Title: Preferred Risk

Title: Preferred Risk Title Record # 11456
Authors: Lester del Rey and Frederik Pohl
Date: 1955-00-00
Type: NOVEL
Webpages: io9.gizmodo.com
Language: English

Note: "Winner of the Galaxy-Simon & Schuster contest for 1955's best work of science-fiction" according to the first edition.

Synopsis: An insurance claims adjuster investigates mysterious events in a vault where incurably ill people are stored in cold sleep. From the back cover of the Del Rey edition: "The Company insured the whole world against everything and anything - but the premiums came high... The Company had brought peace and plenty to all on Earth - with comprehensive insurance against disease and disaster, war and want. Tom Wills gloried in his new rank of Claims Adjuster and relished his prospects of rising even higher. But then he met Rena, a enchanting young woman who turned out to be an Uninsurable - and involved in a conspiracy against the Company, to boot! To Wills, that is impossible, insane. Rena and her follow conspirators had to be deluded.. and it was clearly up to him to prove them wrong. The evidence he sought wasn't hard to find, so he began his investigation... and soon discovered that the real danger to the country, and the world, was the Company itself!"

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Other Titles

Variant Titles

Translations

Serializations

Translated Serializations

Year	Title
1955	Preferred Risk [as by Edson McCann]

Year	Language	Title
1958^ⓘTranslated by Herbert Maurin	German	Das große Wagnis^?Das grosse Wagnis [as by Edson McCann]
1976^ⓘTranslated by Alfredo Pollini	Italian	Rischio di vita
1981^ⓘTranslated by Fredy Köpsell	German	Der Wohlfahrtskonzern

Year	Title
1955	Preferred Risk (Part 1 of 4) [as by Edson McCann]
1955	Preferred Risk (Part 2 of 4) [as by Edson McCann]
1955	Preferred Risk (Part 3 of 4) [as by Edson McCann]
1955	Preferred Risk (Part 4 of 4) [as by Edson McCann]

Year	Language	Title
1955^ⓘTranslated by an uncredited hand	French	Assurances sur l'éternité (Part 1 of 3) [as by Edson McCann]
1956^ⓘTranslated by an uncredited hand	French	Assurances sur l'éternité (Part 2 of 3) [as by Edson McCann]
1956^ⓘTranslated by an uncredited hand	French	Assurances sur l'éternité (Part 3 of 3) [as by Edson McCann]
1959^ⓘTranslated by an uncredited translator	Italian	Rischio di vita (Part 1 of 4) [as by Edson McCann]
1959^ⓘTranslated by an uncredited translator	Italian	Rischio di vita (Part 2 of 4) [as by Edson McCann]
1959^ⓘTranslated by an uncredited translator	Italian	Rischio di vita (Part 3 of 4) [as by Edson McCann]
1960^ⓘTranslated by an uncredited translator	Italian	Rischio di vita (Part 4 of 4) [as by Edson McCann]

Publications

Displaying all variants and translations • Do not display translations • Do not display variants or translations

Title	Date	Author/Editor	Publisher/Pub. Series	ISBN/Catalog ID	Price	Pages	Format	Type	Cover Artist
Preferred Risk	1955-00-00	Edson McCann	Simon & Schuster		$2.75^?$: US dollar	248	hc^?Hardcover. Used for all hardbacks of any size.	novel	Dick Dodge
Galaxy Science Fiction, June 1955	1955-06-00	ed. H. L. Gold	Galaxy Publishing Corporation		$0.35^?$: US dollar	148	digest^?Digest-size magazine, including both standard digest size, at about 7" by 4.5", and also large digest, such as recent issues of Asimov's, which are about 8.25" by 5.125".	mag	Kirberger
Galaxy Science Fiction, July 1955	1955-07-00	ed. H. L. Gold	Galaxy Publishing Corporation		$0.35^?$: US dollar	148	digest^?Digest-size magazine, including both standard digest size, at about 7" by 4.5", and also large digest, such as recent issues of Asimov's, which are about 8.25" by 5.125".	mag	Mel Hunter
Galaxy Science Fiction, August 1955	1955-08-00	ed. H. L. Gold	Galaxy Publishing Corporation		$0.35^?$: US dollar	148	digest^?Digest-size magazine, including both standard digest size, at about 7" by 4.5", and also large digest, such as recent issues of Asimov's, which are about 8.25" by 5.125".	mag	Kirberger
Galaxy Science Fiction [UK], No. 30	1955-09-00	ed. H. L. Gold	Strato Publications		2/-^?Prior to decimilisation (1968-1971), UK books were priced in shillings, or shillings and pence, where 20 shillings equals one pound and 12 old pence equals one shilling. Shillings were indicated with a variety of suffixes, e.g. 3s, 3', 3", 3/ all mean 3 shillings. Any number after that is additional pence, usually 6 (half a shilling) but sometimes 3 or 9 (a quarter of a shilling or three-quarters of a shilling).	132	digest^?Digest-size magazine, including both standard digest size, at about 7" by 4.5", and also large digest, such as recent issues of Asimov's, which are about 8.25" by 5.125".	mag	Kirberger
Galaxy Science Fiction, September 1955	1955-09-00	ed. H. L. Gold	Galaxy Publishing Corporation		$0.35^?$: US dollar	148	digest^?Digest-size magazine, including both standard digest size, at about 7" by 4.5", and also large digest, such as recent issues of Asimov's, which are about 8.25" by 5.125".	mag	Emsh
Galaxy Science Fiction [UK], No. 31	1955-10-00	ed. H. L. Gold	Strato Publications		2/-^?Prior to decimilisation (1968-1971), UK books were priced in shillings, or shillings and pence, where 20 shillings equals one pound and 12 old pence equals one shilling. Shillings were indicated with a variety of suffixes, e.g. 3s, 3', 3", 3/ all mean 3 shillings. Any number after that is additional pence, usually 6 (half a shilling) but sometimes 3 or 9 (a quarter of a shilling or three-quarters of a shilling).	132	digest^?Digest-size magazine, including both standard digest size, at about 7" by 4.5", and also large digest, such as recent issues of Asimov's, which are about 8.25" by 5.125".	mag	Mel Hunter
Galaxy Science Fiction [UK], No. 32	1955-11-00	ed. H. L. Gold	Strato Publications		2/-^?Prior to decimilisation (1968-1971), UK books were priced in shillings, or shillings and pence, where 20 shillings equals one pound and 12 old pence equals one shilling. Shillings were indicated with a variety of suffixes, e.g. 3s, 3', 3", 3/ all mean 3 shillings. Any number after that is additional pence, usually 6 (half a shilling) but sometimes 3 or 9 (a quarter of a shilling or three-quarters of a shilling).	132	digest^?Digest-size magazine, including both standard digest size, at about 7" by 4.5", and also large digest, such as recent issues of Asimov's, which are about 8.25" by 5.125".	mag	Kirberger
Galaxie (1ère série), #25 December 1955	1955-12-00	ed. Editors of Galaxie (1ère série)^?Editors of Galaxie (1ere serie)	Editions Nuit et Jour		F100^?F: French frank	148	digest^?Digest-size magazine, including both standard digest size, at about 7" by 4.5", and also large digest, such as recent issues of Asimov's, which are about 8.25" by 5.125".	mag	Kirberger
Galaxy Science Fiction [UK], No. 33	1955-12-00	ed. H. L. Gold	Strato Publications		2/-^?Prior to decimilisation (1968-1971), UK books were priced in shillings, or shillings and pence, where 20 shillings equals one pound and 12 old pence equals one shilling. Shillings were indicated with a variety of suffixes, e.g. 3s, 3', 3", 3/ all mean 3 shillings. Any number after that is additional pence, usually 6 (half a shilling) but sometimes 3 or 9 (a quarter of a shilling or three-quarters of a shilling).	132	digest^?Digest-size magazine, including both standard digest size, at about 7" by 4.5", and also large digest, such as recent issues of Asimov's, which are about 8.25" by 5.125".	mag	Emsh
Galaxie (1ère série), #26 January 1956	1956-01-00	ed. Editors of Galaxie (1ère série)^?Editors of Galaxie (1ere serie)	Editions Nuit et Jour		F100^?F: French frank	148	digest^?Digest-size magazine, including both standard digest size, at about 7" by 4.5", and also large digest, such as recent issues of Asimov's, which are about 8.25" by 5.125".	mag	Ed Emshwiller
Galaxie (1ère série), #27 February 1956	1956-02-00	ed. Editors of Galaxie (1ère série)^?Editors of Galaxie (1ere serie)	Editions Nuit et Jour		F100^?F: French frank	148	digest^?Digest-size magazine, including both standard digest size, at about 7" by 4.5", and also large digest, such as recent issues of Asimov's, which are about 8.25" by 5.125".	mag
Das große Wagnis^?Das grosse Wagnis	1958-12-00	Edson McCann	Semrau (Der Weltraumfahrer #5)	WF5	DM 1.00^?DM: German (Deutsche) mark	96	digest^?Digest-size magazine, including both standard digest size, at about 7" by 4.5", and also large digest, such as recent issues of Asimov's, which are about 8.25" by 5.125".	novel
Galaxy #17	1959-10-00	ed. R. Valente	Casa Editrice La Tribuna	17	Lit 150^?Lit: Italian lira	128	digest^?Digest-size magazine, including both standard digest size, at about 7" by 4.5", and also large digest, such as recent issues of Asimov's, which are about 8.25" by 5.125".	mag	Wood
Galaxy #18	1959-11-00	ed. R. Valente	Casa Editrice La Tribuna	18	Lit 150^?Lit: Italian lira	128	digest^?Digest-size magazine, including both standard digest size, at about 7" by 4.5", and also large digest, such as recent issues of Asimov's, which are about 8.25" by 5.125".	mag	Wood
Galaxy #19	1959-12-00	ed. R. Valente	Casa Editrice La Tribuna	19	Lit 150^?Lit: Italian lira	128	digest^?Digest-size magazine, including both standard digest size, at about 7" by 4.5", and also large digest, such as recent issues of Asimov's, which are about 8.25" by 5.125".	mag	G. Crepax
Galaxy #20	1960-01-00	ed. R. Valente	Casa Editrice La Tribuna	20	Lit 150^?Lit: Italian lira	128	digest^?Digest-size magazine, including both standard digest size, at about 7" by 4.5", and also large digest, such as recent issues of Asimov's, which are about 8.25" by 5.125".	mag	G. Crepax
Preferred Risk	1962-03-00	Edson McCann	Dell	R114	C$0.40^?C$: Canadian dollar	190	pb^?Paperback. Typically 7" by 4.25" (18 cm by 11 cm) or smaller, though trimming errors can cause them to sometimes be slightly (less than 1/4 extra inch) taller or wider/deeper.	novel	R. M. Powers
Preferred Risk	1962-03-00	Edson McCann	Dell	R114	$0.40^?$: US dollar	190	pb^?Paperback. Typically 7" by 4.25" (18 cm by 11 cm) or smaller, though trimming errors can cause them to sometimes be slightly (less than 1/4 extra inch) taller or wider/deeper.	novel	R. M. Powers
Rischio di vita	1976-00-00	Lester del Rey, Frederik Pohl	Fanucci Editore (Biblioteca di Fantascienza #23)		Lit 3,000^?Lit: Italian lira	214	tp^?Trade paperback. Any softcover book which is at least 7.25" (or 19 cm) tall, or at least 4.5" (11.5 cm) wide/deep.	novel
Preferred Risk	1980-01-00	Lester del Rey, Frederik Pohl	Del Rey / Ballantine	0-345-28575-1	$1.95^?$: US dollar	187	pb^?Paperback. Typically 7" by 4.25" (18 cm by 11 cm) or smaller, though trimming errors can cause them to sometimes be slightly (less than 1/4 extra inch) taller or wider/deeper.	novel	Chris Barbieri
Preferred Risk	1980-01-00	Lester del Rey, Frederik Pohl	Del Rey / Ballantine	0-345-28575-1	C$2.50^?C$: Canadian dollar	187	pb^?Paperback. Typically 7" by 4.25" (18 cm by 11 cm) or smaller, though trimming errors can cause them to sometimes be slightly (less than 1/4 extra inch) taller or wider/deeper.	novel	Chris Barbieri
Der Wohlfahrtskonzern	1981-03-00	Lester del Rey, Frederik Pohl	Moewig (Moewig Science Fiction #3519)	3-8118-3519-X	DM 6.80^?DM: German (Deutsche) mark	304	pb^?Paperback. Typically 7" by 4.25" (18 cm by 11 cm) or smaller, though trimming errors can cause them to sometimes be slightly (less than 1/4 extra inch) taller or wider/deeper.	novel	Oliviero Berni
Preferred Risk	1983-02-00	Lester del Rey, Frederik Pohl	Methuen	0-417-07490-5	£1.75^?£: UK pound	187	pb^?Paperback. Typically 7" by 4.25" (18 cm by 11 cm) or smaller, though trimming errors can cause them to sometimes be slightly (less than 1/4 extra inch) taller or wider/deeper.	novel	Chris Moore
The Ninth Science Fiction Megapack	2014-08-00	ed. uncredited	Wildside Press (Megapack)	978-1-4794-0345-5	$0.99^?$: US dollar		ebook^?Used for all electronic formats, including but not limited to EPUB, eReader, HTML, iBook, Mobipocket, and PDF.	anth
Preferred Risk	2015-02-11	Lester del Rey, Frederik Pohl	Wildside Press	978-1-4794-0914-3	$0.99^?$: US dollar		ebook^?Used for all electronic formats, including but not limited to EPUB, eReader, HTML, iBook, Mobipocket, and PDF.	novel	Kirberger
Frederik Pohl Super Pack	2015-12-20	Frederik Pohl	Positronic Publishing	978-1-5154-0329-6	$12.99^?$: US dollar	322	tp^?Trade paperback. Any softcover book which is at least 7.25" (or 19 cm) tall, or at least 4.5" (11.5 cm) wide/deep.	coll	Catmando
Frederik Pohl Super Pack	2016-01-04	Frederik Pohl	Positronic Publishing	978-1-5154-0289-3	$1.99^?$: US dollar		ebook^?Used for all electronic formats, including but not limited to EPUB, eReader, HTML, iBook, Mobipocket, and PDF.	coll	Catmando
The Science Fiction Novel Super Pack #1	2016-02-05	ed. uncredited	Positronic Publishing	978-1-5154-0363-0	$1.99^?$: US dollar		ebook^?Used for all electronic formats, including but not limited to EPUB, eReader, HTML, iBook, Mobipocket, and PDF.	anth	Atelier Sommerland
The 32nd Golden Age of Science Fiction Megapack	2016-02-25	Frederik Pohl	Wildside Press	978-1-4794-2033-9	$0.99^?$: US dollar		ebook^?Used for all electronic formats, including but not limited to EPUB, eReader, HTML, iBook, Mobipocket, and PDF.	coll	Edward Valigursky
Frederik Pohl Super Pack	2016-03-03	Frederik Pohl	Start Publishing	978-1-68146-515-9	$1.99^?$: US dollar		ebook^?Used for all electronic formats, including but not limited to EPUB, eReader, HTML, iBook, Mobipocket, and PDF.	coll	Les Bossinas
The Science Fiction Novel Super Pack #1	2016-03-10	ed. uncredited	Start Publishing	978-1-68299-956-1	$1.99^?$: US dollar		ebook^?Used for all electronic formats, including but not limited to EPUB, eReader, HTML, iBook, Mobipocket, and PDF.	anth	Yumikrum
Preferred Risk	2016-04-21	Edson McCann	Project Gutenberg	51814	$0.00^?$: US dollar		ebook^?Used for all electronic formats, including but not limited to EPUB, eReader, HTML, iBook, Mobipocket, and PDF.	novel
The First Science Fiction Novel Megapack	2016-04-30	uncredited	Wildside Press (Megapack)	978-1-4794-2163-3	$0.99^?$: US dollar		ebook^?Used for all electronic formats, including but not limited to EPUB, eReader, HTML, iBook, Mobipocket, and PDF.	omni
A Twelvemonth and a Day / Preferred Risk	2016-09-24	uncredited	Armchair Fiction (Armchair Sci-Fi & Horror Double Novels #182)	978-1-61287-329-9 / D-182	$12.95^?$: US dollar	248	tp^?Trade paperback. Any softcover book which is at least 7.25" (or 19 cm) tall, or at least 4.5" (11.5 cm) wide/deep.	omni	Ed Emshwiller
Frederik Pohl Super Pack	2018-04-03	Frederik Pohl	Positronic Publishing	978-1-5154-2187-0	$24.99^?$: US dollar	322	hc^?Hardcover. Used for all hardbacks of any size.	coll	Catmando

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Reviews

Review by Damon Knight (1955) in Science Fiction Stories, July 1956, (1956)
Review by Anthony Boucher (1956) in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January 1956
Review by Hans Stefan Santesson (1956) in Fantastic Universe, February 1956
Review by Floyd C. Gale (1956) in Galaxy Science Fiction, April 1956
Review by P. Schuyler Miller (1956) in Astounding Science Fiction, June 1956
Review by Villiers Gerson (1956) in Amazing Stories, July 1956 , reprinted in:
Amazing Stories, July 1956 (2013)
Review by Graham Andrews (1983) in Paperback Inferno, Volume 6, Number 6