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A Planet Named Shayol

Cordwainer Smith

First published October 1961
Type Short Fiction
Length Novelette
Series The Instrumentality of Mankind

Synopsis

In the distant future, a man is sentenced for crimes against the Galactic Emperor to a planet where the native microbes cause the humans there to grow extra body parts which are harvested for transplants throughout the empire; although the process is incredibly painful, a human-animal hybrid attendant administers a powerful euphoriant to relieve them, while the microbes maintain the humans' health for centuries until they finally become vegetative.

Publications (51)

Date Publication Publisher Type Page
October 1961 Galaxy Magazine, October 1961 Galaxy Publishing Corporation MAGAZINE 8
October 1961 Galaxy Magazine, October 1961 Strato Publications MAGAZINE 9
December 1962 The 7th Annual of the Year's Best S-F Simon & Schuster Anthology 331
June 1963 7th Annual Edition: The Year's Best S-F Dell Anthology 331
1964 The Best of Sci-Fi—Two Mayflower-Dell Anthology 331
1965 Spectrum IV Harcourt, Brace & World Anthology 211
1965 Spectrum IV Gollancz Anthology 211
May 1965 Space Lords Pyramid Books Collection 167
March 1966 Spectrum 4 The Science Fiction Book Club (UK) Anthology
August 1966 Spectrum 4 Berkley Medallion Anthology 188
1967 Spectrum IV Pan Books Anthology 221
1967 Spectrum IV Pan Books Anthology 221
November 1968 Space Lords Pyramid Books Collection 167
September 1969 Space Lords Sidgwick & Jackson Collection 167
November 1969 Spectrum 4 Berkley Medallion Anthology 188
1970 Under Old Earth and Other Explorations Panther Collection 154
January 1971 Space Lords The Science Fiction Book Club (UK) Collection
July 1975 The Best of Cordwainer Smith Nelson Doubleday / SFBC Collection 307
September 1975 The Best of Cordwainer Smith Ballantine Books Collection 338
September 1975 The Best of Cordwainer Smith Ballantine Books Collection 338
October 1977 The Best of Cordwainer Smith Del Rey / Ballantine Collection 338
October 1977 The Best of Cordwainer Smith Del Rey / Ballantine Collection 338
April 1979 Space Lords Jove / HBJ Collection 167
December 1983 Intergalactic Empires Signet / New American Library Anthology 186
July 1984 Space Lords Ace Books Collection 167
July 1985 The Best of Cordwainer Smith Del Rey / Ballantine Collection 338
June 1988 The Rediscovery of Man VGSF / Gollancz Collection 338
July 1988 Intergalactic Empires Robinson Anthology 186
September 1988 The Rediscovery of Man Gollancz Collection 338
July 1991 The Great SF Stories #23 (1961) DAW Books Anthology 281
July 1991 The Great SF Stories #23 (1961) DAW Books Anthology 281
June 1993 The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Short Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith NESFA Press Collection 419
May 1999 The Rediscovery of Man Millennium / Orion Collection 338
January 2001 Genometry Ace Books Anthology 233
2003 The Rediscovery of Man Gollancz / Orion Collection 338
September 2007 When the People Fell Baen Books Collection
September 2007 When the People Fell Baen Books Collection 18
February 2010 The Rediscovery of Man Gollancz / Orion Collection
August 2012 When the People Fell Baen Books Collection 413
November 2012 The Rediscovery of Man Gateway / Orion Collection
July 2013 Genometry Baen Books Anthology
November 2016 The Best of Cordwainer Smith Blackstone Audio Collection |307
November 2016 The Best of Cordwainer Smith Blackstone Audiobooks Collection |14
November 2016 The Best of Cordwainer Smith Blackstone Audiobooks Collection |14
November 2016 The Best of Cordwainer Smith Blackstone Audiobooks Collection |14
April 2017 A Planet Named Shayol Project Gutenberg Canada Chapbook
April 2017 A Planet Named Shayol Faded Page Chapbook
April 2017 The Best of Cordwainer Smith Phoenix Pick Collection
April 2017 The Best of Cordwainer Smith Phoenix Pick Collection
October 2017 The Space Opera Novella Megapack Wildside Press Anthology |5
January 2018 The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Short Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith NESFA Press Collection 429