ISAAC ASIMOV • H. BEAM PIPER • KATE WILHELM • POUL ANDERSON • THEODORE R. COGSWELL • CAROL EMSHWILLER • ROBERT SILVERBERG • BRIAN ALDISS • A. BERTRAM CHANDLER • C.M. KORNBLUTH • LLOYD BIGGLE, JR [sic] • ROG PHILLIPS • HARLAN ELLISON

1957 was the dawning of the space age, the time when Sputnik I and II successfully orbited the Earth. And science fact also moved ahead with the discovery of the 102nd element, Nobelium. While in the world of science fiction such new magazines as Venture Science Fiction and Donald A. Wolheim’s Saturn, The Magazine of Science Fiction published their first issues. It was a year, too, when readers were treated to memorable tales by such writers as Anderson, Clarke, Farmer, Norton, Poul, Silverberg, and Wyndham—a period to be treasured in the annals of science fiction.

So return to this era when science fiction was exploring new imaginative frontiers in time and space—from an archaeologist seeking to decipher the secrets of a long-vanished Martian civilization…to a man whose mind is exploring the surface of Jupiter in a body not his own…to a criminal’s “legal” use of time travel…to a robotic test run for those about to embark on the pleasures and perils of parenting.

For general comments on this series, see Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories 1, 1939.

“Strikebreaker”? “Strikebreaker”??! Asimov and Greenberg go through Asimov’s stories and come up with “Strikebreaker” as one of his best? Sheesh!

(I’m sorry. Asimov explains in Nightfall and Other Stories that he likes this story a lot better than anybody else seems to—but I’m among the anybody else on this one.)

At least they make up for it by including “A Loint of Paw” too. But, still, in a year when “Galley Slave” and “I’m in Marsport Without Hilda” are published, they can’t include them instead?

Meanwhile, we also have H. Beam Piper’s “Omnilingual,” Kate Wilhelm’s “Mile-Long Spaceship,” Theodore Cogswell’s “You Know Willie,” Carol Emshwiller’s “Hunting Machine,” and Brian W. Aldiss’ “Let’s Be Frank.” Another very solid collection.

Contents

	“Strikebreaker”
	“A Loint of Paw”