Looking over his bibliography, I see I underestimated how much of him I've read in
the short story thread. Most of this is from long-ago memory, so reader beware.
The Space Merchants (1953)
The first Kornbluth novel collaboration. An all-time brilliant classic satire (or can it be satire if it's so accurate?) about advertising, mass media, and consumption culture.
Search the Sky (1954)
A surprisingly poor follow up with Kornbluth that is episodic and recycles stories and ideas from the authors' other, better work.
More details.
Gladiator-at-Law (1955)
The third Kornbluth novel collaboration which tackles law, giant corporations, reality television, utopian government plans and more. Perhaps not up there with
The Space Merchants, but close - this is what reviewers often call "a return to form". (I read this recently but apparently made no specific post.)
Preferred Risk (1955)
This was a collaboration with Lester del Rey and I'm not sure I read it but I feel like I have. It obviously wasn't memorable so I guess it was neither great nor awful. I think it took on the insurance industry in a less-than-Kornbluthian way.
Slave Ship (1957)
This was his first solo novel. I know I did read this but I've almost completely forgotten it, too. I think it was adequate.
Wolfbane (1959)
This is the final, belated, novel-length collaboration of Pohl and Kornbluth. This really has nothing to do with the first three as this is more surreal and less satirical, set further in the future and so on. I forget the details but I liked it a lot. But if you're looking for the next
Space Merchants or
Gladiator, this ain't it.
The Gold at the Starbow's End (1972)
His productivity slowed in the 60s as he was busy editing and still agenting some somewhere in there but these stories were probably the first fruits of his post editing career (he was still editing books for Bantam and did great things for SF - but also inflicted
Dhalgren on us - but I don't think this took as much time as editing
Galaxy and
If). A good collection.
More details.
The Best of Frederik Pohl (1975)
An indispensable collection covering his solo short fiction from 1954-67. He'd written fairly minor work under a variety of pseudonyms since about 1941, when any New York teenager could apparently get published and even become editor of things hardly distinguishable from fanzines, but this work is from a peak of his short fiction career and, other than his Kornbluth collaborations, this short fiction is the core of his work until the 70s.
Man Plus (1976)
I haven't read this in a million years and maybe it is dated, but I loved it when I first read it and this may have been the first Pohl I read. Ever since I read
Gateway I've thought
Gateway gets the edge but I think of those two as a (qualitative peak) tandem. Rather than terraforming Mars, a man is surgically areomorphed (hey, I just made up a cool word - I think) into
this.
Gateway (1977)
"Masterpiece" is overused but here it is. Broadhead, von Shrink, lost Moynlin, the Heechee lottery. Death or riches. Psychology without being dull. Unforgettable. Great.
The Way the Future Was (1978)
An autobiography and history of SF fandom and SF in general. Excellent.
Jem (1979)
I don't remember this - I only remember intensely disliking it - but I don't even remember why. But it was highly regarded by many.
Beyond the Blue Event Horizon (1980)
A pale skippable shadow of the original which focuses on the wrong thing to sequel, really.
Heechee Rendezvous (1984)
Ditto. I think I gave up on the series here.
The Merchants' War (1984)
Pohl's solo sequel to the original classic after over 30 years. That's a recipe for disaster and I desperately need to re-read this because it probably was, but I
remember liking it just fine. Obviously not like the original, but I remember liking it.
Black Star Rising (1985)
China takes over the world. I hated this one.
The Coming of the Quantum Cats (1986)
I didn't seek this out directly and I can't remember if I read some or all of this as it was in a magazine serial. Seems like it was better than the worst but worse than the best.
Because of the batting average of his '79-'85 works, I gave up on Pohl for a long time. I still haven't read anything more recent but went back and read some of the older works above.
Still in the TBR:
The Wonder Effect (1962),
In the Problem Pit (1976),
Pohlstars (1984). I think the first is partly made up of Pohl/Kornbluth collaborations and partly Kornbluth fragments Pohl finished. The other two collect almost all the rest of his 70s and early 80s short fiction, which I think/suspect is his second short fiction peak phase.
And several years back, when I was still on the
Asimov's board (when there still was an
Asimov's board) he dropped by and I don't remember the specifics but most of us gathered around the thread and said how much we liked X, Y, or Z, and he seemed very cool. Award-winning editor, award-winning writer, significant agent, even award-winning fan writer for his
blog (which I have an RSS subscription to and read regularly) and SFWA Grand Master. A major figure.
