The Evolution of Science Fiction discussion

This month we are looking for nominations from the 1940's, the only exclusion is Earth Abides by George R Stewart which we read last time round.

Current nominations:
Lest Darkness Fall by L. Sprague de Camp
The World of Null-A by A. E Van Vogt
Slan by A. E. Van Vogt
The Humanoids by Jack Williamson
What Mad Universe by Frederick Brown

I nominate _Lest Darkness Fall_ by L. Sprague de Camp. According to Wikipedia: "It was first published as a short story in Unknown #10, December 1939. It was published as a complete novel by Henry Holt and Company in 1941 and reprinted by both Galaxy Publishing and Prime Press in 1949."

Its current goodreads rating is 3.95. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9...

Can our time traveller prevent the fall of the Roman Empire and the ensuing Dark Ages?

I nominate The World of Null-A by A.E. Van Vogt. First published as a serial in Astounding Science Fiction in 1945.

"A deliberately complex plot for a complex theme: how language is capable of both hiding and revealing truth."

"One of the early novels about a superman."

"Exciting story of apparent amnesia, inter-planetary and inter-galactic intrgue, and alien invasions."

Quotations from Easton Press.

The original I, Robot by Isaac Asimov is a collection of short stories written in the 40's, but was first published as a collection in 1950. The first story "Runaround" was published in 1941, so they span the decade. It also introduces the 3 laws of robotics, so it's probably one of the most influential collections of the time. These laws are being mentioned by some of the top scientists today as they discuss the dangers of AI.

Anyway, can it count for this decade? If so, it's my nomination. If not, I'll nominate it next month & nominate 1984 for this month.

Jim wrote: "The original I, Robot by Isaac Asimov is a collection of short stories written in the 40's, but was first published as a collection in 1950. The first story "Runaround"..."

If you don't mind I prefer to keep it for the 1950's. We didn't cover Asimov last time round (in any decade) and I think this should be rectified. He wrote so many classic books in the 50's, I was thinking we could have two books for the 1950's with one being a specific Asimov category. Assuming there are no objections...

Robert wrote: "I nominate The World of Null-A by A.E. Van Vogt. First published as a serial in Astounding Science Fiction in 1945.

"A deliberately complex plot for a complex theme: how language is capable of bot..."

I picked this one up from my bookswappers club in French, i'm trying to read more in French but i've been putting it off. This will be good for me if this wins :-)

OK, Jo. It's simply because there are so many must-read (or reread!) books in the 50's that I tried. While trying to come up with a 1940's book, I kept coming up with 1950's ones.

I quite like the idea of Greener Than You Think by Ward Moore although a lot of people compare it unfavourable to John Christopher's The Death of Grass. I can't make up my mind for the moment...

The Death of Grass has interested me for a long time, but my library doesn't have it.

I haven't started looking for a book to nominate, yet. I think maybe the 50's is my favorite SF decade.

I've been looking in more detail at the 1940's and there seem to have been a lot of intereting books published, particularly from European writers, examples Kallocain by Karin Boye, Man From Mars by Stanislaw Lem, a couple of books by René Barjavel. The problem is most of them aren't in print or available in ebook and where they are copies are quite expensive. I think i'm just going to stick with the current nominations as two i've not read and if 1984 wins I don't mind rereading it.

Looking at my current to-read list there isn't really any science fiction from the 1940's, mostly other genres. I would like to read null-A if I can get a copy though, and if not then I've been meaning to reread 1984.

Orwell's 1984 is surely the best book of that decade, one the the most important books of the century, but I've already read it several times, including once in the last couple of years. I wont read it again, but I'll gladly discuss it.

The world of Null-A has been on my to-read list for a long time, but my library only has Slan by A.E. van Vogt (1946)

There are several books by Robert A. Heinlein published in the 40s. I think they probably are all in his juvenile series. I've read a few of them and they're not bad. My library has Space Cadets (1948)

So.... I nominate Slan by A.E. van Vogt

Sounds like "1984" isn't a great choice. I haven't read it in a while, but I'm not desperate. It's a depressing book. With all the talk lately about the dangers of AI & robots, I think The Humanoids by Jack Williamson is a better choice for me to nominate. It's almost as influential as Asimov's robots.

Buck wrote: "The Death of Grass has interested me for a long time, but my library doesn't have it.

I haven't started looking for a book to nominate, yet. I think maybe the 50's is my favorite SF decade."

I really liked The Death Of Grass. I seem to remember it went by another title, but can't remember it. The movie was pretty good too. It definitely spoke to what is happening in the world of Big Agra today.

One of my favorite Heinlein books is from this period, Orphans of the Sky. But I've lost my taste for Heinlein these days, there are three that have been on my list to read for decades:

The Paradox Men
Earth's Last Citadel
What Mad Universe

The Paradox men was published first in magazine form in 1949, but not until 1953 as a separate novel, so I'm not sure of its eligibility.

I'm going to nominate What Mad Universe by Frederic Brown, since I think I've only read maybe a short story or two by him.

I've never even heard of "The Paradox Men" but a friend of mine gave it 6 stars. FWIW, he gave "Earth's Last Citadel" 1 star & "What Mad Universe" 4 stars. I haven't read any of them. Thanks for listing them.

Jim wrote: "I've never even heard of "The Paradox Men" but a friend of mine gave it 6 stars. FWIW, he gave "Earth's Last Citadel" 1 star & "What Mad Universe" 4 stars. I haven't read any of them. Thanks for..."

Charles Harness is one of the most underrated writer I can think of. I loved Firebird. It's a very intricate time travel story. I read it in my late teens or early twenties, so I don't know if I'd feel the same way now, but it struck me then as a real mind twister.