A few weeks ago I wrote about one of the books I got in my first order from the Science Fiction Book Club. This was another, and it had just as big an impact on me as Conklin's Omnibus of Science Fiction. All you have to to is look at the stories that are included to see why. Here they are: "Blowups Happen" by Robert A. Heinlein, "Hindsight" by Jack Williamson, "Vault Of The Beast" by A. E. van Vogt, "The Exalted" by L. Sprague De Camp, "Nightfall" by Isaac Asimov, "When The Bough Breaks" by Lewis Padgett, "Clash By Night" by Lawrence O'Donnell, "Invariant" by John R. Pierce, "First Contact" by Murray Leinster, "Meihem In Ce Klasrum" by Dolton Edwards, "Hobbyist" by Eric Frank Russell, "E For Effort" by T. L. Sherred, "Child's Play" by William Tenn, "Thunder And Roses" by Theodore Sturgeon, "Late Night Final" by Eric Frank Russell", "Cold War" by Kris Neville, "Eternity Lost" by Clifford D. Simak, "The Witches Of Karres" by James H. Schmitz, "Over The Top" by Lester del Rey, "Meteor" by William T. Powers, "Last Enemy" by H. Beam Piper, "Historical Note" by Murray Leinster, and "Protected Species" by H. B. Fyfe.It's a book full of classics. My favorite might or might not surprise you. It's the Sherred story, one I've read again and again, and always with pleasure. One of my very favorite time-travel stories. "Blowups Happen" was one of the first (maybe the first) stories about a nuclear reactor, written before such things existed. "Vault of the Beast" is one of those Van Vogt stories that's hard to describe but fun to read, totally implausible, but who cares? Asimov's "Nightfall" is the one about the stars coming out. Tenn's "Child's Play" is about the build-a-man kit. Simak's "Eternity Lost" is about immortality and the serum that provides it -- for a few. You might see the twist ending coming, but I didn't when I first read it. Hey, I was just a kid.
And there's so much more, but there's really no need for me to go on. You probably remember some of these as well or better than I do. Was "Thunder and Roses" the first story to predict the CD? I remember something in there that sure seemed like it, but it's been so long since I read the story that I need to read it again. I might be recalling a different story entirely, or I might have made the whole thing up. Anyway, this is a great anthology, and every story is highly readable and worth reading. It's a classic anthology in the SF field.
