First published in 1964 America under the title Five-Odd, this Genre Anthology was edited by Groff Conklin. It was republished under the title Possible Tomorrows in 1972 when publishers changed the title for the British market. The five stories are all referred to as short novels.
When this Anthology was translated into German, it was incorporated into an existing series, and titled Science Fiction Stories 15 and Science Fiction Stories 16. Added to the books was "The Missionaries'' by Everett B Cole.
Five works have been reprinted in this book:
- "The Dead Past" by Isaac Asimov (1956)
- "Something Strange" by Kingsley Amis (1960)
- "Unit" by J. T. McIntosh (1957)
- "Gone Fishing" by James H. Schmitz (1961)
- "Big Ancestor" by FL Wallace (1954)
Tropes appearing in this anthology:
- Billed Above the Title: On the 1971 Pyramid Books cover, the Tagline with Groff Conklin and Isaac Asimov's names is written above the title of the Anthology.
- Brain Monster: The 1973 Coronet cover seems to be a brain (with human-like eyes open in fear) as part of a radio tower. No, it doesn't show up in any of the stories.
- Divided for Publication: When translated into German, this Anthology was also incorporated into an existing series, and then split into two different publications. Since each book had three stories, a translation of "The Missionaries'' (by Everett B Cole) was added to the second book.
- Driven to Suicide: "Gone Fishing" (by James H. Schmitz) climaxes with the revelation that Chard is likely to have killed himself before getting through three of the five years that Dr McAllen said he'd be left there.
- Gender-Equal Ensemble: "Something Strange" has four characters; Bruno and Clovis are the males, while Lia and Myri are the females. Supposedly, it is because they're space explorers and paired up specifically to relieve sexual stress for their long missions.
- Heroes Gone Fishing: "Gone Fishing" (by James H. Schmitz) starts with Barney Chard and Dr McAllen fishing in northern USA. Just before the story began, Mr Chard had startled Dr McAllen, so they went fishing to settle his nerves. Initially dismissive of the physicist's hobby, the impact grows as the story develops.
- In Case You Forgot Who Wrote It: On the 1971 Pyramid Books cover, the Tagline says "Groff Conklin presents five fabulous novels of tomorrow by Isaac Asimov and four other great science fiction authors".
- Show Within a Show: "Something Strange" has Myri trying to write a novel, so the story contains a short blurb from hers.
- Significant Anagram: "Something Strange" has Myri writing a novel, but she doesn’t seem to notice that her characters Volsci, Norbu, Irmy, and Ila, are anagrams of her and her living mates; Clovis, Bruno, Myri, and Lia.
- Tagline:
- On the 1964 Pyramid Books cover, it says "The outer reaches of space and time".
- On the 1971 Pyramid Books cover, the tagline has In Case You Forgot Who Wrote It built into both Groff Conklin as the editor and Isaac Asimov as
the most famous of the five authors. - On the 1973 Coronet cover, the tagline changes to say "Five odysseys to the furthest reaches of space and time".
- Terraform: "Gone Fishing" (by James H. Schmitz) has a project where a planet has been undergoing terraformation by teleporting the plants and animals from Earth. It is currently called Terrestrial Ecology Base of the Eighteenth System, and Barney Chard is there for five years.
- Title Drop: "Something Strange" uses the title in the hook for the story. The very first line says "Something strange happened every day".
- When the Clock Strikes Twelve: "Gone Fishing" (by James H. Schmitz) has Barney Chard stuck on an early Terraformed planet for five years to prevent him from releasing information about Dr McAllen's Teleportation invention. When the deadline expires, Dr McAllen's biggest fear is that the experience has driven Mr Chard to suicide.
