Contact

by Noel Keyes (Editor), Ian Williamson, Clifford D. Simak

We may no longer be alone in the universe—perhaps we never have been. The ultimate possibility—that life exists beyond earth—is no longer a fantasy but the subject of scientific experimentation. Humans and extraterrestrial beings may be making CONTACT today—certainly tomorrow.
The first, explosive, grappling instant of encounter between Man and Alien is the subject of this extraordinary journey of man's imagination into the unknown, by the masters of Science Fiction.

Contents:

Introduction • essay by Noel Keyes
First Contact • (1945) • novelette by Murray Leinster
Intelligence Test • (1953) • short story by Harry Walton
The Large Ant • (1960) • short story by Howard Fast
What's He Doing in There? • (1957) • short story by Fritz Leiber
Chemical Plant • (1950) • short story by Ian Williamson
Limiting Factor • (1949) • shortstory by Clifford D. Simak
The Fire Balloons • (1951) • short story by Ray Bradbury
Invasion from Mars • (1938) • short fiction by Howard Koch
The Gentle Vultures • (1957) • short story by Isaac Asimov
Knock • (1948) • short story by Fredric Brown
Specialist • (1953) • short story by Robert Sheckley
Lost Memory • (1952) • short story by Howard Browne (as by Peter Phillips)

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction, Anthologies

176 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 1, 1963

Reviews

[Lewis Szymanski]

I don't know who Noel Keyes is, but he did A good job picking stories for this anthology. It's too bad that this is the only anthology he edited. The very little bit I could find out about him online was from ISFDB. Noel Keyes was a pen name, his real name was David Noel Keightley.

[Avi Baron]

Possibly the best book I've ever read. Sad I gave it away. Trying to buy it again.

[Mortimer Roxbrough]

Done in refreshing ways and with ultimate style, this collection is quite possibly the best anthology on the subject that I have ever read.
verdict: Unmissable, don't!

[Fred]

the sheckley, anyway

[Joe Santoro]

I was in the mood for some short stories.. this collection actually maintains it stated theme throughout.. 1/2 the book is first contact stories with 'man the discoverer' and the 2nd half 'man the discovered'.

The stories are all from the the early fifties, and is quite an all-star roster. There are a few classic ones that I've read before elsewhere.

First Contact by Murray Leinster is one of my favorites... the perfectly dated cold-war era first contact story. Both the human and alien captain assume they have to kill each other to keep their planets safe until on crew member comes up with a unique plan. There's also 'What's he doing in there?' by Fritz Leiber, which is a very short cute story that makes a great point about people understanding one another. 'Knock' by Frederic Brown is another classic one that can be found here.. with the famous start. 'The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door...'

Among those I hadn't read before, Asimov's 'Gentle Vultures' was great..an alien race hangs out on the moon waiting for Earth to destroy itself.. only we don't.. yet. 'Specialist' by Robert Sheckley and 'Lost Memory' by Peter Phillips were both really unique and interesting takes on first contacts with similar aliens but very different results.

Just what I need to get over a bit of readers block!

[Chris Aldridge]

Mindwebs audiobook 57. See knock by Fredric Brown.

[Chris]

Mostly good stories but kind of hit or miss though. I kind of like that some of these are super unknown and it is not all "classics". Really shows where the genre was in that era.

[Don]

A few of the stories included here were in other collections I have read.

Interesting angles.

[Joseph DeBolt]

Entertaining collection of stories. Includes the story Orson Welles used for his October 1939 Mercury Theater broadcast --almost word-for-word if memory serves. "Intelligence Test" by Harry Walton is a good thought problem. I can see it as a Twilight Zone episode. "What's He Doing In There?" by Fritz Leiber is great; funny.

[Tim]

Great, imaginative stories from the golden age of SF

[J.R. Gershen-Siegel]

I just love this book. Every now and then there's a less than wonderful story in here, but the great ones more than make up for it.