Eric Frank Russell cover gallery

Eric Frank Russell

The first science fiction story that really had an impact on me was Eric Frank Russell's 'Alamagoosa' which I remember reading when I was about 12 years old, a fabulous and hilarious story that looses nothing however many times I read it. Russell published far too little and there's a fair amount of work that remains uncollected—I'd love to do a volume of 'The Early Eric Frank Russell', for instance, to rescue a few of his pre-1950s tales that have never reappeared. They're mostly of archaeological interest only, but I still think it would make a nice collection. Indeed, he's one author I'd love to have a set of 'Complete Stories of...' volumes for on my shelves. Maybe... one day...

NOVELS

Sinister Barrier (in Unknown Worlds, 1939). Kingswood, Surrey, World’s Work, 1943; revised, Reading, Penn., Fantasy Press, 1948; London, Dobson, 1967.

Dreadful Sanctuary. Reading, Penn., Fantasy Press, 1948; London, Museum Press, 1953; revised, New York, Paperback Library, 1963; London, New English Library, 1967.

Sentinels From Space (as The Star Watchers, in Startling Stories, 1951). New York, Bouregy Curl, 1953; London, Museum, 1954; as Sentinels of Space, New York, Ace, 1954.

Three to Conquer (as Call Him Dead in Astounding Science Fiction, 1955). New York, Avalon, 1956; London, Dobson, 1957.

Wasp. New York, Avalon, 1957; expanded (or unabridged?), London, Dobson, 1958.

The Space Willies (based on the story Plus X). New York, Ace, 1958; unabridged edition, as Next of Kin, London, Dobson, 1959; edited & abridged, University of London Press (Pilot Books 44), 1964.

The Great Explosion (incorporates the story ...And Then There Were None). London, Dobson, 1962; New York, Dodd, Mead & Co., 1962.

With a Strange Device. London, Dobson, 1964; as The Mind Warpers, New York, Lancer, 1965.

Design for Great-Day, with Alan Dean Foster. New York, Tor Books, 1995.

OMNIBUS

Entities: The Selected Short Novels of Eric Frank Russell (contains, Wasp; Sentinels from Space; Call Him Dead; Next of Kin; Sinister Barrier; Legwork; Mana; The Mechanical Mice). NESFA Press, Sep 2001.

COLLECTIONS

Deep Space. New York, Fantasy Press, 1954; London, Eyre Spottiswoode, 1956; also with one story omitted, New York, Bantam, 1955
(contains: First Person—Singular; The Witness; Last Blast; Homo Saps; The Timid Tiger; A Little Oil; Rainbows End; The Undecided; Second Genesis. NOTE: First Person—Singular omitted from some editions)

Men, Martians and Machines. London, Dobson, 1955; New York, Roy, 1956
(contains: Jay Score; Mechanistra; Symbiotica; Mesmerica)

Six Worlds Yonder. New York, Ace, 1958
(contains: The Waitabits; Tieline; Top Secret; Nothing New; Into Your Tent I’ll Creep; Diabologic)

Far Stars. London, Dobson, 1961
(contains: The Waitabits; P.S.; Allamagoosa; Legwork; Diabologic; The Timeless Ones)

Dark Tides. London, Dobson, 1962
(contains: The Sin of Hyacinth Peuch; With a Blunt Instrument; A Matter of Instinct; I’m a Stranger Here Myself; This Ones On Me; I Hear You Calling; Wisel The Ponderer; Sole Solution; Rhythm of the Rats; Me and My Shadow; Bitter End)

Somewhere a Voice. London, Dobson, 1965; New York, Ace, 1966
(contains: Somewhere A Voice; U-Turn; Seat of Oblivion; Tieline; Displaced Person; Dear Devil; I Am Nothing)

Like Nothing On Earth. London, Dobson, 1975
(contains: Allamagoosa; Hobbyist; The Mechanical Mice; Into Your Tent Ill Creep; Nothing New; Exposure; Ultima Thule)

The Best of Eric Frank Russell, introduced by Alan Dean Foster. New York, Ballentine, 1978.
(contains: Mana; Jay Score; Homo Saps; Metamorphosite; Hobbyist; Late Night Final; Dear Devil; Fast Falls the Eventide; I Am Nothing; Weak Spot; Alamagoosa; Into Your Tent Ill Creep; Study In Still Life (n-f))

Major Ingredients, ed. Rick Katze. Framingham, MA, NESFA Press, Sep 2000.
(contains: Editor’s Introduction (by Rick Katze); Eric Frank Russell (by Jack L. Chalker); Allamagoosa; …And Then There Were None; The Army Comes to Venus; Basic Right; Dear Devil; Diabologic; Fast Falls the Eventide; Hobbyist; Homo Saps; I Am Nothing; Into Your Tent I’ll Creep; Jay Score; Last Blast; Late Night Final; A Little Oil; Meeting on Kangshan; Metamorphosite; Minor Ingredient; Now Inhale; Nuisance Value; Panic Button; Plus X; Study in Still Life; Tieline; The Timid Tiger; Top Secret; The Ultimate Invader; The Undecided; U-Turn; The Waitabits; The Man Who (Almost) Never Was (by Mike Resnick))

NON-FICTION

Great World Mysteries. London: Dobson, 1957; New York: Roy, 1957

The Rabble Rousers. Evanstown, Ill.: Regency, 1963.

The ABZ of Scouse: How to Talk Proper in Liverpool Vol. 2 (as Linacre Lane). Liverpool, Scouse Press, 1966.

(* That last one really is Eric Frank Russell writing in the guise of Linacre Lane, Bachelor of Scouse; I believe it only came to light when some of Russell's papers were donated to the Science Fiction Foundation by his daughter in 1994.)