Henry Kuttner & C L Moore's "Clash by Night and Other Stories" (ed Peter Pinto) (collection): Annotated table of contents & review

Of the 5 included stories - 2 novella length, 2 novelette length, & 1 short story - one is outstanding, another descent enough. Rest, while not crappy, aren't A-grade either.

Three of the stories are variants of their other well known stories - one a good variant, others so-so. One of the stories is online.

My ratings are in brackets.

Table of contents (5 stories, best first).

1. [novella] "Vintage Season" (as by Lawrence O'Donnell) (A); Astounding Science Fiction, September 1946; time travel, doomsday:Uncaring future time travelers visit our time on vacation to enjoy a major disaster!
2. [novelette] "The Ego Machine" (A); Space Science Fiction, May 1952; humor: A variation on "The Proud Robot". A movie script writer in Hollywood has been conned into signing a very unprofitable contact, & is seeking contract release. He gets help from unexpected quarters.
3. [novella] "Clash by Night" (B); read online (no download); Astounding Science Fiction, March 1943; war: Description of a war in a society where countries don't keep militaries, but hire the services of independent military companies for both attack & defense! Set on Venus.
4. [ss] "Juke-Box" (B); Thrilling Wonder Stories, February 1947; mysterious gadget: A variation on "The Twonky". A jukebox in a bar is a very competent spying machine of alien origin!
5. [novelette] "When the Bough Breaks" (B); Astounding Science Fiction, November 1944; generation gap: A variation on "Mimsy Were the Borogoves", with some darker shades of "Absalom" mixed in. A baby is a superman - the first of the new race "homo superior", causing much anguish & heartburn in his parents.

Fact sheet.

First published: 1980.
Related: All stories of Henry Kuttner, C L Moore, Lawrence O'Donnell (their joint pseudonym).