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Loading... Before the Golden Age: A Science Fiction Anthology of the 1930s (1974)by Isaac Asimov (Editor)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Many familiar stories here from anthologies galore! ( ) This is a great collection of science fiction stories from the 1930s, with wonderful introductions by Asimov. None of this is heavy stuff. I first read it as a teenager and it is probably best suited for that age group, before our sense of wonder has been hammered repeatedly by reality. Asimov read these stories himself at that age, but as he was always able to do, he was still able to convey his youthful enthusiasm in selecting and introducing this collection. Someone once facetitiously said that "The Golden Age of science fiction is twelve." The era today called the Golden Age began, by most reckonings, in 1938, with John Campbell's entrance as editor of "Astounding Stories"; but a lot of ground had been laid in prior years (aside from the "literary" science works--there was no term "science fiction" yet--of folk like Verne and Wells) and this anthology edited by Isaac Asimov attempts to convey the flavor of the better, or least bad, of that earlier work. In brutal honestly, this is not a book one can read for the usual sorts of literary enjoyment: the quality of the prose is, on the whole, risible, and it all calls to mind the apothegm with which this review began. But the stories definitely have a historical interest, as showing how quickly and from what beginnings the contemporary genre has evolved. These things, recall, were published literally within living memory. Moreover, many of them have the sort of quality once called "camp", or "so bad they're good". There's no doubt that carefully rationed skimming in this book can be not merely enlightening but entertaining. no reviews | add a review
Belongs to SeriesBefore the Golden Age (Books 1-3/4) Belongs to Publisher SeriesScience Fiction Book Club (6173) ContainsTumithak of the Corridors by Charles R. Tanner (indirect) Old Faithful [Novelette] by Raymond Z. Gallun (indirect) Tumithak In Shawm by Charles R. Tanner (indirect) Parasite Planet by Stanley G. Weinbaum (indirect) The Accursed Galaxy [short fiction] by Edmond Hamilton (indirect) The Human Pets of Mars [short fiction] by Leslie F. Stone (indirect) The Brain Stealers of Mars [short fiction] by John W. Campbell (indirect) Big Game [short fiction] by Isaac Asimov (indirect) Other Eyes Watching by John W. Campbell (indirect) Past, Preset, And Future by Nat Schachner (indirect) Proxima Centauri [short fiction] by Murray Leinster (indirect) Devolution [short fiction] by Edmond Hamilton (indirect) Minus Planet [short fiction] by John D. Clark (indirect) He Who Shrank [short fiction] by Henry Hasse (indirect) The Men and the Mirror [short fiction] by Ross Rocklynne (indirect) AwardsNotable Lists
Brief autobiographical sketches of Asimov's early years introduce 25 science fiction stories from the 1930s. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.0876Literature English (North America) American fiction By type Genre fiction Adventure fiction Speculative fictionLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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