Clifford Simak - The Thing in the Stone - And Other Stories

During his fifty-five-year career, CLIFFORD D. SIMAK produced some of the most iconic science fiction stories ever written. Born in 1904 on a farm in southwestern Wisconsin, Simak got a job at a small-town newspaper in 1929 and eventually became news editor of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, writing fiction in his spare time.

Simak was best known for the book City, a reaction to the horrors of World War II, and for his novel Way Station. In 1953 City was awarded the International Fantasy Award, and in following years, Simak won three Hugo Awards and a Nebula Award. In 1977 he became the third Grand Master of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and before his death in 1988, he was named one of three inaugural winners of the Horror Writers Association’s Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement.

DAVID W. WIXON was a close friend of Clifford D. Simak’s. As Simak’s health declined, Wixon, already familiar with science fiction publishing, began more and more to handle such things as his friend’s business correspondence and contract matters. Named literary executor of the estate after Simak’s death, Wixon began a long-term project to secure the rights to all of Simak’s stories and find a way to make them available to readers who, given the fifty-five-year span of Simak’s writing career, might never have gotten the chance to enjoy all of his short fiction. Along the way, Wixon also read the author’s surviving journals and rejected manuscripts, which made him uniquely able to provide Simak’s readers with interesting and thought-provoking commentary that sheds new light on the work and thought of a great writer.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

These are works of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2017 the Estate of Clifford D. Simak

All stories reprinted by permission of the Estate of Clifford D. Simak.

“The Thing in the Stone” © 1970 by Universal Publishing & Distributing Corporation. © 1998 by the Estate of Clifford D. Simak. Originally published in IF , v. 20, no. 3, March, 1970. Reprinted by permission of the Estate of Clifford D. Simak.

“The World of the Red Sun” © 1931 by Gernsback Publications, Inc. © 1959 by Clifford D. Simak. First published in Wonder Stories , v. 3, no. 7, Dec., 1931. Reprinted by permission of the Estate of Clifford D. Simak.

“Skirmish” (originally published under title of “Bathe Your Bearings in Blood!”) © 1950 by Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. © 1978 by Clifford D. Simak. Originally published in Amazing Stories , v. 24, no. 12, Dec., 1950. Reprinted by permission of the Estate of Clifford D. Simak.

“Aesop” © 1947 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc. © 1975 by Clifford D. Simak. Originally published in Astounding Science Fiction , v. 40, no. 4, Dec., 1947. Reprinted by permission of the Estate of Clifford D. Simak.

“The Hangnoose Army Rides to Town!” © 1945 by Fictioneers, Inc. © 1973 by Clifford D. Simak. Originally published in Ace-High Western Stories , v. 10, no. 2, Sept., 1945. Reprinted by permission of the Estate of Clifford D. Simak.

“Univac: 2200” © 1973 by Macmillan Publishing Company, Inc. © 2001 by the Estate of Clifford D. Simak. Originally published in Frontiers 1: Tomorrow’s Alternatives , edited by Roger Elwood. Reprinted by permission of the Estate of Clifford D. Simak.

“The Creator” © 1935 by Fantasy Publications. © 1963 by Clifford D. Simak. Originally published in Marvel Tales , March-April, 1935. Reprinted by permission of the Estate of Clifford D. Simak.

“The Spaceman’s Van Gogh” © 1956 by Columbia Publications, Inc. © 1984 by Clifford D. Simak. Originally published in (Original) Science Fiction Stories , v. 6, no. 5, March, 1956. Reprinted by permission of the Estate of Clifford D. Simak.

“Hunch” © 1943 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc. © 1971 by Clifford D. Simak. First published in Astounding Science Fiction , v. 31, no. 5, July, 1943. Reprinted by permission of the Estate of Clifford D. Simak.

“Construction Shack” © 1973 by UPD Publishing Corp. © 2001 by the Estate of Clifford D. Simak. Originally published in “Worlds of If”, v. 21, no. 9, January-February, 1973. Reprinted by permission of the Estate of Clifford D. Simak.

Introduction © 2017 by David W. Wixon

Cover design by Jason Gabbert

978-1-5040-4521-6

Published in 2017 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

180 Maiden Lane

New York, NY 10038

www.openroadmedia.com

THE COMPLETE SHORT FICTION OF CLIFFORD D. SIMAK

FROM OPEN ROAD MEDIA

Find a full list of our authors and titles at www.openroadmedia.com

FOLLOW US @OpenRoadMedia