Colossus (collection)

Colossus: The Collected Science Fiction of Donald Wandrei is a collection of science fiction short stories by American writer Donald Wandrei. It was released in 1989 by Fedogan & Bremer in an edition of 1,000 copies. Many of the stories originally appeared in the magazines Weird Tales, Astounding Stories, The Minnesota Quarterly, Thrilling Wonder Stories and Leaves.

Colossus
Dust-jacket from the first edition
AuthorDonald Wandrei
IllustratorRodger Gerberding
Cover artistJon Arfstrom
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreScience fiction
PublisherFedogan & Bremer
Publication date
1989
Media typePrint (hardback)
Pagesxxix, 423
ISBN1-878252-00-3
OCLC20809990
813/.52 20
LC ClassPS3545.A643 A6 1989

Contents

1989 edition
  • Editors’ Note, by Philip J. Rahman
  • Introduction, by Richard L. Tierney
  • "The Red Brain"
  • "The Holiday Act"
  • "Something from Above"
  • "Raiders of the Universes"
  • "A Race Through Time"
  • "Farewell to Earth"
  • "Colossus"
  • "Colossus Eternal"
  • "The Atom-Smasher"
  • "The Blinding Shadows"
  • "Life Current"
  • "The Whisperers"
  • "Murray’s Light"
  • "Earth Minus"
  • "Finality Unlimited"
  • "Infinity Zero"
  • "Black Fog"
  • "The Crystal Bullet"
  • "On the Threshold of Eternity"
  • "A Trip to Infinity"
  • "Requiem for Mankind"
  • Selected Bibliography, by D. H. Olson

stories added for the 1999 edition
  • "If"
  • "A Stranger Passes"

Publication history

Colossus was originally announced as a forthcoming publication by Arkham House as early as 1965.[1] However, it remained unpublished into the 1980s.[2] Phil Rahman and Dr. Dennis Weiler approached the Wandrei estate with the hopes of publishing the collection. While no manuscript nor proposed contents could be found, Rahman and Weiler went forward and published a collection using the same title as the unpublished Arkham House collection. It was the first book published by Fedogan & Bremer.

In 1999, in honor of their 10th anniversary, Fedogan & Bremer issued a second edition of the book (ISBN 1-878252-45-3). The second edition contained an updated introduction, replaced the note by Philip J. Rahman with a newly discovered preface that Wandrei had done for an unpublished collection, and added two stories in place of the bibliography. A gallery of photographs was also added.

"Farewell to Earth"
"Farewell to Earth—The Original Ending"
AuthorDonald Wandrei
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre(s)Science fiction
PublisherFedogan & Bremer
Media typePrint (paperback)
Publication date1999

The editor of Astounding Stories did not like the ending for the story "Farewell to Earth" that Donald Wandrei had originally written and Wandrei was forced to change it.[3] Fedogan and Bremer published a chapbook containing the ending of the story as Wandrei originally wrote it. The chapbook also included an introduction by D. H. Olson and was published in an edition of 75 copies. The book was given to those who pre-ordered the 1999 edition of Colossus.

References
  1. Wandrei, Donald (1965). Strange Harvest. Sauk City, WI: Arkham House.
  2. Jaffery, Sheldon (1989). The Arkham House Companion. Mercer Island, WA: Starmont House, Inc. p. 148. ISBN 1-55742-005-X.
  3. Chalker, Jack L.; Mark Owings (2001). The Science-Fantasy Publishers: A Bibliographic History, Supplement 9, 2000–2001. Westminster, MD and Baltimore: Mirage Press, Ltd. p. 29.

Sources
  • Chalker, Jack L.; Mark Owings (1998). The Science-Fantasy Publishers: A Bibliographic History, 1923-1998. Westminster, MD and Baltimore: Mirage Press, Ltd. p. 252.
  • Chalker, Jack L.; Mark Owings (2000). The Science-Fantasy Publishers: A Bibliographic History, Supplement 8, 1999–2000. Westminster, MD and Baltimore: Mirage Press, Ltd. p. 21.
  • Chalker, Jack L.; Mark Owings (2001). The Science-Fantasy Publishers: A Bibliographic History, Supplement 9, 2000–2001. Westminster, MD and Baltimore: Mirage Press, Ltd. p. 29.
  • Clute, John; Peter Nicholls (1995). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. New York: St. Martin's Griffin. p. 1296. ISBN 0-312-13486-X.
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