X Minus One Project

by H.L. Gold, Frederik Pohl, Clifford D. Simak

This is a collection of public domain science fiction stories which were turned into half-hour plays for the classic mid-1950's American radio series, X Minus One. All of these stories were added to Project Gutenberg via Greg Weeks and crew at Distributed Proofreaders.

Total running time: 7:35:11

Genres: Science Fiction, Audiobook, Short Stories, Anthologies

Audiobook

First published August 9, 2010

About the author

Horace Leonard Gold was a science fiction writer and editor most noted for bringing an innovative and fresh approach to science fiction while he was the editor of Galaxy Science Fiction, and also wrote briefly for DC Comics. Born in Canada, Gold moved to the United States at the age of two. He also published under the pseudonyms Clyde Crane Campbell, Dudley Dell, Christopher Grimm, and Leigh Keith.

Reviews

[useFOSS · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Coffin Cure by Alan E. Nourse 4/5
Death Wish by Robert Sheckley 5/5
The Defenders by Philip K. Dick 5/5
The Moon is Green by Fritz Leiber 4/5
The Old Die Rich by H. L. Gold 5/5
Project Mastodon by Clifford D. Simak 5/5
Time and Time Again by H. Beam Piper 4/5
The Tunnel Under the World by Frederik Pohl 5/5
Narrators' performances 5/5
Stories originally published between 1947 and 1957.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its really through fiction, particularly scifi, that you learn the deepseated fears of an entire culture. X Minus One focuses generally on the fears of a subhuman existence underground or through robotics due to nuclear war and stalemate with the USSR. Its interesting, because that fear was such a palpable thing at one time, and so far removed from the children of modern day superpowers. Naturally some of the stories were better than others- I particularly enjoyed Tunnel Under the World by Frederik Pohl. Most of the authors on this list are frequently featured on the SciFi Masterworks list as well, its intriguing to read their shorter/earlier works and see the evolution of the ideas that they would later use in their novels.

This was simply a fantastic collection of classic Sci-Fi. I believe that these were originally radio broadcasts that were collected and published as the X Minus One Project.

You know, its really in Sci-Fi where authors can truly express cultural fears about the future of humanity. Today Sci-Fi is largely about dictatorships run by computer, supervirus’, and generally the undoing of ourselves through some technology that goes from benign to malevolent before you can blink. This project (though not all of them) really explores the fear of nuclear extinction, the horror at the thought of being driven underground, and the impact on the human psyche of the constant worry about war. Ironically, its Sci-Fi stories like these that really let you understand the fear that people felt in the early years of the cold war. Nuclear power and bombs, computer technology, was still borderline magic and just as misunderstood by the general public as the Hadrian collider is today. It was terrible, devastating, and beyond comprehension. Even now, we know that we can blow the Earth up over 400 times, but can you really *imagine* that sort of devastation? No…. and neither could they, and this is mostly what these short stories investigate.


My favorites were: The Defenders by Philip Dick, The Moon is Green by Fritz Leiber, and my number #1 favorite was “The Tunnel Under the World.” The ending absolutely blew me away. Simply the best short story I’ve ever read. The others were all really great, but these three were my favorites. I’m always interested to hear what your favorites are!

[Ronald McCoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spectacular collection of radio adaptations and original place from the 1950s. Many of the tales are by very well-known authors including Isaac Asimov, Theodore Sturgeon, Robert Heinlein, Frederick Pohl, and many others. They are certainly of their time, especially with their poor representation of women, but the richness of many of the stories and the production values are really worth listening to.

[Pat Rolston · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone interested in not only classic ‘Golden Age’ science fiction, but also a window into the America of the 1950s and early 1960s this is wonderful. The writers cover a spectrum of greats such as Bradbury and Heinlein to lesser know, but interesting contributors. The societal predictions are every intriguing with astonishing similarities and vast differences from our circumstances in 2022. Unfortunately many then would find us far more dystopian than the alternatives.

[bookguy 505 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audio book
A collection of science fiction short stories in the public domain for free on "librivox"
all from the 50's and almost all have atomic bomb theming of some kind or another. Great stuff overall there were a few stinkers which kept it from being great, but twists especially in the last one titled "a tunnel under the world" which were really engaging and fresh which is unexpected for science fiction from the 50's

[Carl Gervais · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Science fiction radio collection.

[Martin Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some years ago, after buying a satellite radio, I became a fan of a channel called Radio Classics, which plays radio shows from the ‘30s through the ‘50s. One of my favorite programs is X Minus One, a popular 1950s sci-fi show which aired adaptations of short stories written by some of top writers of the time. The X Minus One Project is a collection of eight short stories adapted by the radio show. Many of the stories are haunting reminders of the fear and pessimism that permeated society during the early Cold War years. All are classics.

[Barry Tikkanen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic serialized science fiction from the Golden Age of radio. Wonderful!