Peter Davison's Book of Alien Monsters and Peter Davison's Book of Alien Planets
Second paragraph of third story of Peter Davison's Book of Alien Monsters ("Beyond Lies the Wub", by Philip K. Dick):'What's the matter?' he said. 'You're getting paid for all this.'
Second paragraph of third story of Peter Davison's Book of Alien Planets ("Exile", by Edmond Hamilton):But the four of us were all professional writers of fantastic stories, and I suppose shop talk was inevitable. Yet, we’d kept off it through dinner and the drinks afterward. Madison had outlined his hunting trip with gusto, and then Brazell started a discussion of the Dodgers’ chances. And then I had to turn the conversation to fantasy.
Two anthologies brought out during Peter Davison's time at the helm of the TARDIS, both in fact edited by Richard Evans, who has a story in each under the name Christopher George. As can be inferred from the titles, the first is more about alien species and the second more about planets, though there is plenty of thematic overlap. Both have gorgeous covers by (uncredited but obviously) Chris Foss.
But they are actually very different anthologies. Peter Davison's Book of Alien Monsters (1982) includes nine stories, eight of which are original and were presumably commissioned for this book (the exception is "Beyond Lies the Wub", by Philip K. Dick). But most of the other eight are by major British authors - Robert Holdstock, Dave Langford, Michael Scott Rohan, Christopher Evans and one woman, Dyan Sheldon (her first SF publication, according to ISFDB, and last for several years as well; she is better known as a YA writer). They are decent enough, but only the Garry Kilworth story has been subsequently published elsewhere. You can get it here.
Peter Davison's Book of Alien Planets (1983), on the other hand, contains eight stories, only two of which are original - one by the editor, and one by Mary Gentle, who at that time was still a newcomer with just one novel, A Hawk in Silver, to her name; this seems to be her first published short fiction, but she had two more stories published in Asimov's that year (1983), and of course has never looked back. The others are all classics by the likes of Edmond Hamilton, Ray Bradbury and two by Arthur C. Clarke, "The Star" and "History Lesson". From Davison's foreword, it appears that these were very much chosen by him as personal favourites. Most of them have a grim twist at the end. It is the more solid of the two anthologies, but you are more likely to already have most of the stories in it. You can get it here.
These were the two shortest books on my shelves acquired in 2015. Next on that pile is Neil Gaiman's early book about Duran Duran.
Second paragraph of third story of Peter Davison's Book of Alien Planets ("Exile", by Edmond Hamilton):But the four of us were all professional writers of fantastic stories, and I suppose shop talk was inevitable. Yet, we’d kept off it through dinner and the drinks afterward. Madison had outlined his hunting trip with gusto, and then Brazell started a discussion of the Dodgers’ chances. And then I had to turn the conversation to fantasy.
Two anthologies brought out during Peter Davison's time at the helm of the TARDIS, both in fact edited by Richard Evans, who has a story in each under the name Christopher George. As can be inferred from the titles, the first is more about alien species and the second more about planets, though there is plenty of thematic overlap. Both have gorgeous covers by (uncredited but obviously) Chris Foss.
But they are actually very different anthologies. Peter Davison's Book of Alien Monsters (1982) includes nine stories, eight of which are original and were presumably commissioned for this book (the exception is "Beyond Lies the Wub", by Philip K. Dick). But most of the other eight are by major British authors - Robert Holdstock, Dave Langford, Michael Scott Rohan, Christopher Evans and one woman, Dyan Sheldon (her first SF publication, according to ISFDB, and last for several years as well; she is better known as a YA writer). They are decent enough, but only the Garry Kilworth story has been subsequently published elsewhere. You can get it here.
Peter Davison's Book of Alien Planets (1983), on the other hand, contains eight stories, only two of which are original - one by the editor, and one by Mary Gentle, who at that time was still a newcomer with just one novel, A Hawk in Silver, to her name; this seems to be her first published short fiction, but she had two more stories published in Asimov's that year (1983), and of course has never looked back. The others are all classics by the likes of Edmond Hamilton, Ray Bradbury and two by Arthur C. Clarke, "The Star" and "History Lesson". From Davison's foreword, it appears that these were very much chosen by him as personal favourites. Most of them have a grim twist at the end. It is the more solid of the two anthologies, but you are more likely to already have most of the stories in it. You can get it here.
These were the two shortest books on my shelves acquired in 2015. Next on that pile is Neil Gaiman's early book about Duran Duran.