Without Sorcery Explained

Without Sorcery
Author:Theodore Sturgeon
Illustrator:L. Robert Tschirky
Cover Artist:L. Robert Tschirky
Country:United States
Language:English
Publisher:Prime Press
Release Date:1948
Media Type:Print (hardback)
Pages:355
Oclc:5147779

Without Sorcery is a collection of science fiction and fantasy short stories by American writer Theodore Sturgeon. The collection was first published in 1948 by Prime Press in an edition of 2,862 copies of which 80 were specially bound, slipcased and signed by the author and artist. The stories first appeared in the magazines Astounding and Unknown.

Contents

"It!"

To promote Without Sorcery, Prime Press published the story "It!" in advance of the full collection. The book was published in paperback in an edition of 200 copies . Fifty copies were given away at the Associated Fantasy Publishers party at the 6th World Science Fiction Convention and most were signed by Sturgeon. Few of the remaining copies were sold and the remainder are assumed destroyed.

Reception

Boucher and McComas named Without Sorcery the best SF short fiction collection of 1949, citing the way Sturgeon "combines ingenious concepts with humor, humanity and sheer good writing."[1] Astounding reviewer P. Schuyler Miller praised the collection, saying it included "perhaps the greatest variety of any short-story collection yet brought out by the fantasy publishers."[2]

Sources

. Jack L. Chalker . Mark Owings . The Science-Fantasy Publishers: A Bibliographic History, 1923 - 1998 . Westminster, MD and Baltimore . Mirage Press, Ltd. . 1998.

. Donald H. Tuck . The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy . Chicago . . 1978. 0-911682-22-8.

Notes and References

  1. "Recommended Reading," F&SF, February 1950, p.105
  2. "Book Reviews", Astounding Science Fiction, September 1949, pp.152 - 53