Moderan

1971 Bunch, David R[oosevelt] (1925-2000). Moderan. New York: Avon. Rpt. New York: New York Review Books, 2018, with the addition of eleven stories that did not appear in the first addition, three rpt. and eight published for the first time and with a “Foreword” by Jeff VanderMeer (ix-xx). Parts were originally published as “A Little Girl’s Xmas in Modernia.” Coastlines, no. 10 (3.3) (Autumn 1958): 31-35. rpt. as “A Little Girl’s Christmas in Modernia.” The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction 18.1 (104) (January 1960): 102-07; rpt. in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction British Edition 2.2 (January 1961): 2-7 (Avon 166-72/NYRB 179-85); “Was She Horrid?” Fantastic Stories of Imagination 8.12 (December 1959): 120-24 (Avon 142-46/NYRB 153-57); “The Flesh-Man from Far Wide.” Amazing Stories 33.11 (November 1959): 134-38; rpt. in The Big Book of Science Fiction: The Ultimate Collection. Ed. Ann and Jeff VanderMeer (New York: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard Vintage Books, 2016), 566-68 with an editors’ note on 555-56 (Avon 172-76/NYRB 186-90); “A Complete Father.” Fantastic Stories of Imagination 9.1 (January 1960): 104-09 (Avon 137-42/NYRB 147-52); “Strange Shape in the Stronghold.” Fantastic Stories of Imagination 9.3 (March 1960): 50-55 (Avon 102-08/NYRB 108-13); “Remembering.” Amazing Science Fiction Stories 34.4 (April 1960): 100-03 (Avon 162-66/NYRB 175-78); “Penance Day in Moderan.” Amazing Science Fiction Stories 34.7 (July 1960): 61-65 (Avon 98-102/NYRB 103-07); “Getting Regular.” Amazing Science Fiction Stories 34.8 (August 1960): 112-18 (Avon 108-14/NYRB 114-21); “A Husband’s Share.” Fantastic Stories of Imagination 9.10 (October 1960): 117-20 (Avon 133-37/NYRB 143-46); “The Warning.” Amazing Stories 34.11 (November 1960): 67-71 (Avon 189-94/NYRB 204-09); “The Final Decision.” Amazing Fact and Science Fiction Stories 35.2 (February 1961): 100-07; rpt. in Thrilling Science Fiction (October 1972): 124-31 (Avon 220-27/NYRB 237-45); “Has Anyone Seen This Horseman.” Shenandoah 12.2 (Winter 1961): 43-46 (Avon 194-98/NYRB 209-12); “The One From Camelot Moderan.” Descant (Winter 1962): 9-13 (Avon 179-84/NYRB 193-98); “It Was Black Cat Weather.” Illus. [Leo Ramon] Summers. Fantastic Stories of Imagination 12.2 (February 1963): 100-03 (Avon 155-59/NYRB 167-70); “Survival Packages.” Illus. [Leo Ramon] Summers. Fantastic Stories of Imagination 12.4 (April 1963): 70-74, 123 (Avon 80-85/NYRB 83-88); “One False Step.” Illus. [Leo Ramon] Summers. Fantastic Stories of Imagination 12.5 (May 1963): 90-95 (Avon 75-80/NYRB 77-82); “Sometimes I Get So Happy.” Fantastic Stories of Imagination 12.8 (August 1963): 103-06 (Avon 159-62/NYRB 171-74); “2064, or Thereabouts.” By Darryl R. Groupe [pseud.] Fantastic Stories of Imagination 13.9 (September 1964): 122-27 (Avon 92-97/NYRB 97-102); “Reunion.” Amazing Fact and Science Fiction Stories 39.2 (February 1965): 45-49 (Avon 184-89/NYRB 199-203); “Playmate.” Fantastic Stories of Imagination 14.5 (May 1965): 27-30 (Avon 130-33/NYRB 139-42); “The Walking Talking I-Don’t-Care Man.” Amazing Fact and Science Fiction Stories 39. 6 (June 1965): 6-10 (Avon 115-20/NYRB 122-27); “The Miracle of the Flowers.” The Smith, no. 7 (2.3&4) (October 1966): 11-23; rpt. in Pulpsmith 6.4 (Winter 1987): 108-15 (Avon 206-15/NYRB 222-31); “Incident in Moderan.” Dangerous Visions: 33 Original Stories. Ed. Harlan [Jay] Ellison (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1967), 295-99, with an “Introduction” (293-94) by Ellison and an “Afterword” (302-03) by Bunch (Avon 215-19/NYRB 232-36); “How It Ended.” Amazing 42.5 (January 1969): 59-64 (Avon 233-40/NYRB 253-60); “No Cracks or Saggings.” The Little Magazine 4.1 (Spring 1970): 44-53; rpt. without the “s” on Saggings in The Big Book of Science Fiction: The Ultimate Collection. Ed. Ann and Jeff VanderMeer (New York: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard Vintage Books, 2016), 557-62 with an editors’ note on 555-56 (Avon without the “s” 25-35/NYRB without the “s” 21-31); and “A Glance at the Past.” Illus. Dan Adkins. Fantastic Stories of Imagination 20.1 (October 1970): 84-86 (Avon 147-50/NYRB 158-61). A story first published in Moderan, “New Kings are Not for Laughing,” was rpt. in The Big Book of Science Fiction: The Ultimate Collection. Ed. Ann and Jeff VanderMeer (New York: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard Vintage Books, 2016), 562-66 with an editors’ note on 555-56; rpt. in the New York Review of Books ed. (38-44). Stories first reprinted in the New York Review of Books ed. are “Two Suns for Two Kings.” Worlds of If Science Fiction 21.4 (159) (April 1972): 113-18 (NYRB 274-78); “When the Metal Eaters Came?” Galaxy Science Fiction 39.10 (June/July 1979): 120-22 (NYRB 304-07); and “A Little Girl’s Spring Day in Moderan.” Galaxy Science Fiction 39.11 (September/October 1979): 122-26 (NYRB 308-14). Stories first published in the New York Review of Books ed. are “A Little at All Times” 263-67); “The Joke” (268-73); “The Good War” (279-85); “In the Land That Aimed at Forever” (286-91); “Among the Metal-and-People People (292-97); “The Dirty War” (298-303); “December for Stronghold” (315-23); and “The Heartacher and the Warehouseman” (324-27). Merril, PSt

Post-nuclear war dystopia in which one man is trying to cover the Earth with plastic. Others turn themselves into cyborgs and continue to fight each other.