''Universe 15'' is an
anthology
In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...
of original
science fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
short stories edited by
Terry Carr
Terry Gene Carr (February 19, 1937 – April 7, 1987) was an American science fiction fan, author, editor, and writing instructor.
Background and discovery of fandom
Carr was born in Grants Pass, Oregon. He attended the City College of S ...
, the fifteenth volume in the seventeen-volume
Universe anthology series. It was first published in hardcover by
Doubleday
Doubleday may refer to:
* Doubleday (surname), including a list of people with the name
Publishing imprints
* Doubleday (publisher), imprint of Knopf Doubleday, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House
* Doubleday Canada, imprint of Penguin Random ...
in August 1985, with a paperback edition from
Tor Books
Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles.
History
Tor was founded by Tom Doherty, ...
in December 1987.
The book collects ten novelettes and short stories by various science fiction authors.
Contents
* "
Mercurial
Mercurial is a distributed revision control tool for software developers. It is supported on Microsoft Windows, Linux, and other Unix-like systems, such as FreeBSD and macOS.
Mercurial's major design goals include high performance and scalabi ...
" (
Kim Stanley Robinson
Kim Stanley Robinson (born March 23, 1952) is an American science fiction writer best known for his ''Mars'' trilogy. Many of his novels and stories have ecological, cultural, and political themes and feature scientists as heroes. Robinson has ...
)
* "
Paladin of the Lost Hour
"Paladin of the Lost Hour" is the second segment of the seventh episode of the first season of the first revival of the television series ''The Twilight Zone'', adapted from a novelette by scriptwriter Harlan Ellison. The story follows the fr ...
" (
Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison (May 27, 1934 – June 28, 2018) was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave science fiction, New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. His published wo ...
)
* "
Giraffe Tuesday" (
Juleen Brantingham)
* "
Evergreen
In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...
" (
Arthur Jean Cox)
* "
Mengele
Josef Mengele (; 16 March 19117 February 1979) was a Nazi German (SS) officer and physician during World War II at the Russian front and then at Auschwitz during the Holocaust, often dubbed the "Angel of Death" (). He performed deadly ...
" (
Lucius Shepard
Lucius Shepard (August 21, 1943 – March 18, 2014) was an American writer. Classified as a science fiction and fantasy writer, he often leaned into other genres, such as magical realism.
Career
Shepard was a native of Lynchburg, Virginia, wher ...
)
* "
Originals" (
Pamela Sargent
Pamela Sargent (born March 20, 1948) is an American feminist, science fiction author, and editor. She has an MA in classical philosophy and has won a Nebula Award.
Sargent wrote a trilogy concerning the terraforming of Venus that is sometim ...
)
* "
Johann Sebastian Brahms" (
Barry N. Malzberg
Barry Nathaniel Malzberg (July 24, 1939 – December 19, 2024) was an American writer and editor, most often of science fiction and fantasy.
Life and career Early life and family
Malzberg originated from a Jewish family and graduated from Syra ...
)
* "
Encounter on the Ladder
Encounter or Encounters may refer to:
Film
*''Encounter'', a 1997 Indian film by Nimmala Shankar
* ''Encounter'' (2013 film), an Indian Bengali-language film
* ''Encounter'' (2018 film), an American sci-fi film
* ''Encounter'' (2021 film), a Briti ...
" (
Mona A. Clee)
* "
Tidal Effects" (
Jack McDevitt
Jack McDevitt (born April 14, 1935) is an American science fiction author whose novels frequently deal with attempts to make contact with alien races, and with archaeology or xenoarchaeology. Most of his books follow either superluminal pilot ...
)
* "
The Slovo Stove" (
Avram Davidson
Avram Davidson (April 23, 1923 – May 8, 1993) was an American writer of fantasy fiction, science fiction, and crime fiction, as well as the author of many stories that do not fit into a genre niche. He won a Hugo Award and three World Fantasy ...
)
Awards
The anthology placed fifth in the 1986
Locus Poll Award for Best Anthology.
"Mercurial" placed thirteenth in the 1986
Locus Poll Award for Best Novelette.
"Paladin of the Lost Hour" won the 1986
Hugo Award
The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) and chosen by its members. The award is administered by th ...
, placed first in the
Locus Poll Award
The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine ''Locus (magazine), Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet.
O ...
, and was nominated for the SF Chronicle and
Nebula Award
The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA), a nonprofit association of pr ...
s, in each instance for Best Novelette.
"Mengele" placed sixth in the 1986
Locus Poll Award for Best Short Story.
"The Slovo Stove" was nominated for the 1986
World Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction
The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk of a "plu ...
and placed seventeenth in the 1986
Locus Poll Award for Best Novelette.
References
{{Reflist
1985 anthologies
Universe (anthology series)
Doubleday (publisher) books