EARLY DEL REY, by Lester del Rey — hardcover — Doubleday (1975) — SFBC 1197

EARLY DEL REY

by Lester del Rey

Doubleday (1975)

SFBC 1197

Condition:  book is better than GOOD with no markings (NOT ex-libris), but the jacket is POOR although the front isn’t bad (see photos)

Locus Award Nominee for Best Single Author Collection (1976), Retro Hugo Award Nominee for Best Short Story (2014)

Commentaries on line:

Mostly some pretty good stories, and I found the narration about the author's career interesting, too.

Many of these tales are old-fashioned and pulpish; but they have energy and color. But I believe that a reader of _The Early del Rey_ can, on the basis of this collection, have some understanding of why many readers during the Golden Age read his stories with enthusiasm.

No, he never quite achieved the giant stature of Heinlein, Asimov, Leiber, Sturgeon, or de Camp. Most of what he learned about plotting, characterization, point-of-view and style was done slowly and painfully. But he was a reliable craftsman. Most of the stories in _The Early del Rey_ hold up fairly well. It is the most entertaining collection in this series.

The best part are the notes by the author that give some background about the story ... what he was trying to do with it, how it came about, that sort of thing. It all shows how he developed as a writer, not just a writer of SF.

Del Rey is the man and always was the man. Asimov and Del Rey were the prototypes and all others (except Clark) were followers. 

Contents: 

• The Faithful 

• Cross of Fire 

• Anything 

• Habit 

• The Smallest God 

• The Stars Look Down 

• Doubled in Brass 

• Reincarnate 

• Carillon of Skulls

• Done Without Eagles 

• My Name Is Legion 

• Though Poppies Grow 

• Lunar Landing 

• Fifth Freedom 

• Whom the Gods Love 

• Though Dreamers Die

• Fool's Errand 

• The One-Eyed Man

• And the Darkness

• Shadows of Empire

• Unreasonable Facsimile 

• Conditioned Reflex

• Over the Top 

• Wind Between the Worlds

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