The Last Man on Earth (Fawcett Crest / Ballantine, August 1982). Cover by Wayne Barlowe

I continue to dip into the (seemingly endless) supply of anthologies from the three amigos of science fiction, Isaac Asimov, Martin Harry Greenberg, and Charles G. Waugh. I’m not sure how many they actually produced together, but I’ve managed to track down around 80. They began collaborating in the 80s, and averaged over half a dozen books a year, until Asimov’s death in 1992.

This time I’ve set aside their popular series in favor of a fine standalone book: The Last Man on Earth, a collection of post-apocalyptic tales that present a wide range of imaginative scenarios built around a popular SF trope. They include William F. Nolan’s “The Underdweller,” the tale of a man living in the sewers of San Francisco, trying desperately to salvage mankind’s most important texts while avoiding the new rulers of the city; Gordon Eklund’s “Continuous Performance,” which sees a man struggling to survive by putting on magic shows for androids; Roger Zelazny’s “Lucifer,” the haunting story of the world’s last man and his visit to the mysterious ruins of a long-dead city, and many others.

[Click to see the last images on Earth]

Magazine sources for the stories in The Last Man on Earth: Amazing Stories, December 1953
-January 1954, Thrilling Wonder, December 1948, If, November 1963, Super Science
Stories, November 1950, Worlds of Tomorrow, June 1964, Galaxy May 1969. Cover art by
by Mel Hunter, Earle Bergey, Jack Gaughan, H. R. Van Dongen, Gray Morrow, Vaughn Bodé

The stories assembled here are chiefly from the era of pulp science fiction, including magazines like Astounding, Weird Tales, Amazing, Thrilling Wonder, Fantastic, Super Science, and many others. I’ve assembled a sample of some of the magazine sources above and below.

The book includes two tales by pulp master Edmond Hamilton, a novella by Poul Anderson, a City story by Clifford D. Simak, plus tales by Evelyn E. Smith, Fredric Brown, S. Fowler Wright, Richard Wilson, Lester del Rey, A. E. van Vogt, Damon Knight, Charles L. Harness, and others. While The Last Man on Earth collects some of the best known writers of the pulp era, one of the things I enjoyed most about it was that many of the stories are lesser known works that deserve wider recognition.

I’m pleased to see modern readers still enjoy this book — those who take the trouble to track it down, anyway. Here’s a sample of recent reviews from Goodreads, starting with Penny Ball.

My favorite short story collection! All end of the world stories by some really great writers… I was telling someone quite recently about the first story in the book about a man who lives in the sewers in a world taken over by little monsters. All he is trying to do it get to the library to save important writings and books so they won’t be lost to the survivors.

Andy Phillips took the trouble to write one-sentence reviews of every story in the collection. Here’s a sample.

“Trouble With Ants” by Clifford D Simak — A world mostly populated by dogs and robots (!)
“The Coming of the Ice” by G Peyton Wertenbaker — A man undergoes an experimental surgery and becomes immortal.
“Eddie For Short” by Wallace West — A woman sings over the radio every day, wondering if anyone is listening.
“Knock” by Frederic Brown — Aliens invade and keep a limited number of animals as specimens when they kill everything else on Earth.
“A Man Spekith” by Richard Wilson — A disc jockey is trapped in space.
“Kindness” by Lester Del Rey — The last example of homo sapiens lives among an evolved species.
“Resurrection” by A E Van Vogt — Aliens visit Earth and revive dead humans from various ages.
“Day of Judgement” by Edmond Hamilton — Animals of various species have evolved after the disappearance of humans.
“Continuous Performance” by Gordon Eklund — The last man makes a living by performing magic to settlements of androids.

Reading anthologies like this — books that collect tales from vintage science fiction magazines — rejuvenates my interest in old magazines. Below is a sample of another half-dozen magazines featuring the first appearance of these stories.

More story sources: Fantastic Adventures, January 1951, Astounding, October 1944, Weird Tales,
September 1946, Amazing, June 1926, Thrilling Wonder, December 1950, Weird Tales, March 1936.
Covers by Robert Gibson Jones, Timmins, Pete Kuhlhoff, Frank R. Paul, unknown, Margaret Brundage.

Here’s the complete Table of Contents.

Introduction by Isaac Asimov
“The Underdweller” short story by William F. Nolan (Fantastic Universe, August 1957)
“Flight to Forever” by Poul Anderson (Super Science Stories, November 1950)
“Trouble with Ants” by Clifford D. Simak (Fantastic Adventures, January 1951)
“The Coming of the Ice” by G. Peyton Wertenbaker (Amazing Stories, June 1926)
“The Most Sentimental Man” by Evelyn E. Smith (Fantastic Universe, August 1957)
“Eddie for Short” by Wallace West (Amazing Stories, December 1953-January 1954)
“Knock” by Fredric Brown (Thrilling Wonder Stories, December 1948)
“Original Sin” by S. Fowler Wright (The Witchfinder, 1946)
“A Man Spekith” by Richard Wilson (Galaxy Magazine, May 1969)
“In the World’s Dusk” by Edmond Hamilton (Weird Tales, March 1936)
“Kindness” by Lester del Rey (Astounding Science Fiction, October 1944)
“Lucifer” by Roger Zelazny (Worlds of Tomorrow, June 1964)
“Resurrection” by A. E. van Vogt (Astounding Science Fiction, August 1948)
“The Second-Class Citizen” by Damon Knight (If, November 1963)
“Day of Judgment” by Edmond Hamilton (Weird Tales, September 1946)
“Continuous Performance” by Gordon Eklund (Worlds of If, January-February 1974)
“The New Reality” by Charles L. Harness (Thrilling Wonder Stories, December 1950)

Our previous coverage of anthologies by the team of Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg and Charles G. Waugh includes:

The Seven Deadly Sins of Science Fiction, edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, and Charles G. Waugh
Isaac Asimov’s Wonderful Worlds of Science Fiction 1: Intergalactic Empires, edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, and Charles G. Waugh
Isaac Asimov’s Wonderful Worlds of Science Fiction 5: Tin Stars, edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, and Charles G. Waugh
Isaac Asimov’s Wonderful Worlds of Science Fiction 10: Invasions, edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, and Charles G. Waugh
Isaac Asimov’s Magical Worlds of Fantasy 10: Ghosts, edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, and Charles G. Waugh
13 Short Fantasy Novels, 13 Short Science Fiction Novels, and 13 Short Horror Novels, edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, and Charles G. Waugh
The Space Anthologies, edited by David Drake with Charles G. Waugh and Martin Harry Greenberg
The Tomorrow’s Warfare Anthologies, edited by Joe Haldeman, Charles G. Waugh, and Martin Harry Greenberg
Supernatural Sleuths, edited by Charles G. Waugh and Martin Harry Greenberg
Sci-Fi Private Eye, edited by Charles G. Waugh and Martin Harry Greenberg

The Last Man on Earth was a paperback original published by Fawcett Crest/Ballantine in August 1982. It is 352 pages, priced at $2.95. The cover was by Wayne Barlowe.

It has been out of print since 1985, and there is no digital edition. However, it isn’t a hard book to fine. Last time I checked there were about a dozen copies available on eBay, starting at about $9.99.

See all our recent Vintage Treasures articles here.