First Contacts: The Essential Murray Leinster [Hardcover]

Murray Leinster (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1998

A collection of the trend-setting stories of "the Dean of Science Fiction" which opened and explored such topics as first contact with aliens, the Internet, transfers among parallel universes, and many more. This collection contains two stories not previously published, and it contains an introduction by Hal Clement, with cover art by Hannibal King.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

A major retrospective of 24 stories, 193464, including two previously unpublished, from Leinster (18961976; real name Will Jenkins), a storysmith with a talented and educated imagination, though he proved a poor novelist, ultimately unable to transcend the pulps. While innovative and creative, he retained a firm grip on real science indeed, some of his ideas now appear astonishingly prescient. He wrote the first computer-paranoia yarn, ``A Logic Named Joe,'' back in an era when computers weren't even a gleam in Bill Gates's eye. In ``First Contact,'' he proposed a solution to the problem of spacefaring humans confronting aliens of similar psychology and technological development. ``Exploration Team'' contemptuously bats away the notion that machines, even intelligent robots, could successfully explore dangerous new worlds; Leinster instead provides his own unique insight. ``Sidewise in Time'' wonders what might happen if you move, not up or down the stream of time, but across it. ``The Lonely Planet'' invents the idea of a planetary consciousness. Elsewhere, a character receives a phone call from himself, one week in the future; a man-who-fell-to-earth isn't just immortal, he's insane as well, while other aliens don't just imitate, they become humans, or attempt to teach students of alchemy the principles of electricity. There are plenty of flimsy entries, too, of course, but the best of them are remarkable inventions, providing a window on to science fiction's first Golden Age that demonstrates exactly what made it golden. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review

...a book to be treasured. Buy two--one for yourself, and one to give to your local library. -- Analog, Tom Easton

[Murray Leinster] a now sadly underrated author; again NESFA have done a very useful job here; the book contains almost the entire contents of The Best of Murray Leinster edited by J. J. Pierce (1978) and the similarly-titled but much skimpier Best of Murray Leinster edited by Brian Davis (1976) plus a few other pieces and, surprisingly, two previously unpublished stories. 'The Great Catastrophe' and 'To All Fat Policemen'; recommended. Interzone, Nov. 1998 -- Excerpted from First Contacts: The Essential Murray

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Nesfa Pr; First edition. edition (September 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0915368676
• ISBN-13: 978-0915368679
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,121,433 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Murray Leinster--Essential Reading for Sci-Fi Fans, November 21, 1999

By 

David Sanderson - See all my reviews

This review is from: First Contacts: The Essential Murray Leinster (Hardcover)

I read this in less than a week. My 'First Contact' with Murray Leinster floored me. The style of Leinster's writing is provacative; his diction, use of tone tone and image, are as advanced as any literary writer in any field. There isn't one weak story in this book! The stories, though dating as far back as the thirties, hold up as well as any modern work I can think of. Especially interesting is 'Plague on Kryder II,' which describes a disease that affects one's immune system and causes one to get disease after disease. It was almost as if he had heard about AIDS in 1964. I'm so impressed that I went right out and bought every book I could find by Leinster and am in the process of reading them right now. You wont't be disappointed.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A golden-age master of Science Fiction returns, February 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: First Contacts: The Essential Murray Leinster (Hardcover)

Murray Leinster was very hot in the world of science fiction -- several decades ago. As the years wore on, he was largely forgotten, except for one story of his, "First Contact." "First Contact" has appeared in numerous "Best of" collections and won a "Retro-Hugo" (a Hugo handed out for work in a year when there were no Hugos, 1946). Now you can have "First Contact" (I'm not the only one who thinks it's the best first contact story ever.) along with 23 other great (some are classic) tales from S.F.'s golden age. You'll be suprised at how well these hold up. Plus this book is a real treat. It's on acid-free paper, and it's a well-bound, solid hardcover.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible SCI-FI!, October 7, 2002

By 

Mr. Henry J. Saenz (McKinney, TX USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: First Contacts: The Essential Murray Leinster (Hardcover)

These are some of the best sci-fi short stories I have read. Yes, the stories are dated, but the imagination, mystery and wonder are awesome. The Castaway is one of the finest. I recommend Forgotten Planet by Murray Leinster as well, if you can find it. Happy reading!!!