The Seedling Stars

Last updated
The Seedling Stars
Seedling stars.jpg
Dust-jacket from the first edition
Author James Blish
Cover artistLionel Dillon
LanguageEnglish
Genre Science fiction
Publisher Gnome Press
Publication date
1957
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardback)
Pages185
OCLC 7013015

The Seedling Stars is a 1957 collection of science fiction short stories by American writer James Blish. It was first published by Gnome Press in 1957 in an edition of 5,000 copies. The stories concern the adaptation of humans to alien environments (a process Blish called pantropy).

Contents

Contents

"Seeding Program" was originally published under the title "A Time to Survive". "Surface Tension" was revised from its magazine publication, and here incorporates material from Blish's earlier story "Sunken Universe", published in Super Science Stories in 1942. [1] The four stories are termed 'Book One', 'Book Two', etc. and some editions refer to this as a standard novel in four sections, rather than an actual short story collection.

Reception

Galaxy reviewer Floyd C. Gale praised the collection as "a thought-provoking job". [2] Anthony Boucher also received the book favorably, saying it "nicely illustrat[ed] the characteristic Blish balance between thinking and storytelling, with each reinforcing the other". [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Blish</span> American science fiction and fantasy author (1921–1975)

James Benjamin Blish was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He is best known for his Cities in Flight novels and his series of Star Trek novelizations written with his wife, J. A. Lawrence. His novel A Case of Conscience won the Hugo Award. He is credited with creating the term "gas giant" to refer to large planetary bodies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Damon Knight</span> American science fiction writer, editor and critic (1922–2002)

Damon Francis Knight was an American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He is the author of "To Serve Man", a 1950 short story adapted for The Twilight Zone. He was married to fellow writer Kate Wilhelm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Algis Budrys</span> Lithuanian-American science fiction author, editor, and critic

Algirdas Jonas "Algis" Budrys was a Lithuanian-American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He was also known under the pen names Frank Mason, Alger Rome in collaboration with Jerome Bixby, John A. Sentry, William Scarff, and Paul Janvier. In 1960, he authored Rogue Moon, a novel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lester del Rey</span> American science fiction author (1915–1993)

Lester del Rey was an American science fiction author and editor. He was the author of many books in the juvenile Winston Science Fiction series, and the editor at Del Rey Books, the fantasy and science fiction imprint of Ballantine Books, along with his fourth wife Judy-Lynn del Rey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judith Merril</span> American novelist

Judith Josephine Grossman, who took the pen-name Judith Merril around 1945, was an American and then Canadian science fiction writer, editor and political activist, and one of the first women to be widely influential in those roles.

<i>A Medicine for Melancholy</i> Book of short stories

A Medicine for Melancholy (1959) is a collection of short stories by American writer Ray Bradbury. It was first published in the UK by Hart-Davis in 1959 as The Day It Rained Forever with a slightly different list of stories. All of the included stories were previously published.

<i>Tales from Gavagans Bar</i> Book by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt

Tales from Gavagan's Bar is a collection of fantasy short stories by American writers L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt, illustrated by the latter's wife Inga Pratt. It was first published in hardcover by Twayne Publishers in 1953; an expanded edition rearranging the contents and adding pieces not in the first was published in hardcover by Owlswick Press in June 1978. The original illustrations were retained in this edition. It was subsequently issued in paperback by Bantam Books in January 1980. An e-book edition was published by Gollancz's SF Gateway imprint on September 29, 2011 as part of a general release of de Camp's works in electronic form. The collection has also been published in German.

<i>The Tritonian Ring and Other Pusadian Tales</i> 1953 collection of stories by L. Sprague de Camp

The Tritonian Ring and Other Pusadian Tales is a 1953 collection of stories by American science fiction and fantasy author L. Sprague de Camp, first published in hardcover by Twayne Publishers. An E-book edition was published as The Tritonian Ring and Other Pasudian [sic] Tales by Gollancz's SF Gateway imprint on September 29, 2011 as part of a general release of de Camp's works in electronic form. The pieces were originally published between 1951 and 1953 in the magazines and anthologies Two Complete Science Adventure Books, Fantasy Fiction, Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy, and Fantastic Adventures. The title story, the novel The Tritonian Ring has also been published separately.

"Surface Tension" is a science fiction short story by American writer James Blish, originally published in the August 1952 of Galaxy Science Fiction. As collected in Blish's The Seedling Stars, it was revised to incorporate material from his earlier story "Sunken Universe", published in Super Science Stories in 1942.

<i>Years Best Science Fiction Novels: 1953</i> 1953 anthology edited by E. F. Bleiler and T. E. Dikty

Year's Best Science Fiction Novels: 1953 is a 1953 anthology of science fiction novels and novellas edited by E. F. Bleiler and T. E. Dikty. An abridged edition was published in the UK by The Bodley Head in 1955 under the title Category Phoenix. The stories had originally appeared in 1952 in the magazines Astounding, Galaxy Science Fiction and Thrilling Wonder Stories.

<i>Robots Have No Tails</i> 1952 collection of science fiction short stories by Lewis Padgett

Robots Have No Tails is a 1952 collection of science fiction short stories by Lewis Padgett. It was first published by Gnome Press in 1952 in an edition of 4,000 copies. The stories all originally appeared in the magazine Astounding Stories.

<i>Mutant</i> (short story collection) 1953 collection of science fiction short stories by Lewis Padgett

Mutant is a 1953 collection of science fiction short stories by Lewis Padgett. It was first published by Gnome Press in 1953 in an edition of 4,000 copies. The stories all originally appeared in the magazine Astounding.

<i>The Forgotten Planet</i> 1954 novel by Murray Leinster

The Forgotten Planet is a science fiction novel by American writer Murray Leinster. It was released in 1954 by Gnome Press in an edition of 5,000 copies. The novel is a fix-up from three short stories, "The Mad Planet" and "The Red Dust", both of which had originally appeared in the magazine Argosy in 1920 and 1921, and "Nightmare Planet", which had been published in Science Fiction Plus in 1953.

<i>In Search of Wonder</i> 1956 collection of critical essays by Damon Knight

In Search of Wonder: Essays on Modern Science Fiction is a collection of critical essays by American writer Damon Knight. Most of the material in the original version of the book was originally published between 1952 and 1955 in various science fiction magazines including Infinity Science Fiction, Original SF Stories, and Future SF. The essays were highly influential, and contributed to Knight's stature as the foremost critic of science fiction of his generation. The book also constitutes an informal record of the "Boom Years" of science fiction from 1950 to 1955.

<i>Tiger by the Tail and Other Science Fiction Stories</i> 1961 collection of stories by Alan E. Nourse

Tiger by the Tail and Other Science Fiction Stories is the first collection of short works by Alan E. Nourse, issued in hardcover by publisher Donald McKay in 1961. It was reprinted in paperback by MacFadden Books in 1964 and 1968. A British hardcover edition was published by Dennis Dobson in 1962, with a paperback reprint, retitled Beyond Infinity, following from Corgi Books in 1964.

<i>The Dark Between the Stars</i> (short story collection) 1981 collection of short stories by Poul Anderson

The Dark Between the Stars is a 1981 collection of previously-published science fiction short stories by American writer Poul Anderson.

<i>Alpha 8</i> 1978 anthology edited by Robert Silverberg

Alpha 8 is a science fiction anthology edited by American writer Robert Silverberg, first published as a paperback original by Berkley Medallion in November 1977. No further editions have been issued.

Judith Ann Blish is an American sketch artist and short fiction writer, known professionally as Judith L. Blish, Judy Blish, and J. A. Lawrence. From 1967 to 1978, she co-wrote a sequence of short story adaptations based on episodes of Star Trek with her husband, James Blish.

<i>Nebula Award Stories 5</i> 1970 anthology edited by James Blish

Nebula Award Stories 5 is an anthology of award-winning science fiction short works edited by James Blish. It was first published in the United Kingdom in hardcover by Gollancz in November 1970. The first American edition was published by Doubleday in December of the same year. Paperback editions followed from Pocket Books in the U.S. in January 1972, and Panther in the U.K. in December 1972. The American editions bore the variant title Nebula Award Stories Five. The book has also been published in German.

<i>The Best of James Blish</i> 1979 collection of science fiction short stories by James Blish

The Best of James Blish is a collection of science fiction short stories by American author James Blish, edited by Robert A. W. Lowndes. It was first published in paperback by Del Rey/Ballantine in August 1979 as a volume in its Classic Library of Science Fiction.

References

Sources