of Howards End), is one of the best sci-fi stories ever written, and has aged very well, considering that it is over 100(!) years old. "Cato the Martian" is a clever and entertaining story by Howard Fast that can teach you something about ancient Roman history, as well as human attitudes, despite not featuring a single human character.

Other stories are just puzzling. Isaac Asimov, who was prolific but rarely disappointing, is represented here by "Strikebreaker", a silly story about handling human waste in a space colony. Frank Herbert was apparently not always as masterful or as serious as when writing Dune. His contribution here is "A-W-F Unlimited", a snappy but ridiculous and sexist farce. And Rudyard Kipling (yes, that Rudyard Kipling) writes "As Easy as A. B. C.", a confusing tale about the American penchant for independence taken to extremes in a dystopic future ruled by reluctant government despots wielding Edisonian wizardry.

Most of the stories show their age. Every one of them was written before 1963, with several from the 50s and two from before World War I. Who knew that mediocre 1950s science fiction sounds just like a modern writer making a mediocre attempt at setting a 1950s mood. "'The Moogislanders!' My-ex-ex cried, reaching frantically for his molecule pistol. 'Run for your life!'" A large fraction of the stories -- and editorial comments sandwiching them -- are obsessed with the atomic bomb and its consequences. And most of the stories also portray the female characters as either humble domestic help, airheaded blondes, or tough broads. The men are mostly caricatures, too, but usually more flattering ones.

If you can view the caricatures as a sociological commentary of the times, though, and get past the dated comedy and dialogue, there are enough gems to be make it worth digging through.

[Johan Haneveld · Rating 3 out of 5]

Except for a few classic stories that belong to the top of SF-literature (that for one reason or another I had heard about but never read before) this is pretty standard SF, and shows its age in its old fashioned gender values (the focus of a couple of stories even, for example a story by Frank Herbert, that shows that some people are better at longer works), and in its treatment of the cold war, nuclear war and fallout. For the most part I find it easy to put aside modern asumptions and read the stories as belonging to the time they were written in and containing the science known then, but the real classic stories manage to be applicable to our own lives even sixty or more than hundred years later. One of those classics is E.M. Forsters 'The machine stops'. Forsters is well known as a Literary author, but he also wrote science fiction. And he turned out to be a master of the genre. This story written at the start of the 20th century is even more applicable now. Our dependence on technology for everything, including interpersonal communication has only grown, and the world he writes about is no longer strictly hypothetical. I thought this was a chilling, well executed story, and still felt fresh. Another great story is William Tenns 'The Brooklyn Project', with a satirical take on time travel, with a great ending. I enjoyed it. I also enjoyed the different kind of alien invasion envisioned by Ray Bradbury in 'Come into my cellar' - he is great at creating atmosphere! The asimov story 'Strikebreaker' I had read before. I like all Asimov's stories, I must admit. Here the protagonist has underestimated how deeply ingrained societal issues are. The rest of the stories do not really stand out, but it was interesting to see a story by Rudyard Kipling. Most stories had a satirical bent to them. I did enjoy this collection, but aside from 'The machine stops', they mostly will not stay with me, I'm afraid.

[Gary Pilkington · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finally got around to re-reading this collection. I remember being impressed with the collection of stories in this book when I first read it many years ago. I acquired a copy recently via the used book market and set about re-reading it. It was as good a collection as I remembered. The highlights were MS Fnd In A Lbry by Hal Draper, The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster and Short in the Chest by Idris Seabright (Margaret St. Clair). You might encounter and read them in other collections and if you do, please do read them. This is a wonderful collection of works all of which should be must read for anyone interested in older science fiction.

[Harding Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fourth star is really for E.M. Forester's stunningly prophetic tale, "The Machine Stops", contained in this collection. As we sit in our isolation tanks, hoping against hope for some kind of "idea" to emerge while we communicate solely through our mobile devices -- somewhere out there Forester and HG Wells are having it out.

But there are other little gems in this book too. Published in 1969, long before 9/11, the internet, and our insanely noisy commercialism, so much of it rings true. And what doesn't -- well it's entertaining anyway.

[Ed]

ISFDB 257607. OCLC 3536173.

[Dane Cobain · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book as part of a job lot of books from someone who was clearly super into sci-fi, and that was a good thing because otherwise I don’t think I would have picked this one up.

So I guess I should tell you who’s featured here, and they might not be the usual suspects that you’d first think of, though Isaac Asimov is here. There are also a bunch of authors who are thought of in other terms, though.

The stories are alphabetical based on author surname and so here goes: Hollis Alpert, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Hal Draper, Howard Fast, Henry Gregor Felsen, E. M. Forster, Richard Goggin, Herbert Gold, Frank Herbert, Rudyard Kipling, Alan Nelson, Frederik Pohl, Idris Seabright, Evelyn Smith, Theodore Sturgeon and William Tenn.

Ad so as you can see from the list of contributors, there’s really something here for everyone. I had a lot of fun with it, especially with some of the more classical authors like Forster and Kipling. I’ve read Kipling a few times before and enjoyed his stuff, but it was a different experience entirely to pick up some of his sci-fi.

All in all then, 17 x Infinity was a cracker of a collection and I’m very glad that I picked it up. I’d recommend tracking it down if you can if you’re interested in at least three of the authors that I mentioned, but don’t pay through the nose for it. It might be pretty rare, I don’t know.

[Ken Loft · Rating 5 out of 5]

Something about ordering the stories alphabetically seems lazy to me, but in another grander sense it works out so well in this anthology that it seems somehow intentional??

After Heretics I should have but didn't realise that Frank has a funny bone, AWF was definitely a highlight BUT tbh Mr. Jungle Book Kipling really blew me away. And Isaac for all my shit talking put on a show as well... and everyone else has such unique ideas and clean writing! It's a five from me dawg sorry I gotta do it again, what a collection.

Ty Groff Conklin for putting this shit together, a serious anthology worth revisiting again and again.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this second hand when I was about 17 (many years ago). I'm just going by hindsight, but I remember it as a great collection of sci-fi that I went to again and again. Loved it.

[Charlie Eckhaus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continuing to work my way through these old paperback sf anthologies, this seems to be one of Conklin's more lightweight ones (as opposed to the classic-studded milestones) -- the Forster and Bradbury entries are the only ones eliciting immediate recognition for me.

That said, The Simian Problem by Hollis Alpert is an auspicious start to the collection of what the editor's introduction indicates as dystopian in theme.
Strikebreaker by Isaac Asimov: Outworlder confronts a sociological problem.
Come into My Cellar by Ray Bradbury: Reminiscent of Finney's Body Snatchers, but with Bradbury's wonderful language.
Ms Fnd in a Lbry by Hal Draper: Tour de force indexer's nightmare
Cato the Martian by Howard Fast: Dry humor, vague point.
The Spaceman Cometh by Henry Gregor Felsen: More humor, skillful misdirection.
The Machine Stops by EM Forster: Seems a lot different from my long-ago memory of it, maybe confusing it with Bradbury's There Will Come Soft Rains. Vision of a cold, harmfully worshipful future.
Frances Harkins by Richard Goggin: McCarthyism warning.
The Day They Got Boston by Herbert Gold: Cold war satire.
A-W-F, Unlimited by Frank Herbert: Over-the-top advertising (and, I thnk, romance) satire.
As Easy as ABC by Rudyard Kipling: This one darn near impenetrable for me.
Silenzia by Alan Nelson: A promising start fulfilled.
What to Do Until the Analyst Comes by Frederik Pohl: Straightforward satire.
Short in the Chest by Idris Seabright: Psychiatric session.
The Last of the Spode by Evelyn Smith: The charm of this oh-so-British end-of-the-worlder eludes me.
Never Underestimate by Theodore Sturgeon: Read this in the author's Complete Stories, but didn't recognize the start, may have to reread.
The Brooklyn Project by William Tenn: Lighthearted well-written, but not groundbreaking take on the old time travel trope.

[Lem De Repentigny · Rating 3 out of 5]

A delightful time capsule containing gems and duds

I love short stories, I love sci-fi, and I love history, so when I found this book published in 1963 that contained sci fi short stories considered even old for its time, I knew I had to check it out. The long and short of it is if you're interested in a relic from a bygone era with some hidden gems, it's definitely worth it, but if you're looking for expertly curated cream-of-the-crop sci-fi short stories, it's going to disappoint.

The highlight for me was Come Into My Cellar, a tale of mushrooms told brilliantly by Ray Bradbury which makes it clear why his writing has withstood the test of time. This is in part the most interesting part of the book, seeing what stories hold up in 2024 and which ones don't. There are some big names in here: Rudyard Kipling, Frank Herbert, Asimov, and the aforementioned Bradbury, but barring the one from Ray Bradbury, my favorites were from previously unknown authors.

Silenzia explores the idea of a sound-absorbing device in a Lovecraftian-remniscient story, and the final story Brooklyn Project included a hilarious twist ending that I found myself missing in a lot of the other selections, where often the stories just explored some futuristic or otherworldly idea and then... ended without much excitement. The final story that I truly enjoyed was What to Do Until the Analyst Comes, a story from 1955 that was like reading a crossover episode of Mad Men and The Twilight Zone.

The book includes stories that deal with topics still pertinent today but that were viewed much differently both at the time of the book's publishing, and often differently still at the time of the story's publishing (the oldest story in here is Kipling's As Easy As A.B.C, from 1912). This includes nuclear anxiety, gender inequality, and racial prejudice. This added level of meta-analysis of studying the story not just from the angle of "Is it a good sci-fi story" but also "What can I glean about how people thought back then" made this a really interesting book, despite the varying level of quality of stories.

For instance, when the author prefaces a story with "Most women do not like this tale" or to "Ignore Kipling's use of ... [an offensive term for POC]" and this guy is from 1963, you know you'd better buckle up.

A couple of the older stories from the 20s I wound up skipping past after being bored to tears, the rest were interesting enough to finish, but be warned that this is not a retro product suitable for modern audiences: this is a retro product intended for a retro audience. If that sounds interesting, check it out; otherwise, stick to modern sci-fi which, along with society, has evolved leaps and bounds past what these authors could have imagined.

[Louis-Phillipe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 1963 by legendary editor Groff Conklin, 17 x Infinity contains short stories from some of the biggest names in speculative fiction at the time, including Asimov, Bradbury, Herbert, Pohl, and Sturgeon, and a couple well-known figures of traditional literature, E.M. Forster and Rudyard Kipling, who I did not know had written sf. My favorite stories came from authors I'd never heard of: "Silenzia" by Alan Nelson, about the dwindling supply of quiet in an increasingly noisy world, and "Short In The Chest" by Idris Seabright. "The Machine Stops" by Forster, written in 1909, stands out for the prescience of its vision of a dystopian society, and is suggested reading for a greater understanding of books like 1984 and Brave New World, especially as it precedes both, and is praiseworthy for imagining a century ago a future world in which people only communicate through screens, rarely leave their rooms though they are free to travel, partly because they have become so dependent on technology that if one of them drops a book they expect the floor to pick it up for them, and though many of them are quite intelligent, they handed over their government and religion to, and are completely at the mercy of, 'The Machine.' It makes you wonder if we will soon invent time travel and plant this story in the past to prevent this future from happening. Several other stories in the collection make reference to Brave New World, showing how influential it was and continues to be on sf, or (in some cases) even expand on it, as in "The Simian Problem" by Hollis Alpert, the opening story, that tackles the concept of devolution of the human species as a result of nuclear weapons experiments, and "What To Do Until The Analyst Comes" by Frederick Pohl, about the making of the "sex-hormone chewing-gum" in Brave New World. Seabright's aforementioned "Short In The Chest" takes place in a world seemingly combining 1984 and Brave New World, and a certain type of character in the story, a robotic psychoanalyst, is referred to as a 'huxley.' Theodore Sturgeon makes an appearance with his story "Never Underestimate," a darkly comic take on the battle of the sexes. The concluding story, "Brooklyn Project" by William Tenn, written in 1947, humorously tackles, among other things, a very serious subject, the unknown consequences of experimenting with unknown forces, in this case Time. Taken individually the stories are interesting and stimulating, taken together they are insightful and provocative.