The Seventh Galaxy Reader

Galaxy Reader #7

by Frederik Pohl (Editor / Contributor), Cordwainer Smith (Contributor), Damon Knight (Contributor)

Sci fi stories from Galaxy magazine.
* Rainbird • (1961) • shortstory by R. A. Lafferty
* The Deep Down Dragon • (1961) • shortstory by Judith Merril
* For Love • (1962) • novelette by Algis Budrys
* The Tail-Tied Kings • (1962) • shortstory by Avram Davidson
* On the Gem Planet • (1963) • novelette by Cordwainer Smith
* The Big Pat Boom • (1963) • shortstory by Damon Knight
* Three Portraits and a Prayer • (1962) • shortstory by Frederik Pohl
* The Beat Cluster • (1961) • shortstory by Fritz Leiber
* An Old-Fashioned Bird Christmas • (1961) • novelette by Margaret St. Clair
* Something Bright • (1960) • shortstory by Zenna Henderson
* The King of the City • (1961) • novelette by Keith Laumer
* Return Engagement • (1961) • shortstory by Lester del Rey
* Crime Machine • (1961) • shortstory by Robert Bloch
* Earthmen Bearing Gifts • (1960) • shortstory by Fredric Brown
* Come Into My Cellar • (1962) • shortstory by Ray Bradbury (aka Boys! Raise Giant Mushrooms in Your Cellar!) [as by Ray Bradbury ]
* Introduction (The Seventh Galaxy Reader) • essay by Frederik Pohl

(Thanks to bookworship.com for the book photo.)

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Science Fiction Fantasy

238 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1964

About the author

Frederik George Pohl, Jr. was an American science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career spanning over seventy years. From about 1959 until 1969, Pohl edited Galaxy magazine and its sister magazine IF winning the Hugo for IF three years in a row. His writing also won him three Hugos and multiple Nebula Awards. He became a Nebula Grand Master in 1993.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This anthology of stories picked as the best from Galaxy Magazine is the first in the series that was edited by Pohl, the previous half-dozen volumes having been selected by the first editor of the magazine itself, H.L. Gold. The stories originally appeared from 1959-1963. There are no real classics of the field here (in my opinion), but he did assemble some fine stories from Ray Bradbury, Zenna Henderson, a holiday favorite from Margaret St. Clair, Fritz Leiber, an early R.A. Lafferty, Lester del Rey, Fredric Brown, etc. Some of them are dated, obviously, but it's a good group. My favorite was On the Gem Planet by Cordwainer Smith.

[Cheryl]

Esp. for the Margaret St. Clair as I'm having trouble finding examples of her work elsewhere. Also, good to see examples of works by others that I don't know well enough.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

An old school SF collection, nothing famous.

[Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with most of these older anthologies, the quality of the stories is all over the place. The Bradbury story is a head scratcher, as it's a short version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers well after Finney's story was published.

None of the stories scores more than a weak 4 stars.

[RC · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of 1960s tales of variable quality.