FORGOTTEN BOOKS: TWO SF ANTHOLOGIES

Shared Tomorrows:  Science Fiction in Collaboration edited by Bill Pronzini and Barry N. Malzberg (1979)
The Great Science Fiction Series edited by Fredrik Pohl, Martin Harry Greenberg, and Jopseph Olander (1980)

On deck are two anthologies that would give the novice science fiction reader a decent grounding in the field.

First, Shared Tomorrows, offering twelve collaborative stories from some of the better writers of the Forties through the Seventies.  Although few of the stories are what could be considered classics, all are immensely readable and display the variety that the science fiction and fantasy fields can offer:

• Tiger Ride by James Blish and Damon Knight (1948)
• Dark Interlude by Mack Reynolds and Fredrik Brown (1950)
• Beasts of Bourbon by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt (1951)
• Sound Decision by Randall Garrett and Robert Silverberg (1956)
• Gratitude Guaranteed by R. Bretnor and Kris Neville (1953)
• Mary Celestial by Miriam Allen deFord and Anthony Boucher (1955)
• The Quaker Cannon by Frederik Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth (1961)
• Elementary by Laurence M. Janifer and Michael Kurland (1964)
• The Loolies Are Here by Ruth Allison and Jane Rice (1966)
• Murphy's Hall by Poul and Karen Anderson (1971)
• Faces Forward by Jack Dann and George Zebrowski (1975)
• Prose Bowl by Bill Pronzini and Barry N. Malzberg (1979)

In The Great Science Fiction Series, Pohl and his confreres present 21 stories, major and minor (mostly major), from series that every well-read SF fan should be aware of:

•  Hothouse by Brian W. Aldiss (1961) [the Hothouse series]
• A Little Knowledge by Poul Anderson (1971) [ the Nicholas Van Rijn series]
• The Talking Stone by Isaac Asimov (1955) [the Wendell Urth series]
• The Cloud-Sculptors of Coral D by J. G. Ballard (1967) [ the Vermillion Sands series]
• Bridge by James Blish (1952) [ the Cities in Flight series]
• Surface Tension by James Blish (1952) [the Pantropy series]
• Through Time and Space with Ferdinand Feghoot by "Grendel Briarton" (R. Bretnor) (1980, original to this volume) [the Feghoot series]
• The Reluctant Orchid by Arthur C. Clarke (1956) [the White Hart series]
• The Ancestral Amethyst by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt (1952) [the Tales from Gavagan's Bar series]
• Ararat by Zenna Henderson (1952) [the People series]
• Ballots and Bandits by Keith Laumer (1970) [the Retief series]
• No Great Magic by Fritz Leiber (1963) [the Change War series]
• The Smallest Dragonboy by Anne McCaffrey (1973) [the Dragon series]
• The Ship Who Sang by Anne McCaffrey (1961) [the Helva series]
• A Relic of Empire by Larry Niven (1966) [the Known Space series]
• Sign of the Wolf by Fred Saberhagen (1965) [the Berserker series]
• Burden of Proof by Bob Shaw (1967) [the Slow Glass series]
• The Lifeboat Mutiny by Robert Sheckley (1955) [ the AAA Ace series]
• Opening Doors by Wilmar H. Shiras (1949) [the In Hiding series] (nota bene:  The H. in her name stands for "House" -- no relation)
• Aesop by Clifford D. Simak (1947) [the City series]
• The Game of Rat and Dragon by Cordwainer Smith (1955) [the Instrumentality series]

Good stuff in both books, whether for the SF newbie or the veteran fan who would like to visit with old friends.