The best of E. E. Doc Smith

The Best of E.E. "Doc" Smith (1975) is a collection of eight short selections from The Master, assembled roughly ten years after his death. They span a period from 1928 to 1964, most all of his writing career. Smith did not publish a lot of short fiction, so this may be considered a fairly representative volume. The stories are: "To the Far Reaches of Space" (Amazing, 1928), "Robot Nemesis" (Thrilling Wonder Stories, 1939), "Pirates of Space" (Amazing, 1934), "The Vortex Blaster" (Comet, 1941), "Tedric" (Other Worlds, 1953), "Lord Tedric" (Universe, 1954), "Subspace Survivors" (Astounding, 1960), and "The Imperial Stars" (If, 1964). Two of the stories are excerpts from novels. "To the Far Reaches of Space" is an excerpt from The Skylark of Space, and "Pirates of Space" is an excerpt from Triplanetary. "The Vortex Blaster" and "Subspace Survivors" are not excerpts, but they provided the basis for two novels. Of the six "non-excerpt" stories, "The Vortex Blaster" has been the most oft-reprinted, with "Robot Nemesis" a distant second.