Analog 7

Analog #7

by John W. Campbell Jr. (Editor), John T. Phillifent, Poul Anderson

Anderson, Poul (aka Winston P. Sanders)
--Elementary Mistake (Analog 2/67)
Foray, Verge
--Lost Calling (Analog 9/67)
Herbert, Frank
--The Featherbedders (novelette) (Analog 8/67)
Hodous, Mike
--Dead End (Analog 5/67)
Laumer, Keith
--The Last Command (Analog 1/67)
Macfarlane, W.
--Free Vacation (Analog 10/67)
McCaffrey, Anne
--Weyr Search (novella) (Analog 10/67)
Phillifent, John T. (aka John Rackham)
--Aim for the Heel (novelette) (Analog 7/67)
Reynolds, Mack
--Fiesta Brava (novella) (Analog 9/67)
Shaw, Bob
--Burden of Proof (Analog 5/67)
Wodhams, Jack
--There Is a Crooked Man (novella) (Analog 2/67)

Genres: Science Fiction, Anthologies

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

John Wood Campbell, Jr. was an influential figure in American science fiction. As editor of Astounding Science Fiction (later called Analog Science Fiction and Fact), from late 1937 until his death, he is generally credited with shaping the so-called Golden Age of Science Fiction.

Isaac Asimov called Campbell "the most powerful force in science fiction ever, and for the first ten years of his editorship he dominated the field completely."

As a writer, Campbell published super-science space opera under his own name and moody, less pulpish stories as Don A. Stuart. He stopped writing fiction after he became editor of Astounding.

Known Pseudonyms/Alternate Names:

Don A. Stuart
Karl van Campen
John Campbell
J. W. C., Jr.
John W. Campbell
John Wood Campbell

Reviews

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

An OK selection of stories from one year's issues of Analog magazine - in this case 1967, and put together here in July 1970. Campbell as an editor certainly wasn't going new wave. This was not much better a collection than Analog 6 which covered the year 1966, and a handful of stories save this from the trash heap. This was a large anthology for the time that included the following:

Aim for the Heel • (1967) • novelette by John T. Phillifent
Fiesta Brava • United Planets • (1967) • novella by Mack Reynolds
Free Vacation • (1967) • short story by Wallace Macfarlane
The Featherbedders • (1967) • novelette by Frank Herbert
Weyr Search • (1967) • novella by Anne McCaffrey
Lost Calling • (1967) • short story by Verge Foray
The Last Command • (1967) • short story by Keith Laumer
Dead End • (1967) • short story by Mike Hodous
There Is a Crooked Man • (1967) • novella by Jack Wodhams
Elementary Mistake • (1967) • short story by Poul Anderson
Burden of Proof • (1967) • short story by Bob Shaw

The blurb on the cover says "Eleven excellent science fiction stories ranging from the ends of the galaxy to the mafia of the future." Hmmm.

My comments on some of the stories: Included in here among the good stories is 'Weyr Search', the first story by Anne McCaffrey in what would become her famous and long running Dragonriders of Pern series. It won the 1968 Hugo award for best novella. I hadn't read it in a very long time and was glad to do so. For a 50 year old tale it held up better than I thought it might. It was the highlight of this collection for me. A bit darker than I remembered but still, this is one of the stories that got my hooked on the genre long ago. Makes me want to try and reread some of the books in the series.

The first story here, "Aim for the Heel" immediately makes me think of Achilles, and the appropriateness of the title didn't dawn on me until the end of this rather old-fashioned but good piece of storytelling. On the downside I thought two of the longest stories were also among the weakest. "Fiesta Brava" annoyed me, increasingly, until I gave up on it. I can't believe people read and enjoyed stuff like that one! Then, “There is a Crooked Man” by Jack Wodhams was just a bit too creepy as well as uninteresting so I didn't finish this one either. Some people must think it worthwhile however because the story is included in a large anthology of 50 years of the best Australian Science Fiction Writing published in 2005.

Frank Herbert's The Featherbedders" and Verge Foray's "Lost Calling" were both entertaining with a bit of humor to them. Laumer's Bolo tale about a buried tank coming to life to fight its last battle was also pretty good and also a bit touching. The last story, "Burden of Proof" was Bob Shaw's follow-up to the superb "Light of Other Days." I thought it good, but I am biased in favor of the slow glass stories and Bob Shaw's storytelling.

Overall too much space was wasted on poor stories but there were some good ones. 2 1/2+ stars

[Andrew Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good stuff from 1967! There's a couple things you have to remember though. One, the world was a far simpler place then, and this period in time was particularly notable for "tongue in cheek" writing...
Unfortunately not available in electronic formats, as I'd love to post some highlights...

[Michael Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

It has some good stories, some bad ones. Overall pretty good at stoking the imagination. Not a must read, but I don't regret reading it myself. I was in the mood for science fiction and this fit the bill nicely.

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short science fiction from Analog Magazine read during the 1982/83 winter break from Loyola University Chicago.