The World Treasury of Science Fiction edited by David G. Hartwell came out in 1989 and contains over one thousand pages of short science fiction. I call this kind of science fiction anthology a retrospective anthology because it collects fiction that covers a time period rather than theme. Reading it should give SF fans a good sampling of science fiction published around the world from the late 1930s through the 1980s. For other retrospective anthologies see “The Best Science Fiction Short Stories.”

Unfortunately, most of the great retrospective anthologies of science fiction are out-of-print. Our database at CSFquery lists the most frequently reprinted and cited stories. If you click on the title in the list, it will take you to ISFDB and show you all the places a story has been reprinted. This way you can create your own virtual retrospective anthology.

Only 9 of the 52 stories from The World Treasury of Science Fiction made it to our list of Classics of Science Fiction Short Stories. That suggests that most of the stories were Hartwell’s favorites and not popular picks. The anthology is a good read for discovering diverse science fiction.

You can see how many citations each of the 52 stories received here. To see which anthology has the highest percentage of cited stories, see “The SF Anthology Problem Solved.” A list of all the citation sources for short stories is here.

I’ve hyperlinked the stories I’ve reviewed from The World Treasury of Science Fiction.

1. Harrison Bergeron • (1961) • short story by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
2. Forgetfulness • (1937) • novelette by John W. Campbell, Jr.
3. Special Flight • (1939) • novelette by John Berryman
4. Chronopolis • (1960) • novelette by J. G. Ballard
5. Triceratops • (1982) • short story by Kono Tensei
6. The Man Who Lost the Sea • (1959) • short story by Theodore Sturgeon
7. On the Inside Track • (1986) • novelette by Karl Michael Armer
8. The Golem • (1955) • short story by Avram Davidson
9. The New Prehistory • (1983) • short story by René Rebetez-Cortes
10. A Meeting with Medusa • (1971) • novelette by Arthur C. Clarke
11. The Valley of Echoes • (1973) • short story by Gérard Klein
12. The Fifth Head of Cerberus • (1972) • novella by Gene Wolfe
13. The Chaste Planet • (1975) • short story by John Updike
14. The Blind Pilot • short story by Nathalie-Charles Henneberg]
15. The Men Who Murdered Mohammed • (1958) • short story by Alfred Bester
16. Pairpuppets • (1976) • short story by Manuel van Loggem
17. Two Dooms • (1958) • novella by C. M. Kornbluth
18. Tale of the Computer That Fought a Dragon • (1977) • short story by Stanislaw Lem
19. The Green Hills of Earth • (1947) • short story by Robert A. Heinlein
20. Ghost V • (1954) • short story by Robert Sheckley
21. The Phantom of Kansas • (1976) • novelette by John Varley
22. Captain Nemo’s Last Adventure • (1973) • novelette by Josef Nesvadba
23. Inconstant Moon • (1971) • novelette by Larry Niven
24. The Gold at the Starbow’s End • (1972) • novella by Frederik Pohl
25. A Sign in Space • (1968) • short story by Italo Calvino
26. The Spiral • (1968) • short story by Italo Calvino
27. The Dead Past • (1956) • novelette by Isaac Asimov
28. The Lens • (1984) • short story by Annemarie van Ewijck
29. The Hurkle Is a Happy Beast • (1949) • short story by Theodore Sturgeon
30. Zero Hour • (1947) • short story by Ray Bradbury
31. Nine Lives • (1969) • novelette by Ursula K. Le Guin
32. The Muse • (1968) • short story by Anthony Burgess
33. The Public Hating • (1955) • short story by Steve Allen
34. Poor Superman • (1952) • novelette by Fritz Leiber
35. Angouleme • (1971) • short story by Thomas M. Disch
36. Stranger Station • (1956) • novelette by Damon Knight
37. The Dead Fish • (1955) • short story by Boris Vian
38. I Was the First to Find You • (1977) • short story by Kirill Bulychev
39. The Lineman • (1957) • novella by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
40. Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius • (1962) • short story by Jorge Luis Borges
41. Codemus • (1976) • short story by Tor Åge Bringsvaerd
42. A Kind of Artistry • (1962) • novelette by Brian W. Aldiss
43. Second Variety • (1953) • novelette by Philip K. Dick
44. Weihnachtsabend • (1972) • novelette by Keith Roberts
45. I Do Not Love Thee, Doctor Fell • (1955) • short story by Robert Bloch
46. Aye, and Gomorrah … • (1967) • short story by Samuel R. Delany
47. How Erg the Self-Inducting Slew a Paleface • (1977) • short story by Stanislaw Lem
48. Nobody’s Home • (1972) • short story by Joanna Russ
49. Party Line • (1976) • novelette by Gérard Klein
50. The Proud Robot • (1943) • novelette by Henry Kuttner
51. Vintage Season • (1946) • novelette by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore
52. The Way to Amalteia • (1984) • novella by Arkady Strugatsky and Boris Strugatsky

James Wallace Harris, 9/1/23