Earlier this month, I began the process of finding all the Retro Hugo Finalists short fiction selections in various anthologies through my wonderful local libraries and the miracle of the modern world commonly known as inter-library loan (ILL for short). I requested the majority of the anthologies through my local home library in Lansing but the one I thought would have the least chance of fulfillment I requested through my other favorite library, the Kansas City Public Library. Two of the short stories finalists for the 1943 Retro Hugo were only available in an anthology which was last printed in 1980. I searched various websites that sell used books but as I suspected, any copies of Asimov’s The Great SF Stories 4: 1942 were hard to find and priced accordingly. I should not have been surprised when I received an email from KCPL letting me know my ILL was ready for pickup at the Plaza Branch. I took a quick break yesterday afternoon to retrieve it as well as another anthology that contains one of the best novel finalists for the 1943 Retro Hugo.
Continue reading “My Mini-Quest for a Retro Hugo Holy Grail”