First published in 1988 by editors Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg. This Genre Anthology contains fifteen Science Fiction stories that were first published in 1956, ranging in length from Short Story to Novelette. The introduction describes "the world outside reality" first, marking significant historical events, sports trivia, and literary publications. The "real world" is the world of science fiction and fantasy pop culture.
Works in this anthology:
- "Brightside Crossing", by Alan E Nourse
- "Clerical Error", by Mark Clifton
- "Silent Brother", by Algis Budrys
- "The Country Of The Kind", by Damon Knight
- "Exploration Team", by Murray Leinster
- "Rite Of Passage", by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore
- "The Man Who Came Early", by Poul Anderson
- "A Work Of Art", by James Blish
- "Horrer Howce", by Margaret St Clair
- "Compounded Interest", by Mack Reynolds
- "The Doorstop", by Reginald Bretnor
- "The Last Question", by Isaac Asimov
- "Stranger Station", by Damon Knight
- "2066: Election Day", by Michael Shaara
- "And Now The News …", by Theodore Sturgeon
Isaac Asimov Presents: The Great Science Fiction Stories, Volume 18 (1956) provides examples of:
- Biography: Each story is prefaced by a short description of why this story (from this author) was chosen to represent one of the fifteen best stories of the year along with a paragraph from Isaac Asimov's perspective.
- Compound-Interest Time Travel Gambit: Mack Reynolds's "Compounded Interest": A 1956 Short Story where a time traveler places a small sum at 10% in a bank in medieval Venice and renews the contract every 100 years. By the 1960s, the sum exceeds the price of everything in the world several times over. Then he comes to the organization servicing The Contract and starts gradually withdrawing money. What for? To build a time machine to go to medieval Venice to place the money. You see, when The Contract employees concluded the scheme was started by a time traveler, they consulted with several famous physicists, including him, about the possibility of time travel. He told them time travel was impossible, but later figured that it was possible, only R&D would be prohibitively expensive. Thus he came with the plan and started withdrawing money before he deposited anything.
- Finale Title Drop: Mark Clifton's "Clerical Error": Although they're mentioned a few times during this story, the last line of the story comes from Miss Verity as she comes to rescue Dr Kingston, saying, "it seems that while I was on my vacation, you made a… ah… clerical error." It refers to Dr Kingston accidentally signing a paper that had him imprisoned as one of his own mental patients. Actually, he did it on purpose, but in such a way that nobody would think it was deliberate.
- Framing Device: Alan E Nourse's "Brightside Crossing": The story starts in third-person, following events happening around James Baron as he visits an exclusive club called the Red Lion. When he meets Peter Claney, the only known survivor of an attempt to cross Mercury's sunside, the story switches to Peter Claney's First-Person Perspective to talk about his failure. The story returns to the Red Lion occasionally (going back to third person when it does so).
- Next Sunday A.D.: Mark Clifton's "Clerical Error": This story takes place a few years after 1958 (it was published in 1956). No technological advances have occurred, although dedicating an entire mental hospital to government employees is not typical for the time period. Mark Clifton was predicting a society so obsessed with preventing disloyalty to the nation that scientists were regularly going insane as a symptom of the larger problem.
- Shout-Out: In the introduction, multiple works are mentioned as being first published or becoming hits in 1956:
- The $64,000 Question
- Agent Of The Unknown, by Margaret St Clair
- Andersonville, by Mac Kinlay Kantor
- Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
- As the World Turns
- Auntie Mame
- Baby Doll
- Bang The Drum Slowly, by Mark Harris
- The Beast of Hollow Mountain
- Beast With A Million Eyes
- Mel Brooks is referenced.
- Bride of the Monster, starring Bela Lugosi (who unfortunately died this same year).
- The Creature That Walks Among Us
- The Creeping Unknown
- Double Star, by Robert A. Heinlein, for winning the Hugo Award for best novel.
- The Edge of Night
- Eros And Civilization, by Herbert Marcuse
- Forbidden Planet
- Giovanni's Room, by James Baldwin
- Godzilla King Of Monsters 1956
- "The Great Pretender", by Platters
- The Green Odyssey, by Philip José Farmer
- Howl (1955), by Allen Ginsberg
- I Love Lucy
- Innuendo, a fan-magazine by Terry Carr.
- Invasion of the Body Snatchers
- It Conquered the World, directed by Roger Corman.
- The King and I
- Li'l Abner
- Long Day's Journey Into Night
- Lust For Life
- "Mack The Knife"
- The Magazine Of Fantasy And Science Fiction, due to editor J Francis Mc Comas leaving and being replaced by Anthony Boucher
- The Man Who Japed, by Philip K. Dick
- My Fair Lady
- "My Prayer"
- Nerves, by Lester del Rey
- Nineteen Eighty-Four
- Peyton Place, by Grace Metalious
- The Phantom From 10000 Leagues
- Elvis Presley’s "Blue Suede Shoes", "Hound Dog", "Love Me Tender", and "Heartbreak Hotel".
- The Power Elite, by C Wright Mills
- Rififi
- Satellite Science Fiction, for beginning publication this year with head editor Sam Merwin Jr.
- Science Fiction Adventures
- The Searchers, directed by John Ford
- Seize the Day, by Saul Bellow
- Separate Tables
- The Seventh Seal, directed by Ingmar Bergman
- The Shrinking Man, by Richard Matheson
- Solomons Stone, by L. Sprague de Camp
- Star Ways, by Poul Anderson
- Super-Science Fiction
- To Live Forever, by Jack Vance
- Waiting for Godot, written by Samuel Beckett
- A Walk On The Wild Side, by Nelson Algren
- War and Peace (1956)
- "Why Do Fools Fall In Love", by Frankie Lyman And The Teenagers
- Switching P.O.V.: Alan E Nourse's "Brightside Crossing": Once the Framing Device (written in third-person) of James Baron's desire to cross Mercury's sunside is established, the perspective switches to Peter Claney, the only known survivor of the attempt. The narrative uses First-Person Perspective while Peter is telling the story about his failure, and occasionally switches back to the Framing Device (going back to third person when it does so).
- Symbiotic Possession: Algis Budrys's "Silent Brother": The title refers to a nonphysical creature that the protagonist calls his "brother". His "brother" is from a planet in the Alpha Centauri system and by joining with a human, they can repair major damage, help with mental stability, and even death can be nullified.
- Technicolor Science: Mark Clifton's "Clerical Error": Dr Kingston points out that psychiatrists have intricate laboratories, shiny tools, mechanical pencils drawing lines on drums of paper, and flashing lights on electronic screen, which "proves" that psychiatry is a real science.
- These Are Things Man Was Not Meant to Know: Mark Clifton's "Clerical Error": Dr Maxfield believes that his employee, David Strom, went insane due to being on the verge of a scientific breakthrough that would determine the fate of the world, or even, the nation. He spends the entire story in the care of a mental hospital dedicated to government employees.
- Tidally Locked Planet: Alan E Nourse's "Brightside Crossing": The title refers to Mercury having one side facing the sun, and therefore "bright", while the other side faces away from the sun. There's a scientific outpost based near Mercury's north pole in the "twilight" zone.
- Time Travel:
- Poul Anderson's "The Man Who Came Early": The titular man was sent back in time after a lightning strike.
- Mack Reynolds's "Compounded Interest": A 1956 Short Story where a time traveler invests a small sum at 10% interest in medieval Venice and renews the contract every 100 years. Once he realized that time travel was possible but prohibitively expensive, he began withdrawing money before he deposited anything.
- Trapped in the Past: Poul Anderson's "The Man Who Came Early": In this novelette, an American soldier stationed in Iceland is sent back to the Viking Era after being hit by lightning.
