Without Sorcery, by Ted Sturgeon

A collection of 13 stories, and Sturgeon's first book. Although highly praised in the late 40s when it was published, and as much as I like Sturgeon, these are simultaneously creaky with age and youthful works. Many of them seem to suffer from having two completely different whiz-bang ideas smashed together unpleasantly. But it definitely finishes strong with Microcosmic God.

Crazily enough, this is the first book to check off...

✓written by someone under 30 (the book was published the year he turned 30, but he can't have been more than 29 when the last story was published on its own).