Classic Science Fiction Anthologies

How to get up to speed

You are curious about classic 20^th Century science fiction but don’t know where to start. There are some anthologies that can get a rookie reader up to speed in short order.

The Best of Science Fiction edited by Groff Conklin (Crown Publishers, 1946). This was one of the first, if not the the first big science fiction anthology. 785 pages with 39 stories. Contents are heavily drawn from science fiction pulp magazines from the 1930 and 40s. Campbell, Heinlein, van Vogt, Kuttner, Simak are included along with more obscure authors including Donald Wandrei and Frank Belknap Long. There were two reprints from Crown and two printings from Bonanza Books. I have the 1980 reprint. There were no paperbacks derived from The Best of Science Fiction. Conklin followed up with A Treasury of Science Fiction (Crown Publishers, 1948), Big Book of Science Fiction (Crown Publishers, 1950), Omnibus of Science Fiction (Crown Publishers, 1952). There were some paperbacks derived from the later volumes that make for a good gateway.

Adventures in Time and Space edited by J. Francis McComas and Raymond J. Healy (Random House, 1946). 997 pages with 35 stories. Heinlein, Campbell (as Stuart), Kuttner, van Vogt, Bester, Asimov, de Camp. Two stories by P. Schulyer Miller who is a near forgotten but excellent writer. Contents are from the mid 1930s to mid 1940s from the science fiction pulp magazines. There have been multiple reprints in hardback, some mass market editions with truncated contents. Del Rey/Ballantine reprinted it as a trade paperback four times. I had one of the mass paperback editions first but someone gave me one of the hardback reprints. A desert island book.

The Other Side of the Moon edited by August Derleth (Pellegrini & Cudahy, 1949). This might strike some as a surprise as August Derleth is associated with Arkham House, weird fiction, and H. P. Lovecraft. He edited seven anthologies for Pellegrini & Cudahy from 1947 to 1953 and three more anthologies for other publishers. The Other Side of the Moon was not his first science fiction anthology, Strange Ports of Call was the first. The Other Side of the Moon is 461 pages containing twenty stories. Many Arkham House authors reprinted including Donald Wandrei, Frank Belknap Long, Clark Ashton Smith, two stories by Ray Bradbury, and H. P. Lovecraft. As you can see, Derleth’s picks lean heavily into weird science fiction territory. Other titles include: Beyond Time and Space (1950), The Outer Reaches (1951), Far Boundaries: 20 Science-Fiction Stories (1951), Beachheads in Space (1952), Worlds of Tomorrow (1953), Time to Come (1954), Portals of Tomorrow: The Best Tales of Science Fiction and Other Fantasy (1954).

I used to read these from Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Library to first sample Wandrei and others. Berkley Books published truncated paperbacks of six of Derleth’s anthologies. You just might find them haunting your local used book store.

My Best Science Fiction Story edited by Leo Margulies and Oscar J. Friend (Merlin Press, 1949). Margulies was the publisher of the pulp Better/Standard line which included Thrilling Wonder Stories and Startling Stories. 556 pages with 25 stories. Contents include Campbell, Asimov, de Camp, Wellman, Kuttner, Clark Ashton Smith, van Vogt, Bradbury, Bloch. Each story has an accompanying essay on why the author selected the story as his best. There was a 1950s paperback from Pocket Books with reduced contents. Friend and Margulies also edited From Off This World: Gems of Science Fiction Chosen From “Hall of Fame Classics (Merlin Press, 1949) and The Giant Anthology of Science Fiction: 10 Complete Short Novels (Merlin Press, 1954).

Before the Golden Age edited by Isaac Asimov (Robson Books, 1974). 986 pages containing 25 stories, one essay by John W. Campbell, and nine essays by Asimov scattered through out the volume. This is a volume of 1930 pulp science fiction that Asimov read and remembered. An excellent introduction to pre-Campbellian science fiction. You see the influence on A. Merritt on Jack Williamson and P. Schuyler Miller. Writers include Donald Wandrei, Clifford Simak, Edmond Hamilton, Murray Leinster. This volume was reprinted as three paperbacks from Fawcett Books in the late 1970s.

The Great SF Stories edited by Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg (DAW Books, starting 1979). DAW Books did a great service providing “Golden Age” science fiction in cheap, easily accessible form. The first volume starts in 1939. 329 pages containing 20 stories including Lester del Rey, Robert Bloch, van Vogt, de Camp, Kuttner, Heinlein, Sturgeon. There were 25 volumes in all covering up to 1963. The first 12 volumes are an excellent way to get the foundational stories of 1940s science fiction.

Check those used book stores including the hardback section. You never know what you may find.