Why Short Story Anthologies Are the Best Introduction to Science Fiction

Short stories have been incubators of experimental and speculative ideas since the emergence of the science fiction genre more than a century ago. They're also my favorite form of SF, as they distill and concentrate what makes much of the genre so appealing to me.

In this video, I provide a brief overview of the evolution of SF short fiction and its impact on the genre, with an emphasis on the anthologies that have collected and popularized the stories and authors that defined its early years.

0:36 Short stories as SF laboratories
2:54 Early SF readers
5:23 SF in the pulps
6:32 Tracing the history of SF short stories
10:29 The pulps get competition
11:55 Emergence of SF anthologies
13:08 Impact of SF anthologies
15:21 Wide range of anthologies
16:11 1940s & 50s anthologies
22:29 1960s & New Wave influence
28:14 Themed anthologies
28:55 1970s & 80s anthologies
29:32 1990s to present day

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Links to some of my other videos about SF history and anthologies:
A History of Gnome Press -    • Modern Science Fiction & Fantasy Owe ...  
A History of Arkham House -    • The Greatest Small Publisher in Histo...  
Entry Points for Classic SF -    • Where to Start Reading Classic Scienc...  


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