Possible Worlds of Science Fiction

by Groff Conklin (Editor), John Berryman (Contributor)

Contents:

• Operation Pumice by Raymond Z. Gallun
• The Black Pits of Luna by Robert A. Heinlein
• Enchanted Village by A. E. van Vogt
• Lilies of Life by Malcolm Jameson
• Asleep in Armageddon by Ray Bradbury
• Not Final! by Isaac Asimov
• Cones by Frank Belknap Long
• Moon of Delirium by D. L. James
• Completely Automatic by Theodore Sturgeon
• The Day We Celebrate by Nelson S. Bond
• The Pillows by Margaret St. Clair
• Proof by Hal Clement
• Propagandist by Murray Leinster
• In Value Deceived by H. B. Fyfe
• Hard-Luck Diggings by Jack Vance
• Space Rating by John Berryman
• Contagion by Katherine MacLean
• Limiting Factor by Clifford D. Simak
• Exit Line by Sam Merwin, Jr.
• Second Night of Summer by James H. Schmitz
• A Walk in the Dark by Arthur C. Clarke
• The Helping Hand by Poul Anderson

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fiction

188 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 1951

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

[Mike Stone, · Rating 5 out of 5]

Treasure Chest of Vintage SF.

Exactly what the title says.

Originally published in 1951, this anthology contains several fine gems of classical sf, including such well-known ones as Heinlein's "The Black Pits of Luna", Van Vogt's "Enchanted Village", Bradbury's "Asleep in Armageddon", and Asimov's "Not Final". But for anyone whose read all these, there are quite a few others which may be less familiar, but would be a shame to miss. There is Poul Anderson's "The Helping Hand" about the rights and wrongs of foreign aid, Arthur C Clarke's "A Walk In the Dark" (don't dismiss old wives' tales - there might be something in them), Murray Leinster's "Propagandist" (Man's best friend saves the Earth), Jack Vance's "Hard Luck Diggings" (fine sf detective story, starring Magnus Ridolph), Katherine MacLean's "Contagion" (biological problems on an alien planet) and Cliff Simaks "Limiting Factor (mystery in space with neat technical solution).

The others are maybe not in the same league, but still worth a read.. These are
Raymond Z Gallun - Operation Pumice
Malcolm Jameson - Lilies of Life
Frank Belknap Long - Cones
DL James - Moon of Delirium
Theodore Sturgeon - Completely Automatic
Nelson S Bond - The Day WE Celebrate
Margaret St Clair - The Pillows
Hal Clement - Proof
H B Fyfe - In Value Deceived
John Berryman - Space Rating
Samuel Merwin Jr - Exit Line
James H Schmitz - Second Night of Summer

All in all, they are "golden oldies", and if you want to introduce anyone to sf, you could do a whole lot worse. Read and Enjoy.

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

This anthology was first collected and published in 1951 gathering stories for my paperback edition from a variety of science fiction magazines from as early as the October 1939 issue of "Astounding Science Fiction" to the November 1950 issue of the same. Many of the authors are among the "giants" of the genre in the Golden Age. The stories and essays are:

• 5 • Part One: The Solar System • essay by Groff Conklin
• 7 • Enchanted Village • (1950) • shortstory by A. E. van Vogt
• 23 • Lilies of Life • (1945) • novelette by Malcolm Jameson
• 45 • Asleep in Armageddon • (1948) • shortstory by Ray Bradbury (variant of Perchance to Dream)
• 60 • Not Final! • (1941) • shortstory by Isaac Asimov
• 78 • The Pillows • (1950) • shortstory by Margaret St. Clair
• 91 • Part Two: The Galaxy • essay by Groff Conklin
• 93 • Propagandist • (1947) • shortstory by Murray Leinster
• 114 • In Value Deceived • (1950) • shortstory by H. B. Fyfe
• 126 • Space Rating • (1939) • shortstory by John Berryman
• 147 • Limiting Factor • (1949) • shortstory by Clifford D. Simak
• 163 • The Helping Hand • (1950) • novelette by Poul Anderson

The paperback version I read has ten stories extracted from the hardback edition which contains twenty-two stories. I don't think I've read any of these stories before. The cool cover art on my copy does not have the artist identified but it resembles the work of Richard Powers, an artist of the time that I like. There's a theme to the stories - the first five are planetary exploration type stories of our solar system and the second five are galactic tales. I thought this was a good collection for the time period.

Old science fiction stories just loved to end with a surprise twist. Enchanted Village got real twisted. Bill Jenner has been stranded on Mars, the pilot and sole survivor of the rocket that crashed into a Martian desert. As the ship came down he thought he had seen a shallow polar sea about 300 miles from where he landed. He sets out with his minimal food and water on a trek. This however is nothing like Andy Weir's recent "The Martian." Jenner treks and as his water supply is close to being out he climbs a peak and discovers a hidden valley within and what appears to be a small village. This strange irritating sound is in the air, coming and going. He explores the village and finds a sort of food but it burns his mouth and causes him to vomit. The liquid burns his skin. Clearly not meant for humans. The story progresses and he tries to adapt the mechanisms to provide something fit for humans. What happens is clearly a twisty ending (and a little silly) but unforgettable. Very fun old-time science fiction.

The second story, Malcolm Jameson's "Lilies of Life" was first published shortly before the author's death in 1945. This story is about Venus, and a viral plague of sorts from the planet has taken hold on earth and scientists try desperately to find a cure. The native inhabitants of Venus seemed mostly unaffected by the disease and the scientists wanted to know why. As they themselves fight the affliction from the virus, the scientists do find a cure, a most unusual symbiotic one, and this tale tells us how it was done. Very old-fashioned story straight out of the tradition of the first half of the twentieth century but done quite well. I enjoyed this.

I thought Bradbury's "Asleep in Armageddon" was a real dud. The asteroid belt is supposedly haunted by the ghosts of a greek or roman-type civilization that was destroyed long ago. I'd rate this a stinker. Asimov's "Not Final!" was better, but not by much. Published in 1941 it is quite dated. Earthmen have colonized Ganymede and have been in contact with Jovians and slowly established communications between the two. Suddenly the Jovians realized that the Earthmen are not Jovians also. They end communication with a threat. The bulk of the story concerns whether the Jovians could make good on their threat. The scientists on Ganymede believe the threat is very real but conclude it is not possible for the Jovians to leave their planet. We see that possibly this may not be true. The dated elements (growing tobacco on Ganymede for example) detract from the overall story. The characters are rather laughable as is the pseudo-scientific technobabble.

Margaret St. Clair's "The Pillows" wraps up the planetary tales. I've read a few of her stories in collections before and she is generally very good. Also largely forgotten as an author. She veers a little towards the creepy/horror side of things. This story is OK - it is dated in numerous ways like the others, but also has elements to it that redeem it. Aliens who are alien, this is set on Triton (a moon of Neptune). The ship's crew is there to mine for an artifact, the pillows. One crew member discovers, or surmises may be a better way to describe it, that the pillows are alive and intelligent and things will soon be going very badly for the Earth.

The clunky titled "Propagandist" by Leinster begins the far space stories. Man goes into space with his faithful companion, and the dog wags the tale. "Buck" prevents a war, more or less because he's a dog. Leinster wrote a lot of stories. Most of the ones I've read are pretty good and this one is too, if a bit cutesy.

Of the remaining stories, each was an enjoyable read. Fyfe's story was a funny trader story where each side of the exchange couldn't believe they got such a deal. Berryman's "Space Rating" involved an instructor/pilot and student/co-pilot evaluating and testing the skills of each other. Simak's "Limiting Factor" was about the discovery of a planet that was a computer. Lots of speculation and it got a little boring since nothing really happens. Poul Anderson's "The Helping Hand" was a longer one, a look at the effects in the far future of "foreign aid" where Earth helps or doesn't help other planetary cultures after a war. Anderson was a young new writer when this story was published.

Some people like to praise science fiction writers for their great vision and predicting the future. Reading these old stories would rather quickly make one aware of how much they got wrong.

[Edwin Dyer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book at a thrift outlet sans cover and in pieces. I managed to find all the pages except for the cover and feeling bad to see the book in such a state, I found an image of the cover online, sized it, printed it out, and restored the book with it. The book is a collection of short stories by various authors written between 1939 and 1950. Immediately recognizable names include Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Poul Anderson, and A.E. van Vogt. The stories themselves read quickly given their length and overall, are worth the read. Nothing overly stood out as outstanding although Ray Bradbury's "Asleep in Armageddon" ranks as my favorite out of the lot. I would say, if you see it on the shelf somewhere and desire to get a sampling of science-fiction authors from the early days, this is a good book to look at but I wouldn't go out of my way to seek it out.

[Read1000books · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightfully entertaining collection of ten sci-fi short stories, some by masters of the genre such as Van Vogt, Bradbury, Asimov, Leinster, and Poul Anderson. Even though the stories were all written over 75 years ago, it was a good read, and it would be hard for me to pick a favorite or two since I liked them all.

[Dkolacinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another mid-20th century science fiction anthology which represents a broader selection of magazines.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stories by Bradbury, Van Vogt, and others. To tell the truth, I read this so long ago I hardly remember anything about it. But it has good authors in it.

[SciFiOne]

1976 no grade

short stories

[Tbfrank · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd only read two of the ten stories in this collection before. The most interesting and relevant story today is one that has been reprinted multiple times: Poul Anterson's The Helping Hand.