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Far Out
Thirteen science fiction stories by Grand Master Damon Knight. Introduction, essay by Anthony Boucher; To Serve Man (winner, 2001 Retro-Hugo for Best Short Story of 1950; basis of Twilight Zone episode); Idiot Stick; Thing of Beauty; The Enemy; Not With a Bang; Babel II; Anachron; Special Delivery; You're Another; Time Enough; Extempore; Cabin Boy; The Last Word.
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1961
7 people are currently reading
137 people want to read
About the author
Damon Knight
580 books97 followersDamon 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 26, 2020
Go beyond Time and Space with thirteen brilliant and sardonic stories.
What would you do . . .
if little men in purple uniforms walked in and filled up your living room with impossible machinery?
What would you do . . .
if you were abandoned on an asteroid, all alone with a murderous, living snake of metal?
What would you do . . .
If a visiting alien helped you remove all comprehension of speech and writing all over the world?
These and other improbable situations are waiting for you in this book.
Enjoy!
What would you do . . .
if little men in purple uniforms walked in and filled up your living room with impossible machinery?
What would you do . . .
if you were abandoned on an asteroid, all alone with a murderous, living snake of metal?
What would you do . . .
If a visiting alien helped you remove all comprehension of speech and writing all over the world?
These and other improbable situations are waiting for you in this book.
Enjoy!
January 5, 2018
An author who seems to have been largely forgotten these days but came to my notice when a colleague of mine suggested I try his work.
I read a number of stories from this collection but I didn't finish it. Most were fairly dull, often little more than setups for a predictable punchline and all suffered from, to my mind, a somewhat jarring and non-engaging writing style. There was a couple of stories I did enjoy however, most notably 'Anachron', a curious piece exploring time travel.
Overall though I can see why this author's no longer celebrated by many today. I probably won't seek out any more of this author's work.
I read a number of stories from this collection but I didn't finish it. Most were fairly dull, often little more than setups for a predictable punchline and all suffered from, to my mind, a somewhat jarring and non-engaging writing style. There was a couple of stories I did enjoy however, most notably 'Anachron', a curious piece exploring time travel.
Overall though I can see why this author's no longer celebrated by many today. I probably won't seek out any more of this author's work.
June 22, 2016
First read: * * * * *
REREADING: * * * * A trifle wiseguyish. Some of them just seem to be excuses for dumb puns/jokes ("To Serve Man," "Not With a Bang," and maybe "Idiot Stick"). "Thing Of Beauty" also ends that way. All of which tends to trivialize and work against the verisimilitude he may have developed. On the plus side there's "Anachron"--also "Special Delivery" and "Cabin Boy." "You're Another" is practically Van Vogt and "Extempore" resembles Bradbury, in style anyway. "The Last Word" may be the only Adam and Eve story to work, and hence jump the cliche fence. He was trying to add an element of sophistication to sci-fi, but the problem is that that all too often means enfeeblement.
2ND REREADING: * * * * Comes off maybe a bit smirky and relying too much on jokiness (there's kind of the same problem you can have with Kornbluth, although Knight is less sardonic). But the style is very cool and urbane anyway...sort of like if John Collier or Roald Dahl wrote science fiction.
3RD REREADING: Whatever the merits of the individual stories, the book as a whole definitely has that Landmark Anthology feel (like with Varley's Persistence of Vision). As though the whole field took a sizable step forward with this new voice. The only story that arguably seemed a bit out of place here was "The Enemy" (possibly a bit too straightforward and traditional for the rest). And the only one where the ending came off too snide and in-jokish was "Thing of Beauty."
REREADING: * * * * A trifle wiseguyish. Some of them just seem to be excuses for dumb puns/jokes ("To Serve Man," "Not With a Bang," and maybe "Idiot Stick"). "Thing Of Beauty" also ends that way. All of which tends to trivialize and work against the verisimilitude he may have developed. On the plus side there's "Anachron"--also "Special Delivery" and "Cabin Boy." "You're Another" is practically Van Vogt and "Extempore" resembles Bradbury, in style anyway. "The Last Word" may be the only Adam and Eve story to work, and hence jump the cliche fence. He was trying to add an element of sophistication to sci-fi, but the problem is that that all too often means enfeeblement.
2ND REREADING: * * * * Comes off maybe a bit smirky and relying too much on jokiness (there's kind of the same problem you can have with Kornbluth, although Knight is less sardonic). But the style is very cool and urbane anyway...sort of like if John Collier or Roald Dahl wrote science fiction.
3RD REREADING: Whatever the merits of the individual stories, the book as a whole definitely has that Landmark Anthology feel (like with Varley's Persistence of Vision). As though the whole field took a sizable step forward with this new voice. The only story that arguably seemed a bit out of place here was "The Enemy" (possibly a bit too straightforward and traditional for the rest). And the only one where the ending came off too snide and in-jokish was "Thing of Beauty."
July 23, 2014
This is the second of two anthology books by Damon Knight - the first In Deep was the first book entirely of his work (I have read his short stories in various anthologies - from Asimovs world of science fiction to the short stories of the twilight zone).
I will admit the reason why I accepted these two books was the Peter Elson cover one that I have liked for some time (saw it first in the collected art of Peter Elson - Parallel lines) but I digress the short stories are great and for me are written by a storyteller who I knew of only passingly and who I will now look out for and try and get to read more of. The next question is - what are his novels like I wonder?
I will admit the reason why I accepted these two books was the Peter Elson cover one that I have liked for some time (saw it first in the collected art of Peter Elson - Parallel lines) but I digress the short stories are great and for me are written by a storyteller who I knew of only passingly and who I will now look out for and try and get to read more of. The next question is - what are his novels like I wonder?
Want to read
August 15, 2012"To Serve Man" - The introduction of 'Far Out', penned by Anthony Boucher, speaks of Damon Knight's high degree of 'readability.' After reading this first story, I could certainly see what he was talking about. The story is straight as an arrow, almost to the point of detachment. Perhaps I have been reading too much Ray Bradbury and Alfred Bester, but I just found Knight's style to be a little grey. Even so, this was an engaging little tale about the duplicitous nature of alien altruism.
"Idiot Stick" - I liked this story quite a bit more than the first. The themes of both stories are almost the same, although this one completes a full story arc. If there is one fault with this one, it might be Knight's idealized hope that humanity could get itself together long enough to rid themselves of an alien menace such as the Galactians. What's dismal is that, even in Knight's story world, the human triumph seems to hinge on the alien race's decadent and lax ineptitude in ruling the Earthlings, not the 'guts' that the one character would have us believing in.
"Thing of Beauty" - I thought this story was pretty well done, although it felt like Knight did not really know any way of bringing it to any conclusion. On the whole, I thought Gordon Fish was a convincing and well-written main character, inasmuch as he fills the role of the consummate, reckless grifter and societal parasite, an archetype that is all too easy to recognize in today's day-to-day life. Knight drops a mighty piece of futuristic technology on him, literally out of nowhere and, despite some shallow wonderment about how the machine works, he is instantly pushing the buttons recklessly and impatiently trying to figure out how to use the device to get rich quick. The side characters are not so well-developed, but dutifully provide grist for the mill of the main character's uncontrollable (and, creepily, almost automatic) scheming. I liked this one better than the previous two alien takeover tales.
"The Enemy" - More than the others thus far, this story nurtures a distinct tone. Set in a stark future where humans no longer inhabit nurturing planets and are spread thin looking for resources on uninhabitable outposts, this story is steeped in austere severity. Zael, the fifteen-year-old female protagonist sent to explore the treacherous crags and fissures of a long-orbiting planetoid, is every bit as tough and serious as Kurt Russell's character in John Carpenter's movie 'The Thing.' This turns out to be important, since Knight's story deals with her stumbling upon a slumbering cyborg-ish alien who is automatically her 'enemy' due to its distinct otherness vis-a-vis humanity. This story kept me at the edge of my seat and did a good job of pacing itself from start to finish.
"Not With A Bang" - There was not much to this post-apocalyptic 'Adam and Eve' story that followed the interactions between a prudish Eve and a vicious Adam, but I liked the way it ended.
"Idiot Stick" - I liked this story quite a bit more than the first. The themes of both stories are almost the same, although this one completes a full story arc. If there is one fault with this one, it might be Knight's idealized hope that humanity could get itself together long enough to rid themselves of an alien menace such as the Galactians. What's dismal is that, even in Knight's story world, the human triumph seems to hinge on the alien race's decadent and lax ineptitude in ruling the Earthlings, not the 'guts' that the one character would have us believing in.
"Thing of Beauty" - I thought this story was pretty well done, although it felt like Knight did not really know any way of bringing it to any conclusion. On the whole, I thought Gordon Fish was a convincing and well-written main character, inasmuch as he fills the role of the consummate, reckless grifter and societal parasite, an archetype that is all too easy to recognize in today's day-to-day life. Knight drops a mighty piece of futuristic technology on him, literally out of nowhere and, despite some shallow wonderment about how the machine works, he is instantly pushing the buttons recklessly and impatiently trying to figure out how to use the device to get rich quick. The side characters are not so well-developed, but dutifully provide grist for the mill of the main character's uncontrollable (and, creepily, almost automatic) scheming. I liked this one better than the previous two alien takeover tales.
"The Enemy" - More than the others thus far, this story nurtures a distinct tone. Set in a stark future where humans no longer inhabit nurturing planets and are spread thin looking for resources on uninhabitable outposts, this story is steeped in austere severity. Zael, the fifteen-year-old female protagonist sent to explore the treacherous crags and fissures of a long-orbiting planetoid, is every bit as tough and serious as Kurt Russell's character in John Carpenter's movie 'The Thing.' This turns out to be important, since Knight's story deals with her stumbling upon a slumbering cyborg-ish alien who is automatically her 'enemy' due to its distinct otherness vis-a-vis humanity. This story kept me at the edge of my seat and did a good job of pacing itself from start to finish.
"Not With A Bang" - There was not much to this post-apocalyptic 'Adam and Eve' story that followed the interactions between a prudish Eve and a vicious Adam, but I liked the way it ended.
August 26, 2023
Before coming to this collection, I often used to think about Damon Knight. He was one of the most influencial editors and critics of his time. Then why can't we find his stories and collections being read or discussed these days?
Now I do understand.
This collection contains thirteen tales penned by Knight, apart from a beautiful heartfelt 'Introduction' from Anthony Boucher. After going through it from cover to cover, I realise that the liveliest piece in this book was Boucher's intro. That's because of two reasons. They are~
1. All the stories are well crafted, but utterly devoid of wit and humour.
2. The stories are not only rooted, but entirely grown into the matrix of the time they had been written. Except 'Enemy' all the stories have severely WASP protagonists. Even 'Enemy' has the central characters portrayed derisively, in terms of their appearance. Had there been humour, all could have been taken positively. But such rigorously grim stories are bound to be taken 'seriously'.
As a result of these two factors, the macabre 'twist in the tail' of "To Serve Man", the detailed and elaborate "Babel II", even the Asimovesque "The Last Word" appear rather vacuous today— without any connection with the present.
I repeat, the stories are well-written. But, I repeat, they are utterly devoid of charm.
Your call.
Now I do understand.
This collection contains thirteen tales penned by Knight, apart from a beautiful heartfelt 'Introduction' from Anthony Boucher. After going through it from cover to cover, I realise that the liveliest piece in this book was Boucher's intro. That's because of two reasons. They are~
1. All the stories are well crafted, but utterly devoid of wit and humour.
2. The stories are not only rooted, but entirely grown into the matrix of the time they had been written. Except 'Enemy' all the stories have severely WASP protagonists. Even 'Enemy' has the central characters portrayed derisively, in terms of their appearance. Had there been humour, all could have been taken positively. But such rigorously grim stories are bound to be taken 'seriously'.
As a result of these two factors, the macabre 'twist in the tail' of "To Serve Man", the detailed and elaborate "Babel II", even the Asimovesque "The Last Word" appear rather vacuous today— without any connection with the present.
I repeat, the stories are well-written. But, I repeat, they are utterly devoid of charm.
Your call.
March 21, 2023
Full review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...
3.5/5 (collated rating: Good)
"Damon Knight’s impact on the science fiction field can be felt to this day. He founded the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and co-founded two influential science fiction workshops (Milford and Clarion). Knight also edited the Orbit series of anthologies, notable for their larger-than-average number of female science fiction authors and overall quality–I’ve reviewed Orbit 1 (1966), Orbit 3 (1968), Orbit 4 (1968), and Orbit 8 (1970) so far. I can’t help but notice that his fiction, on the other hand, has faded a bit from [...]"
3.5/5 (collated rating: Good)
"Damon Knight’s impact on the science fiction field can be felt to this day. He founded the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and co-founded two influential science fiction workshops (Milford and Clarion). Knight also edited the Orbit series of anthologies, notable for their larger-than-average number of female science fiction authors and overall quality–I’ve reviewed Orbit 1 (1966), Orbit 3 (1968), Orbit 4 (1968), and Orbit 8 (1970) so far. I can’t help but notice that his fiction, on the other hand, has faded a bit from [...]"
Read
November 17, 2019They all should have been in Twilight Zone.
February 22, 2020
Okay, skipped one tedious story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 9, 2022
This was a better collection than In Deep that I read previously.
I read this decades ago and still remembered a few of these, especially Babell II.
Nothing really outstanding.
Just for fans and the curious.
I read this decades ago and still remembered a few of these, especially Babell II.
Nothing really outstanding.
Just for fans and the curious.
September 20, 2025
Fun, pulpy, perfectly ‘50s sci-fi.
November 11, 2013
Short story anthology
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews