ALAN E. NOURSE • MARK CLIFTON • ALGIS BUDRYS • DAMON KNIGHT • MURRAY LEINSTER • HENRY KUTTNER & C.L. MOORE • POUL ANDERSON • JAMES BLISH • MARGARET ST. CLAIR • MACK REYNOLDS • REGINALD BRETNOR • ISAAC ASIMOV • MICHAEL SHAARA • THEODORE STURGEON

1956 was a year when science fiction magazines still flourished, when authors like Heinlein, Anderson, Matheson, del Rey, and Farmer offered us novels that were to become classics in the field, and a time, too, when such promising newcomers as Ellison, Aldiss, and Ballard first saw print. And in this year when imaginations roamed freely through time and space, readers were treated to a treasure trove of truly unforgettable tales.

So welcome to a universe of wonder where men first dare to challenge the deadly perils of the planet Mercury; where an expedition to a distant star system can change the very nature of the human race; where a man lost in time discovers how difficult it is to make the past into the future; and where one man’s mind can become another’s work of art.

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

Well, let’s see. This anthology has the single best sf story ever written, “The Last Question” (by guess who). It also has the Hugo-winning “Exploration Team” by Murray Leinster. To top it off, one can also find herein Alan E. Nourse’s “Brightside Crossing,” Mack Reynolds “Compounded Interest,” and Theodore Sturgeon’s incredibly bitter “And Now the News…”. Does any more need be said?

Contents

“The Last Question”