This Science Fiction Genre Anthology was originally published in 1971, by Robert Silverberg. The focus is on Psychic Powers, as implied by the title.
Works published in this Anthology:
- Introduction by Robert Silverberg
- "The Mindworm", by Cyril M. Kornbluth (1950)
- "Psyclops", by Brian W. Aldiss (1956)
- "Novice", by James H. Schmitz (1962)
- "Liar! (1941)", by Isaac Asimov (1941)
- "Something Wild Is Loose", by Robert Silverberg (1971)
- "Riyas Foundling", by Algis Budrys (1953)
- "Through Other Eyes", by R. A. Lafferty (1960)
- "The Conspirators", by James White (1954)
- "Journeys End", by Poul Anderson (1957)
This Anthology provides examples of:
- Conveniently Coherent Thoughts: Cyril M. Kornbluth's "The Mindworm": When the telepathic title character picks up thoughts, they're almost always the standard "stream of consciousness", and it can trawl through dozens of thought-trains at once, with Funetik Aksents and run-on sentences in the middle of thoughts.
- Emotion Eater: Cyril M. Kornbluth's "The Mindworm": A mutant human feeds off the feelings of others, killing them in the process. He deliberately tries to induce strong emotions in his victims so that he can get a full meal. Too bad for him that when he starts preying on a community of recent Eastern European immigrants, they find that the old ways of dispatching vampires work just fine.
- Funetik Aksent: Cyril M. Kornbluth's "The Mindworm": A variety of accents appear, mostly variations of low-class speech patterns. "Dat tam vooman" instead of "that damn woman", "trink visky chin" instead of "drink whiskey gin", "inna mush" instead of "into mush", "gemmun that's fo sho'", instead of "gentleman, that's for sure".
- Hungry Menace: Cyril M. Kornbluth's "The Mindworm": The titular Mindworm is an Emotion Eater, and feeding on strong human emotions drains their victims to death.
- Matrix Raining Code: The 2009 cover for this Genre Anthology has translucent binary code in varying sizes, and the entire cover is in shades of computery-green to emphasize the Science Fiction aspect of Psychic Powers.
- Mental Picture Projector: R. A. Lafferty's "Through Other Eyes": A scientist invents a machine that allows two characters to share perceptions, allowing for an answer if red looks the same time him as it does to you. The first version is frighteningly clear in the contrast, so he scales back the clarity in the production model.
- A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Read:
- Poul Anderson's "Journeys End": One of the original trope setters here; a male and a female telepath discover each other after a lifetime of loneliness. In their eagerness, they open themselves completely to each other, only to recoil in loathing from their own personal failings, quirks, and oddities, which they can see reflected in each other's minds.
- R. A. Lafferty's "Through Other Eyes": A scientist who's spent his entire life wondering whether everyone experiences things the same way he does—whether what he calls red really looks to others like what he calls blue, whether roses smell as sweet, and so on. He builds a machine to translate the thoughts in one mind to another, and uses it on a woman he considers himself to be in love with. Through it, he learns that she sees the world as a place of vileness and horror; that (as she herself later says) every time a bird flies by she thinks of what's gurgling in its stomach—and she glories in it. Later on, she absolutely smashes him mentally by convincing him he has the worse worldview—her world is twistedly beautiful, and his is utterly dead, lacking in any sort of romance or wonder. At the story's close, he's almost ready to sell the device to the public—but first, he's modifying it so it lies to the user, making the subject's thoughts seem less different than they really are, because true understanding is just too horrible.
- Nightmare Fetishist: R. A. Lafferty's "Through Other Eyes": One of the characters sees the world as a place of vileness and horror; that (as she says) every time a bird flies by she thinks of what's gurgling in its stomach—and she glories in it.
- One-Word Title:
- "Psyclops", by Brian W. Aldiss
- "Novice", by James H. Schmitz
- Tagline:
- "Nine stories of science fiction" — 1971 cover
- "9 Tales of Telepathy" — 2009 cover
- Totally Not a Werewolf: Cyril M. Kornbluth's "The Mindworm": The titular Mindworm is a rare mutant human who needs to feed on strong emotions. When it starts feeding on people in a small rural community mostly settled by Eastern European immigrants, they assume that it is a vampire and kill it with a stake through the heart and scythe through the throat.
- Two-Faced: The 1974 cover to this Anthology has a Janus-head, representing how telepathy can merge two minds together.
- Typeset in the Future: The 2009 cover of this Genre Anthology has the title in a font similar to the Westminster typeface, evoking a computery feel to a book devoted to Psychic Powers.
