The Road to Science Fiction

"The Road to Science Fiction" is a series of science fiction anthologies edited by American science fiction author, scholar and editor James Gunn. Written for use in the classroom to teach the evolution of science fiction literature, the series is now available as mass market publications.

The six-volume set collects many of the most influential works in the field. Originally published by Signet and then by White Wolf Games Studio, Volumes I through 4 are currently being reprinted in paperback by Scarecrow Press.

Volume I: From Gilgamesh to Wells

(Signet, February 1979; Scarecrow Press, December 2002)

Contents:
* excerpt from "A True Story", by Lucian of Samosata
* excerpt from "The Voyages and Travels of Sir John Mandeville", Anonymous
* excerpt from "Utopia", by Thomas More
* excerpt from "The City of the Sun", by Tommaso Campanella
* excerpt from "The New Atlantis" by Francis Bacon
* "Somnium", or Lunar Astronomy, by Johannes Kepler
* excerpt from "A Voyage to the Moon", by Cyrano de Bergerac
* excerpt from "A Voyage to Laputa", by Jonathan Swift
* excerpt from "The Journey to the World Underground", by Ludvig Holberg
* "Micromégas", by Francois Marie Arouet de Voltaire
* excerpt from "Frankenstein", by Mary Shelley
* "Rappaccini's Daughter", by Nathaniel Hawthorne
* "Mellonta Tauta", by Edgar Allan Poe
* "The Diamond Lens", by Fitz-James O'Brien
* excerpt from "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea", by Jules Verne
* excerpt from "Around the Moon", by Jules Verne
* excerpt from "She", by H. Rider Haggard
* excerpt from "Looking Backward", by Edward Bellamy
* "The Damned Thing", by Ambrose Bierce
* "With the Night Mail", by Rudyard Kipling
* "The Star", by H.G. Wells

Volume 2: From Wells to Heinlein

(Signet, 1979; Scarecrow Press, September, 2002)

Contents:
* "The New Accelerator", by H.G. Wells
* The Machine Stops--by E.M. Forster
* excerpt from "Under the Moons of Mars", by Edgar Rice Burroughs
* "The Moon Pool", by A. Merritt
* "The Red One", by Jack London
* "Dagon", by H. P. Lovecraft
* "The Tissue-Culture King", by Julian Huxley
* "The Revolt of the Pedestrians", by David H. Keller, M.D.
* excerpt from "Last and First Men", by Olaf Stapledon
* excerpt from "Brave New World", by Aldous Huxley
* "A Martian Odyssey", by Stanley G. Weinbaum
* "Twilight", by John W. Campbell
* "Proxima Centauri", by Murray Leinster
* "What's It Like Out There?" by Edmond Hamilton
* "With Folded Hands", by Jack Williamson
* "Hyperpilosity", by L. Sprague de Camp
* "The Faithful", by Lester del Rey
* "Black Destroyer", by A.E. van Vogt
* "Nightfall", by Isaac Asimov
* The Man Who Sold the Genre
* "Requiem", by Robert A. Heinlein
* A chronology of Science Fiction
* About the Editor

Volume 3: From Heinlein to Here

(Signet, February 6, 1979; Scarecrow Press, May 2002)

The best work published from 1940 to 1977.

Contents:
* ""All You Zombies"", by Robert A. Heinlein
* "Reason", by Isaac Asimov
* "Desertion", by Clifford D. Simak
* "Mimsy Were the Borogoves", by Lewis Padgett (Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore)
* "The Million-Year Picnic", by Ray Bradbury
* "Thunder and Roses", by Theodore Sturgeon
* "That Only a Mother", by Judith Merril
* "Brooklyn Project", by William Tenn (Philip Klass)
* "Coming Attraction", by Fritz Leiber
* "The Sentinel", by Arthur C. Clarke
* "Sail On! Sail On!", by José Farmer
* "Critical Factor", by Hal Clement
* "Fondly Fahrenheit", by Alfred Bester
* "The Cold Equations", by Tom Godwin
* "The Game of Rat and Dragon", by Cordwainer Smith
* "Pilgrimage to Earth", by Robert Sheckley
* "Who Can Replace a Man?", by Brian W. Aldiss
* "Harrison Bergeron", by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
* "The Streets of Ashkelon", by Harry Harrison
* "The Terminal Beach", by J. G. Ballard
* "Dolphin's Way", by Gordon R. Dickson
* "Slow Tuesday Night", by R. A. Lafferty
* "Day Million", by Frederik Pohl
* "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale", by Philip K. Dick
* "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream", by Harlan Ellison
* "Aye, and Gomorrah", by Samuel R. Delany
* "The Jigsaw Man", by Larry Niven
* "Kyrie", by Poul Anderson
* "Masks", by Damon Knight
* From "Stand on Zanzibar", by John Brunner
* "The Big Flash", by Norman Spinrad
* "Sundance", by Robert Silverberg
* From "The Left Hand of Darkness", by Ursula K. Le Guin
* "When It Changed", by Joanna Russ
* "The Engine at Heartspring's Center", by Roger Zelazny
* "Tricentennial", by Joe Haldeman

Volume 4: From Here to Forever

(White Wolf, January 1997; Scarecrow Press, 2003)

Stories selected for their quality of writing.

Contents:
* "Born of Man and Woman", by Richard Matheson
* "The Luckiest Man in Denv", by C.M. Kornbluth
* "Common Time", by James Blish
* "My Boy Friend's Name is Jello", by Avram Davidson
* "The First Canticle", by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
* "Nobody Bothers Gus", by Algis Budrys
* "Flowers for Algernon", by Daniel Keyes
* "The Moon Moth", by Jack Vance
* "The Library of Babel", by Jorge Luis Borges
* From "Dune", by Frank Herbert
* "Light of Other Days", by Bob Shaw
* "The First Sally (A), or Trurl's Electronic Bard", by Stanisław Lem
* "The Heart and Death of the Universe", by Pamela Zoline
* "The Planners", by Kate Wilhelm
* "The Dance of the Changer and the Three", by Terry Carr
* "The Last Flight of Dr. Ain", by James Tiptree, Jr. (Alice Sheldon)
* "Where No Sun Shines", by Gardner Dozois
* "The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories", by Gene Wolfe
* "Angouleme", by Thomas M. Disch
* "Gather Blue Roses", by Pamela Sargent
* "With a Finger in My I", by David Gerrold
* "Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand", by Vonda N. McIntyre
* "Air Raid", by John Varley
* "Uncoupling", by Barry Malzberg
* "Rogue Tomato", by Michael Bishop
* "This Tower of Ashes", by George R.R. Martin
* "Particle Theory", by Edward Bryant
* "View from a Height", by Joan D. Vinge
* "The Word Sweep", by George Zebrowski
* "The World Science Fiction Convention of 2080", by Ian Watson
* "Abominable", by Carol Emshwiller
* "Exposures", by Gregory Benford
* "Schrödinger's Kitten", by George Alec Effinger

Volume 5: The British Way

(White Wolf, March 1998)

Influential British SF published prior to 1986

Contents:
* Preface by James Gunn
* Introduction (all introductions by James Gunn)
* Beginnings: From Frankenstein to Dorking
* From "The Battle of Dorking: Reminiscences of a Volunteer" by Lieutenant-Colonel Sir George Tomkyns Chesney -- Blackwood's May, 1871
* A Matter of Perspective
* From "Flatland" by Edwin A. Abbott -- London: Seely & Co., 1884
* The Craving for Catastrophe
* From "After London; or, Wild England" by Richard Jefferies -- Cassell's, 1885
* The Medium and the Message
* "The Doom of London" by Robert Barr -- "The Idler" November 1892
* Fin de Siècle
* "A Corner in Lightning" by George Griffith -- "Pearson's Magazine" March 1898
* The Man Who Invented Tomorrow
* "The Country of the Blind", by H. G. Wells -- "The Strand" April 1904
* Currents in the Mainstream
* "As Easy as A.B.C." by Rudyard Kipling -- "The London Magazine" March 1912 (+1)
* The Great War and Its Aftermath
* "A Negligible Experiment", by John D. Beresford -- "Signs and Wonders", Putnam, 1921
* More Things in Heaven and Earth
* "The Horror of the Heights", by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle -- "The Strand" November 1913
* "The Rat", by S. Fowler Wright -- "Weird Tales" March 1929
* excerpt from "The Star Maker", by Olaf Stapledon -- London: Methuen, 1937
* "The Great Fog", by H. F. Heard -- "The Great Fog and Other Weird Tales", Vanguard, 1944
* "Hobbyist", by Eric Frank Russell -- "Astounding September" 1947
* "Dreams Are Sacred", by Peter Phillips -- "Astounding" September 1948
* "Made in U.S.A." by J. T. McIntosh -- "Galaxy" April 1953
* "The Star (Star of Bethlehem)", by Arthur C. Clarke -- "Infinity Science Fiction" November 1955
* "The Emptiness of Space [Troons] ", by John Wyndham -- "New Worlds" November 1960
* "The Voices of Time", by J. G. Ballard -- "New Worlds" October 1960
* "The Drowned Giant", by J. G. Ballard -- "The Terminal Beach", London: Gollancz, 1964
* "The Totally Rich", by John Brunner -- "Worlds of Tomorrow" June 1963
* "Mouth of Hell", by David I. Masson -- "New Worlds" January 1966
* "The Discontinuous" by D.G. Compton
* "It's Smart to Have an English Address" by D. G. Compton -- "sf Impulse" February 1967
* "The Muse", by Anthony Burgess -- "The Hudson Review" Spring 1968
* "The Nature of the Catastrophe" by Jerry Cornelius, by Michael Moorcock -- "New Worlds" January 1970
* "The Power of Time", by Josephine Saxton -- "New Dimensions I", ed. Robert Silverberg, Doubleday, 1971
* "Mason's Life", by Kingsley Amis -- "The Sunday Times" (London), 1972
* "Settling the World", by M. John Harrison -- "The New Improved Sun", ed. Thomas M. Disch, Harper, 1975
* "Working in the Spaceship Yards" by Brian W. Aldiss -- "Punch" April 9, 1969
* "Appearance of Life", by Brian W. Aldiss -- "Andromeda 1", ed. Peter Weston, London: Futura, 1976
* "An Infinite Summer", by Christopher Priest -- "Andromeda 1", ed. Peter Weston, London: Futura, 1976
* "Custom Fitting [Sector General] ", by James White -- "Stellar #2", ed. Judy-Lynn del Rey, Ballantine, 1976
* "Written in Water", by Tanith Lee -- "Perpetual Light", ed. Alan Ryan, Warner Books, 1982
* "The Great Atlantic Swimming Race", by Ian Watson -- "IASFM" March 1986
* "And He Not Busy Being Born", by Brian M. Stableford -- "Interzone" #16 1986

Volume 6: Around the World

(White Wolf, July 1998)

Contents:
* Preface by James Gunn
* Introduction (All introductory essays by James Gunn)FRANCE
* excerpt from"Journey to the Center of the Earth" by Jules Verne
* "The War of the Twentieth Century" by Albert Robida
* "Another World" J.-H. Rosny-Aîné
* "The Dead Fish" by Boris Vian
* "Heavier Than Sleep" by Philippe Curval
* "The Valley of Echoes" by Gérard Klein
* "The Knot" by Élisabeth VonarburgGERMANY
* "The Sandman" by E. T. A. Hoffmann
* "The Universal Library" by Kurd Lasswitz
* The Hunter Gracchus Franz Kafka
* "The Building" by Herbert W. Franke
* "Loitering at Death's Door" by Wolfgang Jeschke
* "The Meaning of Walls" by James Gunn
* "Ikaros" by Erik SimonSCANDINAVIA AND FINLAND
* "Mnemosyne's Children" by Svend Åge Madsen
* "Time Everlasting" by Sam J. LundwallEASTERN EUROPE
* "R.U.R." by Karel Čapek
* "The Hunt" by Stanisław Lem
* "The Divided Carla" by Josef Nesvadba
* "That Invincible Human Spirit, or, The Golden Ships" by Alexandr Kramer
* "The Neuhof Treaty" by Ovid S. CrohmalniceanuRUSSIA
* "The Strangers" by Arkady & Boris Strugatsky
* "Share It With Me" by Kirill BulychevITALY
* "The Time Machine" by Dino Buzzati
* "Cancerqueen" by Tommaso Landolfi
* "The Spiral (from Cosmicomics)" by Italo CalvinoSPAIN AND LATIN AMERICA
* "The Alabaster Garden" by Teresa Inglés
* "The Babylon Lottery" by Jorge Luís Borges
* "Blacamán the Good, Vendor of Miracles" by Gabriel García Márquez
* "Chac-Mool" by Carlos FuentesINDIA
* "Einstein the Second" by Laxman LondheCHINA
* "The Mirror Image of the Earth" by Zheng Wenguang
* "The Professional Writer in China" by James Gunn
* "Corrosion" by Ye YonglieJAPAN
* "Beyond the Curve" by Kobo Abe
* "Take Your Choice" by Sakyo Komatsu
* "The Legend of the Paper Spaceship" by Tetsu Yano

References

* [http://www.sfsite.com/05b/road33.htm SF Site review of Volume 5]
* [http://www.scarecrowpress.com/ The Scarecrow Press]