First published in 1979 by editor Tom Boardman Jr, this Genre Anthology contains twenty-one short stories.
Works in this anthology:
- "First Contact", by Murray Leinster (1945)
- "Pictures Dont Lie", by Katherine Mac Lean (1951)
- "Knock", by Fredric Brown (1948)
- "Romp", by Mack Reynolds (1966)
- "Flying Dutchman", by Ward Moore (1951)
- "Who Can Replace A Man", by Brian W. Aldiss (1958)
- "What Thin Partitions", by Mark Clifton and Alex Apostolides (1953)
- "In The Abyss", by H. G. Wells (1896)
- "The Fun They Had", by Isaac Asimov (1951)
- "Crossfire", by James White (1953)
- "Allamagoosa", by Eric Frank Russell (1955)
- "The Drop", by John Christopher (1953)
- "It Could Be You", by Frank Roberts (1962)
- "Im A Stranger Here Myself", by Mack Reynolds (1960)
- "The Luckiest Man In Denv", by Cyril M. Kornbluth (1952)
- "Obedience", by Fredric Brown (1950)
- "Not For An Age", by Brian W. Aldiss (1955)
- "The Astronaut", by Valentina Zhuravleva (1963)
- "Manners Of The Age", by HB Fyfe (1952)
- "Christmas Tree", by Christopher S Youd (1949)
- "The Stainless Steel Rat", by Harry Harrison (1957)
- "Spectator Sport", by John D Mac Donald (1950)
- "The Hypnoglyph", by John Anthony (1953)
Tropes appearing in this work:
- Alien Among Us: The short story "Im A Stranger Here Myself" link
, by Mack Reynolds, features two western expatriates in Tangier discussing a news article on the Flying Saucer craze, and the usual Alien Among Us theories. One scoffs at the idea, pointing out that with the vast number of police, security and counter-intelligence agents on Earth, one of these alien observers would be bound to slip up and get caught. His companion responds that Tangiers, as opposed to one of the major capitals like New York or London, would be a perfect place to hide out, as no-one pays attention to anyones' business. It turns out that both men are aliens, but rather than being there for the expected noble reasons, one is harvesting human protein, the other is stirring up wars and tribal conflicts for alien thrill tourists. Which, the first one points out sourly, could spoil an awful lot of good meat. - Clock King: In "The Stainless Steel Rat", a 1957 Short Story by Harry Harrison, James diGritz has timed his escape against the army of police robots that will be chasing him. He's got only three minutes before they'll be on him, knowing that getting to the secret room will take one minute eight seconds and changing his appearance will take two minutes.
- Cow Tools: In "Allamagoosa" link, a Short Story by Eric Frank Russells, the ship is being inspected by Admiral Beancounter, and the crew realize they’re missing an "offog". Many purposes, as well as descriptions, are put forward for this essential item of a starship's inventory... unfortunately, all of them are wrong. The pressing concern for most of the story is not what it actually is, but that they have to have one.
- Humanity's Wake: In "Who Can Replace A Man", by Brian W. Aldiss, the robots are overjoyed that humanity is wiped out and they are now free, but they end up nuking each other and in the end they come across one surviving human, whom their programming compels them to obey.
- In Case You Forgot Who Wrote It: The cover has a Tagline to highlight three of the authors; Isaac Asimov, Brian Aldiss, and H. G. Wells.
- No Honor Among Thieves: In "The Stainless Steel Rat", a 1957 Short Story by Harry Harrison, when James diGritz tries to invoke Honor Among Thieves, Inskipp is angry and points out exactly why diGritz is completely without honor.
- Pen Name:
- "Christmas Tree" is credited to Christopher S Youd, a pseudonym of John Christopher.
- "The Hypnoglyph" is credited to John Anthony, a pseudonym of John Ciardi.
- Orange/Blue Contrast: The cover's background/sky is a gradient of orange, with light blue "futuristic" buildings in the middle background. In the foreground, the human's black jumpsuit has blue tones while the alien(?)'s bodysuit is a heavily shadowed red.
- Recruiting the Criminal: In "The Stainless Steel Rat", a 1957 Short Story by Harry Harrison, James diGritz has been boxed by the Special Corps so that they can offer him employment as a field agent. The man who is offering the job is in charge of the Corps and the infamous "Inskipp the Uncatchable".
- Spell My Name With An S: Fredric Brown is spelled as "Frederic Brown" in the table of content, but spelled correctly on the first page of "Knock".
- Tagline: "Authors Include
Isaac Asimov
Brian Aldiss
H. G. Wells". - To Serve Man:
- In "Im A Stranger Here Myself" link, a Short Story by Mack Reynolds, two undercover aliens are having a discussion. One race considers human meat a delicacy. The other is stirring up wars and tribal conflicts for alien thrill tourists. The first one notes sourly that this could spoil an awful lot of good meat.
- And in "The Hypnoglyph", it turns out that the eponymous object is tied to a cannibal tribe of women who use it to ensnare their prey.
- In "Im A Stranger Here Myself" link
