Lo strano mondo di Richard Clayton di Robert Bloch ***

Il giorno è compiuto di Lester Del Rey *****

L'uomo nodoso di L. Sprague de Camp ***

This is the first of the retroactive year's best collections. Published in 1979 it covers the year 1939. That was 40 years in the book's past and now 80 years from the initial story publications. Publisher Donald A Wollheim (Mr DAW) writes a brief intro and includes this as his final sentence: "This may well be the finest science fiction anthology you will ever read." - D.A.W.

The publishers and editors believe 1939 was a pivotal year for science fiction, taking a leap from pulp fiction to something akin to literature. "...twenty stories by the writers who changed science fiction from quick and easy pulp action to the kind of literature that commanded respect and invited emulation by readers and writers to come." They add that these stories were essentially the creative ideas from which many many things followed. So here I would find where modern science fiction began.

The anthology was published in 1979, 40 years after the stories had first been told. Here I am in 2019, another 40 years later and now 80 years since 1939. Is this still, or was it then, the finest science fiction anthology? Let's look at what's here. At 432 pages this is pretty big for a DAW book of 1979.

8 • Introduction (The Great SF Stories 1 (1939)) • (1979) • essay by Martin H. Greenberg
11 • I, Robot • Adam Link • (1939) • short story by Otto Binder (variant of "I, Robot") as by Eando Binder
25 • The Strange Flight of Richard Clayton • (1939) • short story by Robert Bloch
35 • Trouble with Water • (1939) • short story by H. L. Gold
56 • Cloak of Aesir • Sarn • (1939) • novella by John W. Campbell, Jr. as by Don A. Stuart
103 • The Day Is Done • (1939) • short story by Lester del Rey
118 • The Ultimate Catalyst • (1939) • short story by John Taine
141 • The Gnarly Man • (1939) • novelette by L. Sprague de Camp
163 • Black Destroyer • Space Beagle • (1939) • novelette by A. E. van Vogt
194 • Greater Than Gods • (1939) • novelette by C. L. Moore
229 • Trends • (1939) • short story by Isaac Asimov
248 • The Blue Giraffe • (1939) • novelette by L. Sprague de Camp
272 • The Misguided Halo • (1939) • short story by Henry Kuttner
289 • Heavy Planet • (1939) • short story by Milton A. Rothman
299 • Life-Line • (1939) • short story by Robert A. Heinlein
318 • Ether Breather • (1939) • short story by Theodore Sturgeon
332 • Pilgrimage • (1939) • novelette by Nelson S. Bond as by Nelson Bond
353 • Rust • (1939) • short story by Joseph E. Kelleam
363 • The Four-Sided Triangle • (1939) • novelette by William F. Temple (variant of The 4-Sided Triangle)
385 • Star Bright • (1939) • novelette by Jack Williamson
412 • Misfit • (1939) • novelette by Robert A. Heinlein

As it turned out I would certainly not consider this the finest anthology ever. I had to read these stories slowly over time because many were a bit of a slog.

I've read the first story, I, Robot before. I must say that for 1939 it is very good. Asimov states that this story was the inspiration for him writing his own robot stories, with the first being "Robbie" which appeared in 1940. Asimov says he wasn't pleased when the publishers despite his objections called his first robot collection "I, Robot" as he felt the title belonged to the original story not by him.

The second story however was dreck. Asimov said it appeared in the same magazine issue as his own very first story and he thought it was the only story that was better than his. Asimov prided himself on him modesty. Sigh. Well, I'd hate to read that issue. The story certainly has two elements of early science fiction. 1- The build your own rocket ship in your backyard to go to Mars or the Moon, and 2- The twist at the end. There was a twist and it was twisted 2 ways which is what made a naive story ridiculous.

I was surprised to recognize a number of these stories from 1939 including the third one, "The Trouble With Water" by H L Gold. It is a fantasy story that I just read last year in Gardner Dozois's Modern Classics of Fantasy anthology. I wouldn't say this was a great story. After reading a short bit and immediately recognizing it I skipped the rest. It is cute and amusing but it is not a science fiction story - more like a troll, gnome or leprechaun fantasy story and it belonged in the fantasy anthology but not here.

The fourth story finally gets this going again with a novella by the famous John W Campbell and the last written under his pseudonym Don A Stuart. This story certainly has the elements one would expect from Campbell, especially the idea that against all odds man will persevere into the future and will rise against adversity. In this interesting story we are 4,000 years into the future. Mankind has been enslaved by an invading race of aliens (The Sarn) after barely losing the battle for the planet. The aliens were looking for a new homeworld after their planet was destroyed in some manner and lost 3/4 of their people in the attack on Earth. But they became the overlords of the remnants of humanity. Now, 4,000 years later mankind is rising again, led by Aesir who has created a cloak that appears invincible to the weapons of the Sarn. Unfortunately the story relies quite heavily on an old science fiction gimmick, the development of telepathic powers.

Next up was 'Day is Done' a sad short story by Lester del Rey that tells us a prehistoric tale of the last neanderthal. It was OK for a bit of prehistoric fiction.

Of the remaining stories I recognized "The Gnarly Man" as one I had read before and enjoyed the re-read. A living neanderthal is found in a carnival sideshow. He has been alive for 50,000 years. There are several good moments in the story but a few bits detract. Black Destroyer was the first published story by A. E. van Vogt. A novelette, I thought it one of the better stories where an exploration team meets a creature who is one of the few remaining survivors of a civilization that destroyed itself.

Robert Heinlein's first story is also in here, and it is also one I have read long before - "Life-Line" is the story of a man who invents a machine that can very closely determine when you were born and when you will die. He is met with derision and disbelief, and of course the life insurance companies seeing the end of the dream know he needs to be dealt with. Not bad.

1939 again impresses us with the first published story by another great of the genre, Theodore Sturgeon who has written many excellent stories in the fantasy/horror/science fiction genres. 'Ether Breather' however does not impress at all. It is the story of the advent of color television a couple centuries in the future and it is both confusing and rather stupid to say the least. Thankfully Sturgeon improved a lot.

One of the best stories in this collection was from an author unfamiliar to me: Nelson Bond. "Pilgrimage" is a post-war dystopian story set in a far future that seems to be a clear precursor to Sheri Tepper's "Gate To Woman's Country". I enjoyed this one. Another unfamiliar author was Joseph E. Kelleam. His interesting and well done short story "Rust" takes us several hundred years into the future after a great war and all that remains are a few robots who are themselves near the end.

So by the end, was this the finest anthology ever compiled as the editors thought? I can say no, it was not. But there was some interest in visiting these early days. ( )

This is a collection of stories from 1939, the start of the Golden Age of science fiction (at least as perceived by the editors), the best of the year and part of the foundation of all later science fiction. I started with 1941, and frankly it was a better year.

I was not a fan of "Trends", Asimov's one contribution; I would have much preferred "Marooned off Vesta". Heinlein offers two stories. I would consider "Life-Line" the low point of this anthology, though my strong negative reaction to the stereotypes of the complacent arrogant scientists and the great inventor protagonist who likes tweaking them more than sharing knowledge with anyone is largely to blame there. "Misfit" is basically one of Heinlein's juveniles, with the Heinlein-standard uneducated supergenius. Okay, that story just lost a star when I realize that the main character is Wesley Crusher. I'm a huge fan of Asimov, and appreciate Heinlein, but their stories were the low points for this book.

My high point of the anthology was A. E. van Vogt's "Black Destroyer". Eando Binder's "I, Robot" is also an interesting story, very much reminiscent of Frankenstein (deliberately so) and Čapek's R.U.R.. Don A. Stuart's "Cloak of the Aesir" was a bit long and slow. Lester Del Rey's "The Day is Done" suffer from using a conceit that was dead on arrival, being one of those futuristic stories where everything is American symbols and the MacGuffin is the American Constitution or the like.

Generally, everything but Asimov and Heinlein's contributions were good, but nothing was great. As I said above, I enjoyed the anthology from 1941 and "Marooned off Vesta", so it's not as simple as not enjoying this era; perhaps, as with the choice of Asimov's stories, it was the selection, or perhaps the Golden Age was less then ripe at the time. It is an important anthology for students of science fiction, for anyone who wants to read the early short works, and I might have added a half star if I were rating it on that alone. From that perspective, however, it's missing a bibliography and a listing of major long form material of the year. ( )