James Gunn : The Road to Science Fiction


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Beginning with The Road to Science Fiction: From Gilgamesh to Wells in 1977, James Gunn produced a total of six volumes of what are designed to be teaching anthologies, collections of stories presented in more-or-less chronological order, and couched by long introductions placing each story in its historical context, as well as reviewing the author's career and their significance in the field. The first volume includes an appendix, "A Basic Science-Fiction Library", that is still maintained online here. The second volume ends with a Chronology of significant SF novels and stories. The third volume includes an extensive index of the first three volumes. The third volume, published in 1979, brought the chronology of contents nearly up to date, with a 1976 story by Joe Haldeman.

The fourth volume, published in 1982, supplements the earlier books, including authors and famous stories omitted from those volumes.

These anthologies are rarities as being, aside from the Science Fiction Hall of Fame volumes, among the very few that have ever been reissued by later publishers. Volumes three and four were reissued by White Wolf, in trade paperback editions, in 1996 and 1997. Gunn produced two new volumes for White Wolf in 1998, volume five covering British SF, and volume six covering non-English language sf (in translation). Then volumes one through four were issued by Scarecrow Press in 2002 and 2003. None of these later editions, however, are still in print.

The first three volumes include numerous excerpts from novels, by More, Kepler, Shelley, Burroughs, Stapledon, and others, not included in the combined contents below.

  • The Road to Science Fiction: From Gilgamesh to Wells, (Mentor, 1977) [isfdb]
  • The Road to Science Fiction #2: From Wells to Heinlein, (Mentor, 1979) [isfdb]
  • The Road to Science Fiction #3: From Heinlein to Here, (Mentor, 1979) [isfdb]
  • The Road to Science Fiction #4: From Here to Forever, (Mentor, 1982) [isfdb]
  • The Road to Science Fiction Volume 5: The British Way, (White Wolf/Borealis, 1998) [isfdb]
  • The Road to Science Fiction Volume 6: Around the World, (White Wolf/Borealis, 1998) [isfdb]



Combined Contents by Author and Title


Kobo Abé
  • Beyond the Curve (Beyond the Curve, 1991) -- Vol. #6
  • Brian W. Aldiss
  • Appearance of Life (Andromeda 1, 1976) -- Vol. #5
  • Who Can Replace a Man? (Infinity Science Fiction Jun 1958) -- Vol. #3
  • Working in the Spaceship Yards (Punch Apr 9 1969) -- Vol. #5
  • Kingsley Amis
  • Mason's Life (The Sunday Times (London) 1972) -- Vol. #5
  • Poul Anderson
  • Kyrie (The Farthest Reaches, 1968) -- Vol. #3
  • Isaac Asimov
  • Nightfall (Astounding Sep 1941) -- Vol. #2
  • Reason (Astounding Apr 1941) -- Vol. #3
  • J. G. Ballard
  • The Drowned Giant (The Terminal Beach, 1964) -- Vol. #5
  • The Terminal Beach (New Worlds Mar 1964) -- Vol. #3
  • The Voices of Time (New Worlds Oct 1960) -- Vol. #5
  • Robert Barr
  • The Doom of London (The Idler Nov 1892) -- Vol. #5
  • Gregory Benford
  • Exposures (IASFM Jul 6 1981) -- Vol. #4
  • J. D. Beresford
  • A Negligable Experiment (Signs and Wonders, 1921) -- Vol. #5
  • Alfred Bester
  • Fondly Fahrenheit (F&SF Aug 1954) -- Vol. #3
  • Ambrose Bierce
  • The Damned Thing (Tales from New York Town Topics Dec 7 1893) -- Vol. #1
  • Michael Bishop
  • Rogue Tomato (New Dimensions 5, 1975) -- Vol. #4
  • Jorge Luis Borges
  • The Babylon Lottery (Labyrinths, 1962) -- Vol. #6
  • The Library of Babel (Ficciones, 1962) -- Vol. #4
  • Ray Bradbury
  • The Million Year Picnic (Planet Stories Sum 1946) -- Vol. #3
  • John Brunner
  • The Totally Rich (Worlds of Tomorrow Jun 1963) -- Vol. #5
  • Edward Bryant
  • Particle Theory (Analog Feb 1977) -- Vol. #4
  • Algis Budrys
  • Nobody Bothers Gus (Astounding Nov 1955) -- Vol. #4
  • Kirill Bulychev
  • Share It with Me (Analog Apr 1979) -- Vol. #6
  • Anthony Burgess
  • The Muse (The Hudson Review Spr 1968) -- Vol. #5
  • Dino Buzzati
  • The Time Machine -- Vol. #6
  • Italo Calvino
  • The Spiral (Cosmicomics, 1968) -- Vol. #6
  • John W. Campbell, Jr.
  • Twilight (Astounding Nov 1934) -- Vol. #2
  • Terry Carr
  • The Dance of the Changer and the Three (The Farthest Reaches, 1968) -- Vol. #4
  • Arthur C. Clarke
  • The Sentinel (Ten Story Fantasy Spr 1951) -- Vol. #3
  • The Star (Infinity Science Fiction Nov 1955) -- Vol. #5
  • Hal Clement
  • Critical Factor (Star Science Fiction Stories, 1953) -- Vol. #3
  • D. G. Compton
  • It's Smart to Have an English Address (sf Impulse Feb 1967) -- Vol. #5
  • Ovid S. Crohmalniceanu
  • The Neuhof Treaty -- Vol. #6
  • Philippe Curval
  • Heavier Than Sleep (Twenty Houses of the Zodiac, 1979) -- Vol. #6
  • Avram Davidson
  • My Boy Friend's Name Is Jello (F&SF Jul 1954) -- Vol. #4
  • L. Sprague de Camp
  • Hyperpilosity (Astounding Apr 1938) -- Vol. #2
  • Lester del Rey
  • The Faithful (Astounding Apr 1938) -- Vol. #2
  • Samuel R. Delany
  • Aye, and Gomorrah... (Dangerous Visions, 1967) -- Vol. #3
  • Philip K. Dick
  • We Can Remember It for You Wholesale (F&SF Apr 1966) -- Vol. #3
  • Gordon R. Dickson
  • Dolphin's Way (Analog Jun 1964) -- Vol. #3
  • Thomas M. Disch
  • Angouleme (New Worlds Quarterly, 1971) -- Vol. #4
  • Arthur Conan Doyle
  • The Horror of the Heights (The Strand Nov 1913) -- Vol. #5
  • Gardner Dozois
  • Where No Sun Shines (Orbit 6, 1970) -- Vol. #4
  • George Alec Effinger
  • The Ghost Writer (Universe 3, 1973) -- Vol. #4
  • Harlan Ellison
  • I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (If Mar 1967) -- Vol. #3
  • Carol Emshwiller
  • Abominable (Orbit 21, 1980) -- Vol. #4
  • Philip José Farmer
  • Sail On! Sail On! (Startling Stories Dec 1952) -- Vol. #3
  • E. M. Forster
  • The Machine Stops (Oxford and Cambridge Review Nov 1909) -- Vol. #2
  • Herbert W. Franke
  • The Building (F&SF Jun 1998) -- Vol. #6
  • Carlos Fuentes
  • Chac-Mool (Burnt Water, 1980) -- Vol. #6
  • Gabriel Garcia Marquez
  • Blacamán the Good, Vendor of Miracles (The Leaf Storm and Other Stories, 1971) -- Vol. #6
  • David Gerrold
  • With a Finger in My I (Again, Dangerous Visions, 1972) -- Vol. #4
  • Tom Godwin
  • The Cold Equations (Astounding Aug 1954) -- Vol. #3
  • George Griffith
  • A Corner in Lightning (Pearson's Magazine Mar 1898) -- Vol. #5
  • Joe Haldeman
  • Tricentennial (Analog Jul 1976) -- Vol. #3
  • Edmond Hamilton
  • What's It Like Out There? (Thrilling Wonder Stories Dec 1952) -- Vol. #2
  • Harry Harrison
  • The Streets of Ashkelon (New Worlds Sep 1962) -- Vol. #3
  • M. John Harrison
  • Settling the World (The New Improved Sun, 1975) -- Vol. #5
  • Nathaniel Hawthorne
  • Rappaccini's Daughter (United States Magazine and Democratic Review Dec 1844) -- Vol. #1
  • H. F. Heard
  • The Great Fog (The Great Fog and Other Weird Tales, 1944) -- Vol. #5
  • Robert A. Heinlein
  • 'All You Zombies—' (F&SF Mar 1959) -- Vol. #3
  • Requiem (Astounding Jan 1940) -- Vol. #2
  • E. T. A. Hoffmann
  • The Sandman (Best Tales of Hoffmann, 1967) -- Vol. #6
  • Julian Huxley
  • The Tissue-Culture King (The Yale Review Apr 1926) -- Vol. #2
  • Teresa Inglés
  • The Alabaster Garden (Nueva Dimension 1977) -- Vol. #6
  • Wolfgang Jeschke
  • Loitering at Death's Door (Full Spectrum 3, 1991) -- Vol. #6
  • Franz Kafka
  • The Hunter Gracchus (The Great Wall of China, 1946) -- Vol. #6
  • David H. Keller
  • The Revolt of the Pedestrians (Amazing Feb 1928) -- Vol. #2
  • Johannes Kepler
  • Somnium, or Lunar Astronomy -- Vol. #1
  • Daniel Keyes
  • Flowers for Algernon (F&SF Apr 1959) -- Vol. #4
  • Rudyard Kipling
  • As Easy as A.B.C. (The London Magazine Mar 1912 (+1)) -- Vol. #5
  • With the Night Mail (McClure's Nov 1905) -- Vol. #1
  • Gérard Klein
  • The Valley of Echoes (View from Another Shore, 1973) -- Vol. #6
  • Damon Knight
  • Masks (Playboy Jul 1968) -- Vol. #3
  • Sakyo Komatsu
  • Take Your Choice (SF International #1 1987) -- Vol. #6
  • Alexandr Kramer
  • That Invincible Human Spirit, or, The Golden Ships (Analog Jul/Aug 1998) -- Vol. #6
  • Henry Kuttner
  • Mimsy Were the Borogoves (by HK & C. L. Moore) (Astounding Feb 1943) -- Vol. #3 as by Lewis Padgett
  • R. A. Lafferty
  • Slow Tuesday Night (Galaxy Apr 1965) -- Vol. #3
  • Tommaso Landolfi
  • Cancerqueen -- Vol. #6
  • Kurd Lasswitz
  • The Universal Library -- Vol. #6
  • Tanith Lee
  • Written in Water (Perpetual Light, 1982) -- Vol. #5
  • Fritz Leiber
  • Coming Attraction (Galaxy Nov 1950) -- Vol. #3
  • Murray Leinster
  • Proxima Centauri (Astounding Mar 1935) -- Vol. #2
  • Stanislaw Lem
  • The First Sally(A), or Trurl's Electronic Bard (The Cyberiad, 1974) -- Vol. #4
  • The Hunt (Mortal Engines, 1977) -- Vol. #6
  • Laxman Londhe
  • Einstein the Second -- Vol. #6
  • Jack London
  • The Red One (Cosmopolitan Oct 1918) -- Vol. #2
  • H. P. Lovecraft
  • Dagon (The Vagrant Nov 1919) -- Vol. #2
  • Sam J. Lundwall
  • Time Everlasting (Tales from the Planet Earth, 1986) -- Vol. #6
  • Svend Åge Madsen
  • Mnemosyne's Children -- Vol. #6
  • Barry N. Malzberg
  • Uncoupling (Dystopian Visions, 1975) -- Vol. #4
  • George R. R. Martin
  • This Tower of Ashes (Analog Annual, 1976) -- Vol. #4
  • David I. Masson
  • Mouth of Hell (New Worlds Jan 1966) -- Vol. #5
  • Richard Matheson
  • Born of Man and Woman (F&SF Sum 1950) -- Vol. #4
  • J. T. McIntosh
  • Made in U.S.A. (Galaxy Apr 1953) -- Vol. #5
  • Vonda N. McIntyre
  • Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand (Analog Oct 1973) -- Vol. #4
  • Judith Merril
  • That Only a Mother (Astounding Jun 1948) -- Vol. #3
  • A. Merritt
  • The People of the Pit (All-Story Weekly Jan 5 1918) -- Vol. #2
  • Walter M. Miller, Jr.
  • The First Canticle (F&SF Apr 1955) -- Vol. #4
  • Michael Moorcock
  • The Nature of the Catastrophe (New Worlds Jan 1970) -- Vol. #5
  • C. L. Moore
  • Mimsy Were the Borogoves (by Henry Kuttner & CLM) (Astounding Feb 1943) -- Vol. #3 as by Lewis Padgett
  • Josef Nesvadba
  • The Divided Carla (Literarni Mesicnik Jun 1985) -- Vol. #6
  • Larry Niven
  • The Jigsaw Man (Dangerous Visions, 1967) -- Vol. #3
  • Fitz-James O'Brien
  • The Diamond Lens (Atlantic Monthly Jan 1858) -- Vol. #1
  • Peter Phillips
  • Dreams Are Sacred (Astounding Sep 1948) -- Vol. #5
  • Edgar Allan Poe
  • Mellonta Tauta (Godey's Lady’s Book Feb 1849) -- Vol. #1
  • Frederik Pohl
  • Day Million (Rogue Feb/Mar 1966) -- Vol. #3
  • Christopher Priest
  • An Infinite Summer (Andromeda 1, 1976) -- Vol. #5
  • Albert Robida
  • The War of the Twentieth Century -- Vol. #6
  • J.-H. Rosny aîné
  • Another World (Revue Parisenne 1895) -- Vol. #6
  • Joanna Russ
  • When It Changed (Again, Dangerous Visions, 1972) -- Vol. #3
  • Eric Frank Russell
  • Hobbyist (Astounding Sep 1947) -- Vol. #5
  • Pamela Sargent
  • Gather Blue Roses (F&SF Feb 1972) -- Vol. #4
  • Josephine Saxton
  • The Power of Time (New Dimensions I, 1971) -- Vol. #5
  • Bob Shaw
  • Light of Other Days (Analog Aug 1966) -- Vol. #4
  • Robert Sheckley
  • Pilgrimage to Earth (Playboy Sep 1956) -- Vol. #3
  • Robert Silverberg
  • Sundance (F&SF Jun 1969) -- Vol. #3
  • Clifford D. Simak
  • Desertion (Astounding Nov 1944) -- Vol. #3
  • Erik Simon
  • Ikaros (Analog Jul/Aug 1998) -- Vol. #6
  • Cordwainer Smith
  • The Game of Rat and Dragon (Galaxy Oct 1955) -- Vol. #3
  • Norman Spinrad
  • The Big Flash (Orbit 5, 1969) -- Vol. #3
  • Brian Stableford
  • And He Not Busy Being Born… (Interzone) -- Vol. #5
  • Arkady Strugatsky
  • The Strangers (by AS & Boris Strugatsky) -- Vol. #6
  • Boris Strugatsky
  • The Strangers (by Arkady Strugatsky & BS) -- Vol. #6
  • Theodore Sturgeon
  • Thunder and Roses (Astounding Nov 1947) -- Vol. #3
  • William Tenn
  • Brooklyn Project (Planet Stories Fll 1948) -- Vol. #3
  • James Tiptree, Jr.
  • The Last Flight of Dr. Ain (Galaxy Mar 1969) -- Vol. #4
  • A. E. van Vogt
  • Black Destroyer (Astounding Jul 1939) -- Vol. #2
  • Jack Vance
  • The Moon Moth (Galaxy Aug 1961) -- Vol. #4
  • John Varley
  • Air Raid (IASFM Spr 1977) -- Vol. #4
  • Boris Vian
  • The Dead Fish (13 French Science-Fiction Stories, 1965) -- Vol. #6
  • Joan D. Vinge
  • View from a Height (Analog Jun 1978) -- Vol. #4
  • Élisabeth Vonarburg
  • The Knot (Amazing Mar 1993) -- Vol. #6
  • Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
  • Harrison Bergeron (F&SF Oct 1961) -- Vol. #3
  • Ian Watson
  • The Great Atlantic Swimming Race (IASFM Mar 1986) -- Vol. #5
  • The World Science Fiction Convention of 2080 (F&SF Oct 1980) -- Vol. #4
  • Stanley G. Weinbaum
  • A Martian Odyssey (Wonder Stories Jul 1934) -- Vol. #2
  • H. G. Wells
  • The Country of the Blind (The Strand Apr 1904) -- Vol. #5
  • The New Accelerator (The Strand Dec 1901) -- Vol. #2
  • The Star (The Graphic Christmas 1897) -- Vol. #1
  • James White
  • Custom Fitting (Stellar, 1976) -- Vol. #5
  • Kate Wilhelm
  • The Planners (Orbit 3, 1968) -- Vol. #4
  • Jack Williamson
  • With Folded Hands... (Astounding Jul 1947) -- Vol. #2
  • Gene Wolfe
  • The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories (Orbit 7, 1970) -- Vol. #4
  • S. Fowler Wright
  • The Rat (Weird Tales Mar 1929) -- Vol. #5
  • John Wyndham
  • The Emptiness of Space (New Worlds Nov 1960) -- Vol. #5
  • Tetsu Yano
  • The Legend of the Paper Spaceship -- Vol. #6
  • Ye Yonglie
  • Corrosion (Science Fiction from China, 1989) -- Vol. #6
  • George Zebrowski
  • The Word Sweep (F&SF Aug 1979) -- Vol. #4
  • Roger Zelazny
  • The Engine at Heartspring's Center (Analog Jul 1974) -- Vol. #3
  • Zheng Wenguang
  • The Mirror Image of the Earth (The Penguin World Omnibus of Science Fiction, 1986) -- Vol. #6
  • Pamela Zoline
  • The Heat Death of the Universe (New Worlds Jul 1967) -- Vol. #4

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