Galaxy: Thirty Years of Innovative Science Fiction. edited by Frederik Pohl, Martin H Greenberg, and Joseph D Olander. 1980

Galaxy: Thirty Years of Innovative Science Fiction is rated 72%.

AVERAGE STORY: 3.42

13 good / 8 average / 3 poor.

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A retrospective collection featuring stories from Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine. The stories are share in chronological order from 1950 to 1976 and show the some of the transformations that happened in the genre during that time.

While the stories are a little sub-par on average - most of a the story rated average could have easily been moved to poor - there are some gems. “Coming Attraction” and “Oh, To Be a Blobel!” are quite well know and anthologized, but “The Place Where Chicago Was,” “The Great Nebraska Sea,“ and “Horrer Howce” are relatively unknown.

What one really buys this collection for is the historic memoirs about Galaxy that introduce almost every story in the collection. Written by the author, they range from insightful and humorous to angry and bitter. They are wonderful glimpses into a time and place in the history of science fiction.

Galaxy: Thirty Years of Innovative Science Fiction is rated 72%.

13 good / 8 average / 3 poor.

How do I arrive at a rating?

1. Coming Attraction by Fritz Leiber (1950)
   Great. A classic story of a British man in post nuclear war America. Rich is culture and economy of description. Well drawn with intense characters.

2. To Serve Man by Damon Knight (1950)

   Good. The story that inspired the classic Twilight Zone episode. Hinges upon the conclusion for a great first read, but no reread ability.

3. Betelgeuse Bridge by William Tenn (1951)

   Average. A Public Relations man in put in charge of interacting with alien first contact.

4. Cost of Living by Robert Sheckley (1952)

   Good. Family legacy, debt, and the onward push of consumer products drive this short fun morality tale about what we’ll do for the newest and greatest products.

5. The Model of a Judge by William Morrison (1953)

   Good. An carnivorous alien has been domesticated to act as a judge at a cake contest.

6. The Holes Around Mars by Jerome Bixby (1954)

   Average. A standard space tale of astronauts investigating interest holes on Mars. Has some fun puns, though.

7. Horrer Howce by Margaret St Clair (1956)

   Good. A tour of a carnival theme ride and the lovecraftian horrors within.

8. People Soup by Alan Arkin (1958)

   Poor. Children do science in their household sink.

9. Something Bright by Zenna Henderson (1960)

   Good. A low-income daughter spends the night with a neighbor who is desperately searching her house for …. something.

10. The Lady Who Sailed the Soul by Cordwainer Smith (1960)

    Good. An interesting love story between two people who know - and will know - the excruciating pain for being a sailors between planets. Part of the famous Instrumentality series.

11. The Deep Down Dragon by Judith Merril (1961)

    Average. I don’t think I understood this one. VR plus dinosaurs plus relationship dynamics.

12. Wall of Crystal, Eye of Night by Algis Budrys (1962)

    Average. Corporate intrigue, assassination, subterfuge, in a story that never quite came together for me.

13. The Place Where Chicago Was by Jim Harmon (1962)

    Great. I really liked this suspenseful thriller of a future society where people can’t kill, but the great powers can still fight wars. One man - who should be persona-non-grata - needs to get himself back into the apocalyptic Chicago to try to save the world. If his anti-murder control will let him.

14. The Great Nebraska Sea by Allan Danzig (1963)

    Good. A geological tale of the force that created the Great Nebraska Sea and the Midwestern Riviera.

15. Oh, To Be a Blobel! by Philip K Dick (1964)

    Good. A soldier who was transformed to spy behind alien lines, find himself turning into one of aliens every day. A touching parable.

16. Founding Father by Isaac Asimov (1965)

    Good. A lesser Asimov story about men who die on a foreign planet.

17. Going Down Smooth by Robert Silverberg (1968)

    Poor. Computer/AI tries to learn how to be obscene.

18. All the Myriad Ways by Larry Niven (1968)

    Good. A man cleans a gun while thinking about alternative universes and a strange rash of meaningless suicides.

19. The Last Flight of Doctor Ain by James Tiptree, Jr. (1969)

    Average. A sick woman travels frequently by airplane.

20. Slow Sculpture by Theodore Sturgeon. (1970)

    Average. A dying girl, a fringe scientist, and a bonsai tree.

21. About a Secret Crocodile by R A Lafferty. (1970)

    Poor. I know I read this, but I remember nothing about it. Even days later.

22. Cold Friend by Harlan Ellison. (1973)

    Average. A man in the only one left after an apocalypse. He fights off strange threats and meets a girl.

23. The Day Before the Revolution by Ursula K Le Guin (1974)

    Good. A superbly well drawn complex elderly women reminisces about the past and future, while the future she created begins to come to pass.

24. The Gift of Garigolli by Frederik Pohl & C M Kornbluth (1974)

    Average. Very small beings observe a human family dealing with crippling debt.

25. Overdrawn at the Memory Bank by John Varley (1976)

    Good. A man finds himself having to deal with life trapped in VR while the outside world tries to find his body.

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