Me deparei com um livro na década de 1990 - provavelmente datado dos anos 70 ou 80 -
Origens de Ficção Científica , publicado em 1980, editado por William F. Nolan e Martin H. Greenberg . Tanto quanto o ISFDB sabe, este é o único lugar em sua terceira história (" Malice in Wonderland ") foi publicado fora de sua aparência original em Se , janeiro de 1954 (disponível em Arquivo da Internet ), eo único lugar em que suas outras duas histórias (" The Fasterfaster Affair " e " Hopper " ) já apareceram juntos.
- chamou algo nos moldes das 6 maiores / melhores / melhores histórias de ficção científica. Era um número incomum - não o top 10 ou o top 5, mas algo nos moldes de 6 ou 7.
O número 7 não faz parte do título, mas o fato de conter sete histórias é declarado duas vezes na capa" : "AS HISTÓRIAS ORIGINAIS ONDE FORAM BASEADAS NOVAS NOVAS CLÁSSICAS" E "SETE CONTOS DE DESEJOS DO AMANHÃ PELOS GRANDES MESTRES DA FICÇÃO CIENTÍFICA DO NOSSO TEMPO ..."
A coleção continha várias histórias realmente originais. Em um deles, um agente secreto era muito proeminente e, apesar de ter apenas algumas páginas, houve uma reviravolta fantástica.
"The Fasterfaster Affair" <
When JamesTen teleported into the office wearing his twin-tone perforated Venusian breathingboots and a rakishly cut sports jacket in worsted plastic, Miss Manypiggies sobbed brokenly and threw herself into his arms. "Rip off my clothing, James," she pleaded. "Love me, rape me, torture me, I don't care! Take my subtly tanned supple woman's body and—"
JamesTen pushed her gently aside. "Not now, Manypiggies," he husked in a silken voice reserved for love-crazed secretaries. "Z wants me inside, where things count. God knows what's up in there, but it's my kind of trouble. Now, be a sweet and buzz me in, chop-chop."
"Chop-chop," sighed Miss Manypiggies as JamesTen stepped lightly into the Matter Disintegrator. She thumbed the proper button and the suave secret agent wavered and vanished.
He reappeared, all atoms neatly in place, beside Z's desk.
"Good to see you, Ten," rumbled Z. His outwardly pleasant tone meant another joust with death was in the offing. JamesTen smiled thinly.
Do "Afterword do autor":
Em outra, alguma forma de burocrata construiu sub-repticiamente uma mansão de nível 20 no Congo, acima de seu salário, e estava com medo de que ele fosse descoberto.Fleming's death, in 1964, failed to end the life of his creation—and Bond is still seen today, in fabulous new screen adventures. But what, I asked myself, would happen to a robot version of 007 in the far world of the future? Might be fun to write about one.
Early in 1965 I signed a contract to edit an all-android anthology, The Pseudo-People, set to include some original fiction. As editor Nolan I assigned writer Nolan (as Frank Anmar) to conjure up a new tale for the book, and this robot version of Bond (called JamesTen) was the rather insane result. I pitted my superagent against a cosmic fiend who was intent on the destruction of the entire universe, a superthreat worthy of a super-Bond. I had absolutely no plans for expanding any part of the story into a novel. In fact, when I drafted "The Fasterfaster Affair" in March, 1965, I was still six months away from the completion of my first novel, Logan's Run.
"Hopper" por Robert Silverberg , uma novela originalmente publicada em Infinity Science Fiction , outubro de 1956 , mais tarde expandido para um romance chamado The Time Hoppers .
Quellen's offense was a unique one. No one else, to his knowledge, had been shrewd enough to find a way out of heavily-overpopulated Appalachia, the octopus of a city that spread all over the eastern half of North America. Of all the two hundred million inhabitants of Appalachia, only Joseph Quellen CrimeSec had been clever enough to find a bit of unknown and unsettled land in the heart of Africa and build himself a second home there. He had the standard Class Thirteen cubicle in Appalachia, plus a Class Twenty mansion beyond the dreams of most mortals, beside a murky stream in the Congo. It was nice, very nice, for a man whose soul rebelled at the insect-like existence in Appalachia.
The only trouble was that it took money to keep people bribed. There were a few who had to know that Quellen was living luxuriously in Africa instead of dwelling in a ten-by-ten cubicle in Northwest Appalachia, like a good Thirteen. Someone—Brogg, he was sure—had sold out to Koll. And Quellen was on thin ice indeed.
Em terceiro lugar, um produtor de pornografia interativa estava tentando um novo empreendimento comercial e estava sendo bloqueado financeiramente por um grupo religioso que se autodenominava Ball Inc.
"Malícia no País das Maravilhas" por Evan Hunter , mais tarde expandido para um romance chamado Amanhã e Amanhã ou O mundo de amanhã . O protagonista, Van Brant, é um agente literário pornográfico multimídia:
"I have compiled a list of alleged literary agents who are today soliciting the majority of smut on the market. You, unfortunately, are one of the chief purveyors. I have been systematically eliminating these men, starting at the top and working my way to the bottom.
[. . .]
"Now, then. I've come to ask that you discontinue the submission of manuscripts to (a) the magazines, (b) the paperbacks, (c) the stereoscopic, the three-dimensional, and the sensory mediums."
A organização com a qual ele está tendo problemas é chamada de Ball Associates. Aqui, ele está tendo um problema com seu suprimento de drogas:
"Probably a small shortage. Maybe a shipment got fouled. Anyway, I want to ask you about the marketing setup. We usually get checks from Vizco and Young & Co. on Thursdays. There were none in this morning's mail. Any idea what's wrong?"
"Yes. They've both been taken over by a new outfit."
"Oh. What's the name of the new owner?"
Lizbeth sucked in her breath.
"Ball Associates," she said.