TY - ABST T1 - "Critical Mass" Y1 - 1962 A1 - Frederik [George] Pohl [Jr.] (1919-2013) A1 - C[yril] M[ichael] Kornbluth (1923-58) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Satiric dystopia of a future U.S. obsessed with bomb shelters.

JF - Galaxy Magazine VL - 20.3 N1 -

Rpt. in their The Wonder Effect (New York: Ballantine Books, 1962), 11-46.

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ER - TY - ABST T1 - "A Gentle Dying" Y1 - 1961 A1 - Frederik [George] Pohl [Jr.] (1919-2013) A1 - C[yril] M[ichael] Kornbluth (1923-58) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Dystopian satire on the innocence of children. A wealthy children's book author establishes a research institute to find ways for children to avoid growing up. Successful, the children then eliminate all adults; only the author is allowed to die a natural death.

JF - Galaxy Magazine VL - 19.5 N1 -

Rpt. in their The Wonder Effect (New York: Ballantine Books, 1962), 47-54.

ER - TY - ABST T1 - Wolfbane Y1 - 1959 A1 - Frederik [George] Pohl [Jr.] (1919-2013) A1 - C[yril] M[ichael] Kornbluth (1923-58) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Authoritarian dystopia in which the Earth has been moved by extraterrestrials resulting in the remaining humans dividing into two groups. One, called Sheep by the other group, that reduces its activities to a so as to conserve energy and kills anyone who violates their norms. The other, called Wolves by the first, who are much more active and establish a community of their own. But the aliens have a use for the wolves, and they become part of a machine.

PB - Ballantine Books CY - New York N1 -

Rpt. New York: Garland, 1975. Shorter version in Galaxy Science Fiction 14.6 - 15.1 (October - November 1957): 8-52; 54-105.

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ER - TY - ABST T1 - "Reap the Dark Tide" Y1 - 1958 A1 - C[yril] M[ichael] Kornbluth (1923-58) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Two dystopias, one at sea and one on land. The one at sea focuses on the desperate need to keep a convoy together and harvest enough to feed the thousands of people on each ship. The one on land develops into a cult of death. At the end of the story, one ship, expelled from a convoy, begins the process of starting over with land and sea connected.

JF - Vanguard Science Fiction VL - 1.1 N1 -

Rpt. as "Shark Ship." In his A Mile Beyond the Moon (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co., 1958), 166-196; in Dark Stars. Ed. Robert Silverberg (New York: Ballantine Books, 1968), 1-35; and in Voyages: Scenarios for a Ship Called Earth. Ed. Rob Sauer (New York: Zero Population Growth/Ballantine Books, 1971), 268-305.

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ER - TY - ABST T1 - "Two Dooms" Y1 - 1958 A1 - C[yril] M[ichael] Kornbluth (1923-58) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

A future dystopia dominated by the Japanese because U.S. atomic scientists decided not to make the bomb.

JF - Venture Science Fiction VL - 2.4 (10) N1 -

Rpt. in Venture Science Fiction (U.K.), no. 20 (April 1965): 72-112; in The Best of C.M. Kornbluth. Ed. Frederik [George] Pohl, [Jr.] (Garden City, NY: Nelson Doubleday, 1976), 264-310; The Best of C.M. Kornbluth. Ed. Frederik [George] Pohl, [Jr.] (New York: Ballantine Books, 1977), 284-336; and in His Share of Glory: The Complete Short Science Fiction of C.M. Kornbluth. Ed. Timothy P. Szczesuil (Framingham, MA: The NESFA Press, 1997), 274-308.

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ER - TY - ABST T1 - Gladiator-at-Law Y1 - 1955 A1 - Frederik [George] Pohl [Jr.] (1919-2013) A1 - C[yril] M[ichael] Kornbluth (1923-58) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Capitalist, corporate, machine dominated dystopia with the novel focusing on the struggle to bring down one large, corrupt corporation.

PB - Ballantine CY - New York N1 -

U.K. London: Victor Gollancz, 1964. 

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ER - TY - ABST T1 - Not This August Y1 - 1955 A1 - C[yril] M[ichael] Kornbluth (1923-58) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Dystopia of the U.S. under a combined Chinese and Soviet Communism, which is defeated in the last pages.

PB - Doubleday CY - Garden City, NY N1 -

Garden City, NY Doubleday_

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ER - TY - ABST T1 - Search the Sky Y1 - 1954 A1 - Frederik [George] Pohl [Jr.] (1919-2013) A1 - C[yril] M[ichael] Kornbluth (1923-58) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Dystopia. Although humans have colonized space, they have degenerated and are in danger of dying out and few people care. One person is searching for the answer and by the end of the novel it becomes possible to rebuild a vigorous humanity.

PB - Ballantine CY - New York N1 -

UK ed. Harmondsworth, Eng.: Penguin, 1970. Rev. ed. New York: Baen Books, 1985. According to a note on the copyright page, this edition is substantially different from the earlier one.

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ER - TY - ABST T1 - The Syndic Y1 - 1953 A1 - C[yril] M[ichael] Kornbluth (1923-58) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Dystopia. Militaristic government from the U.S. is relocated in Ireland. The Western U.S. is mob controlled while the Eastern U.S. is permissive.

PB - Doubleday CY - Garden City, NY N1 -

Also published in Science Fiction Adventures 2.1 - 2 (December 1953 - March 1954): 6-60, 82-156. Rpt. London: Sphere, 1968; and New York: Tor, 1982, with an “Introduction to THE SYNDIC, by C.M. KORNBLUTH” by Frederik Pohl (7-10) and “A Personal Note” by H.L. Gold (248-56)..

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ER - TY - ABST T1 - Gunner Cade Y1 - 1952 A1 - C[yril] M[ichael] Kornbluth (1923-58) A1 - [Judith (Josephine Juliet Grossman)] [Merril] (1923-97) KW - Canadian author KW - Female author KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Dystopia. Future society that has become stultified in a caste structure. Shows the difficulty of convincing people that their ideology does not reflect the true state of affairs.

PB - Simon and Schuster CY - New York N1 -

Also published in Astounding Science Fiction 49.1 - 3 (March - May 1952): 8-53; 114-60; 108-54. Rpt. in their Spaced Out: Three Novels of Tomorrow (Framingham, MA: The NESFA Press, 2008), 9-135. Abbreviated as an Ace Double bound with 1957 Piper and McGuire. New York: Ace Books, 1957. UK ed. London: Victor Gollancz, 1964.

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By Cyril Judd [pseud.]

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ER - TY - ABST T1 - "The Luckiest Man in Denv" Y1 - 1952 A1 - C[yril] M[ichael] Kornbluth (1923-58) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Authoritarian dystopia. People live in huge high-rise buildings with their status determining how high they live. Constant war. The story focuses on intrigue in trying to move up the building.

JF - Galaxy Science Fiction (New York) VL - 4.3 N1 -

Rpt. in his The Mindworm (London: Joseph, 1955), 188-202; in Nightmare Age. Ed. Frederik [George] Pohl, [Jr.] (New York: Ballantine Books, 1970), 179-93; in Cities of Wonder. Ed. Damon [Francis] Knight (New York: Macfadden-Bartell, 1967), 151-63; in The Best of C.M. Kornbluth. Ed. Frederik [George] Pohl, [Jr.] (Garden City, NY: Nelson Doubleday, 1976), 70-82; The Best of C.M. Kornbluth. Ed. Frederik [George] Pohl, [Jr.] (New York: Ballantine Books, 1977), 70-83; and in His Share of Glory: The Complete Short Science Fiction of C.M. Kornbluth. Ed. Timothy P. Szczesuil (Framingham, MA: The NESFA Press, 1997), 108-17. Merril, MoU-St, PSt

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by Simon Eisner [pseud.]

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Merril, MoU-St, PSt

ER - TY - ABST T1 - The Space Merchants Y1 - 1952 A1 - Frederik [George] Pohl [Jr.] (1919-2013) A1 - C[yril] M[ichael] Kornbluth (1923-58) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Advertising, overpopulation and corporate dystopia. See also 1984 Pohl.

PB - Ballantine Books CY - New York N1 -

U.K. ed. London: William Heinemann, 1955. U.S. ed. rpt. in American Science Fiction: Four Classic Novels 1953-1956. Ed. Gary K. Wolfe (New York: The Library of America, 2012), 1-155 with “Biographical Notes” (777-79) “Notes on the text” (783-86) and “Notes” (789-99); and in Venus, Inc. (New York: Nelson Doubleday, 1985), 1-158. [21st Century ed.]. New York: Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Griffin, 2011, with “Preface The Story of the Space Merchants” (v-xii). A different version, was published as “Gravy Planet.” Galaxy Science Fiction (New York) 4.3 - 5 (June - August 1952): 4-61, 108-59, 104-59. This version has some wording differences, mostly minor, throughout the text and three concluding chapters not found in the book. These three chapters are rpt. in the Library of American edition (791-99). 

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ER - TY - ABST T1 - "The Marching Morons" Y1 - 1951 A1 - C[yril] M[ichael] Kornbluth (1923-58) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Dystopia. High birth rate of the lower classes produces a nation of morons.

JF - Galaxy Science Fiction VL - 2.1 N1 -

 Rpt. in his The Mindworm (London: Joseph, 1955), 219-56; in Spectrum IV: A Science Fiction Anthology. Ed. Kingsley Amis and Robert Conquest (London: Victor Gollancz, 1965), 23-54; in Looking Ahead: The Vision of Science Fiction. Ed. Dick Allen and Lori Allen (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1975), 113-38, with an editor’s note on 113 and “Questions” on 138; in The Best of C.M. Kornbluth. Ed. Frederik [George] Pohl, [Jr.] (Garden City, NY: Nelson Doubleday, 1976), 133-63; The Best of C.M. Kornbluth. Ed. Frederik [George] Pohl, [Jr.] (New York: Ballantine Books, 1977), 138-72; in The Nightmare Age. Ed. Frederik [George] Pohl, [Jr.] (New York: Ballantine Books, 1970), 47-82; in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume 2A. Ed. Ben Bova (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1973), 204-32; and in His Share of Glory: The Complete Short Science Fiction of C.M. Kornbluth. Ed. Timothy P. Szczesuil (Framingham, MA: The NESFA Press, 1997), 372-95. Merril, MoU-St, PSt

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Merril, MoU-St, PSt

ER - TY - ABST T1 - "Mars Child" Y1 - 1951 A1 - [Cyril Michael] [Kornbluth] (1923-58) A1 - [Judith (Josephine Juliet Grossman)] [Merril] (1923-97) KW - Canadian author KW - Female author KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Dystopia. Large mining corporation on Mars in conflict with a small community of settlers, which could be seen in a eutopian light.

JF - Galaxy Science Fiction VL - 2.2 - 4 N1 -

Rpt. as Outpost Mars. By Cyril Judd [pseud.]. New York: Abelard Press, 1952; and in their Spaced Out: Three Novels of Tomorrow (Framingham, MA: NESFA Press, 2008), 137-296.

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Rpt. as Outpost Mars

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Illus. Willer [Edmund Alexander Emshwiller (1925-90)]

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Cyril Judd [pseud.]

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Merril, PSt

ER - TY - ABST T1 - "The Little Black Bag" Y1 - 1950 A1 - C[yril] M[ichael] Kornbluth (1923-58) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

A medical bag from an obviously medically eutopian future accidently appears in a contemporary slum and transforms the lives of the doctor who cared for the slum dwellers even though he had been prohibited from practicing and the people of the slum. Then the future takes the bag back.

JF - Astounding Science Fiction VL - 44.5 N1 -

Rpt. without the illus. in Sense of Wonder: A Century of Science Fiction. Ed. Leigh Ronald Grossman (Rockville, MD: Wildside Press, 2011), 415-21 with an editor’s note on 415.

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Illus. [Edd (Edward Daniel)] Cartier (2009)

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