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“The Education of Tigress Macardle” by C. M. Kornbluth
Group Read 72: The Best Science Fiction Stories of 1957 “The Education of Tigress Macardle” by C. M. Kornbluth #10 of 20 (Read, Listen) C. M. Kornbluth came out with four short stories in 1957 – “MS....
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“Profession” by Isaac Asimov
Group Read 72: The Best Science Fiction Stories of 1957 “Profession” by Isaac Asimov #11 of 20 (Read, Listen) “Profession” isn’t one of Asimov’s well-known stories. It’s not a Foundation or Robot...
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“The Men Return” by Jack Vance
Group Read 72: The Best Science Fiction Stories of 1957 “The Men Return” by Jack Vance #12 of 20 (Read, Listen) My initial reaction to “The Men Return” was “WTF! Far Out!” It’s not a great SF story,...
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“Small World” by William F. Nolan
Group Read 72: The Best Science Fiction Stories of 1957 “Small World” by William F. Nolan #15 of 20 (Read, Listen) I’ve always loved post-apocalyptic novels about the last man on Earth, or at least,...
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“Flight to Forever” by Poul Anderson
Rereading “Flight to Forever” made me realize something about the core of my personality. There are a limited number of science fictional ideas that I resonate with that I like to regularly recall. I...
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“Time Waits for Winthrop” by William Tenn
Group Read 72: The Best Science Fiction Stories of 1957 “Time Waits for Winthrop” by William Tenn #16 of 20 (Read) Virgil Finlay usually created drawings and paintings that featured beautiful or...
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Four Forewords and Two Introductions to Dangerous Visions
Starting May 5, 2024, our Facebook group read for Sundays will be Dangerous Visions edited by Harlan Ellison. It will be designated GR76W. I thought I’d announce it today so people will have a week to...
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Are the Classics the Stories We Don’t Forget?
I’ve been writing about science fiction short stories from 1957 for the past two months, but I realized today I’ve already forgotten most of them. I can’t tell if that memory loss is due to aging or...
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“The Man from the Atom” by G. Peyton Wertenbaker
“The Man from the Atom” by G. Peyton Wertenbaker was first published in the August 1923 issue of Science and Invention before being reprinted in the first issue of Amazing Stories. All the stories in...
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“Evensong” by Lester del Rey
For me, the most rewarding pages of Dangerous Visions were the introductions by Harlan Ellison and the afterwards by the authors. When I first read this anthology back in the late 1960s, I felt those...
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“Flies” by Robert Silverberg
The first story in Dangerous Visions was by Lester del Rey, an old friend and mentor to Harlan Ellison. The second story is by Robert Silverberg, one of Ellison’s best friends from the 1950s. And the...
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“The Day After the Day the Martians Came” by Frederik Pohl
After reading a story about hunting down God and another story about vicious attacks on women, Frederik Pohl anti-prejudice story seems downright pleasant. It is a breezy tale about how people recycle...
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How Long Have Guys Wanted AI Girlfriends?
I read a 1901 short story the other day, “The Lady Automaton” by E.E. Kellett, that felt up to date regarding AI but Victorian in its setting. I discovered it at the web site Forgotten Futures, where...
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“Riders of the Purple Wage” by Philip José Farmer
[The Facebook group Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Short Fiction is discussing one story a week from Dangerous Visions.] First off, let me say that I believe “Riders of the Purple Wage” by Philip...
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How Valid are Science Fiction’s Political Insights?
We can often find political opinions in science fiction, but in terms of political philosophers, how useful are science fiction writers? I just read “The Last of the Deliverers” by Poul Anderson from...
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“A Toy for Juliette” by Robert Bloch
I was going to take a break from reading Dangerous Visions because it was depressing me, but I found “A Toy for Juliette” a fitting inspiration for a sermon I wanted to write. I’ve been reading Golden...
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“The Alley Man” by Philip José Farmer
I’ve been trying to lay off science fiction for a while, but I haven’t gone completely cold turkey. Every once in a while I’ll open an anthology and try reading a story to see if any are worth...
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“Another Word for Map is Faith” by Christopher Rowe
“Another Word for Map is Faith” by Christopher Rowe first appeared in the August 2006 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. You can read it here and listen to it here. I’m not sure if...
View ArticleSolving My Problem with Science Fiction
I’ve become overly critical of science fiction lately, and that worries me. Too much of what I read feels childish, simplistic, and obvious. I mentioned this to my friend Mike, and he pointed out that...
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Is It Possible, Or Is It Magic?
“Enchanted Village” by A. E. van Vogt has been extensively reprinted. It first appeared in the July 1950 issue of Other Worlds Science Fiction. I just read the story in Possible Worlds of Science...
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