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Before the Golden Age #1 of 4
Before the Golden Age 1
A Science Fiction Anthology of the 1930s, #1 of 4
Contents:
* The Man Who Evolved / Edmond Hamilton;
* The Jameson Satellite / Neil R. Jones;
* Submicroscopic / Capt. S.P. Meek;
* Awlo of Ulm / Capt. S.P. Meek;
* Tetrahedra of Space / P. Schuyler Miller;
* The World of the Red Sun / Clifford D. Simak.
Originally 26 stories published in one hardcover volume.
Contents:
* The Man Who Evolved / Edmond Hamilton;
* The Jameson Satellite / Neil R. Jones;
* Submicroscopic / Capt. S.P. Meek;
* Awlo of Ulm / Capt. S.P. Meek;
* Tetrahedra of Space / P. Schuyler Miller;
* The World of the Red Sun / Clifford D. Simak.
Originally 26 stories published in one hardcover volume.
223 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
11 people are currently reading
320 people want to read
About the author
Isaac Asimov
4,337 books27.6k followersWorks of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles,
The Foundation Trilogy
(1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.
Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.
Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).
People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.
Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.
Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...
Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.
Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).
People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.
Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.
Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
April 13, 2017
-Mirando hacia atrás con añoranza, respeto y un poquito de autobombo.-
Género. Relatos.
Lo que nos cuenta. Mezcla de biografía personal y profesional de Asimov con antología de relatos de género, comentados por él mismo con actitudes menos asimovianas de lo habitual pero que pueden incomodar a más de un lector no familiarizado con el ego del escritor, que despertaron las ganas del autor por escribir, en su juventud, al leer la Ciencia ficción que publicaban las revistas pioneras en los USA (y diría que alguna de sus tramas le inspiró otras a él). En el título original deja bien claro, a diferencia del español, que trata del periodo previo a la Edad de Oro de la Ciencia ficción y, además, divide el volumen original en dos partes (este, en concreto, hasta 1933).
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
Género. Relatos.
Lo que nos cuenta. Mezcla de biografía personal y profesional de Asimov con antología de relatos de género, comentados por él mismo con actitudes menos asimovianas de lo habitual pero que pueden incomodar a más de un lector no familiarizado con el ego del escritor, que despertaron las ganas del autor por escribir, en su juventud, al leer la Ciencia ficción que publicaban las revistas pioneras en los USA (y diría que alguna de sus tramas le inspiró otras a él). En el título original deja bien claro, a diferencia del español, que trata del periodo previo a la Edad de Oro de la Ciencia ficción y, además, divide el volumen original en dos partes (este, en concreto, hasta 1933).
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
June 19, 2020
I have had this paperback since I was twelve or thirteen, and I just got around to reading it. My copy has all the pages falling out, but it has lived on my bookshelf so long I’ll reglue the pages and it can continue to live there. I took this with me on the last few trips before Covid-19, on a road trip to Calgary and a flight to Vancouver, so recalling some of the stories in this book will be tied to my travel to those places.
It is an Anthology of Nostalgia, these are stories that left an impression on the young Asimov, stories that appeared before the golden age of science fiction, when the pure pulp adventure of early science fiction began to give way to stories with a more solid foundation in science and a greater preoccupation with humanity and the issues facing us.
This is a mixed bag, some of the stories are clunky, with absurd notions that were unrealistic even when they were written, while others, outdated in many ways, still have a great spark of adventure.
The autobiographical interludes provided by Asimov are worth the time in and of themselves to me, but I have always enjoyed reading Asimov talk about himself, I found his voice congenial, and though now it is somewhat coloured by the truths that have surfaced about some of his behaviour, his voice still has had a shaping influence on me.
Three or four of the stories herein are very good adventure stories, with the inherent problems of much literature of the time period, though, projecting the stereotypes of the age onto the other as depicted in the fictional worlds.
My favourites are the Ulm tales, a pair of long adventure stories by S. P. Meek about a miniature world, The almost Lovecraftian tale by P. Schuyler Miller about truly alien aliens that seek to take over the Earth; Tumithak of the Corridors about humans living underground after the Earth has been subjugated by Venusians, and an excellent science fiction story set on an impossible version of the moon, a tale that is both adventurous and poignant.
It is an Anthology of Nostalgia, these are stories that left an impression on the young Asimov, stories that appeared before the golden age of science fiction, when the pure pulp adventure of early science fiction began to give way to stories with a more solid foundation in science and a greater preoccupation with humanity and the issues facing us.
This is a mixed bag, some of the stories are clunky, with absurd notions that were unrealistic even when they were written, while others, outdated in many ways, still have a great spark of adventure.
The autobiographical interludes provided by Asimov are worth the time in and of themselves to me, but I have always enjoyed reading Asimov talk about himself, I found his voice congenial, and though now it is somewhat coloured by the truths that have surfaced about some of his behaviour, his voice still has had a shaping influence on me.
Three or four of the stories herein are very good adventure stories, with the inherent problems of much literature of the time period, though, projecting the stereotypes of the age onto the other as depicted in the fictional worlds.
My favourites are the Ulm tales, a pair of long adventure stories by S. P. Meek about a miniature world, The almost Lovecraftian tale by P. Schuyler Miller about truly alien aliens that seek to take over the Earth; Tumithak of the Corridors about humans living underground after the Earth has been subjugated by Venusians, and an excellent science fiction story set on an impossible version of the moon, a tale that is both adventurous and poignant.
July 9, 2011
My favorite so far is The Man Who Evolved, by Edmund Hamilton. The stories here run a bit too long for me, but they are mostly fun. What kicks this anthology up is the autobiographical perspective that Asimov contributes, telling why each story has been selected and what its impact was on him as a child. The entire anthology is made of stories from the 1930's, and they're certainly dated, and not always in a good way.
Completed Volume 1. Good pulp scifi here. The stories include, an invasion from Venus resulting in earthlings living in underground corridors for thousands of years, an adventurer who travels back in time to visit a vibrant living moon, a race of savage beings alive in a submicroscopic world, an immortal planet-hopping cyborg, a man who evolves into his ultimate inevitable final form, time-hopping adventurers who face their destiny in the far-flung future of a dying earth. Each story is pure pulp entertainment. However a major caveat is the unfortunate aspects of insensitive cultural viewpoints. Still, putting that aside, there is fun to be found in this collection.
Completed Volume 1. Good pulp scifi here. The stories include, an invasion from Venus resulting in earthlings living in underground corridors for thousands of years, an adventurer who travels back in time to visit a vibrant living moon, a race of savage beings alive in a submicroscopic world, an immortal planet-hopping cyborg, a man who evolves into his ultimate inevitable final form, time-hopping adventurers who face their destiny in the far-flung future of a dying earth. Each story is pure pulp entertainment. However a major caveat is the unfortunate aspects of insensitive cultural viewpoints. Still, putting that aside, there is fun to be found in this collection.
July 6, 2021
Edited by Science Fiction giant Isaac Asimov, the Before the Golden Age series of books are collections of short stories from the time Asimov was a youth, the late 20s and early 30s. It is also a collection of autobiographical commentaries of Asimov's life at the times those stories were published.
As a rule, the stories tended to be very black and white; the good guys were Good, and the bad guys were Bad. But that is part of what made these stories interesting. The heroes had a purpose, and they were striving to achieve it because it was right so to do.
Like all science fiction stories, the validity of the science was all over the place. Some managed to work within the parameters of what what was known at the time. Others simply made it up as they went along. Regardless of the quality, the science was there to move the story along, and at the end of the the day, they were simply great stories.
As a rule, the stories tended to be very black and white; the good guys were Good, and the bad guys were Bad. But that is part of what made these stories interesting. The heroes had a purpose, and they were striving to achieve it because it was right so to do.
Like all science fiction stories, the validity of the science was all over the place. Some managed to work within the parameters of what what was known at the time. Others simply made it up as they went along. Regardless of the quality, the science was there to move the story along, and at the end of the the day, they were simply great stories.
February 10, 2021
Asimov is careful to frame the stories as those having a personal impact within his early life, and he well acknowledges that many are not objectively good. It is interesting to see them from the perspective of influencing his later writing, how "Tumithak of the Corridors" evolved into The Caves of Steel and how a similar framing device of historical reflection surrounded the Foundation series, and how the Robot series borrowed the essentially decent machine-men of "The Jameson Satellite".
It is presented as autobiographical, so his personal history drives the arrangement. I was here for the stories and the analysis of them, rather than his talking about his parents' candy store and his first library card, so much of what he had to say was like listening to an old man talking about tying an onion on his belt, which was the style at the time.
It is presented as autobiographical, so his personal history drives the arrangement. I was here for the stories and the analysis of them, rather than his talking about his parents' candy store and his first library card, so much of what he had to say was like listening to an old man talking about tying an onion on his belt, which was the style at the time.
August 27, 2019
I enjoyed the last two stories as well as the ending of the third to last but the first 280 pages or so weren't my cup of tea.
(Also, this took me aaages to read. It completely fell into this "reading 10 pages felt like I had read 30/40 pages"-trap I mostly associate with scifi. This isn't necessarily a bad thing--and it isn't exclusive to scifi I've merely seen it mostly with scifi--but it can make a story that you don't like already seem even more unlikeable.)
(Also, this took me aaages to read. It completely fell into this "reading 10 pages felt like I had read 30/40 pages"-trap I mostly associate with scifi. This isn't necessarily a bad thing--and it isn't exclusive to scifi I've merely seen it mostly with scifi--but it can make a story that you don't like already seem even more unlikeable.)
October 7, 2024
This was a really nice loom into the last and how some tropes were developed. There are some genuinely innovative and creative ideas so I would recommend it to anyone. Don't think that because it's old it doesn't have a story to tell! Really appropriate for casual reading since the stories are fairly short.
August 14, 2019
A mixed bag. Some stories are good, others feel like fillers. I had expected more.
Want to read
October 9, 2021The world of the red sun, es un cuento tipo la máquina del tiempo, se ve bueno
December 24, 2021
-Gregory Kerkman
December 5, 2014
The cover says that this contains 8 scifi classics, but really only two of them can reasonably lay claim to that status: Hamilton's "The Man Who Evolved," which was very fun indeed, as well as Williamson's "The Moon Era," which, though it started out rather slowly, introduced the wonderful (and quite enthralling) character of the Mother. Captain Meek's stuff was journeyman entertainment, although I remember it being a lot more gripping in olden times; and I have to admit that I laughed out loud when I read of his apprehension that his experiences would be too "contrary to preconceived notions" for us on this plane, although doubtless not as loud as would have been E R Burroughs' guffaw upon hearing the news (the only difference between Courtney and John Carter being that Courtney sports firearms instead of a sword). Consider the last sentence of "Submicroscopic": "I have my rifle and plenty of ammunition and even though the whole Mena race block my path, some way I will fight my way through them and once more hold my Princess in my arms." And speaking of laughing out loud, there was the story by P Schuyler Miller. When I got to that "tetrahedra of terror" line I was rolling. Seriously, that was a guy who must've gotten paid by the exclam. And the Simak story was rather disappointing too. At any rate, everybody certainly seemed to be packing lots of heat back then. This time around I only read the stories, not any of the Asimov intros and so forth (not particularly wanting to relive him keeping the mags wrinkle-free in the candy store...or however that went).
February 6, 2016
I Loved this book. It was loaned to me by a colleague and I read the stories within (there were 8 different stories contained within) and commentary by Isaac Asimov. I am not a science fiction lover, but all these stories were just incredibly great and I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys science fiction. It must be pointed out that these stories were written in the 1930's and were incredibly perceptive! Enjoy!
February 12, 2016
Interesting perspective of the early stories that influenced his career. Hard to read some of the more dated ones, except as historical examples of attitudes about race, space and sexual mores. Cameron would like SIDEWISE IN TIME by Murray Leinster and DEVOLUTION by Edmond Hamilton.
February 8, 2016
If you ever asked yourself how on Earth did I end up studying Physics, blame it on that summer I spend reading this and listening to Muse non-stop.
A fantastic introduction to early science-fiction, full of naïvité of how humans would colonise or be colonised!
A fantastic introduction to early science-fiction, full of naïvité of how humans would colonise or be colonised!
February 13, 2009
Although dated, several stories are a LOT of fun. The Venus one still sticks with me, even after putting the book down for over 10 years (ok, I've picked it up from the library)-
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews