Wondrous Beginnings


Wondrous Beginnings is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Steven H. Silver and Martin H. Greenberg, first published in paperback by DAW Books in January 2003. It is a compilation of the first published stories of seventeen prominent authors in the genre, and features introductions to the stories provided by the authors of those stories. Wondrous Beginnings was the first of three similarly-themed anthologies, its companions being Magical Beginnings and Horrible Beginnings, compiling the first published stories of authors writing in the fantasy and horror genres, respectively. The book follows the example of the earlier First Flight: Maiden Voyages in Space and Time, edited by Damon Knight and First Voyages, edited by Damon Knight, Martin H. Greenberg and Joseph D. Olander. which did not include individual introductions. The content of Wondrous Beginnings has little overlap in content with these earlier anthologies, however, as only the stories by de Camp, Clement and Clarke are repeated from them.

Contents

  • "Introduction"
  • "Introduction to 'The Runaway Skyscraper'"
  • "The Runaway Skyscraper"
  • "Introduction to 'The Isolinguals'"
  • "The Isolinguals"
  • "Introduction to 'Freedom of the Race'"
  • "Freedom of the Race"
  • "About 'Proof,' of Course"
  • "Proof"
  • "Introduction to 'Loophole'"
  • "Loophole"
  • "Deadeye: Writing 'The Dead Man'"
  • "The Dead Man"
  • "Introduction to 'We're Coming Through the Window'"
  • "We're Coming Through the Window"
  • "Introduction to 'The Hero'"
  • "The Hero"
  • "My World and Welcome to it: Writing 'Lunchbox'"
  • "Lunchbox"
  • "The Origin of 'Ender's Game'"
  • "Ender's Game"
  • "Introduction to 'The Emerson Effect'"
  • "The Emerson Effect"
  • "The Writing of 'Much Ado About Nothing'"
  • "Much Ado About Nothing"
  • "Introduction to 'Barter'"
  • "Barter"
  • "Introduction to 'The Xeelee Flower'"
  • "The Xeelee Flower"
  • "Introduction to 'Dance in Blue'"
  • "Dance in Blue"
  • "Introduction to 'TeleAbsence'"
  • "TeleAbsence"
  • "Introduction to 'First Contact Inc.'"
  • "First Contact Inc."
  • "About the Authors"