Every Clifford D. Simak 1st Ed. 1st Printing Paperback + More [Collectors Corner]

[@ScienceFictionRetroactivis-j1w]

Congratulations on your Simak collection. I just finished "They Walked Like Men"

[@LiminalSpaces03]

I'm a huge fan of publication order! I like seeing history laid out on my shelf!

[@sfwordsofwonder]

I tested it out that way and I kind of like it, it's easy enough to find a title within an authors last name. Cheers.

[@Tetsujin-28]

I never get tired of seeing these covers. Always something wild from the artists.

[@sfwordsofwonder]

I agree, Simak has a lot of great covers.

[@seanwelch71]

Paperback collecting is fun. You do a great job talking about this stuff.

[@sfwordsofwonder]

Thank you, it's something I really like talking about.

[@gon8go]

I love Simak too. I have nearly all of his paperbacks and I've read ten of them so far. when it comes to sci-fi: old is gold!

[@sfwordsofwonder]

I agree, there is something about the older stuff that I really enjoy. Not to say I don't like the newer stuff, it's just different.

[@edwardeason3756]

I've read most of his novels and what amazes me most about him was his imagination. By the way you are the first person I've heard that pronounces his name the way he did. If I have a favorite book it would be All Flesh is Grass.

[@sfwordsofwonder]

I always wondered how to pronounce Simak, I found a video where he said his name and have tried to pronounce it the same. I really liked All Flesh is Grass as well. I hope to soon be able to say I've read all his books. Cheers.

[@phaffas]

Fantastic video ! Enjoyable and informative.

[@sfwordsofwonder]

Thanks, glad you liked it. I have plans for more author collections.

[@seanwelch71]

The Dells with the Banner top look so futuristic.

[@paulcooper3611]

The Goblin Reservation has a particular place in my heart. It was the first novel I ever read serialized in Galaxy magazine in 1968, when I was a Junior in high school. As far as his short stories go, you might want to take a look at The Complete Short Fiction of Clifford D. Simak series, put together by the executor of his estate. It is 14 volumes, the last one just went into print last December. I have 8 of the volumes and am working on getting the rest of them. The stories are not in chronological order, but they really do include everything he wrote, even the westerns from the 40s-50s. It may be the only way you'll get to see some of his work.

[@sfwordsofwonder]

Shawn said he really likes Goblin Reservation, we will be reading that one this month so I'm excited to finally read it. I have some of those complete short story volumes in digital, I can't believe he wrote enough short fiction to fill 14 volumes.

[@BookChatWithPat8668]

Really wonderful video, Ira. What an incredible collection you have acquired! I'm very new to the genre and to Simak, but I've loved everything I've read so far. I just love all of these editions you have. The covers are stunning. Thanks, Ira.

[@sfwordsofwonder]

Glad you are liking Goblin Reservation so far, excited to discuss it with you in the live

[@rickcantrell5302]

I just about freaked when you skipped the first Michael Whelan cover! But good save! This was a fun video, Ira. As usual. Looking forward to your reviews of these books, and also for upcoming author collections. Thanks, Ira!

[@sfwordsofwonder]

Yeah I almost botched that one. Whelan became one of my favorite artists as a kid after reading The Gunslinger and seeing all the illustrations, I really like his Asimov covers too.

[@ShawnDStandfast]

Great collection Ira.

[@sfwordsofwonder]

I was about halfway there and then doing the read alongs inspired me to get the rest. Now I'm set till mid 2026.

[@NicholsonNeisler-fz3gi]

That’s a lot of Simak

[@vilstef6988]

I enjoyed the video, Ira. I used to have a large number of the early editions.

[@sfwordsofwonder]

Great books, great covers. Very nostalgic.

[@craigcarlin2918]

Great books. Hope you do more author collection videos.

[@sfwordsofwonder]

That is the plan. I'm pretty close on a few authors right now, and I have an epic author coming up soon as well.

[@CptSamelsSigils]

Will you be covering the fantasy themed novels on your channel one day? I’m curious about those and plan to pick up some copies of them at some point. Congratulations on a fine collection! It’s a lot of fun to have a library full of books from an author you really enjoy

[@sfwordsofwonder]

Yes, I plan on reading Simak's fantasy novels, but will probably discuss them on Shawn's channel. I'm sure I'll do some sort of Simak overview if/when I read all his novels.

[@CptSamelsSigils]

@@sfwordsofwonder link to shawn's channel pls?

[@sfwordsofwonder]

@@CptSamelsSigils It's in the description of this video along with the playlist he created.

[@CptSamelsSigils]

@@sfwordsofwonder tubular, thanks! i'll check it out!

[@ScottDanielson]

This is so great! Loved seeing all these.

[@sfwordsofwonder]

Now we got to read them all, haha.

[@vilstef6988]

Simak, with Bradbury, the two great humanists of science fiction!

[@sfwordsofwonder]

Funny you should say that, I recently asked Shawn who would be the closest to Simak in style and he mentioned Bradbury. They both seemed like great people and are both excellent writers as well.

[@vilstef6988]

I've been calling them great humanists for some time. I'm not sure whom I might name as a third member of the club.

[@sfwordsofwonder]

@@vilstef6988 Well Vonnegut and Asimov both got voted Humanists of the Year by the American Humanist Association.

[@OmnivorousReader]

Good vid. Simak is great, I have about a dozen that I have read often or recently with a couple more on the to-read shelf. I do not have Time and Again though, I will look out for it.

[@sfwordsofwonder]

Nice, you've read a lot of Simak.

[@OmnivorousReader]

Always room for more, with Simak.​@@sfwordsofwonder

[@vilstef6988]

The earliest version I once owned of Trouble With Tycho, was an Ace Book with two other novellas. The other two books were The Last Castle by Jack Vance and Empire Star by Samuel R Delany.

[@sfwordsofwonder]

Tycho is really short, it makes more sense to combine novellas, but oh well, they got me to buy it as a stand alone.

[@kufujitsu]

Methuen was Simak's main publisher in our area. During the 80s, it seemed like Methuen took it upon themselves to reprint every Simak novel, along with several of his short story collections. I think I have his complete list of novels, or at least most of them. Did you hear about Simak's short stories being brought back in a 14 volume set? I would have thought that fewer volumes with more short stories in them would have been a better idea. Phillip K. Dick's complete short stories, is just 4 or 5 volumes, - to use a preferred example.

[@sfwordsofwonder]

Yes, I've seen the 14 volume set, hard to imagine him writing enough for that many books. I kind of wish they would have put them in publication order but apparently his estate thought there would be some duds and they wanted to space out the really good stories.

[@sethball2475]

I have read several by Simak, but not anywhere near the whole catalogue. You're going to be going to three of my faves fairly early - The Goblin Reservation, Time and Again, and Ring Around the Sun, so that's very exciting. I also enjoyed Shakespeare's Planet, but found Cemetery World a bit dull. I think I might read The Trouble with Tycho in June or July, and watch for comments and reactions right when it will be fresh in my memory; but we'll see.

[@sfwordsofwonder]

Good to hear your favorites, I'm really excited for Goblin now. That would be cool if you took part in Tycho, or any of them.

[@seanwelch71]

Simak is a Wisconsin gem. See Also Mike Grell.

[@tarotenhajzer]

Very different artwork solutions in terms of what they are actually depicting for the same novel. Do any of these reflect the contents of the novels in any way? (Haven't read Simak yet, so I cannot judge yet)

[@sfwordsofwonder]

Great question. For the ones I've read, I'd say they mostly represent at least a part of the novel. Sometimes the art can be a bit abstract.

[@seanwelch71]

I just read, gave away, and repurchased "A Heritage of Stars." What do you think it means? Was it reunion or was contact a mistake?

[@sfwordsofwonder]

I hadn't read that one yet but I think it's on the schedule for 2026.

[@secretfirebooks7894]

Coincidentally, I just started Ring Around the Sun. It's an Ace Double with de Camps's Cosmic Manhunt. I'll have to compare and contrast when I finish both, but I'm glad to hear it's one of your favorites.

[@sfwordsofwonder]

Did I say that, lol. I don't think I've read Ring Around the Sun yet. But I'll still be interested to hear your thoughts. Have you read much Simak?

[@secretfirebooks7894]

​@@sfwordsofwonder Not yet. He's been on my list for a long time.

[@secretfirebooks7894]

​@sfwordsofwonder And I misunderstood. You said one of the favorites "in your collection". Either way, I'm excited to read it.

[@vilstef6988]

Empire had an early printing from Galaxy Novels, it was digest size.

[@sfwordsofwonder]

Yeah, even though I don't really collect digests or magazines I'm tempted to get that one, haha.