Literature / Modern Masterpieces of Science Fiction

First published in 1965 by Sam Moskowitz. This Genre Anthology of short Science Fiction stories collects twenty-one famous tales. In 1966, it was republished with only six of the stories under the title Doorway Into Time.

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Works published in this Anthology:

• Introduction by Sam Moskowitz

• "The Vortex Blaster" by E. E. "Doc" Smith (1941)
• "Night (1935)" by John W. Campbell (1935)
• "A Logic Named Joe" by Murray Leinster (1946)
• "Requiem" by Edmond Hamilton (1962)
• "With Folded Hands ..." by Jack Williamson (1947)
• "Adaptation (1949)" by John Wyndham (1949)
• "The Witness (1951)" by Eric Frank Russell (1951)
• "The Command" by L. Sprague de Camp (1938)
• "Kindness" by Lester del Rey (1944)
• "We Also Walk Dogs" by Robert A. Heinlein (1941)
• "Enchanted Village" by A.E. van Vogt (1950)
• "Liar! (1941)" by Isaac Asimov (1941)
• "Microcosmic God" by Theodore Sturgeon (1941)
• "Huddling Place" by Clifford Simak (1944)
• "Coming Attraction" by Fritz Leiber (1950)
• "Doorway Into Time" by C. L. Moore (1943)
• "We Guard The Black Planet!" by Henry Kuttner (1942)
• "The Strange Flight Of Richard Clayton" by Robert Bloch (1939)
• "Wake For The Living" by Ray Bradbury (1947)
• "Before Eden" by Arthur C. Clarke (1961)
• "Mother" by Philip José Farmer (1953)

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This Anthology provides examples of:

• All Just a Dream: In "The Strange Flight Of Richard Clayton", by Robert Bloch, several times Clayton lands on Mars, only to die and realize that the ship hadn't landed yet. Clayton didn't even leave Earth; the rocket's engines failed in a way that made it too dangerous to approach for a week and the constant shaking was driving Clayton insane.
• "Best Of" Anthology: In 1965, editor Sam Moskowitz anthologized twenty-one famous tales of Science Fiction from the past thirty years.
• Billed Above the Title: The 1973 Doorway Into Time cover (by Manor Books) puts all short fiction authors at the top of the cover, then lists the title and Tagline. However, the editor, Sam Moskowitz, is included below the tagline.
• Compressed Adaptation: This Genre Anthology was reprinted in 1966 as Doorway Into Time, but only included six of the eighteen stories from the original.
• Explosive Instrumentation: (Downplayed Trope) In "The Strange Flight Of Richard Clayton", by Robert Bloch, the instrument panel of Future was broken under the stress of launch. Without the instruments, Clayton doesn't have access to the radio, to the external cameras, or even to simple measuring devices, so for ten years he'll be unable to do anything more than eat, drink, and sleep.
• Humans Are Cthulhu: "Microcosmic God", by Theodore Sturgeon, in which a scientist creates hyper-accelerated intelligent creatures, who regard him as a god. They surpass human technology, and the scientist passes off their inventions as his... for a while.
• Novelette:
  • "Microcosmic God" by Theodore Sturgeon
  • "Mother" by Philip José Farmer
  • "We Also Walk Dogs" by Robert A. Heinlein
  • "We Guard The Black Planet!" by Henry Kuttner
  • "With Folded Hands ..." by Jack Williamson
  • "The Witness" by Eric Frank Russell
• One-Word Title:
  • "Adaptation (1949)" by John Wyndham
  • "Kindness" by Lester del Rey
  • "Mother" by Philip José Farmer
  • "Night (1935)" by John W. Campbell
  • "Requiem" by Edmond Hamilton
• Short Story:
  • "Adaptation (1949)" by John Wyndham
  • "Before Eden" by Arthur C. Clarke
  • "Coming Attraction" by Fritz Leiber
  • "The Command" by L. Sprague de Camp
  • "Doorway Into Time" by C. L. Moore
  • "Enchanted Village" by A.E. van Vogt
  • "Huddling Place" by Clifford Simak
  • "Kindness" by Lester del Rey
  • "A Logic Named Joe" by Murray Leinster
  • "Night (1935)" by John W. Campbell
  • "Requiem" by Edmond Hamilton
  • "The Strange Flight Of Richard Clayton" by Robert Bloch
  • "The Vortex Blaster" by E. E. "Doc" Smith
  • "Wake For The Living" by Ray Bradbury
• Tagline:
  • "A distinguished anthology of Twentieth Century science fiction" — World Publishing Co 1965 cover.
  • "A unique collection of tales that are contemporary classics—from the most productive period of Science Fiction by Edward E. Smith, John W. Campbell, Edmond Hamilton, Robert A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, A.E. van Vogt, Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury, and other great modern writers" — Hyperion Press paperback 1974 cover.
  • "and other short stories from Modern Masterpieces of Science Fiction" — Doorway Into Time cover.
• Title Drop Chapter: The abridged volume, Doorway Into Time, takes its title from C. L. Moore's Science Fiction Short Story.
• Undefeatable Little Village: The story "Microcosmic God", by Theodore Sturgeon, posits a scientist living on an island creating a population of small, intelligent creatures that live short lives in an ammonia environment in tanks in his lab. He communicates with them through a teletype connection (it's an old story). They make many great inventions for him because their generations are short in time, so many generations can work on a problem. The outside world wants them, so the navy is poised to attack him. He requires his creatures to build a completely impregnable shield around the island, which they do. The navy spends the rest of time bombarding the grey sphere, and he spends the rest of his days with his creatures.

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