The Other Worlds

The Other Worlds is an anthology of science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories, edited by Phil Stong. It was originally published by Wilfred Funk in 1941, with a lower-price edition following from Garden City Publishing a year later.[1] The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction describes it as "the first important sf Anthology".;[2] it remains in the collection of nearly 200 academic libraries in 2015.[3]

The Other Worlds
Dust-jacket from the first edition
AuthorPhil Stong, ed.
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreScience fiction short stories
PublisherWilfred Funk
Publication date
1941
Media typePrint (Hardback)
Pages466 pp

Contents

"The Comedy of Eras" originally appeared under the Kelvin Kent byline. "The Adaptive Ultimate" originally appeared under the John Jessel byline. "John Flanders" is an alternate pen name for the author best known as Jean Ray.[4]

Reception

Kirkus Reviews described The Other Worlds as "Entertainment from sources usually high-hatted by the literati," noting that " The best of them are well written, with good plots and ideas; the rest smack of their [pulp] sources."[5] Unknown Worlds's pseudonymous reviewer recommended the anthology as "a lot of book for the money", noting that "it contains a number of good, forceful, entertaining stories.[6] Thrilling Wonder Stories praised the book, saying "the average tale in this volume is of a very high order" while noting its editor's aversion to "interplanetary yarns".[7] Future Science Fiction, however, received the anthology quite unfavorably, calling it an "opus malodorous" and complaining that "most of the selections are weird stories of varying mediocrity."[8]

Critic Brian Stableford noted that Stong had compiled "the first anthology of fantastic fiction to feature a significant sample of stories from the sf magazines". Stableford also reported that Stong had "deliberately excluded 'interplanetary fiction' from the showcase and included an editorial railing against the imbecility and intrinsic worthlessness of fiction of that sort."[9]

References
  1. ISFDB bibliography
  2. SF Encyclopedia
  3. WorldCat listing
  4. Index to Science Fiction Anthologies and Collections
  5. Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 1941
  6. "Book Review", Unknown Worlds, February 1942, p.112
  7. "Book Review", Thrilling Wonder Stories, October 1941, p.13
  8. "Futurian Times", Future Science Fiction, December 1941, p.90. The anonymous review was ascribed to Donald A. Wollheim by the Unknown Worlds reviewer.
  9. Brian Stableford, Narrative Strategies in Science Fiction, Wildside Press, 2009, p.20
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