Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction: 3rd Series [Paperback]

Anthony Boucher (Author), J. Francis McComas (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Ace Books (May 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9997374363
• ISBN-13: 978-9997374363
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,308,397 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Very Good Assortment, January 22, 2007

By 

Dave_42 "Dave_42" (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction: 3rd Series (Hardcover)

The Third Series of "The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction", edited by Anthony Boucher and J. Francis McComas and published in 1954, is a decent collection of short fiction, most of which was published for the first time in "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction" (F&SF) during 1953, but a few of them first appeared in other sources. On the whole, this is a strong collection of stories from a good variety of writers. The hardcover edition also includes eight poems from the previous year's magazine editions.

The opening story is "Attitudes" by Philip José Farmer which is a novelette which was first published in the October 1953 edition of F&SF. This is the first of a series of stories which Farmer wrote about Father John Carmody. The story is about Roger Tandem, a gambler who takes advantage of a refueling stop to attempt to swindle a native population which whom humans are not supposed to interact. Father John steps in to try to save him more than money. This story is a very good start to the series as well as this book.

"Maybe Just a Little One" is a short story by Reginald Bretnor which was first published in "Harper's" in August of 1947, and was reprinted in the February 1953 edition of F&SF. It is a humorous story about Maximus Everett who is the first person to develop nuclear fission in his basement.

"The Star Gypsies" by William Lindsay Gresham is a short story which was first published in the July 1953 edition of F&SF. It is an apocalyptic story about mankind trying to survive after a nuclear war. It is a decent story, but this kind of story has been done better.

"The Untimely Toper" by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt was published in the July 1953 edition of F&SF. It is a short story in their Gavagan's Bar series, involving a curse and a time paradox. A decent story, but if you are interested in the Gavagan's Bar stories you would do better to start with "Tales from Gavagan's Bar" which was published originally in 1953 by Twayne.

"Vandy, Vandy" by Manly Wade Wellman is the third in the Silver John series, and this short story was published in the March 1953 edition of F&SF. This is a fantasy story dealing with witchcraft from Salem which is still active in the world. It is an unusual tale, drawing on American history and blending it with Fantasy.

"Experiment" by Kay Rogers is a vignette published in the February edition of F&SF. This is an unusual story about the end of man's reign on Earth as he has been conquered by Venusians who are unable to stop the fall of man.

"Lot" by Ward Moore is a novelette length story which was published in the May 1953 edition of F&SF. This is another apocalypse story, but this one takes place as people have become aware that nuclear war has started. David Jimmon is a man who has prepared and while he is prepared, he is forced to deal with a family which hasn't fully realized the implications as he is attempting to get them to safety. There is a follow up to this story titled "Lot's Daughter" which appeared in the October 1954 edition of F&SF. This is my favorite of the apocalypse stories in this collection.

"Manuscript Found in a Vacuum" by P. M. Hubbard is a short story which was first published in "Punch" in December of 1952, and appeared in the August 1953 edition of F&SF. This short story is really a vignette, and is written in the form of letters of a starship Captain who was marooned on a previously undiscovered moon of Venus, but who sends out his story in a bottle through space.

"The Maladjusted Classroom" by H. Nearing Jr. is short story from the Professor Ransom and MacTate series which was first published in the June 1953 edition of F&SF. In this story Professor Ransom finds that his class has been scheduled in the same room as ROTC, and after he discovers a way into another dimension, he tries to get the ROTC group to share the room in an unusual way. This is a clever story and speaks well for the series.

"Child by Chronos" is a short story by Charles L. Harness which was first published in the June 1953 edition of F&SF. This is a time travel story, involving a paradox. It may have been interesting in its time, but most science fiction readers will have read better examples of this type of story.

"New Ritual" is a short story by Idris Seabright (pseudonym of Margaret St. Clair) which was published in the January 1953 edition of F&SF. This is a somewhat humorous story about a woman (Marie Bates) who discovers that the freezer she purchased does more than she ever expected.

"Devlin" by W. B. Ready is a short story from the April 1953 edition of F&SF. This is an unusual story about a parish that puts together band for the St. Patrick's Day parade after scoffing at others. The story is not unique in what it tries to do, and the writing isn't easy to follow.

"Captive Audience" by Ann Warren Griffith is a short story which was published in the August 1953 edition of F&SF. This is a story about the future of advertising, and it reminded me of "The Space Merchants" by Frederik Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth and its sequel "The Merchants War" by Frederik Pohl, the first of which also came out in 1953. This one holds up well and is worth reading.

"Snulbug" by Anthony Boucher is a short story which appeared in the May 1953 edition of F&SF. This is an enjoyable read, even if it is a fairly common type story of a man getting wishes from a Genie. Although in this case the Genie is a small demon named Snulbug, and there are a few other updates which give it a fresh feel.

"Shepherd's Boy" by Richard Middleton is a vignette which was first published in 1912, in a collection of stories which were published the year after the author committed suicide. It was republished in F&SF in the August 1953 edition. This is a ghost story of sorts, somewhat difficult to categorize, but it does make one want to seek out his collection of stories.

"Star Light, Star Bright" by Alfred Bester is a short story from the July 1953 edition of F&SF. This is the only story from this collection to be recognized by critics. It was nominated in 2004 for the Retro Hugo for short stories published in the year 1953. This is a very interesting story with a bit of a detective story feel to it, as a yet unnamed character goes from one family named Buchanan to another asking questions about their children. He is noticed by a couple of scam artists who think he is cutting in on one of their scams, but his story turns things around and they start working with him. This is a strong finish for a fairly good collection.