[Warning: May contain sarcasm.]
Not to take a side in the struggle between Merril et al.’s New Wave and more traditional science fiction and fantasy, but…
One may admire the artistry of the stories in anthologies like
England Swings SF, even if one eventually tires of the pessimistic tone taken by such young scamps as Ellison, Spinrad, and Ballard. Why can’t these authors be more like their venerable predecessors? Here are five instances of the sunnily optimistic science fiction that exemplified the genre in the days before the younger set decided to indulge in such gloomy literary prose.