Gutenberg Sci-Fi 9

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Donald A. Wollheim

Donald Wollheim was probably as influential as editor and outspoken voice as better known persons like John Campbell. He sued Hugo Gernsback for payment, was a lead for Ace Books, published some of the first anthologies of SciFi, pirated (depends whose story you read) Lord of The Rings into paperback and a load more. His daughter wrote he didn’t think much of his own work, but he made sales from books for kids. Nothing is a micro‐story fantasy with scientific trappings, but it is an interesting side of physics, the bombed shelter scenario is oddly effective, and it is shorter than Jonathan Livingston Seagull. The story The Planet of Illusion is amiable for the genre, and has a wonderful premise I’ll not give away. The author then cobbles together an explanation that adds to the fun as it exposes the unscientific conveniences of other writers… writers who are more poker‐faced.

Only seven by Donald A. Wollheim—as writer he was not prolific—and I’d be wary of recommendation.

John Wyndham

NB: not represented on Gutenberg

Writer best known for monsters leading to social disorder—so fantasy but with social realism. From a small output, many adaptions including the films The Day of the Triffids and Village of the Damned.

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Order of first encounter

• Edwin Abbot Abbot

• Edgar Pangborn

• Harry Harrison

• Henry Kuttner

• James Blish

• Fritz Leiber

• Karel Čapek

• Doc E.E. Smith

• Philip José Farmer

• Fletcher Pratt

• Damon Knight

• Alfred Bester

• Philip K. Dick

• Murray Leinster

• Algis Budrys

• Cyril M. Kornbluth

• Poul Anderson

• Robert Sheckley

• Frederik Pohl and Cyril Kornbluth

• Edmond Hamilton

• Stanton Coblentz

• John Campbell

• Robert Howard

• Frederik Pohl

• Abraham Merritt

• Issac Asimov

• Lester del Rey

• Scott Fitzgerald

• Leigh Bracket

• Cordwainer Smith

• Ray Bradbury

• Judith Merril

• Sam Merwin

• Clifford Simak

• Hal Clement

• Jack Vance

• Jack Williamson

• Robert Silverberg and Randall Garrett

• Robert Silverberg

• Samuel Delany

• Raymond Z. Gallun

• H. Beam Piper

• Theodore Sturgeon

• Kurt Vonnegut

• Anna Sewell

• Edgar Rice Burroughs

• Harlan Ellison

• Jerry Sohl

• Alfred E. Van Vogt

• P. A. Lafferty

• Randall Garrett

• Evelyn Smith

• Laurence M. Janifer

• Stanley G. Weinbaum

• Rex Stout

• Andre Norton

• Charles L. Harness

• James E. Gunn

• Donald A. Wollheim

• Thomas Disch

• William Tenn

• Ben Bova

• Norman Spinrad

• Walter Kubilius

• Robert A. W. Lowndes

• H. B. Fyfe

• Jim Harmon

• Charles V. De Vet

• Dave Dryfoos

• Charles L. Fontenay

• Cory Doctorow

• Frank Herbert

• Nelson S. Bond

• Irving E. Cox Jr.

• Betsy Curtis

• Ray Cummings

• Miriam Allen De Ford

References

Clumsier than me, which is remarkable, this site is a notable example of putting in the hard yards. Under‐referenced, under‐visited, and a world in itself—if you want for basic information on a name, this is the place,

https://sf-encyclopedia.com

Sub‐domain of a home‐brew site that seems to know what it is doing, but is incapable of explaining itself. You can’t fault the sub‐domain for scale—it categorises on a century‐long timeline. And the enthusiasm for the artefact is clear—if you are looking for SciFi artwork, look here. The timeline is loose‐beaded, but the reviews are tighter than mine, and do not have the self‐imposed limit of placement on Project Gutenberg,

http://www.scifi.darkroastedblend.com/

Notionally a review of three books about early authors in science fiction, this is a well‐informed discussion about the origins of the Sci‐Fi uplift,

https://web.archive.org/web/20120905042510/http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/review_essays/mullen62.htm

If you have an interest in Pulp Fiction as publication, here is a short interview with the creator of Dark Roasted Blend,

http://www.scifi.darkroastedblend.com/2018/06/collecting-pulp-magazines.html

Video of Damon Knight on what he sees as the earliest Sci‐Fi impulses with, predicatively, some of his own opinion on what Sci‐Fi is,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ouYZVFBGUc