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)