John Carnell, Michael Moorcock : New Worlds Anthologies


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UK magazine New Worlds gained notoreity in the mid-1960s, under the editoriship of Michael Moorcock, as the hub of the "New Wave" movement in science fiction, with experimental writing and challenges to traditional themes of SF, and suffering charges of obscenity that led to problems with distribution.

But the magazine had been around nearly two decades before Moorcock; it was founded in 1946 and was edited for some 19 years by John Carnell as a solid, conventional SF magazine, somewhat the UK counterpart of Astounding. Carnell produced one "best of" volume during his era, in 1955, gathering eight stories from 1949 to 1954. (Carnell later published 21 original anthologies of "New Writings in SF" until his death; that series was taken over by Kenneth Bulmer.)

As Michael Moorcock became editor in mid-1964, he produced his own "best of" volume in 1965, with 15 stories from 1958 up to 1965.

During the six years of Moorcock's tenure he published eight volumes of "Best SF Stories from New Worlds" for Panther in the UK. Only the first six of these were published in the US, by Berkeley Medallion, with Paul Lehr covers, as shown in the photo. The books were not sequential, each publishing a range of stories from 1962 up to 1969, but as a group they average out as annuals.

After the magazine suspended in 1971, Moorcock, and later Hilary Bailey, published a total of 10 original anthologies from New Worlds Quarterly #1 through New Worlds 10 in 1976. Three final issues of the magazine appeared in 1978 and 1979, edited by Moorcock and others.

Then in 1983 Moorcock published a large retrospective volume, New Worlds: An Anthology, with 20 stories, one poem, and several essays, the stories from 1965 to 1975, including several from the 10 anthologies; and a 130-page index listing the tables of contents of all 216 issues and anthologies.

Most reprinted authors: Langdon Jones (8); Brian W. Aldiss, J.G. Ballard, and Barrington J. Bayley (7 each); Thomas M. Disch (6); Hilary Bailey and Charles Platt (5 each); and M. John Harrison, Michael Moorcock, and D.M. Thomas (4 each).

  • The Best from New Worlds Science Fiction, John Carnell, ed. (Boardman, 1955) [isfdb]
  • The Best of New Worlds, (Compact, 1965) [isfdb]
  • The Best SF Stories from New Worlds, (Panther, 1967) [isfdb]
  • Best Stories from New Worlds II, (Panther, 1968) [isfdb]
  • Best SF Stories from New Worlds 3, (Panther, 1968) [isfdb]
  • Best SF Stories from New Worlds 4, (Panther, 1969) [isfdb]
  • Best SF Stories from New Worlds 5, (Panther, 1969) [isfdb]
  • Best SF Stories from New Worlds 6, (Panther, 1970) [isfdb]
  • Best SF Stories from New Worlds 7, (Panther, 1971) [isfdb]
  • Best SF Stories from New Worlds 8, (Panther, 1974) [isfdb]
  • New Worlds, (Flamingo, 1983) [isfdb]



Combined Contents by Author and Title


Brian W. Aldiss
  • Another Little Boy (New Worlds #166 1966) -- Best Stories from New Worlds II
  • Multi-Value Motorway (New Worlds Aug 1967) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 3
          -- New Worlds
  • The Pit My Parish (New Worlds Jan 1958) -- The Best of New Worlds
  • The Serpent of Kundalini (New Worlds Feb 1968) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 5
  • The Small Betraying Detail (New Worlds May 1965) -- The Best SF Stories from New Worlds
  • The Source (New Worlds Aug 1965) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 4
  • Hilary Bailey
  • Dr. Gelabius (New Worlds Apr 1968) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 4
          -- New Worlds
  • The Fall of Frenchy Steiner (New Worlds Jul/Aug 1964) -- The Best of New Worlds
          -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 8
  • In Reason's Ear (Science-Fantasy #73 1965) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 6
  • J. G. Ballard
  • The Assassination Weapon (New Worlds Apr 1966) -- The Best SF Stories from New Worlds
          -- New Worlds
  • The Beach Murders (Rogue Feb/Mar 1966) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 7
  • The Death Module (New Worlds Jul 1967) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 5
  • The Killing Ground (New Worlds Mar 1969) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 6
  • The Terminal Beach (New Worlds Mar 1964) -- The Best of New Worlds
  • You: Coma: Marilyn Monroe (Ambit #27 1966) -- Best Stories from New Worlds II
  • Alan Barclay
  • The Hard Way (New Worlds Jun 1953) -- The Best from New Worlds Science Fiction
  • John Baxter
  • The Traps of Time (New Worlds Mar 1964) -- The Best of New Worlds
  • Barrington J. Bayley
  • All the King's Men (New Worlds Mar 1965) -- The Best of New Worlds
          -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 7
  • The Big Sound (Science-Fantasy #51 1962) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 8
  • Double Time (New Worlds Jul 1962) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 8
  • The Four-Color Problem (New Worlds Quarterly 2, 1971) -- New Worlds
  • The Radius Riders (Science Fiction Adventures (UK) #27 1962) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 8
  • The Ship of Disaster (New Worlds Jun 1965) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 4
  • John Brunner
  • The Last Lonely Man (New Worlds May/Jun 1964) -- The Best of New Worlds
          -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 8
  • Nobody Axed You (New Worlds May 1965) -- The Best SF Stories from New Worlds
  • Michael Butterworth
  • Concentrate 3 -- New Worlds [original]
  • A. Bertram Chandler
  • Jetsam (New Worlds Mar 1953) -- The Best from New Worlds Science Fiction
  • Graham Charnock
  • The Erogenous Zone (New Worlds Jul 1969) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 8
  • John Clute
  • A Man Must Die (New Worlds Nov 1966) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 6
  • George Collyn
  • In Passage of the Sun (New Worlds Jul 1966) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 3
  • Mix-Up (New Worlds Nov/Dec 1964) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 7
  • The Singular Quest of Martin Borg (New Worlds Feb 1965) -- Best Stories from New Worlds II
  • James Colvin
  • The Mountain (Boys World #21) -- The Best of New Worlds
          -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 3
  • Samuel R. Delany
  • Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones (New Worlds Dec 1968) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 7
  • Thomas M. Disch
  • Angouleme (New Worlds Quarterly, 1971) -- New Worlds
  • The Contest (New Worlds Mar 1967) -- Best Stories from New Worlds II
  • The Descent of the West End (New Worlds Mar 1967) -- Best Stories from New Worlds II
  • The Empty Room (New Worlds Mar 1967) -- Best Stories from New Worlds II
  • Linda and Daniel and Spike (New Worlds Dec 1967) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 4
  • The Squirrel Cage (New Worlds Oct 1966) -- The Best SF Stories from New Worlds
  • Harlan Ellison
  • A Boy and His Dog (New Worlds Apr 1969) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 8
  • Carol Emshwiller
  • Lib (New Worlds Mar 1968) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 6
  • Christopher Finch
  • A Landscape of Shallows (New Worlds Jul 1968) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 5
          -- New Worlds
  • Giles Gordon
  • Scream (New Worlds Jul 1968) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 5
          -- New Worlds
  • J. W. Groves
  • Robots Don't Bleed (New Worlds Win 1950) -- The Best from New Worlds Science Fiction
  • Graham M. Hall
  • The Tennyson Effect (New Worlds Nov 1966) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 5
  • Harry Harrison
  • I See You (New Worlds May 1959) -- The Best of New Worlds
  • M. John Harrison
  • The Ash Circus (New Worlds Apr 1969) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 7
  • Baa Baa Blocksheep (New Worlds Nov 1968) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 6
  • The Bait Principle (New Worlds Feb 1970) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 8
  • Running Down (New Worlds 8, 1975) -- New Worlds
  • Peter Hawkins
  • Ship from the Stars (New Worlds Jul 1954) -- The Best from New Worlds Science Fiction
  • Harvey Jacobs
  • Gravity (New Worlds Aug 1969) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 6
          -- New Worlds
  • In Seclusion (New Worlds Feb 1968) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 4
  • Langdon Jones
  • The Eye of the Lens (New Worlds Mar 1968) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 6
          -- New Worlds
  • Flower-Gathering (New Worlds Jun 1969) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 7
  • The Great Clock (New Worlds Mar 1966) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 3
  • I Remember, Anita (New Worlds Sep/Oct 1964) -- The Best of New Worlds
  • The Music Makers (New Worlds Nov 1965) -- The Best SF Stories from New Worlds
  • Transient (New Worlds Dec 1965) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 4
  • Transplant (New Worlds Sep/Oct 1969) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 7
  • Colin Kapp
  • The Railways Up on Cannis (New Worlds Oct 1959) -- The Best of New Worlds
  • Thom Keyes
  • Period of Gestation (Science-Fantasy #67 1964) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 4
  • Fritz Leiber
  • The Square Root of Brain (New Worlds Feb 1968) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 4
  • George MacBeth
  • The Soft World Sequence (New Worlds Jul 1967) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 3
          -- New Worlds
  • David I. Masson
  • The Transfinite Choice (New Worlds Aug 1966) -- Best Stories from New Worlds II
  • Traveller's Rest -- New Worlds [original]
  • A Two-Timer (New Worlds Feb 1966) -- The Best SF Stories from New Worlds
  • J. T. McIntosh
  • The Broken Record (New Worlds Sep 1952) -- The Best from New Worlds Science Fiction
  • Robert G. Meadley
  • Conversations at Ma Maia Metron (New Worlds 8, 1975) -- New Worlds
  • Michael Moorcock
  • The Delhi Division (New Worlds Dec 1968) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 6
  • The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius (New Worlds Sep 1965) -- Best Stories from New Worlds II as by JAMES COLVIN
  • The Tank Trapeze (New Worlds Jan 1969) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 7
          -- New Worlds
  • The Time Dweller (New Worlds Feb 1964) -- The Best of New Worlds
  • Jerrold Mundis
  • The Luger Is a 9mm Automatic Handgun with a Parabellum Action (New Worlds Mar 1969) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 6
  • Peter Phillips
  • Unknown Quantity (New Worlds #5 1949) -- The Best from New Worlds Science Fiction
  • Dannie Plachta
  • The Last Inn on the Road (by Roger Zelazny & DP) (New Worlds Oct 1967) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 5
  • Charles Platt
  • The Disaster Story (New Worlds Mar 1966) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 3
          -- New Worlds
  • Lone Zone (New Worlds Jul 1965) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 7
  • The Rodent Laboratory (New Worlds Aug 1966) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 5
  • The Total Experience Kick (New Worlds Dec 1966) -- Best Stories from New Worlds II
  • Robert Presslie
  • Another Word for Man (New Worlds Dec 1958) -- The Best of New Worlds
  • Christopher Priest
  • The Ersatz Wine (Ersatz Wines, 2008) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 6
  • Kit Reed
  • Sisohpromatem (New Worlds Jan 1967) -- Best Stories from New Worlds II
  • Keith Roberts
  • Coranda (New Worlds Jan 1967) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 3
  • James Sallis
  • Kazoo (New Worlds Aug 1967) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 3
  • Josephine Saxton
  • The Wall (Science-Fantasy #78 1965) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 7
  • Arthur Sellings
  • The Outstretched Hand (New Worlds May 1959) -- The Best of New Worlds
  • John Sladek
  • Masterson and the Clerks (New Worlds Sep 1967) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 4
          -- New Worlds
  • The Poets of Millgrove, Iowa (New Worlds Nov 1966) -- Best Stories from New Worlds II
  • Norman Spinrad
  • The Last Hurrah of the Golden Horde (New Worlds Jul 1969) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 5
  • No Direction Home (New Worlds Quarterly 2, 1971) -- New Worlds
  • Peter Tate
  • Mars Pastorale (New Worlds Aug 1967) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 5
  • The Post-Mortem People (New Worlds Mar 1966) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 3
  • D. M. Thomas
  • The Head-Rape (New Worlds Mar 1968) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 4
  • Mr. Black's Poems of Innocence (New Worlds Mar 1969) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 6
          -- New Worlds
  • The Spectrum (New Worlds Feb 1969) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 5
  • E. C. Tubb
  • New Experience (New Worlds Sep/Oct 1964) -- The Best of New Worlds
  • Rockets Aren't Human (New Worlds Mar 1953) -- The Best from New Worlds Science Fiction
  • James White
  • Crossfire (New Worlds Jun 1953) -- The Best from New Worlds Science Fiction
  • Tableau (New Worlds May 1958) -- The Best of New Worlds
  • P. F. Woods
  • The Countenance (New Worlds Jan 1964) -- Best Stories from New Worlds II
  • Integrity (New Worlds Sep/Oct 1964) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 3
  • Roger Zelazny
  • For a Breath I Tarry (New Worlds Mar 1966) -- Best Stories from New Worlds II
  • The Keys to December (New Worlds Aug 1966) -- The Best SF Stories from New Worlds
  • The Last Inn on the Road (by RZ & Dannie Plachta) (New Worlds Oct 1967) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 5
  • Pamela Zoline
  • The Heat Death of the Universe (New Worlds Jul 1967) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 3
          -- New Worlds
  • Leo Zorin
  • The Apocalypse Machine (New Worlds Dec 1968) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 7
  • Joel Zoss
  • The Valve Transcript (New Worlds Apr 1968) -- Best SF Stories from New Worlds 4
          -- New Worlds

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