Science fiction has its immortals—authors whose impact was so tremendous that they belong in a class by themselves. Olaf Stapledon extended the boundaries of science fiction to the infinite, and there are few of the major authors who do not directly or indirectly owe him a great debt.
His novels LAST AND FIRST MEN (1930),ODD JOHN (1935),STAR MAKER (1937),and SIRIUS (1944) are among the most influential works ever to appear in science fiction. His serious philosophical tracts were issued by England’s major publishers.
This volume of his uncollected short science fiction and fantasy (only one having previously appeared in the United States) is a major publishing event. In addition to the five stories, there is an uncollected radio script from which this volume takes its title and an uncollected 1948 address to the British Interplanetary Society.
To this collection Sam Moskowitz has contributed an authorized biography of Olaf Stapledon from prime sources that make it the most definitive and authentic to date, as well as a contemporaneous report on Stapledon's only visit to the United States in 1949.
This book will prove a pivotal work in any future appraisal of Olaf Stapledon.
CONTENTS
Introduction by Sam Moskowitz
Olaf Stapledon: The Man Behind the Works by Sam Moskowitz
1. The Man Who Became a Tree
2. A Modern Magician
3. East Is West
4. Arms out of Hand
5. A World of Sound
Introduction by Harvey Satty
6. Far Future Calling (radio script)
7. Interplanetary Man. An Address to the British Interplanetary Society
Peace and Olaf Stapledon by Sam Moskowitz
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Edited and with an authorized biography by Sam Moskowitz
Portrait by Frank R. Paul
Dust jacket and interior illustrations by Stephen E. Fabian
No ISBN in the book