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Blighted Profile

Brian W. Aldiss

First published June 1958
Type Short Fiction
Length Short Story

This story was completely rewritten for the 1979 Panther edition of "Galaxies Like Grains of Sand" (from the Author's Note in "Galaxies Like Grains of Sand"). Comparison between texts from selected publications have shown that at least three versions exists:
  • The original version that appears in the 1959 edition of "No Time Like Tomorrow". This also appears in the 2013 edition of "The Complete Short Stories: The 1950s".
  • A variation of the original version appears in the 1964 Four Square Books edition of "The Canopy of Time". In the second sentence of the text the character Yalleranda is referred to as "he", whereas in the original version the character is referred to as "she". The last sentence of the text has the character name "Chun Hwa", whereas in the original version the character name is "Turan Hwa".
  • A third version appears in the 1985 reprint of the Panther edition of "Galaxies Like Grains of Sand". There are major changes to the text when compared to the original version, making this indeed a complete rewrite.

Date Publication Publisher Type Page
June 1958 Cover Science Fantasy, v10 #29 Nova Publications Ltd. MAGAZINE 93
1959 Cover The Canopy of Time Faber and Faber Collection 51
May 1961 Cover The Canopy of Time The Science Fiction Book Club (UK) Collection
1963 Cover The Canopy of Time Four Square Books Collection 42
1964 Cover The Canopy of Time Four Square Books Collection 42
1964 Cover The Canopy of Time Four Square Books Collection 42
1966 Cover The Canopy of Time Faber and Faber Collection
May 1971 Cover The Canopy of Time New English Library Collection 42
July 1972 Cover The Canopy of Time New English Library Collection 42
May 1975 Cover The Canopy of Time New English Library Collection 42
November 1976 Cover No Time Like Tomorrow Signet / New American Library of Canada Collection 135