Science Fiction Anthologies Recommendations: NEW WAVE (UK) Short Fiction in the Age of Radical SF

Readers wishing to engage with the New Wave period of Science Fiction history will need to explore the British avant-garde SF short stories of the 1962-1976 period. New Wave obsessive Steve Andrews presents some suggestions for the best anthologies to seek out in order to discover this groundbreaking epoch in literary and cultural history. Forget that conservative populist Space Opera escapism, this is the real dope...
Music: The Occupier (c)
Shot in 4K, Rendered in 1080p HD Widescreen
#sciencefictionbooks #bookcollecting #booktube #bookrecommendations #sciencefiction #literaryfiction #newwavesciencefiction

[@soundsfromthewestcoast9939]

Hi Steve, so pleased you enjoyed the book. I loved this video - great background and it's given me some anthologies to target in my buying. I have to be honest that when I was reading a lot of SF back in the day I didn't really tackle the New Wave too much, just Moorcock (whose work I loved), and on the American end the Dangerous Visions and Again Dangerous Visions anthologies. I think I was probably put off by it's reputation as being a more experimental and difficult read. Now I'm trying to get back into SF I want to try and see if it resonates with me. I managed this week to pick up superb condition copies of New Worlds Quarterly nos 7-10 (nos 9 and 10 look like they've never even been touched never mind read). I have been looking for some Ballard too, but his work tends to be more difficult to find, and when found a lot more expensive. However, I was lucky enough to find two short story collections - The Day of Forever and The Disaster Area - which may be the best way to try his work. Look forward to more on the scene and on the US side of things. Cheers... Peter

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Good to hear you've acquired those Ballard collections -his collections are often the best way into his work. Many New Wave devotees believe his stories are more important and better than his novels and I wouldn't disagree with this up to the Urban Trilogy of the mid-1970s. My personal fave of Ballard's early novels - The Catastrophe Tetralogy (which like the trilogy is thematic rather than episodic) - is 'The Drought', which I feel is the most underrated. For his early stuff, try and get a copy of 'Vermilion Sands', which are linked stories from the late 1950s, amongst his most traditional SF material while at the same time being definitively Ballardian with a hint of Bradbury.

[@GypsyRoSesx]

Your collection is looking very slick, Steve! That book you were sent is beautiful! Thanks for introducing these books :)

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Thanks Rose! I'm struggling with space (again) currently and am growing increasingly frustrated with nor having every title easily accessible on shelves spine out for quick retrieval. But this won't happen until I move to a bigger house and that may well be many years off. Visiting a friend yesterday with space and a great collection was very enjoyable, but it did make me think 'Am I ever going to be able to enjoy what I have in this manner?'. Keep on keeping on, I guess!

[@roblatham6265]

The Flamingo New Worlds anthology was republished in the US in 2004 by Thunder Mouth Press, FYI.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

That's interesting Rob, didn't realise that, thanks for letting me know. Good to see a comment from you here on the channel.

[@roblatham6265]

@@outlawbookselleroriginal I'm a big fan! Keep up the good work! As a fellow New Wave addict, I really enjoyed this one.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

@@roblatham6265 -Thanks again Rob, touched to see a celebrated devotee like yourself appreciating my work here.

[@JackMyersPhotography]

Steven, another fantastic and comprehensive video. Should be considered required viewing for anyone looking to be truly well rounded in their SF life journey.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

You're very kind Jack, many thanks- I'll continue to try and keep meeting the standards you appreciate.

[@RodneyAllanPoe]

"...there's no spaceship on the cover." 😂 Another marvelous video.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Although we do like a spaceship on the cover at times. I have a copy of '334' by Tom Disch with a spaceship on the cover, superbly incongruous! Thanks!

[@allanlloyd3676]

Hi Steve, Thanks for mentioning my views on New Worlds Quarterly. I still think some of the NW writers' best work appeared there. It was good to meet up with you last week. We had a really good chat. If I had known that you were going to feature New Worlds in the next video I would have brought some of my collection of the magazine issues to the pub, but, given the value of some of them, perhaps it was best not to get beer on them! Some are changing hands at around £100 now. I wonder how much my complete run of all the Compact issues, all the large-size ones, and the NWQ issues are worth. Those magazine sized ones really have something special about them, and you should try to get one or two just for the experience. Don't get the collecting bug, though.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Great to meet you too, Allan. It was an enjoyable break, but a bit tiring on the second day - not enough sleep, too much beer! I've been home since thursday afternoon and we've just had our boiler fixed after over a week of problems, which is a relief. I'm now working on a huge amount of editing for at least 3 Hay videos- and you will be starring in the third one!

[@johnriley4320]

Great video. I am in the US, and it seems like the authors you mention are far less well-known over here, even with all their accomplishments. I look forward to checking them out.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Hi John - yes, they would be lesser known in the States and were even then, but their influence was immense -at least one US SF author of note I mention (Thomas M Disch) may well have been blocked for a Nebula by the old guard voting for 'no award' in given years rather than for him, realising that the new writers were then fully behind him and his peers. Golden Age figures like Asimov were on record as being very anti-New Wave. A video highlighting my Top Ten USA New Wave writers/books will follow in a month or so, showing how the cross-fertilisation worked. This will be after another with a UK focus. But it was a truly transatlantic thing, with Disch, Delany, Spinrad and Sladek all leaving the USA for London temporarily to be part of the UK New Wave. Watch my Christopher Priest interview for personal anecdotes about these writers.

[@anthonyparkinson4517]

You seem to pack two minutes worth of information into every minute of run-time. Very impressive grasp of the genre - Factual without being dry and entertaining without being glib. I am keenly anticipating part 2 of your interview with Christopher Priest, my favourite author alongside Ballard.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Thanks Anthony- I aim to keep meeting the standard you're currently enjoying.

[@victorrodley9099]

Superb Stephen,eloquent,interesting and great presentation.Immensely grateful for this dive into my favorite era of SF. As an aside.the publication of Bug Jack Barron doomed New Worlds since the main distributors for the magazine,W H Smiths and Menzes dropped it like an hot potato,principally due ro the use of four letter words.These Distributors are the same ones that sold Playboy and Penthouse etc on their top shelves.What Hypocrisy! Hence the demise of New Worlds in it's Magazine format,but it struggles on,refusing to Die,limping it's way into history. The new wave era produced many unusual anthologies,such as 'The Shape Of sex to Come','Spaced Out' and'Strange Ecstasies' etc.every publisher semmed to be jumping on the new wave trend,alas some not very good anthologies made their way into book shops. Looking forward to the rest of the new wave serires. Thanks as always Stephen

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Yes, I know the BJB story well - I was saving it for another New Wave video- but it's always worth repeating! The Hill and 'Spaced Out' anthologies are good ones, used to be in the library, need to reacquire them (difficult to find in good condition!)

[@danieldelvalle5004]

Fascinating video, Steve. Very enlightening, and I must say that I've become more of a New Waver after seeing this and many of your other videos.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Thanks Daniel. For me, New Wave reset the standards for SF and improved it enormously in a literary and innovative sense. Even when its experimental verve wasn't always readable, its catalysing effect on the genre and the mainstream was a game changer, I feel.

[@danieldelvalle5004]

@@outlawbookselleroriginal Would you consider Robert Silverberg an American New Wave writer, especially during his peak (1968-1976), like Dying Inside and The Book of Skulls?

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

@@danieldelvalle5004 -Yes. I'll cover the whys and wherefores of this when I film a New Wave USA video.

[@danieldelvalle5004]

@@outlawbookselleroriginal Looking through my copy of Musings and Meditations by Silverberg there are two essays, The New Wave: One and The New Wave: Two, which I haven't read yet, but I would wager are very interesting. I'll eventually get around to them

[@rickkearn7100]

OB I think the short stories path is the main hope for any aspiring writer at this particular time in the ever-demographic-driven world of "trending now" publishing. What is your take? As always, great content, production and presentation sir! I never miss one of your posts and, I'm still browsing through your archive which is fascinating and educational for me. Double- Cheers!

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Stories are hard to sell, but for a writer with serious literary aspirations they are essential and can help build a consistent career. Lots of young writers who get a trilogy deal that fails should work in short forms with quality small presses and anthology opportunities I feel, keep their names out there.

[@TheSeaDevilsband]

just today found new worlds 5 and 6 and best stories from new worlds II in oxfam bookshop in Leeds and paid £7 for the lot, delighted to see some of them in the background of the shot here!

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Good score!

[@leakybootpress9699]

Good selections, and fairly comprehensive, I know because I have them all. One small correction, wouldn't you know it! The pulped American edition of Ballard's "The Atrocity Exhibition" was published by Doubleday & Co., not by Nelson Doubleday. Nelson Doubleday is/was a book club imprint used for true first editions published by the Doubleday book clubs.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Many thanks for that James, I do like to get my publishing history right, so I'm very grateful for this clarification. Do you by any chance have a copy of 'Love & Napalm: Export USA'? I wonder if that one is still on abebooks...must look!

[@leakybootpress9699]

@Outlaw Bookseller I have Love & Napalm in my own collection, but don't think I have a spare, Steve. Ricky McGrath has a copy of the pulped edition, one of the few survivors... he might sell it to you. Hahaha!

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

@@leakybootpress9699 - I think it's outside my price range at the moment LOL...but I can't say I wouldn't like a copy! Not surprised Rick has a copy, hoping to meet up with him later this year...

[@thekeywitness]

Very cool. I doubt that I’ll ever find any of those anthologies “in the wild” unless I visit the UK. I’d rather acquire them that way than order them online.

[@salty-walt]

Finished the video this morning. Really loved it. I've been picking up a few of those from previous videos. Nice to have the subject collected and so well represented. I'd love a chronology of New Worlds at some point, and a stroll explaining which is what. But that's WAY too much work w/o pay! From over here it just looks like there was a digest magazine that became a quarterly paperback & ALSO a "best of" reprinting collection! There MUST be a fan site somewhere that goes into the obsessive depth I desire. You don't need to respond - just know that THIS video was really appreciated.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

NW has a very long history of different formats (digests, large format, paperback, trade paperback) and hiatuses, starting just before World War 2 and then running on-off until the late seventies. Since then, it's had only a few short-lived incarnations, probably because in some ways it won the war in bringing higher literary standards to SF and ensuring the genre re-infected the mainstream. Also, its reboots all came in a definitively post-Modern, post-New Wave time. Personally, I feel a revival is due (there is one on at the moment) but with a need to find a new radicalism, but I doubt if there's enough of a young readership out there to support it.

[@victorrodley9099]

If you can get hold of The Flamingo Edition of' The Best of New Worlds,It contains as an Appendix, an index with cqntents, of all issues up to No 216.The last issue published by PS is No 222

[@salty-walt]

@@victorrodley9099 Wow, Thanks!

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

@@victorrodley9099 -I think that's the Flamingo I showed in this video ('New Worlds: An Anthology'). I don't know another one, unless it was reissued with a slightly different title and cover. 'New Worlds: An Anthology' has an index of all the issues from 1946, so I think we mean the same book.

[@victorrodley9099]

@@outlawbookselleroriginal Yes Steve Thats the one i'm refering to. If your tempted to buy the Thunder's mouth press version,be aware it does not contain the Index in the Flamingo edition

[@obliviousassassins]

Fascinating!

[@JulesBurt]

Great stuff Steve, really absorbing 👍

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Cheers mate. Just been in Hay for three days and back yesterday editing like mad, meant to congratulate you on 20,000 subs - good to see that someone who really knows their stuff getting a decent following! I'll be in touch soon.

[@JulesBurt]

@@outlawbookselleroriginal Thanks mate!

[@silex9837]

Thank you for the fantastic presentation! I've got a copy of Judith Merril's England Swings SF -- truly experimental. I've also got New Worlds of Fantasy (Ace, 1967) edited by Terry Carr. It contains some of the usual suspects of NW. Have you come across it? I'd be interested in what you think of it.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

I'll admit that's not an anthology I know: I will watch out for it! Glad you liked the video, much more like this to come and watch the backlist.

[@silex9837]

@@outlawbookselleroriginal Thank you. I discovered you recently and have been watching your older videos.

[@OrcmanRepugnant]

I picked this video to bring up Norman Spinrad's Riding the Torch because it was written in the new wave period. Have you ever talked about this brilliant book? Riding the Torch may be the great novella I've ever read. Love to know what you think.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

No, I've never spoken of it here, though I have mentioned Norman many times. I am yet to do something major on his work, but it will come. I've even considered asking him if we could meet in Paris for an interview...you never know!

[@victorrodley9099]

Thanks!

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Very kind mate, cheers!

[@meesalikeu]

the classic early 90s atrocity ballard book by REsearch publishing version is not british, its out of san francisco. i have the paperback version from back in the day. ive never seen the expanded hardback version before, interesting.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Yes, I know, been buying Re/Search books since the 1980s. Can't recall saying it was British. The Re/Search hardback was limited to 400 signed copies and I bought it new on initial publication- I think I show it in my Top 10 New Wave UK video. I also own the US trade first fromm Grove ('Love & Napal: Export USA'- the original Doubleday edition was pulped before publication apart from around 8-20 copies: I show the former in a recent video too. The first edition is the British Cape one from the late 1960s- maybe 1970, don't have the exact date in my head

[@brettrobson5739]

I know it's a bit off topic, but I would love to hear talk about the early days of Interzone. Or did I miss that in my troll through your back list?

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

'Interzone' is mentioned in passing here several times, but specificlly in the 'Generats' video from late Nov/early Dec, a clip based on an comment in 'IZ' by SF writer Colin Greenland. Check it out.

[@eggbert6900]

What are your thoughts on the 'new writings in sf' anthologies, edited by John Carnell

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Patchy, but with some gems.

[@zetectic7968]

An interesting meander through the anthologies. I don't know if it is just me but I found the sound was very low. I normally have it on or just above 20 but even at 40 it was not exactly loud.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

I'm still getting used to the new camera, whereas with the old one, the mic was external and could be positioned closer to me. I also had to adjust framing, as the monitor screen on the new cam is tiny, but you'll have seen a difference in picture clarity and colour. But thanks for the feedback- if the issue can't be resolved by increasing volume your end (and what device do you watch/listen on, as that would help me to know), I'd be grateful.

[@zetectic7968]

@@outlawbookselleroriginal I was mainly providing feedback. I was able to increase the PC(Windows) volume. I tried subtitles but they got a lot of the names wrong. With new equipment there is always a learning curve. I'm sure you will figure it out. Thanks for the content.

[@robertjbroadhurst3860]

The volume sounds perfectly loud enough for me…just saying

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

@@robertjbroadhurst3860 Thanks Robert!

[@shivering23]

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

[@salty-walt]

I know this was shot a little ways back, but take care of yourself.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Cheers Walt, I am still burnt out. I need to gift myself more down time.

[@salty-walt]

@@outlawbookselleroriginal Hey, I didn't expect a reply. Don't worry. It's a great time of year to go inward & re-group (and read.) Visit friends, get back in the world -recharge.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

@@salty-walt -Thanks man, you're one of the good guys (as you know!)