Orbit (anthology series)

Orbit was a long-running series of anthologies of new fiction edited by Damon Knight, often featuring work by such writers as Gene Wolfe, Joanna Russ, R. A. Lafferty, and Kate Wilhelm, who was married to Knight. The anthologies tended toward the avant-garde edge of science fiction, but by no means exclusively; occasionally the volumes would feature some nonfiction critical writing or humorous anecdotes by Knight. Inspired by Frederik Pohl's Star Science Fiction series, and in its turn an influence on Harlan Ellison's Dangerous Visions volumes and many others, it ran for over a decade and twenty-one volumes, not including a "Best-of" collection which covered the years 1966-1976.

Orbit 1

Volume 1 was published in October 1966. Algis Budrys described it as an example of "a book that represents science fiction well, but not to any extraordinary extent."[1]

Table of contents:

Orbit 2

Volume 2 was published in 1967, and edited by Damon Knight. Budrys received it without enthusiasm, saying "It is more a sign that Damon's heart is in the right place than it is a really satisfactory book." [2]

Table of contents:

Orbit 3

Volume 3 was published in 1968, and edited by Damon Knight. Algis Budrys found the volume "happens to contain some remarkable work," although he faulted the jacket copy as overpromotional.[5]

Table of contents: (incomplete)

Orbit 4

Volume 4 was published in 1968, and edited by Damon Knight.

Table of contents:

Orbit 5

Volume 5 was published September 1969 by G.P. Putnam's Sons. It was Rprinted October 1969 by Putnam, December 1969 by Berkley Medallion, and November 1970 by Rapp & Whiting. It was edited by Damon Knight[6] Barry Malzberg wrote that the anthology "doesn't, somehow, seem to be at the same high level of ambition or accomplishment as the earlier volumes," but singled out "The Big Flash" for praise, declaring "The last pages of this story may be one of the strongest experiences available in modern American fiction."[7]

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From the story, "The roads, the roads were engineered beautifully. It was the stupid bastard "people" who were engineered wrong." [9]

"All my faces had run together like cheap watercolor." [13]

A short story by Norman Spinrad. Which won the Nebula Award for Best Novelette The pentagon hatches a plan to use atomic warfare in Vietnam War. It had been determined that a single nuclear attack would destroy 2/3 of the enemy's fighting force. In order to get the American population to go along with the idea of nuclear warfare, the pentagon gets a band formed called the four horseman. The band's theme is advocacy of nuclear warfare [14] By funneling money to them the military is able to get them very popular.

Orbit 6

Edited by Damon Knight

Table of contents:

Orbit 7

Edited by Damon Knight

Table of contents:

Orbit 8

Published in 1970 by G.P. Putnam's Sons and edited by Damon Knight.

Table of contents:

"A man in an automobile is worth a thousand men on foot" [22]

Orbit 9

Edited by Damon Knight, published by Putnam Books in 1971.

Theodore Sturgeon found the anthology "fascinating," saying "I profoundly admire what Knight is doing here."[23]

Orbit 10

Edited by Damon Knight, published in 1972.[24]

Orbit 11

Edited by Damon Knight, published in 1973.

"If the human race ever stops acting on the basis of what it thinks it knows, paralyzed by fear that its knowledge may be wrong, then Homo sapiens will be making its application for membership in the dinosaur club."[25]

Orbit 12

Edited by Damon Knight

  • "Serpent Burning on an Alter"
  • "Woman in Sunlight with Mandoline"
  • "The Young Soldier's Horoscope"
  • "Castle Scene with Penitents"

Orbit 13

Edited by Damon Knight Table of Contents: "The Scream" by Kate Wilhelm "Young Love" by Grania Davis "And Name My Name" by R. A. Lafferty "Going West" by Edward Bryant "My Friend Zarathustra" by James Sallis "Therapy" by Gary K. Wolf "Gardening Notes From All Over" by W. Macfarlane "Idio" by Doris Piserchia

Orbit 16

Table of contents:

Spider Robinson dismissed the anthology as minor and disappointing, noting that most of the stories were "manifestly by newcomers, first sales or nearly so."[26]

Orbit 19

Edited by Damon Knight

References

  1. ↑ "Galaxy Bookshelf", Galaxy Science Fiction, October 1966, p.157
  2. ↑ "Galaxy Bookshelf", Galaxy Science Fiction, December 1967, pp.192
  3. ↑ bestsf.net
  4. ↑ amazon.com
  5. ↑ "Galaxy Bookshelf", Galaxy Science Fiction, February 1969, pp.184-86
  6. ↑ isfb
  7. ↑ "Books," F&SF, May 1970, p.27-8
  8. ↑ wizard pro-books
  9. ↑ google books
  10. ↑ fantastic fiction
  11. ↑ SFBooks
  12. ↑ pro-books
  13. ↑ grasslimb
  14. ↑ google books
  15. ↑ ISFAC
  16. ↑ ISFAC
  17. ↑
  18. ↑
  19. ↑
  20. ↑
  21. ↑
  22. ↑ google books
  23. ↑ "Galaxy Bookshelf", Galaxy Science Fiction, March 1972, pp.87
  24. ↑
  25. ↑
  26. ↑ "Galaxy Bookshelf", Galaxy Science Fiction, October 1975, pp.145-46

External links