First published in 1961 by editors Richard L Loughlin and Lilian M Popp, this Genre Anthology contains eighteen stories.
Works in this anthology:
- "Daedalus", by Thomas Bulfinch (1855)
- "The Birthmark", by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1843)
- "A Descent Into The Maelstrom", by Edgar Allan Poe (1841)
- "A Journey To The Center Of The Earth", by Jules Verne (1864)
- "Moxons Master", by Ambrose Bierce (1899)
- "A Tale Of Negative Gravity", by Frank R Stockton (1884)
- "The Disintegration Machine", by Arthur Conan Doyle (1929)
- "A Epyornis Island", by H. G. Wells (1894)
- "Wireless", by Rudyard Kipling (1902)
- "Tobermory", by H. H. Munro (1911)
- "The Roads Must Roll", by Robert A. Heinlein (1940)
- "Visit To A Small Planet", by Gore Vidal (1956)
- "Quit Zoomin Those Hands Through The Air", by Jack Finney (1951)
- "The Fun They Had", by Isaac Asimov (1951)
- "Triggerman", by JF Bone (1958)
- "The Report On The Barnhouse Effect", by Kurt Vonnegut (1950)
- "Baxbr" by Evelyn E Smith (1954)
Tropes appearing in this work:
- Doorstopper: This Genre Anthology clocks in at over 600 pages.
- Epigraph: "A Descent Into The Maelstrom", by Edgar Allan Poe, is prefaced by a short quote from Joseph Glanville, describing how ineffable God and Nature are."The ways of God in Nature, as in Providence, are not as our ways; nor are the models that we frame any way commensurate to the vastness, profundity, and unsearchableness of His works, which have a depth in them greater than the well of Democritus." Joseph Glanville
- Framing Device: "A Descent Into The Maelstrom", a Short Story by Edgar Allan Poe, the unnamed narrator is listening to his guide, a survivor of the Norwegian Moskoe-ström.
- "Just So" Story: "Daedalus", by Thomas Bulfinch, explains that the Partridge was created when the goddess Minerva transformed Perdix into a bird, to save him from his jealous uncle Daedalus.
- Mega Maelstrom: In "A Descent Into The Maelstrom", a Short Story by Edgar Allan Poe, the title refers to the Moskoe-ström, named by the local Norwegians. It sits still for perhaps fifteen minutes, when the tide changes. The rest of the time, it's a dangerous whirlpool which can be heard from leagues away, and local storms make the maelstrom worse.
- Nameless Narrative: In "A Descent Into The Maelstrom", a Short Story by Edgar Allan Poe, the characters are never given names. Islands, mountains, cities, and the Moskoe-ström are named, but only adjectives are used for human characters. This effect draws the reader to focus on the Man versus Nature Conflict in the story.
- Pen Name: "Tobermory" is credited to H. H. Munro, who is better known by his pseudonym Saki.
- Pragmatic Adaptation: "Daedalus", by Thomas Bulfinch, is a Short Story version of Classical Mythology, focused on the life of Daedalus.
- Talking Animal: The eponymous housecat of "Tobermory" is capable of snarking, sorry; speaking in English. Hilarity Ensues when it turns out Tobermory has no concept of tact.
- Year X: "A Descent Into The Maelstrom", a Short Story by Edgar Allan Poe, takes place a three years after the tenth of July, 18-.
