Not Free SF Reader The end of this book is 1938, the beginning fo the Campbell era at Astounding, and there are more Asimov anecdotes throughout, leading up to him having his first sale to the above publication.
Before the Golden Age 3 : Parasite Planet - Stanley G. Weinbaum Before the Golden Age 3 : Proxima Centauri - Murray Leinster Before the Golden Age 3 : The Accursed Galaxy - Edmond Hamilton Before the Golden Age 3 : He Who Shrank - Henry Hasse Before the Golden Age 3 : The Human Pets of Mars - Leslie F. Stone Before the Golden Age 3 : The Brain Stealers of Mars - John W. Campbell Before the Golden Age 3 : Devolution - Edmond Hamilton Before the Golden Age 3 : Big Game - Isaac Asimov Before the Golden Age 3 : Minus Planet - John D. Clark Before the Golden Age 3 : Past Present and Future - Nat Schachner Before the Golden Age 3 : The Men and the Mirror - Ross Rocklynne
Venus is not a nice place, and it tastes bad.
3 out of 5
Vegie men seek animal matter gold.
3.5 out of 5
Organic space is gross.
3 out of 5
The Atom vs The Brain.
3 out of 5
Leashed off-planet. Wah.
3 out of 5
Ravening violet guns to sort out those protoplasmic chameleons.
3 out of 5
Arctarians 'R Us.
3.5 out of 5
What killed the dinosaurs? Little dinosaurs. With guns.
3 out of 5
Anti-matter menace.
2.5 out of 5
Radium sleep age revival neutron barrier breakout.
4 out of 5
Space pirate-sleuth pendulum problem.
3.5 out of 5
Good Anthology 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)
Great Stuff From the 1930's (This review refers to Volume One only.) Asimov has collected eight stories in this anthology that were influential in his own writing. Asimov read most of these stories when he was about 12 years old, being fortunate enough to devour most of them from pulp magazines that were sold in his father's candy store. As might be expected with any anthology, some stories are better than others, and some have held up better through the years than others. Yet these pieces are not included for comparison to current stories, but to show what Asimov read as a young person and how the works influenced him. Asimov's mini-autobiography alone is worth the price of the book. After each story, Asimov tells how an idea or a concept from a story led to the formation of one of his own works. A very interesting idea. "The Jameson Satellite" is a forerunner of "I, Robot," and "Submicroscopic" is a small step from "Fantastic Voyage." As mentioned by another reviewer, the reader will have to deal with several prejudices from the time these stories were written (especially racial), but overall this book is a great insight into what makes Asimov Asimov.
Good old stories 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.
Great review of 30s science fiction and pulp scientifiction This collection of early, pulp-style scifi works is a great joy. Asimov's introduction to the stories is exceedingly interesting and helpful. The stories sometimes show flaws or problems in their writing and in their attitudes (while several stories are forward-looking, most show the racism and misogyny common to that time), most of the stories are entertaining and all of them are interesting from a historical perspective. Check it out if you can get your hands on it, it's a great find. I really got a kick out of several pieces, which run the gamut from more reasonable 'conquered man, driven underground, strikes back at his evil alien oppressors' to the completely ludicrous story about the planets of our solar system hatching into giant space chickens. (That last story is meant to be taken seriously, by the way.) A veritable laundry-list of great, long out-of-print authors and some wonderful writing from the early days of popular science fiction.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Trevor
