Customer Reviews

Before the Golden Age: A Science Fiction Anthology of the 1930s

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Contents of Book 1:
"The Man Who Evolved" by Edmond Hamilton (Good)
"The Jameson Satellite" by Neil R. Jones (Good)
"Submicroscopic" by Capt S. P. Meek (Excellent)
"Awlo of Ulm" by Capt S. P. Meek (Sequel to above)(Excellent)
"Tetrahedra of Space" by P. Schuyler Miller (strange but Good)
"The World of the Red Sun" by Clifford D. Simak (Good)
"Tumithak of the Corridors" by Charles R. Tanner (Very Good)
"The Moon Era" by Jack Williamson (Excellent)

All stories were copyrighted 1931. In my opinion the stories vary from good to Excellent. If you like Sci-Fi / Fantasy of the early 20th century you will probably enjoy these stories or most of them anyway. The book also contains an interesting autobiography of the Editor Isaac Asimov discussing his childhood and his introduction to Sci-Fi through these and other stories.

Thoroughly enjoyable.

Contents of Book 2: (1933 and 1934)
"The Man Who Awoke" Laurence Manning (Good)
"Tumithak in Shawm" Charles R. Tanner (Excellent)
"Colossus" Donald Wandrei (Good)
"Born of the Sun" Jack Williamson (Good)
"Sidewise in Time" Murray Leinster (Excellent)
"Old Faithful" Raymond Z. Gallum (Good)

Contents of Book 3: (1935-1938)
"The Parasite Planet" Stanley Weinbaum (Excellent)
"Proxima Centauri" Murray Leinster (okay)
"The Accursed Galaxy" Edmond Hamilton (okay)
"He Who Shrank" Henry Hasse (okay)
"The Human Pets of Mars" Leslie Frances stone (awful)
"The Brain Stealers of Mars" John W. Campbell, Jr. (Excellent)
"Devolution" Edmond Hamilton (okay)
"Big Game" Isaac Asimov (okay)
"Other Eyes Watching" John W. Campbell, Jr. (Non-fiction)
"Minus Planet" John D. Clark (okay)
"Past, Present and Future" Nat Schachner (Good)
"The Men and the Mirror" Ross Rocklynne (Good)

The stories collected here are supplemented by the memories of Asimov--where he was, what he was doing, and how he felt as he read them all for the first time. In this way, "Before the Golden Age" is a book which reveals quite a bit about Asimov himself, as well as providing an exciting hop into 1930's space opera. Edmond Hamilton, Jack Williamson, the early stories of John W. Campbell, and many lesser lights unjustly forgotten are well-represented here. The heroes tend to be handsome and noble, the heroines beautiful and chaste, and the villains are as evil as can be. Adventures take place in space, inner space, the smallest dimensions and the largest, as well as the distant past and the unseen future. A real joyride into the adventurous world of science fiction, before the more scientifically-informed, literary "golden age" essentially masterminded by John W. Campbell began

This book contains the good old stories from the 1930's. There is nothing great here, but it is till worth reading. You can see the evolution of the Science Fiction field by reading the stories in this book.

This is for you. An excellent anthology. Quality writing unsurpassed even today. I rate He who Shrank AAAA1111!

Excellent, classic anthology. Irreplaceable, I already own two paper copies, one in HB, one in PB.

Needs to be on Kindle.