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| Fawcett Crest 1981 |
In 1962, many award-winning Hugo short stories from 1955 to 1961 were collected in an anthology titled The Hugo Winners, featuring nine stories each with an anecdotal introduction by Isaac Asimov. Below are complete summaries (or short interpretations) which might be useful for those wishing to revisit the plots and concepts contained in these stories for analysis purposes. Included are covers of the original magazines these stories first appeared in (primarily from the Internet Archive or the ISFDB)
Contents- "The Darfsteller" (1955), Walter M. Miller, Jr.
- "Allamagoosa" (1955), Eric Frank Russell
- "Exploration Team" (1956), Murray Leinster
- "The Star" (1955), Arthur C. Clarke
- "Or All the Seas with Oysters" (1958), Avram Davidson
- "The Big Front Yard" (1958), Clifford D. Simak
- "That Hell-Bound Train" (1958), Robert Bloch
- "Flowers for Algernon" (1959), Daniel Keyes
- "The Longest Voyage" (1960), Poul Anderson
“The Darfsteller”, Walter M. Miller, Jr. (Astounding Science Fiction, Jan 1955)
In the future, actors have been replaced by robots programmed with the personalities of famous actors. One actor, Thorny, frowns upon this technological advance, and plots to impersonate a robot with himself, and then be killed by a real bullet onstage in order to make a big splash. During the performance he changes his mind, but it is too late to remove the live round in the gun. He survives the shot, and realizes that he must find a new skill to specialize in, as the greatest thing about man is that he can be a specialist of many things, unlike a robot.
“Allamagoosa”, Eric Frank Russell (Astounding Science Fiction, May 1955)
While doing inventory, the captain of a spaceship realizes that an “offog” is nowhere to be found. In order to pass inspection, he has his engineer create a contraption which he passes off as an offog. Later, while on an interstellar flight, Earth authorities notify the ship that the ship will be overhauled. Fearing that the offog will then be taken apart and discovered to be a fake, the captain reports that the offog fell apart due to gravitational forces and was subsequently jettisoned. Shortly thereafter, an emergency bulletin is broadcast to all ships. It turns out that the offog was a misprint for “official dog” and the authorities are alarmed at such a bizarre fate.
“Exploration Team”, Murray Leinster (Astounding Science Fiction, Mar 1956)
A colony is installed on a planet with the aid of robots. At the same time an illegal settler, Huyghens, lands there with a group of genetically-enhanced Kodiak bears as his companions. The local fauna, “sphexes” destroy the robot colony. When a colonial officer, Roane, arrives to inspect the robot-aided colony, he only finds Huyghens’ encampment. They decide to work together to journey to the legal settlement. On the way they debate the merits of robot-aided work against achievement gained through manual exploration. The survivors of the robot-aided colony are rescued and Roane, now sympathetic to Huyghens’ arguments, agrees to cover up Huyghens’ illegal activities.
“The Star”, Arthur C. Clarke (Infinity Science Fiction, Nov 1955)
A Jesuit priest joins an expedition to investigate a distant supernova which has destroyed an advanced civilization. His faith is shaken when he discovers that the date of the supernova reveals that it was in fact the Star of Bethlehem marking Christ’s birth.
“Or All the Seas with Oysters”, Avram Davidson (Galaxy Science Fiction, May 1958)
Two men own a bicycle repair shop. When Oscar spends most of a day romancing a customer in a park, Ferd becomes frustrated and destroys the bike Oscar had used. Later the bike has restored itself somehow. Several other odd events occur, leading Ferd to suspect that inanimate objects are actually alive (such as paper clips) which hatch into larger items (such as coat hangers). He then theorizes that bicycles are a more developed form of these lifeforms. Oscar tries to dissuade Ferd from this idea and suggests he ride the newly-restored bike. Ferd is injured when the bike “throws” him. Later Ferd is found killed by a coat hanger. Oscar tells an old customer that he has put Ferd’s bike “out to stud”.
A handy-man/antique dealer named Taine discovers that aliens have transformed the front of his house into a gateway to a desert world. He drives into the desert and eventually comes across an unfamiliar-looking dwelling. Inside, he finds that the front of the alien dwelling leads to yet another world made up of seas and heavy rain. He returns to his house and learns that his simple-minded friend Beasley has reported the discovery and that the world is now converging on the spot to further exploit this miraculous gateway. A man-sized woodchuck appears on the desert side of Taines’ house, and Beasley becomes friends with him. When a different kind of aliens appear, this time on antigravity bicycles, Taine, Beasley and the woodchuck work together to establish trade relations with these more advanced aliens. Taine sells the aliens on the idea of paint in return for antigravity technology.
“The Hell-Bound Train”, Robert Bloch (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Sept 1958)
The Devil appears to a hobo, Martin, in the form of a train conductor in charge of a black train. Martin makes a deal with the Devil: he will give the Devil his soul but in return he desires the ability to stop time once and once only. Thinking that he will find a happy time in his life in order to freeze time, Martin continuously improves his status in life, until he becomes old and decrepit. Never satisfied, he has never triggered the “time-freeze” (enabled by a stopwatch). When he has a stroke, the Devil comes for him and Martin is forced to board the train. However, on the train he sees many others having one last party on the way to Hell. He decides to trigger the stopwatch in order to enjoy this last party forever.
“Flowers for Algernon”, Daniel Keyes (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Apr 1959)
A mentally-retarded man named Charlie undergoes a surgical procedure which allows his IQ to triple. His progress is partially gauged by racing a mouse named Algernon, as both try to complete mazes in as short a time as possible. Charlie becomes a genius over the following weeks, and realizes that he has been ridiculed his whole life as a moron. Although Algernon has also gained in intelligence through a similar operation, he eventually deteriorates and dies. Charlie places flowers on Algernon’s grave, and soon also begins to lose his newly-gained intellect. In the end Charlie breaks off his journal and wishes to experience his final days away from observation, but asks that the scientists continue to place flowers on Algernon’s grave.
“The Longest Voyage”, Poul Anderson (Analog Science Fact -> Fiction, Dec 1960)
The speaker is a member of an exploration ship under Captain Rovic, sailing on the seas of an unknown alien planet. Rovic comes across a primitive civilization which worships a stranger from the stars. Rovic gains an audience with this stranger, who turns out to be an Earthman whose ship has been stranded on Rovic’s planet for many years. Rovic and his people are in fact descended from a much older human settlement, whose technology has degenerated to the point where they know nothing of spaceflight or other colonized planets. Rovic pretends to want to help the spaceman repair his ship, but during the night he destroys it with explosives. When the speaker asks Rovic why he had destroyed the ship (as well as their way into “Paradise”), Rovic replies that their people should find their way to Paradise through their own achievements and not through knowledge gained for free from more advanced peoples.
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| Doubleday 1962 |
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| Avon 1964 |
