Wed 5 Aug 2026
SF Diary Review:ALDEN NORTON, Editor – Futures Unlimited.
Posted by Steve under Uncategorized[5] Comments
ALDEN NORTON, Editor – Futures Unlimited. Pyramid T-2048; 1st printing, June 1969. Cover art by Peter Bramley.
An uneven look at the future, mostly through the past and the eyes of followers of Verne and Wells, two names which are inadequate today for the purpose of the cover blurbs, Scrapes the bottom of the barrel of unanthologized works and tosses them together with no sense of cohesion, No introduction to the book nor any comments before the stories. Who is Alden Norton? Overall rating: **½
A. MERRITT “Three Lines of Old French.” Told in the old style of a story related to someone else, and not really SF, except as being about the horrors of war and the power of suggestion, which together can trigger an escape to the past. (4)
ISAAC ASIMOV “The Callistan Menace,” Perhaps reprinted from Planet Stores in the days when a stowaway on an exploratory ship still seemed possible. (2)
LORD DUNSANY “The Hashish Man.” Pointless tale of a “story” produced by eating hashish. (0)
ANDRE MAUROIS “The Watcher of Souls.” The secret of life is sought, using 19th century techniques, in spite of the copyright date (mid-1950s). A scientist seeking to capture souls after death succeeds, but the secret dies with him, in spite of a friend’s rush to the death scene, No moral made. **
A. CONAN DOYLE “The Horror of the Heights.” First told in early days o aviation, so dated. Monsters at 40,000 feet are no longer a dangerous vision, A scientific horror story. (1)
ROSS ROCKLYNNE “Into the Darkness.” A comic being, playing in 47 bands if hyperspace has the urge to create life. Strangely moving, in an intergalactic style. (5)
ROBERT BLOCH “It Happened Tomorrow.” A seriously intended story of the machine takeover. It may happen, but not this way, with some sort of pseudo-life. Inconsistent. (1)
ARTHUR C, CLARKE “Exile of the Eons.” A Hitler-like ruler is banished to the end of time, Characters interesting, but they should have been better, (3)
JOHN W, CAMPBELL “Rebellion.” Mankind, bred for generations for docility by the invading Tharoo, must fight both their masters and themselves. Involves the invention of anti-gravity, which helps. (3)
August 6th, 2026 at 9:38 am
Alden H. Norton: Not much personal information, but from the Science fiction encyclopedia: https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/norton_alden_h
AND Bibliography from ISFDB:
https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?10852
August 6th, 2026 at 11:23 am
Thanks, Bill. Both websites tell us a lot about his work in the field, but there’s not much in either about him, the man himself. His work in the area of SF seems limited to editing some pulp magazines in the 40s and maybe early 50s, when he seems to have changed over to putting out SF anthologies as paperback originals.
The stories in this one, reading this review now, many years later, I seem to have found more readable than what I cared in the lack of solid theme for them as a whole. I also think it was quite valuable to me as an easy way to have gotten to read a lot of well thought of stories I might not have otherwise.
August 6th, 2026 at 4:57 pm
I believe “Callistan Menace” was Asimov’s first published story. This looks a lot like Sam Moskowitz’s anthologies from the same era, mix of early, obscure stories from SF names, others from authors outside the field (Andre Maurois!). Many, most, or all in the PD. SF Encyclopedia to the contrary, I wouldn’t be surprised if Sam was a silent partner here too. It may be a disjointed bag, but it looks more interesting than today’s impenetrable YEAR’S BEST SF anthologies
August 6th, 2026 at 5:08 pm
Sorry, should have checked my aging memory. “Callistan Menace” was one of Asimov’s earliest stories but not his first published.
August 6th, 2026 at 5:52 pm
Callistan was first published in Astonishing Stories, April 1940. Wikipedia tells us that “Isaac Asimov’s first published short story is “Marooned off Vesta”, which appeared in the March 1939 issue of Amazing Stories. He wrote the story in July 1938 at the age of 18.” There may have been 3 or 4 in between. I did note that this book was the first time the story was reprinted, not a high indicator of its perceived quality at the time.