Seekers of Tomorrow

Seekers of Tomorrow: Masters of Modern Science Fiction is a work of collective biography on the formative authors of the science fiction genre by Sam Moskowitz, first published in hardcover by the World Publishing Company in 1965. The first paperback edition was issued by Ballantine Books in October, 1967. A photographic reprint of the original edition was issued in both hardcover and trade paperback by Hyperion Press in 1974. Most of its chapters are revised versions of articles that initially appeared in the magazine Amazing Stories from 1961-1964.[1]

Seekers of Tomorrow
Cover of Seekers of Tomorrow
AuthorSam Moskowitz
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Subjectbiography
PublisherWorld Publishing Company
Publication date
1965
Media typePrint (Hardback)
Pages441 pp.
OCLC00333038
809.3876
LC ClassPN3448.S45 M66 1966
Preceded byExplorers of the Infinite 

The work presents the history of the genre from the 1920s through the 1960s via a discussion of the lives and works of twenty-two of its most important early writers. After a general introduction, individual chapters deal with particular authors, followed by a general survey of later or lesser writers (including C. S. Lewis, James Blish, Walter M. Miller, Jr., L. Ron Hubbard, Hal Clement, Ross Rocklynne, Poul Anderson, Cyril M. Kornbluth, Frederik Pohl, Alfred Bester, Edgar Pangborn, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Philip K. Dick, Ward Moore, John Hersey, John Christopher and Frank Herbert), an epilogue and an index.

Contents
  • "Introduction"
  1. "E. E. Smith, Ph. D."
  2. "John W. Campbell"
  3. "Murray Leinster"
  4. "Edmond Hamilton"
  5. "Jack Williamson"
  6. "Superman" (Mort Weisinger)
  7. "John Wyndham"
  8. "Eric Frank Russell"
  9. "L. Sprague de Camp"
  10. "Lester del Rey"
  11. "Robert A. Heinlein"
  12. "A. E. van Vogt"
  13. "Theodore Sturgeon"
  14. "Isaac Asimov"
  15. "Clifford D. Simak"
  16. "Fritz Leiber"
  17. "C. L. Moore"
  18. "Henry Kuttner"
  19. "Robert Bloch". A reprint of Moskowitz's essay "Psycho-logical Bloch" which had appeared several times previously, including as afterword to Bloch's Bogey Men (1963).
  20. "Ray Bradbury"
  21. "Arthur C. Clarke"
  22. "Philip José Farmer"
  23. "Starburst"
  • "Epilogue"
  • "Index"

Reception

Reviewing Seekers of Tomorrow, Algis Budrys noted that "Moskowitz is a master of denotation. He wouldn't know a connotation if it snapped at his ankle, which is something that happens quite often". He added, however, that "Moskowitz knows and transmits, at least as much about the history of science fiction and its evolution, as anyone possibly could ... there is no other book like it".[2] Kirkus Reviews called the work "a truly gratifying book ... [w]hat is satisfying is to see these authors deeply engaged in works of pure tripe and imagination (Barnum called it hokum) and watch them emerge with a fish so big (macrocosmic) that they become world-renowned. This book should be called Super Time, because each of its subjects is a bit like the success stories in Time--each author has written his Moby Dick of interstellar fantasy. These guys think BIG! These are wild talents pouring out words to oblivion."[3]

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References
  1. Seekers of Tomorrow title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
  2. Budrys, Algis (October 1966). "Galaxy Bookshelf". Galaxy Science Fiction. pp. 152–161.
  3. Kirkus Reviews - Seekers of Tomorrow
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