Classic Anthologies and Collections of Bests.

Knight's Beyond Tomorrow was one of the first sf anthologies I spent much time with.
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Contents Lists gives the contents. Notice how many of the titles are at least somewhat likely to interest a young inquirer such as I was.
 
I think I have probably mentioned this on Chrons years ago. One of the books that got me really hooked on sf as a kid was Blast Off: SF for Boys (1969) ed Harry Harrison. Borrowed from Northfield library, Birmingham, 1977.

The contents:
  • Introduction by Harry Harrison
  • "Sunjammer" by Arthur C. Clarke
  • "The Thing Under the Glacier" by Brian W. Aldiss
  • "Tricky Tonnage" by Malcolm Jameson
  • "Hi Riddle Riddle!" by Robert Silverberg
  • "Rock Pilot" by Harry Harrison
  • "A Pail of Air" by Fritz Leiber
  • "The Howling Blunders" by Jack Vance
  • "Moon Wreck" by William F. Temple
  • "Heavy Planet" by Milton A. Rothman
  • "Keyhole" by Murray Leinster
  • "The Wall Around the World" by Theodore R. Cogswell
  • "Someday" by Isaac Asimov
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I used to own the Damon Knight and still remember the stories fondly. They were notable such that they mostly show up in huge numbers of anthologies.

Robert Silverberg and Martin Greenberg (there he is again!) edited The Arbor House Treasury of Modern Science Fiction in 1980 with the explicit purpose of providing, "The same kind of powerful impact that Adventures In Time and Space, and The Best of Science Fiction delivered thirty years back.." (from the intro.)
They deliberately limited themselves to the period after the publication of those two volumes so this 754 page compilation has stories published between 1946 and 1980. In the intro the eds. talk about the impact of those two books on both the SF and non SF readers. They succeeded in pulling together a truly worthy successor, as recognized by the Book of the Month Club (and by me.) You could question their choices, but the significant omissions that I can think of were occasioned by their only including one story by any author.
Here's the list, from the is isfdb.


xi • Introduction (The Arbor House Treasury of Modern Science Fiction) • essay by Martin H. Greenberg and Robert Silverberg.
 
I have a hodgepodge of pb best of the year collections, In addition to the three series that I highlighted above,
Numerous authors have taken a stab at pulling collections together. These include Lester del Rey, Terry Carr, Harry Harrison, Robert Silverberg, Frederick Pohl, Brian Aldiss, David Hartwell and Gardner Dozois. I am probably missing others due to to the unsystematic way that I bought them. Dozois went on from continuing a Lester del Rey series for ACE,. to his epochal 1984-2018 collections for St. Martins, which won the Locus prize for best anthology approx. 20 times and was runner up another ten.
Even without the Dozois, these comprise a truly intimidating set of stories. Not surprising since "Best" series have multiplied since Judith Merrill got out of the business in 68.
In an entirely unsystematic survey I arbitrarily picked a story from each of the volumes that I own (excepting the Dozois), not favoring familiar names, not avoiding them. (I start with which ever story is on page 100) Two or three were real clunkers. Another 22 were well worth the reading. I shouldn't be surprised as these were "Bests" collections, right? Still striking as tastes change.
An added fillup is the discussions by the editors. Read a bunch. More on that later.
Any series that struck you over the years?
Or collection?
Or tendency?
 
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Going away from republication anthologies for a moment,
There were numerous series of original publications outside the world of the previous standard, the SFF magazines.
Hitmouse in his post above brings up the STAR! six volume series .edited by Fred Pohl. Also quite worthy of mention are: ORBIT. 21 volumes edited by Damon Knight, Robert Silverberg.'s New Dimensions series:12 volumes. New Writings in SF 23 volumes (Carnell/Bulmer) and I am sure , many others.
Comments or memories?
 
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pogopossum said:
Lovely. I owned a couple of Sturgeon anthologies in the past. I see that yours is a reprint of his first. Without Sorcery, from 1948.
Without sorcery.jpg
I remember some of the stories. Anything particularly strike you?
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I'd call that a collection -- all the stories are by one author; not an anthology. The thread title does allow for collections as well as anthologies.
 
Of course Extolloger is correct. It's a collection Loose use of language by me.
It is true that in the selection from The Visual Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, (insofar as I could read it) posted by hitmouse, above, they seem to have fudged between the two different types of publication.

Anyway, back to original anthologies. hitmouse's selection emphasizes, by its choice of covers, Fred Pohl's Star series. There were of course many others. In addition to the above aforementioned Silverberg and Bulmer/Carnell series, Terry Carr did a 17 vol. Universe (1971-81) set., Harry Harrison did a four volume series, Nova (1970-74). I am sure that there were other short lived anthology series.
Doing a minimal bit of research. it seems that the most impactful was Orbit. In his intro to the eighth annual Best Science Fiction of the Year, Gardner Dozois lists 19 highly respected authors who were either introduced in the series or who did "Their best work" there. Of course this was as of way back in 79' but it includes Kate Wilhem, Ursula Le Guin Johanna Russ, Tom Disch and a wealth of others.
The SFDB differs,, pointing out that Carr's Universe as the most impactful, it having won six Hugo or Nebulas for its authors over the period of it's existence.
The real point of this is, to me. that anthologies published once a year were responsible for as much expansion and quality in the field as the great bulk of contemporaneous SF mags.
 
Posting on this thread made me look at my shelf where, I picked up an old anthology, First Contact,
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ed by Damon Knight.
The stories are dated but original in their time. Enjoying it. Perhaps it's Knight's taste, but I appreciate that humour seems more common in classics.
Above Extollager mentioned another classic anthology, Baylor a Sturgeon collection. I alluded to the impact that Adventures in Time & Space had on me.
There are literally hundreds of SF works edited by Greenbug, Knight, or Silverberg without even getting into the hundreds (thousands?) of other editors anthologies and collections.
Anyone want to mention ones that had impacts due to quality or when you read them?
 
The anthology credited to Arthur C. Clarke, Time Probe, on the themes of the sciences in science fiction, was, surely one of the first adult books of sf that I checked out as a youngster. I don't know if I read the whole book. Then a secondhand copy of the paperback edition was one of the first books I bought for myself. Robert Arthur's anthology Monster Mix, aimed at young readers, was one of the first books I bought new.
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Answering my own question, asking for recommendations of anthologies, responses on another thread mentioned several that were extraordinary.
Many that are mentioned are individual stories, but several are collections/anthologies. I saw one edited by my personal favorite author, Roger Zelazny, that I had never heard of. I guess that I'll actually have to spend some money (sigh).
Here's the LINK.
 
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pogopossum said:
Answering my own question, asking for recommendations of anthologies, responses on another thread mentioned several that were extraordinary.
Many that are mentioned are individual stories, but several are collections/anthologies. I saw one edited by my personal favorite author, Roger Zelazny, that I had never heard of. I guess that I'll actually have to spend some money (sigh).
Here's the LINK.
Click to expand...

Spectrum II edited by Kingley Amis and Robert Conquest
Spectrum III edited by Kingley Amis and Robert Conquest
 
I have not mentioned what I consider the two elephants remaining in the room.

The Gardner Dozois 35 volume annual Best Science Fiction series is and was considered to be unique.

The epochal Dangerous Visions and its sequel, Again Dangerous Visions have the reputation of revolutionizing SF through their presentation of New Wave stories that incorporated aspects of sex, speculation, psychology and fantasy, straying from the more common hard science focus or background, more of a norm in the genre. Of course it was not unique, but it certainly made the biggest splash on the American side of the pond. New Worlds had been doing similar things on the other side of the Atlantic previously.
But DV included 20 authors that had or would receive Hugos, Nebulas or other major awards.
Algis Budrys, then perhaps SFs primo reviewer said, "You should buy this book immediately because this is a book that knows perfectly that you are seething inside".
Ellison himself introduced each story. In his know it all way he told you why each was important or unique. At the end of each selection, he gave the author space to comment. The book comprised:
I would expect that any long term reader has at least picked up the tome (with a grunt). Off the top of my head (I haven't taken it off the shelf ( as yet) in years. Fourteen of the titles are familiar, the plots of the stories, fewer.
When starting to comment on "Classic" anthologies DV did not occur to me as it seemed sort of a bellwether of modern SF. That may be true, but it was published in 1967 50 plus years probably do a classic make. I know that even at my advanced age I did not pick it up until I was in my 20s.

Was it as groundbreaking as it seemed? I wasn't there at publication. Most of the authors were already well known. I could quote numerous contemporary authorities who were blown away. Now from a 50+ year perspective. it may have just succeeded in regularizing a real change.
Note. I did take it off the shelf and do remember quite a few more stories. And did like them. They do not seem revolutionary in 2023.






 
pogopossum said:
I have not mentioned what I consider the two elephants remaining in the room.

The Gardner Dozois 35 volume annual Best Science Fiction series is and was considered to be unique.

The epochal Dangerous Visions and its sequel, Again Dangerous Visions have the reputation of revolutionizing SF through their presentation of New Wave stories that incorporated aspects of sex, speculation, psychology and fantasy, straying from the more common hard science focus or background, more of a norm in the genre. Of course it was not unique, but it certainly made the biggest splash on the American side of the pond. New Worlds had been doing similar things on the other side of the Atlantic previously.
But DV included 20 authors that had or would receive Hugos, Nebulas or other major awards.
Algis Budrys, then perhaps SFs primo reviewer said, "You should buy this book immediately because this is a book that knows perfectly that you are seething inside".
Ellison himself introduced each story. In his know it all way he told you why each was important or unique. At the end of each selection, he gave the author space to comment. The book comprised:
I would expect that any long term reader has at least picked up the tome (with a grunt). Off the top of my head (I haven't taken it off the shelf ( as yet) in years. Fourteen of the titles are familiar, the plots of the stories, fewer.
When starting to comment on "Classic" anthologies DV did not occur to me as it seemed sort of a bellwether of modern SF. That may be true, but it was published in 1967 50 plus years probably do a classic make. I know that even at my advanced age I did not pick it up until I was in my 20s.

Was it as groundbreaking as it seemed? I wasn't there at publication. Most of the authors were already well known. I could quote numerous contemporary authorities who were blown away. Now from a 50+ year perspective. it may have just succeeded in regularizing a real change.
Note. I did take it off the shelf and do remember quite a few more stories. And did like them. They do not seem revolutionary in 2023.






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Someone posted a detailed review of Dangerous Visions here a few years ago. I think I need to reread the book. Despite cutting my adult SF teeth on ( mainly British ) New Wave SF, I found DV a bit disappointing after all the hype. I also found Ellison to be a bit irritating. That was in my teens. Perhaps I will see things differently several decades down the line.
 
hitmouse said:
Someone posted a detailed review of Dangerous Visions here a few years ago. I think I need to reread the book. Despite cutting my adult SF teeth on ( mainly British ) New Wave SF, I found DV a bit disappointing after all the hype. I also found Ellison to be a bit irritating. That was in my teens. Perhaps I will see things differently several decades down the line.
Click to expand...
Did you ever hear Harlan Ellison speak? He is the only person, other than a politician, who I have ever heard pick a fight with someone who is not there. Not engage in a controversy, but actively make nasty comments that were not really relevant to what was being discussed.
I also feel that I should give him a little slack. Along with a person of reputedly lovely temperament, Roger Zelazny, he is one of two prominent SF writers from my home town. Reportedly they hung out together in the days of their youth.
 
hitmouse said:
Someone posted a detailed review of Dangerous Visions here a few years ago. I think I need to reread the book. Despite cutting my adult SF teeth on ( mainly British ) New Wave SF, I found DV a bit disappointing after all the hype. I also found Ellison to be a bit irritating. That was in my teens. Perhaps I will see things differently several decades down the line.
Click to expand...

Dangerous Visions has one of my favorite intros by Isaac Asmove in which he described his first meeting with Harlan Ellison and Harlan's Impertinent ( in a friendly way Reply):D
 
Thank you hitmouse. I tracked it down.
Bick reviewed each of the stories a couple of years ago. Victoria Silverwolfe added her thoughts.
Here is the
LINK I had thought to comment on several of the stories, but duplication is unnecessary.
Looking at his commentary I regretfully agree that the piece by Roger Zelazny, perhaps my favorite author, Auto-Da-Fe is also perhaps the weakest. Strongest?
Taste is so divergent that I can only comment on what I enjoyed. I had a better reaction to the Delaney at the end than did Bick, I also have to go with Victoria Silverwolf in my affection for both Leiber -Gonna Roll Them Bones and Niven - Jigsaw Man.
But as I said above, most of you have probably read it. If you have the urge follow the link to see why it might be worth picking up.
 
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As you have probably heard the Last Dangerous Visions has again been announced for publication. This announcement has it as a 102 story, three volume work coming out in late 2024. Somewhere around forty stories that have been associated with the collection have been dropped, published elsewhere or are in some state of controversy. Not surprising given that LDV has been decades in limbo,
More detail with a story list is in the Wikipedia HERE Anyone still interested?
 
For myself, the story I'd be most interested in rereading in DV because something about it it sticks with me more than most of the others, is Spinrad's "Carcinoma Angels." That and Dick's "Faith of Our Fathers" remain, in memory, the high points of the anthology.
 
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