The 34th Golden Age of Science Fiction: C.M. Kornbluth
Contents
COPYRIGHT INFO
A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
The MEGAPACK® Ebook Series
TIME BUM
TAKEOFF
THE SYNDIC
THE ALTAR AT MIDNIGHT
CRISIS!
THE GOLDEN ROAD
KAZAM COLLECTS
THE LUCKIEST MAN IN DENV
MAKE MINE MARS
THE MARCHING MORONS
THE REVERSIBLE REVOLUTIONS
SHARK SHIP
THE ADVENTURER
WITH THESE HANDS
THE WORDS OF GURU
THE NAKED STORM
THIRTEEN O’CLOCK
THE CITY IN THE SOFA
THE ROCKET OF 1955
WHAT SORGHUM SAYS
COPYRIGHT INFO
The 34th Golden Age of Science Fiction MEGAPACK®: C.M. Kornbluth is copyright © 2016 by Wildside Press, LLC. All rights reserved.
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The MEGAPACK® ebook series name is a trademark of Wildside Press, LLC. All rights reserved.
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“Time Bum” was originally published in Fantastic, January/February 1953.
“Takeoff” was originally published as a three-part serial in New Worlds Science Fiction, Volumes 22, 23 and 24 (1954).
The Syndic was originally published as a two-part serial in Science Fiction Adventures, December 1953 and March 1954.
“The Altar at Midnight” was originally published in Galaxy Science Fiction, November 1952.
“Crisis!” was originally published in Science Fiction Quarterly, Spring 1942.
“The Golden Road” was originally published in Stirring Science Stories, March 1942.
“Kazam Collects” was originally published in Stirring Science Stories, 1941.
“The Luckiest Man in Denv” was originally published in Galaxy Science Fiction, June 1952.
“Make Mine Mars” was originally published in SF Adventures, November 1952.
“The Marching Morons” was originally published in Galaxy Science Fiction, April 1951.
“The Reversible Revolutions” was originally published in Cosmic Stories, March 1941.
“Shark Ship” was originally published in Vanguard Science Fiction, June 1958.
“The Adventurer” was originally published in Space Science Fiction, May 1953.
“With These Hands” was originally published in Galaxy Science Fiction, December 1951.
“The Words of Guru” was originally published in Stirring Science Stories, 1941.
The Naked Storm was originally published in 1952 under the pseudonym “Simon Eisner.”
“Thirteen O’clock” was originally published in Stirring Science Stories, February 1941.
“The City in the Sofa” was originally published in Cosmic Stories, July 1941.
“The Rocket of 1955” was originally published in Escape, August 1939.
A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
Cyril M. Kornbluth (1923–1958) was an American science fiction author and a notable member of the Futurians. He used a variety of pen-names, including Cecil Corwin, S. D. Gottesman, Edward J. Bellin, Kenneth Falconer, Walter C. Davies, Simon Eisner, Jordan Park, Arthur Cooke, Paul Dennis Lavond and Scott Mariner. The “M” in Kornbluth’s name may have been in tribute to his wife, Mary Byers; Kornbluth’s colleague and collaborator Frederik Pohl confirmed Kornbluth’s lack of any actual middle name in at least one interview.
Kornbluth was born and grew up in the uptown Manhattan neighborhood of Inwood, in New York City. He was of Polish Jewish descent, the son of a “second-generation [American] Jew” who ran his own tailor shop. According to his widow, Kornbluth was a “precocious child”, learning to read by the age of three and writing his own stories by the time he was seven. He graduated high school at thirteen, received a CCNY scholarship at fourteen, and was “thrown out for leading a student strike” before graduating.
As a teenager, he became a member of the Futurians, an influential group of science fiction fans and writers. While a member of the Futurians, he met and became friends with Isaac Asimov, Frederik Pohl, Donald A. Wollheim, Robert A. W. Lowndes, and his future wife Mary Byers. He also participated in the Fantasy Amateur Press Association (FAPA).
Kornbluth served in the US Army during World War II (European Theatre). He received a Bronze Star for his service in the Battle of the Bulge, where he served as a member of a heavy machine gun crew. Upon his discharge, he returned to finish his education, which had been interrupted by the war, at the University of Chicago. While living in Chicago he also worked at Trans-Radio Press, a news wire service. In 1951 he started writing full-time, returning to the East Coast where he collaborated on novels with his old Futurian friends Frederik Pohl and Judith Merril.
Enjoy!
—John Betancourt
Publisher, Wildside Press LLC
www.wildsidepress.com
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THE GOLDEN AGE OF SCIENCE FICTION
1. Winston K. Marks
2. Mark Clifton
3. Poul Anderson
4. Clifford D. Simak
5. Lester del Rey (vol. 1)
6. Charles L. Fontenay
7. H.B. Fyfe (vol. 1)
8. Milton Lesser (Stephen Marlowe)
9. Dave Dryfoos
10. Carl Jacobi
11. F.L. Wallace
12. David H. Keller, M.D.
13. Lester del Rey (vol. 2)
14. Charles De Vet
15. H.B. Fyfe (vol. 2)
16. William C. Gault
17. Alan E. Nourse
18. Jerome Bixby
19. Charles De Vet (Vo. 2)
20. Evelyn E. Smith
21. Edward Wellen
22. Robert Moore Williams
23. Richard Wilson
24. H.B. F
yfe (vol. 3)
25. Raymond Z. Gallun
26. Homer Eon Flint
27. Stanley G. Weinbaum
28. Edward Wellen
29. Katherine MacLean
30. Roger Dee
31. Sam Merwin
32. Frederik Pohl
33. Kris Neville
34. C.M. Kornbluth
35. Keith Laumer
THE GOLDEN AGE OF WEIRD FICTION
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2. George T. Wetzel
3. Emil Petaja
4. Nictzin Dyalhis
5. David H. Keller
6. Clark Ashton Smith
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