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I tried my hand at the Best Graphic Story or Comic category:

* Buck Rogers: "Hollow Planetoid", by Dick Calkins (National Newspaper Service)

I wasn't able to figure out how to get this. Help?

* Donald Duck: "The Mad Chemist", by Carl Barks (Dell Comics)

Reprinted in the 1989 Donald Duck Adventures #15, which can be gotten for $6 or $7 on eBay, and probably cheaper if you rifle through stacks of old comics in a store (although you can't do that most places at the moment).

* Flash Gordon: "Battle for Tropica", by Alex Raymond (King Features Syndicate)

Available at a reasonable price in "Flash Gordon Volume #6 1943-1945: Triumph In Tropica" from Kitchen Sink Press

* Flash Gordon: "Triumph in Tropica", by Alex Raymond (King Features Syndicate)

Also in "Flash Gordon Volume #6 1943-1945: Triumph In Tropica".

* The Spirit: "For the Love of Clara Defoe", by Manly Wade Wellman, Lou Fine and Don Komisarow (Register and Tribune Syndicate)

Read it online (it's only 8 pages): https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=21755

* Superman: "The Mysterious Mr. Mxyztplk", by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster (Detective Comics, Inc.)

https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Superman_Vol_1_30 has a list of reprints, and they are readily available.

Crossposts: https://quadong.livejournal.com/121476.html

I've put a complete version, somewhat tidied up, at http://startraders.mn/hugo1944.html

Crossposts: https://quadong.livejournal.com/121131.html

Best Graphic Story or Comic: I assume these are obtainable, but I don't know how to efficiently go about figuring out how.

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form:

* The Canterville Ghost, screenplay by Edwin Harvey Blum from a story by Oscar Wilde, directed by Jules Dassin (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM))

Trailer here: https://archive.org/details/TheCantervilleGhostTrailer1944 . There's a DVD on eBay for $15. I'm unconvinced from the trailer that it's worth $15 to see. $7 if you have a working VCR.

* The Curse of the Cat People, written by DeWitt Bodeen, directed by Gunther V. Fritsch and Robert Wise (RKO Radio Pictures)

Full movie at: https://archive.org/details/PhantasmagoriaTheater-TheCurseOfTheCatPeople1944970-2 . Also available on DVD.

* Donovan’s Brain, adapted by Robert L. Richards from a story by Curt Siodmak, producer, director and editor William Spier (CBS Radio Network)

This confused me, given that there was a movie adaptation in 1944, but called "The Lady and the Monster. Then I realized the nominated work is a *radio* drama. (Yeah, it says it right there: "CBS Radio Network", but I missed it.) I believe it is here: https://archive.org/details/Suspense19440518DonovansBrainPart1.EastCoast (part 1), https://archive.org/details/DonovansBrain1944 (part 2)

* House of Frankenstein, screenplay by Edward T. Lowe, Jr. from a story by Curt Siodmak, directed by Erle C. Kenton (Universal Pictures)

Trailer at: https://archive.org/details/HouseOfFrankensteintrailer . There's a DVD. Run ya $10 on eBay. Edited to add: Also available on DVD from Netflix.

* The Invisible Man’s Revenge, written by Bertram Millhauser, directed by Ford Beebe (Universal Pictures)

Full movie at: https://archive.org/details/UniversalStudiosMonsters1944TheInvisibleMansRevenge . There's also a DVD for $19 and up on eBay.

* It Happened Tomorrow, screenplay and adaptation by Dudley Nichols and René Clair, directed by René Clair (Arnold Pressburger Films)

Full movie at: https://archive.org/details/ITHAPPENEDTOMORROW . DVD for $19+.

Best Fanzine:

* The Acolyte, edited by Francis T. Laney and Samuel D. Russell

http://fanac.org/fanzines/Acolyte/

* Diablerie, edited by Bill Watson

http://fanac.org/fanzines/Diablerie/

* Futurian War Digest, edited by J. Michael Rosenblum

http://fanac.org/fanzines/Futurian_War_Digest/

* Shangri L’Affaires, edited by Charles Burbee

http://fanac.org/fanzines/Shangri-laffaires/

* Voice of the Imagi-Nation, edited by Forrest J. Ackerman and Myrtle R. Douglas

http://fanac.org/fanzines/VOM/

* Le Zombie, edited by Bob Tucker and E.E. Evans

http://fanac.org/fanzines/Le_Zombie/

Crossposts: https://quadong.livejournal.com/120258.html

Best Series: I don't like this category. How am I supposed to know how to review a large body of work if I'm not already a fan of it? It's a dumb popularity contest category giving works almost no chance of being judged on their merits. Pass.

Best Related Work:

* Fancyclopedia, by Jack Speer (Forrest J. Ackerman)

You can read it in its entirety, converted to HTML here: https://fanac.org/Fannish_Reference_Works/Fancyclopedia/Fancyclopedia_I/ . The scans must be on http://fanac.org somewhere, too, right? But I can't find them.

* ’42 To ’44: A Contemporary Memoir Upon Human Behavior During the Crisis of the World Revolution, by H.G. Wells (Secker & Warburg)

Never reprinted. Available on eBay at $60 and up. Is this worth bothering?

* Mr. Tompkins Explores the Atom, by George Gamow (Cambridge University Press)

Get it in a volume literally called "Mr Tompkins in Paperback", available on eBay for under $5.

* Rockets: The Future of Travel Beyond the Stratosphere, by Willy Ley (Viking Press)

Never reprinted. Two available on eBay, one for $17, the other from $140. Not sure I'm going to drop even $17 on this.

* “The Science-Fiction Field”, by Leigh Brackett (Writer’s Digest, July 1944)

--- At this point, ISFDB's database went down. Time to buy more toilet paper! ---

~~Not sure if this was republished, but I see no copies on eBay with the original title. It may be difficult to obtain.~~ Ok, the database is back. ISFDB lists printings in 2017 (unreasonably priced hardcover volume "Lorelei of the Red Mist: Planetary Romances") and in 2013 in a paperback called "Windy City Pulp Stories #13" which you can get on eBay for around $30. The original Writer's Digest issue is not available on eBay, nor on the Internet Archive.

* “The Works of H.P. Lovecraft: Suggestions for a Critical Appraisal”, by Fritz Leiber (The Acolyte, Fall 1944)

~~Again, I see nothing matching this title on eBay, and I don't know if it was republished under a different name. Possibly difficult to get.~~ Published in The Acolyte 8, which is at http://fanac.org/fanzines/Acolyte/Acolyte8-cv.html . You can also buy it in Fritz Leiber and H.P. Lovecraft: Writers of the Dark, paperback, for around $23 on eBay.

Possibly to be continued.

Crossposts: https://quadong.livejournal.com/119871.html

Best Novelette:

* “Arena”, by Fredric Brown (Astounding Science Fiction, June 1944)

Reprinted many many times (http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?41651). I read it in The Best of Fredric Brown.

* “The Big and the Little” (“The Merchant Princes”), by Isaac Asimov (Astounding Science Fiction, August 1944)

This is one of the sections of Foundation. So you could read Foundation, but as with the previous sections, I recommend reading the original in Astounding: https://archive.org/details/Astounding_v33n06_1944-08_Gorgon776 . I haven't reviewed what, if any, changes were made when it was packaged into the novel, but I suspect there are some.

* “The Children’s Hour”, by Lawrence O’Donnell (C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner) (Astounding Science Fiction, March 1944)

Only republished once in Aliens from Analog (1983). A few copies are available on eBay at reasonable prices. You could also read it in the original: https://archive.org/details/Astounding_v33n03_1944-05_dtsg0318

Republished ~~twice~~ thrice, including in Aliens from Analog and A Treasury of Great Science Fiction, Volume One, both of which are available at reasonable prices. You can also read the original on the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/Astounding_v33n01_1944-03_dtsg0318-LennyS

* “City”, by Clifford D. Simak (Astounding Science Fiction, May 1944)

Republished many times (http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?41546).

* “No Woman Born”, by C.L. Moore (Astounding Science Fiction, December 1944)

Republished many times (http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?47580). Edited to add: If you got the Mammoth Book of Golden Age Science Fiction as recommended above, you've already got this one too.

* “When the Bough Breaks”, by Lewis Padgett (C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner) (Astounding Science Fiction, November 1944)

Republished many times (http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?189896).

Best Short Story:

* “And the Gods Laughed”, by Fredric Brown (Planet Stories, Spring 1944)

Republished many times (http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?61779). A lot of them are hardcover. Maybe the cheapest to get is Honeymoon in Hell.

* “Desertion”, by Clifford D. Simak (Astounding Science Fiction, November 1944)

Since you have already bought the collection City above so you can read "City", you have this too now.

* “Far Centaurus”, by A. E. van Vogt (Astounding Science Fiction, January 1944)

Republished many times (http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?41417+1). Maybe the cheapest option is Starships, edited by Asimov.

* “Huddling Place”, by Clifford D. Simak (Astounding Science Fiction, July 1944)

You already have this because you bought City.

* “I, Rocket”, by Ray Bradbury (Amazing Stories, May 1944)

I guess this is one of those OMG BRADBURY nominations made by people who haven't read it. I put it as "maybe" on my list and then didn't nominate it in the end. It has been republished only three times, and one is an expensive hardcover whose title suggests a scholarly work. Probably cheapest to get in The Human Zero and Other Science-Fiction Masterpieces (1967) (one copy on eBay right now at $15), or since it's a short story, maybe just read the scans: https://archive.org/details/Amazing_Stories_v18n03_1944-05_cape1736

* “The Wedge” (“The Traders”), by Isaac Asimov (Astounding Science Fiction, October 1944)

This is a section of Foundation. See above. The original: https://archive.org/details/Astounding_v34n02_1944-10_dtsg0318-LennyS

Maybe to be continued with trickier categories.

Crossposts: https://quadong.livejournal.com/119612.html

Nominee list: http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/1945-retro-hugo-awards/

Now how to actually read them?

This ISFDB page is enormously handy: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?34+2020

Novels:

* The Golden Fleece, by Robert Graves (Cassell)

Ok, ISFDB doesn't even consider this to be SF. It's author rates a Wikipedia page, but the book doesn't, although it is mentioned as "historical fiction". Anyway, there's a 2017 edition, and others. No trouble to find, although I'm not sure why I should bother.

* Land of Terror, by Edgar Rice Burroughs (Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.)

Several reprintings. Easy.

* “Shadow Over Mars” (The Nemesis from Terra), by Leigh Brackett (Startling Stories, Fall 1944)

Not hard to find as "The Nemesis from Terra".

* Sirius: A Fantasy of Love and Discord, by Olaf Stapledon (Secker & Warburg)

Available in a newish volume along with Odd John, another Stapledon novel. Also not hard to find by itself.

* The Wind on the Moon, by Eric Linklater (Macmillan)

Easy to find.

* “The Winged Man”, by A.E. van Vogt and E. Mayne Hull (Astounding Science Fiction, May-June 1944)

Easy.

Novellas:

* “The Changeling”, by A.E. van Vogt (Astounding Science Fiction, April 1944)

Available as a novel, several editions. Easy to find.

* “A God Named Kroo”, by Henry Kuttner (Thrilling Wonder Stories, Winter 1944)

Apparently only ever reprinted in Fantastic Story Magazine, Summer 1954. Probably easiest to read the original at the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/Thrilling_Wonder_Stories_v25n02_1944-Winter

* “Intruders from the Stars”, by Ross Rocklynne (Amazing Stories, January 1944)

Republished with "Flight of the Starling" in 2012. Three copies available on eBay in the $10-$20 range. you can also read the original: https://archive.org/details/Amazing_Stories_v18n01_1944-01_cape1736

* “The Jewel of Bas”, by Leigh Brackett (Planet Stories, Spring 1944)

Republished several times. No single one seems to be the obvious one to get. The one with "Thieves' Carnival" from 1990 has a few available at a reasonable price on eBay, as do others.

* “Killdozer!”, by Theodore Sturgeon (Astounding Science Fiction, November 1944)

Many reprintings. Maybe the easiest to get is in "The Mammoth Book of Golden Age Science Fiction".

* “Trog”, by Murray Leinster (Astounding Science Fiction, June 1944)

Apparently never reprinted. Read it at https://archive.org/details/Astounding_v33n04_1944-06_AK

(Next post to continue with novelettes.)

Crossposts: https://quadong.livejournal.com/119195.html

I've been reading and posting old board minutes while quarantined, and ran across this fascinating episode. Apparently in 1983 we either were storing, or thinking of storing, Minicon registration records in some computer system at UMN, but because it was so expensive, we switched (or were thinking of switching) to using a personal computer instead. The rates ~~at UMN~~ offered to us by David Cargo (apparently UMN was *more*):

$1.28/MB/day for online storage (yikes!)
$6.00 per 900kB disk for offline storage
CPU time: $12/hour

I wonder what system this was. Can the 900kB disk be used to determine that?

Crossposts: https://quadong.livejournal.com/115413.html

Looking through likely authors for nomination for Retro-Hugos, I found more magazines to flip through:

Thrilling Wonder Stories, with a story by Leigh Brackett in the Spring issue:
https://archive.org/search.php?query=thrilling%20wonder%20stories%201944

Captain Future, with a novel by Edmond Hamilton in the Winter issue:
https://archive.org/search.php?query=captain%20future%201944

Super Science Stories, *Canadian*, with a story by Ray Bradbury in the October issue:
https://archive.org/search.php?query=super%20science%20%20stories%201944

Dime Mystery Magazine, with a story by Ray Bradbury in the November issue:
https://archive.org/search.php?query=dime%20mystery%20magazine%201944

I'm not saying these are suitable for nomination; I haven't read them yet. I don't even know if they are all SF (Dime Mystery Magazine?), although they aren't listed as "non-genre" by ISFDB.

Crossposts: https://quadong.livejournal.com/109949.html

Crossposts: https://quadong.livejournal.com/107627.html

I did considerably better at actually reading this category, probably because I had to buy them in print to read them, and it's so much easier to read things in print. (The novellas I barely read because they are mostly available online. *eyeroll*)

?) Das Glasperlenspiel [The Glass Bead Game], by Hermann Hesse -- I haven't read it! I have it in the house, but I just got it, and it is super long! I will give it a random ranking amongst the rest. The others I have all read:

1) The Weapon Makers, by A.E. van Vogt -- It's good. Standard van Vogt, which, because of the Retro-Hugos, I now recognize as a thing, e.g. he's ready to "splash" beams of energy across walls if the story seems to be getting boring. Suddenly there are aliens! You know! Exciting! Has some more solid interesting points in the societal structure from time to time.

2) Gather, Darkness! by Fritz Leiber, Jr. -- The overthrow of a futuristic theocracy which uses high technology to simulate magic. Has interesting symbiotic life forms which act as familiars.

3) Earth's Last Citadel, by C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner -- Classic SF. People deposited on a far future earth with several varieties of post-humans.

4) Conjure Wife, by Fritz Leiber, Jr. -- Enjoyable fantasy mixed with small college politics.

5) No award

6) Perelandra, by C.S. Lewis -- I even read Out of the Silent Planet (the first book in the "space trilogy") to prepare for reading this. Well... it's like Narnia for adults if by that you mean that it whacks you repeatedly with the Christianity stick with a little story mixed in instead of vice versa. Out of the Silent Planet was enjoyable reading, with interesting alien civilizations. Perelandra starts out seeming like it might be the same, but then devolves into just whacking the reader with a stick. As you can see from the length of this paragraph, I was more invested in developing an opinion here than for most of the nominees. I'm sorry to say it wasn't a good one.

Crossposts: https://quadong.livejournal.com/104913.html

I was not impressed with this category either. Here's my ranking (with some very mild spoilers if it's possible to have spoilers for 75 year old works):

1) "King of the Gray Spaces", by Ray Bradbury. Memorable enough that I didn't have to re-read it between nominations and final voting. It's very 40's. Good, I guess.

2) "Yours Truly – Jack the Ripper," by Robert Bloch. Very good. Unfortunately it's definitely fantasy and not science fiction.

3) "Death Sentence," by Isaac Asimov. Unmemorable. I read it for nominations and couldn't remember anything about it. On skimming it again, it's mostly perfectly fine and somewhat interesting, but has a stupid gag ending that ruins it.

4) "Exile," by Edmond Hamilton. Very short. Obvious ending. Social commentary. Good, I guess. Not really science fiction.

5) "Doorway into Time," by C.L. Moore. Also unmemorable. Cool name, though. Right, it's a straight adventure story with some gee-whiz alien surrounding it.

6) "Q.U.R.," by H.H. Holmes. And I also had to skim this one again to remember it at all. Magic robots. Cartoon aliens. Silly drinks. Bah.

Depending on my mood when I fill out the ballot, I might put "no award" in there somewhere.

Crossposts: https://quadong.livejournal.com/104235.html

I'm going to post my 1943 Retro-Hugo rankings for the prose categories in the order that I manage to finish reading for them, which isn't longest to shortest or vice versa. The only category I'm ready for so far is novelette, so here goes.

1) "Mimsy Were the Borogoves" by Lewis Padgett -- Clear standout in the category. Sensawonda.

I find it difficult to rank the remaining five nominees because they are all pretty lackluster, but here's a possible order:

2) "Citadel of Lost Ships" by Leigh Brackett -- Adventure story with some allegory, I think. Mostly forgettable.

3) "Theives' House" by Fritz Leiber, Jr. -- Fantasy swords+sorcery adventure. Not painful to read.

4) "The Halfling" by Leigh Brackett -- Adventure/mystery. Nominally SF, but may as well be fantasy. Mostly forgettable.

5) "Symbiotica" by Eric Frank Russell -- Adventure. Tries to have an interesting scientific angle about symbiosis, but fails. Ditto above on actual SF content.

6) "The Proud Robot" by Lewis Padgett -- Cartoonish. No attempt at real science content. Not interesting.

Crossposts: https://quadong.livejournal.com/104076.html

* “Citadel of Lost Ships,” by Leigh Brackett (Planet Stories, March 1943): https://archive.org/details/PlanetStoriesV02N02194303

* “The Halfling,” by Leigh Brackett (Astonishing Stories, February 1943): https://archive.org/details/Astonishing_Stories_v04n03_1943-02

* “Mimsy Were the Borogoves,” by Lewis Padgett (C.L. Moore & Henry Kuttner) (Astounding Science-Fiction, February 1943): https://archive.org/details/Astounding_v30n06_1943-02_dongev-sas

* “The Proud Robot,” by Lewis Padgett (Henry Kuttner) (Astounding Science-Fiction, February 1943): https://archive.org/details/Astounding_v32n02_1943-10_cape1736 [link fixed]

*“Symbiotica,” by Eric Frank Russell (Astounding Science-Fiction, October 1943): https://archive.org/details/Astounding_v32n02_1943-10_cape1736 [link fixed]

* “Thieves’ House,” by Fritz Leiber, Jr (Unknown Worlds, February 1943): Not obviously available online, but here's a list of reprints: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?63237

Crossposts: https://quadong.livejournal.com/103229.html

I'm getting started on my Retro-Hugo reading for 1943. I start with the shortest category and work my way up. For Best Short Story:

"Death Sentence", November Astounding: https://archive.org/details/Astounding_v32n03_1943-11_dtsg0318

"Doorway into Time", September Famous Fantastic Mysteries: https://archive.org/details/Famous_Fantastic_Mysteries_v05n04_1943-09_unz.org

"Exile", May Super Science Stories: Not obviously available online, but here's a list of where it has been reprinted: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?41424

"King of the Gray Spaces", December Famous Fantastic Mysteries: https://archive.org/details/Famous_Fantastic_Mysteries_v05n05_1943-12_unz.org

"Q.U.R.", March Astounding: https://archive.org/details/Astounding_v31n01_1943-03_AK

"Yours Truly -- Jack the Ripper", July Weird Tales: https://archive.org/details/Weird_Tales_v36n12_1943-07

Crossposts: https://quadong.livejournal.com/102991.html

Crossposts: https://quadong.livejournal.com/101905.html

In previous Retro-Hugo years, I have tried to think of nominations by going top-down: Thinking of active authors for that year and looking up what they wrote. This year, I thought I'd try going bottom-up by reading all the Astoundings, Unknowns and Planet Stories and seeing what was good in them. Astounding covers 90% of the good stuff, with the other two probably capturing 8% more.

(Of course, I mean prose fiction. For fanzines and so on, see http://fanac.org/fanzines/Retro_Hugos1943.html. I'm not really into the Dramatic Presentation categories, and I have no idea how to get into Best Professional Artist.)

Well, I have managed to get through half of the Astoundings so far. Aided by a friend's suggestion that I pretend I'm a slush pile reader, I present this list of stories that I found to be un-slushy. That doesn't mean I think they should win (indeed I haven't read all of most of them yet), but that they seem worthy of further consideration:

Jan: https://archive.org/details/Astounding_v30n05_1943-01_DPP
"Opposites - React!" by Will Stewart (Jack Williamson) (serial, two parts, novelette?)
"The search" by A.E. van Vogt (novelette)
"Elsewhen" by Anthony Boucher (novelette)

Feb: https://archive.org/details/Astounding_v30n06_1943-02_dongev-sas
"The Weapon Makers" by A.E. van Vogt (novel)
"Mimsy were the Borogroves" by Louis Padgett (short story)
"Shadow of Life" by Clifford Simak

April: https://archive.org/details/Astounding_v31n02_1943-04_AK
"Swimming Lesson" by Raymond F. Jones (short story)

May: https://archive.org/details/Astounding_v31n03_1943-05_cape1736
(none)

June: https://archive.org/details/Astounding_v31n04_1943-06_dtsg0318
"Calling the Empress" by George O. Smith (novelette)

Crossposts: https://quadong.livejournal.com/101508.html

( My rankings, with possible spoilers )

Crossposts: https://quadong.livejournal.com/93424.html

Here are the nominees and how to read them:

"Asylum": The May 1942 issue of Astounding is on archive.org, but the scan is sufficiently poor that I decided to buy a paper copy. It is in a good number of collections, some recent enough to be easy to find: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?46531
"The Compleat Werewolf": The archive.org copy of the April 1942 Unknown Worlds is good for reading. I happened to pick up a copy of "The Compleat Werewolf and Other Stories of Fantasy and Science Fiction" anyway, and noticed that the original has a one-paragraph intro missing in the anthologized version. Otherwise, they seem to be the same at a glance.
"Hell is Forever": The archive.org copy of the August 1942 Unknown Worlds is good for reading.
"Nerves": Aha! Another "atomic science" story. I would guess that even the first reprint in 1946 had substantial revisions, as this story rests extremely strongly on guesses about nuclear physics that everyone knew were wrong by the end of 1945. I therefore strongly recommend reading the original on archive.org (September 1942 Astounding). It is one of those with the horrible OCR treatment, but read it anyway.
"The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag". Very easy to find. Here's a list of anthologies it is in, for instance the oft-seen "6 x H": http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?67629. If you prefer, the original Unknown Worlds, October 1942 has a clean scan at archive.org.
"Waldo". Very easy to find, for instance in "Waldo and Magic Inc.", which is a title that is so straightforward that it is confusing. It is a volume that contains the two stories "Waldo" and "Magic Inc". The archive.org copy is horribly damaged, so unless you like "Tbanks" and "iights" for "Thanks" and "lights", read it on paper.

My rankings to follow in a later post.

Crossposts: https://quadong.livejournal.com/92626.html

* "Foundation": This is, roughly, the second section of the novel called Foundation, which is titled "The Encyclopedists". The two are different enough that, even though the archive.org scan of the May 1942 Astounding has undergone the same highly irritating OCR treatment as I've complained about before, it is worth reading in the original, at least if you are of the philosophy that the award is for the story as written in 1942.

( List of differences )

* "Bridle and Saddle". This is the second installment in the Foundation series, which later became the third section of the novel Foundation, where it is titled "The Mayors". There are minor revisions between the two versions, but they don't add up to as much as for "Foundation", so reading the novel section is close enough in my estimation.

( List of differences )

* "Goldfish Bowl": I read the scan on archive.org of the March 1942 Astounding. It is also in "Menace From Earth", and probably substantially unaltered since it has nothing to do with nuclear physics.

* "The Star Mouse": I read the scan on archive.org of the Spring 1942 Planet Stories. It has been reprinted many times, including quite recently. http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?40915

* "There Shall be Darkness": I read the scan on archive.org of the February 1942 Astounding. It seems like this is pretty obscure, but it was reprinted in trade paperback in 2008: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?46523

* "The Weapon Shop": I read the scan on archive.org of the December 1942 Astounding. It has been reprinted many times, including paperback, trade, and hardcover this century: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?46550

( My rankings )

Crossposts: https://quadong.livejournal.com/92102.html

I have just finished tracking down and reading all of the Retro-Hugo short stories. First, notes on finding them, with stories listed alphabetically:

"Etaoin Shrdlu". If you are a Hugo voter, you can get the voter's packet, which has a clean copy. If not, you might be tempted to try to read the original magazine, the Sept 1942 Astounding, at archive.org. Don't, because it's missing a page in the middle. It has been anthologized many times, so it should be easy to find a print copy: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?41652
"Mimic". This is neither on archive.org nor in the voter's packet. ISFDB believes it has only been anthologized twice, both hardcover and a long time ago. However, a trip to Uncle Hugo's, where Ken consulted a Big Book That Knows Things The Internet Does Not, revealed that it was also reprinted in a paperback anthology called Bug-Eyed Monsters (1980).
"Proof". There's a clean copy in the voter's packet and a good scan of the original magazine at archive.org. Also widely anthologized: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?46572
"Runaround". There's a good scan of the original magazine at archive.org. Also reprinted many times: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?44191
"The Sunken Land". The file in the voter's packet is a decoy which just points you to the good scan at archive.org. Also: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?57321
"The Twonky". The archive.org copy of the Sept 1942 Astounding is badly flawed. It looks like a scan, but the text has been post-processed in some "clever" OCR scheme which has converted many i's to l's, a's to s's, etc. So unless you like puzzling out what "cburnsd" should be at the climax of a story, I recommend finding a reprint. It's been anthologized a jillion times: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?189831

( My rankings )

Crossposts: https://quadong.livejournal.com/91896.html

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Getting the 1945 Retro-Hugo Nominees, part 5

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