10 Story Fantasy – Spring, 1951 (Featuring “The Sentinel,” by Arthur C. Clarke) [Unknown Artist]

Avon Publishing’s 10 Story Fantasy appeared in Spring of 1951 and survived only through – and as – its first edition.

Ironically – well, the world of wiring is characterized by irony – that single issue included a story, the theme of which would become – over a decade later – a plot element of one of the most significant motion pictures ever made: Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, being incorporated in parallel into Clarke’s novel of the same name.

In 10 Story Fantasy, Clarke’s tale is accompanied by an uncredited illustration showing the un-named protagonist as he discovers an alien artifact on the moon’s surface, within the lunar mare Mare Crisium (the “Sea of Crises”), the location of which was changed to Tycho Crater in Clarke’s novel and Kubrick’s film.

That illustration appears below, accompanied with art by Kierale and (possibly) Hannes Bok, for “Friend to Man” and The “Woodworker”, respectively.  All three are adapted and modified from 10 Story Fantasy at Archive.org, contributed by Gerard Arthus.  Unfortunately, the cover artist is unknown, though there is something Earle Bergey-ish going on here!

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Illustration by H.W. Kierale, for “Friend To Man”, by Cyril M. Kornbluth, p. 27.

A superb writer, thematically and stylistically very distinctive, Kornbluth’s “Friend to Man” has characteristics that, while ostensibly in opposition, are vividly manifested in his work:  An atmosphere of cynicism, ultimately alleviated by the inevitability of cosmic justice.  These qualities are best exemplified in “The Mindworm,” “Two Dooms,” “The Marching Morons,” ‘The Little Black Bag,” and “The Only Thing We Learn”. 

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Illustration by unknown artist, for “The Sentinel”, by Arthur C. Clarke, p. 41.

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Illustration – possibly by Hannes Bok (Wayne F. Woodward) – for “The Woodworker”, by Gene A. Davidson, p. 99.

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“Sentinel of Eternity” was published three years later, in the April 1954 issue of New Worlds (cover by J. Kinnear), under the title “The Sentinel”.  The story appears on pages 47 through 55 (well, it is a short story, after all!), and lacks any illustrations.  Curiously, in the same way that Cyril Kornbluth’s “Friend to Man” accompanied Clarke’s tale in 10 Story Fantasy, so New Worlds featured another Kornbluth story: “Takeoff”, serialized in three parts.  The image below is from the Luminist Archives.

References

Ash, Brian, The Visual Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Harmony Books, New York, N.Y., 1977

Szczesuil, Timothy P. (editor), His Share of Glory: The Complete Short Science Fiction of C.M. Kornbluth, The NESFA Press, Framingham, Ma., 1997

“The Sentinel” (description of story, and relationship to film 2001: A Space Odyssey), at Wikipedia

“The Sentinel” (Radio Program, at JR Todd YouTube Channel)