Lost Planets And Rediscovered Science Fiction Manuscripts: Illustrated

by Shirrel Rhoades

Overview

- This collection of heretofore all but unknown science fiction short stories by masters of the genre is richly illustrated with over 15 images to enrich the readers experience. Forget about being lost in space. Many of the sci-fi short stories in this never-before-published anthology have been lost in file cabinets, desk drawers, and attics. Here are 16 new and/or all-but-unknown futuristic tales by such masterful science fiction writers as Ray Bradbury, John W. Campbell, Philip K. Dick, C.J. Daniels, and William R. Burkett, Jr. Even a once-anonymous scientification story by Edgar Allan Poe. Mindbending entertainment at less than two bits a story. "Like discovering new planets," says Bryon Rupert McCafferty, pop culture guru of Online Critics Corner.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781514337059
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	06/20/2015
Pages:	390
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

How did I get hooked on science fiction? That's an easy question: In high school I had a geeky friend named Tommy. His face was covered in pimples. His hair oily. He had fat lips and a goofy, lopsided grin. He was veeeery, veeeery smart. He wasn't popular. After he flubbed a reading of "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" in English Class, he was forever dubbed The Albatross. Not to suggest that he was burdensome; it was simply an appellation that identified him from all the other Tommys in our class.
The Albatross was a reader.
No, he didn't bother reading the homework assignments. That wasn't important to him. He read science fiction novels. During our sophomore year, he loaned me a tattered paperback edition of Ralph 124C41+ by Hugo Gernsback. I still have it. Also he loaned me a copy of What Mad Universe by Frederic Brown. I have that too. He was always loaning me sci-fi books. Introducing me to new authors. And new worlds.
While I'd cut my teeth on Robert A. Heinlein's juvenile sci-fi books, Tommy had discovered more thoughtful offerings. And he loaned these books to me, showing me that in addition to classic militaristic space opera there were other fascinating, mind-blowing sci-fi themes to explore -- y' know, parallel universes, doppelgängers, time travel, robots and cyborgs, futuristic threats to humankind (although we called it mankind back in those pre-enlightened days).
Despite this spate of mind-blowing science fiction tomes, Tommy believed there were no original plots left. He introduced me to Plotto, a system for generating plots devised by William Wallace Cook back in 1928. Its mix-'em-and-match-'em approach could be boiled down to this simplistic formula: "Purpose opposed by Obstacle yields Conflict."
True enough for most fiction, but I think Tommy underestimated the inventiveness of his own favorite genre -- sci-fi. If ever a type of storytelling demanded yet-to-be-devised plots, here it was.
I reveled in them.
As I recall, Tommy wrote a few short stories that he privately shared with me. Wish I'd kept them. They would certainly fall within the scope of this anthology: lost science fiction manuscripts.
As it turned out, I went off to college and Tommy didn't. We lost touch. I heard Tommy ended up working for a tire company. No silly, futuristic imaginings are required in that line of work. It was a loss to the world of science fiction, no doubt. I often wonder what Tommy dreams about in the privacy of his sleep.