Robert Hoskins : Infinity


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The second series of original anthologies (both in paperback originals) to debut in 1970, after QUARK/, was Infinity, from Robert Hoskins, then editor at Lancer Books, a publisher active from the early 1960s to the early '70s.

Though the first volume calls itself "a magazine of speculative fiction in book form," just five volumes appeared over four years. The first volume has a longish introduction by Isaac Asimov about the "fun" to be had in the future (rock climbing and flying on the Moon), and a shorter intro by Hoskins identifying science fiction as a vehicle, ever since Gernsback, of thinking about the future. This volume also reprints Arthur C. Clarke's famous 1955 story "The Star," noting that the anthology is a descendent of the late 1950s magazine Infinity, where that story appeared in its first issue.

Introductions in later volumes discuss other themes of SF -- ecology, alternate universes -- and changes in the publishing industry. Story introductions were mostly blurbs invoking themes, a la Analog of that era. Authors ranged from traditionalists like Gordon R. Dickson and Poul Anderson and Fritz Leiber, to breaking out authors Gene Wolfe, Barry N. Malzberg, Edward Bryant, and Dean R. Koontz, to boundary-pushing stories at a peak period of his career from Robert Silverberg, including "In Entropy's Jaws" and "The Science Fiction Hall of Fame."

After Silverberg and Malzberg, who appeared in every volume, the most frequent authors were Ron Goulart, Dean Koontz, and George Zebrowski (including his debut story), with 4 each.

  • Infinity One, (Lancer, 1970) [isfdb]
  • Infinity Two, (Lancer, 1971) [isfdb]
  • Infinity Three, (Lancer, 1972) [isfdb]
  • Infinity Four, (Lancer, 1972) [isfdb]
  • Infinity Five, (Lancer, 1973) [isfdb]



Combined Contents by Author and Title


Karen Anderson
  • Murphy's Hall (by Poul Anderson & KA) -- Vol. #2
  • Poul Anderson
  • The Communicators -- Vol. #1
  • Fortune Hunter -- Vol. #4
  • Murphy's Hall (by PA & Karen Anderson) -- Vol. #2
  • Stephen Barr
  • The Absolute Ultimate Invention -- Vol. #1
  • Russell L. Bates
  • Hello, Walls and Fences -- Vol. #5
  • Legion -- Vol. #2
  • E. Michael Blake
  • The Foreigner -- Vol. #4
  • J. F. Bone
  • The Scents of It -- Vol. #2
  • Alan Brennert
  • Nostalgia Tripping -- Vol. #5
  • Edward Bryant
  • Audition: Soon to Be a Major Production -- Vol. #4
  • Beyond the Sand River Range -- Vol. #3
  • The Road to Cinnabar -- Vol. #2
  • Terry Carr
  • Changing of the Gods -- Vol. #5
  • Grant Carrington
  • Fountain of Force (by George Zebrowski & GC) -- Vol. #4
  • Arthur C. Clarke
  • Reunion -- Vol. #2
  • The Star -- Vol. #1
  • Arthur Byron Cover
  • In Between Then and Now -- Vol. #5
  • Pat De Graw
  • Inside Mother -- Vol. #1
  • Miriam Allen deFord
  • The Tiger -- Vol. #1
  • Vooremp: Spy -- Vol. #3
  • Gordon R. Dickson
  • Operation P-Button -- Vol. #1
  • Terry Dixon
  • The Bard's Tale -- Vol. #3
  • Scott Edelstein
  • Isaac Under Pressure -- Vol. #5
  • G. C. Edmondson
  • The Tempolluters -- Vol. #4
  • Michael Fayette
  • The Man on the Hill -- Vol. #1
  • The Monster in the Clearing -- Vol. #2
  • John Foyster
  • Let It Ring -- Vol. #3
  • Ron Goulart
  • The Cybernetic Tabernacle Job -- Vol. #3
  • Free at Last -- Vol. #5
  • Keeping an Eye on Janey -- Vol. #1
  • Not That Shaggy -- Vol. #4
  • James Gunn
  • The Technological Revolution -- Vol. #2
  • Gerald Hull
  • The Monadic Universe (by George Zebrowski & GH) -- Vol. #3
  • John Jakes
  • Stranger with Roses -- Vol. #4
  • Leo P. Kelley
  • Teaching Prime -- Vol. #3
  • Dean Koontz
  • Altarboy -- Vol. #3
  • Grayworld -- Vol. #5
  • Nightmare Gang -- Vol. #1
  • Ollie's Hands -- Vol. #4
  • R. A. Lafferty
  • Hands of the Man -- Vol. #1
  • Fritz Leiber
  • Another Cask of Wine -- Vol. #4
  • The Bump -- Vol. #4
  • Day Dark, Night Bright -- Vol. #4
  • Wallace MacFarlane
  • Merlin Street -- Vol. #4
  • Katherine MacLean
  • Echo -- Vol. #1
  • Barry N. Malzberg
  • The Ballad of Slick Sid -- Vol. #4
  • Elephants -- Vol. #2
  • Inter Alia -- Vol. #3
  • Pacem Est (by Kris Neville & BNM) -- Vol. #1
  • Trashing -- Vol. #5
  • Anne McCaffrey
  • The Great Canine Chorus -- Vol. #1
  • Dean McLaughlin
  • Touchstone -- Vol. #3
  • Howard L. Myers
  • The Other Way Around -- Vol. #2
  • Kris Neville
  • Pacem Est (by KN & Barry N. Malzberg) -- Vol. #1
  • William F. Nolan
  • Gorf! Gorf! Gorf! -- Vol. #2
  • Kelly, Fredric Michael: 1928-1987 -- Vol. #5
  • Starblood -- Vol. #4
  • Thomas Pickens
  • Ding Dong, the Witch Is Well -- Vol. #4
  • Richard Posner
  • One Day in the War -- Vol. #3
  • Thomas N. Scortia
  • By the Time I Get to Phoenix -- Vol. #4
  • Robert Silverberg
  • Caliban -- Vol. #3
  • In Entropy's Jaws -- Vol. #2
  • The Pleasure of Their Company -- Vol. #1
  • The Science Fiction Hall of Fame -- Vol. #5
  • What We Learned from This Morning's Newspaper -- Vol. #4
  • Clifford D. Simak
  • To Walk a City's Street -- Vol. #3
  • Robert Thurston
  • She/Her -- Vol. #5
  • Anthon Warden
  • Timesprawl -- Vol. #2
  • Edward Wellen
  • These Our Actors -- Vol. #1
  • Anthony Weller
  • Antiquity -- Vol. #3
  • Gene Wolfe
  • Beech Hill -- Vol. #3
  • The Packerhaus Method -- Vol. #1
  • Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
  • A Time of the Fourth Horseman -- Vol. #3
  • George Zebrowski
  • Fountain of Force (by GZ & Grant Carrington) -- Vol. #4
  • Interpose -- Vol. #5
  • The Monadic Universe (by GZ & Gerald Hull) -- Vol. #3
  • The Water Sculptor -- Vol. #1

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