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Galaxy Reader #10
The Tenth Galaxy Reader
Wall of Crystal, Eye of Night • (1961) • novelette by Algis Budrys
"Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman • (1965) • short story by Harlan Ellison
If You Were the Only -- • (1953) • short story by Richard Wilson
The Tunnel Under the World • (1955) • novelette by Frederik Pohl
The Primitives • (1966) • novelette by Frank Herbert
Heresies of the Huge God • (1966) • short story by Brian W. Aldiss
Door to Anywhere • (1966) • novelette by Poul Anderson
Devil Car • [Sam Murdock] • (1965) • short story by Roger Zelazny
The Place Where Chicago Was • (1962) • novelette by Jim Harmon
Auto-da-Fe • (1961) • short story by Damon Knight
An Elephant for the Prinkip • (1960) • short story by L.J. Stecher Jr.
"Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman • (1965) • short story by Harlan Ellison
If You Were the Only -- • (1953) • short story by Richard Wilson
The Tunnel Under the World • (1955) • novelette by Frederik Pohl
The Primitives • (1966) • novelette by Frank Herbert
Heresies of the Huge God • (1966) • short story by Brian W. Aldiss
Door to Anywhere • (1966) • novelette by Poul Anderson
Devil Car • [Sam Murdock] • (1965) • short story by Roger Zelazny
The Place Where Chicago Was • (1962) • novelette by Jim Harmon
Auto-da-Fe • (1961) • short story by Damon Knight
An Elephant for the Prinkip • (1960) • short story by L.J. Stecher Jr.
- GenresScience Fiction
232 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1968
30 people want to read
About the author
Frederik Pohl
1,153 books1,062 followersFrederik 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.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 7, 2016
I enjoyed reading books from this popular series during my high school years. I may even have read this one since I read quite a few then from my local library. I've picked up several of these anthologies in recent years to read the ones I missed and revisit the others. There are eleven stories in this collection from 1967 and they are:
1 • Wall of Crystal, Eye of Night • (1961) • novelette by Algis Budrys
24 • An Elephant for the Prinkip • (1960) • shortstory by Joseph Wesley (as by L. J. Stecher, Jr.)
35 • The Place Where Chicago Was • (1962) • novelette by Jim Harmon
66 • Heresies of the Huge God • (1966) • shortstory by Brian W. Aldiss
78 • Devil Car • (1965) • shortstory by Roger Zelazny
93 • The Tunnel Under the World • (1955) • novelette by Frederik Pohl
127 • Auto-da-Fe • (1961) • shortstory by Damon Knight
134 • Door to Anywhere • (1966) • novelette by Poul Anderson
169 • The Primitives • (1966) • novelette by Frank Herbert
205 • If You Were the Only— • (1953) • shortstory by Richard Wilson
220 • "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman • (1965) • shortstory by Harlan Ellison
Each of these stories originally appeared in Galaxy Magazine with the year of publication indicated above. These are above average stories - the good stuff from 50-60 years ago, and although it would be impossible for some not to become dated, I really enjoyed these. Many (most?) of these would fall into a dystopian type of future category, and others such as "An Elephant for the Prinkip" fall into the timeless two guys in a bar tell a tale with a twist category and are fun to read. There is however a sort of overall gloom to much of this so I would NOT call this a happy get relaxed beach read kind of book. I'll touch on several stories... Only one of these didn't catch or hold my interest - surprisingly Frank Herbert's "The Primitives".
The closing story, Harlan Ellison's story '"Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman' is now 50 years old. For its time it was quite unconventional, and yet accessible to a general reader who could empathize with a society that increasingly was regulated by time. Having the story opening with a lengthy excerpt on civil disobedience by Henry David Thoreau still sets it apart from run of the mill fiction and the story still retains an unusual power. Over the last 50 years I've probably read this more than half a dozen times and each time I admire it. It won both the Hugo and nebula awards for short story.
I thought Brian Aldiss's "Heresies of the Huge God" a rather wild story being told 900 years in the future about an event that seems to have begun in our present time when the huge god, an alien artifact, spaceship or being of some sort as large as some continents plops itself down on earth in various places. Things do not go well for the earth and civilizations.
Zelazny's "Devil Car" takes a look at the future when some computerized cars have gone rogue, wild, killing people and other cars. Sam has a custom Swinger built that is loaded with everything, and he and the swinger, "Jenny" drive across the plains to revenge the death of Sam's brother ten years before. There is a bit of humor snuggled into what is otherwise horror science fiction. I liked this, and I am not always a fan of Zelazny's stuff.
Fred Pohl's "The Tunnel Under The World" is a nightmarish piece that plays with the excesses of advertising. It is genuinely creepy, but it does have one piece of misdirection that doesn't gel with the end - that bothered me just a tiny bit. A man and his wife awaken each morning from a nightmare and enter something of a real world nightmare - this story could give the mild paranoia in a person a good workout.
Damon Knight's "Auto-da-Fe" is a rather dark and somewhat sad and upleasant last man on earth story where the last man, the king, rules the remaining dogs on earth, who are themselves intelligent. It is a well written story, as just about everything I've ever read by Knight is, but this one fits right into the gloom and not happy feel of most of the stories in the book. Was worth the read tho, and it is short.
Poul Anderson is a great author and I've enjoyed a number of his stories and books over the years, whether it was light fantasy such as "Three Hearts and Three Lions" or his many adventures in space. I rated him a favorite author for a very long time. Here we have "Door To Anywhere" with stargates (called jumpgates here) and more, now 50 years old and still impressive storytelling. A Senator investigates an accident that befell his brother-in-law on Mars.
Overall a very good to excellent collection that I would recommend to other readers of science fiction. 3 1/2 - 4 stars
1 • Wall of Crystal, Eye of Night • (1961) • novelette by Algis Budrys
24 • An Elephant for the Prinkip • (1960) • shortstory by Joseph Wesley (as by L. J. Stecher, Jr.)
35 • The Place Where Chicago Was • (1962) • novelette by Jim Harmon
66 • Heresies of the Huge God • (1966) • shortstory by Brian W. Aldiss
78 • Devil Car • (1965) • shortstory by Roger Zelazny
93 • The Tunnel Under the World • (1955) • novelette by Frederik Pohl
127 • Auto-da-Fe • (1961) • shortstory by Damon Knight
134 • Door to Anywhere • (1966) • novelette by Poul Anderson
169 • The Primitives • (1966) • novelette by Frank Herbert
205 • If You Were the Only— • (1953) • shortstory by Richard Wilson
220 • "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman • (1965) • shortstory by Harlan Ellison
Each of these stories originally appeared in Galaxy Magazine with the year of publication indicated above. These are above average stories - the good stuff from 50-60 years ago, and although it would be impossible for some not to become dated, I really enjoyed these. Many (most?) of these would fall into a dystopian type of future category, and others such as "An Elephant for the Prinkip" fall into the timeless two guys in a bar tell a tale with a twist category and are fun to read. There is however a sort of overall gloom to much of this so I would NOT call this a happy get relaxed beach read kind of book. I'll touch on several stories... Only one of these didn't catch or hold my interest - surprisingly Frank Herbert's "The Primitives".
The closing story, Harlan Ellison's story '"Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman' is now 50 years old. For its time it was quite unconventional, and yet accessible to a general reader who could empathize with a society that increasingly was regulated by time. Having the story opening with a lengthy excerpt on civil disobedience by Henry David Thoreau still sets it apart from run of the mill fiction and the story still retains an unusual power. Over the last 50 years I've probably read this more than half a dozen times and each time I admire it. It won both the Hugo and nebula awards for short story.
I thought Brian Aldiss's "Heresies of the Huge God" a rather wild story being told 900 years in the future about an event that seems to have begun in our present time when the huge god, an alien artifact, spaceship or being of some sort as large as some continents plops itself down on earth in various places. Things do not go well for the earth and civilizations.
Zelazny's "Devil Car" takes a look at the future when some computerized cars have gone rogue, wild, killing people and other cars. Sam has a custom Swinger built that is loaded with everything, and he and the swinger, "Jenny" drive across the plains to revenge the death of Sam's brother ten years before. There is a bit of humor snuggled into what is otherwise horror science fiction. I liked this, and I am not always a fan of Zelazny's stuff.
Fred Pohl's "The Tunnel Under The World" is a nightmarish piece that plays with the excesses of advertising. It is genuinely creepy, but it does have one piece of misdirection that doesn't gel with the end - that bothered me just a tiny bit. A man and his wife awaken each morning from a nightmare and enter something of a real world nightmare - this story could give the mild paranoia in a person a good workout.
Damon Knight's "Auto-da-Fe" is a rather dark and somewhat sad and upleasant last man on earth story where the last man, the king, rules the remaining dogs on earth, who are themselves intelligent. It is a well written story, as just about everything I've ever read by Knight is, but this one fits right into the gloom and not happy feel of most of the stories in the book. Was worth the read tho, and it is short.
Poul Anderson is a great author and I've enjoyed a number of his stories and books over the years, whether it was light fantasy such as "Three Hearts and Three Lions" or his many adventures in space. I rated him a favorite author for a very long time. Here we have "Door To Anywhere" with stargates (called jumpgates here) and more, now 50 years old and still impressive storytelling. A Senator investigates an accident that befell his brother-in-law on Mars.
Overall a very good to excellent collection that I would recommend to other readers of science fiction. 3 1/2 - 4 stars
Displaying 1 of 1 review