Reviews for Science fiction of the thirties

The average rating for Science fiction of the thirties based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-09-28 00:00:00 Randall Pulver This is a good collection of short science fiction from the 1930s, and is a nice companion piece to Isaac Asimov's anthology Before the Golden Age. The magazines of the time were interested in presenting a sense-of-wonder and strong adventures to young white men, so there's not a lot of inclusiveness or character development, but there are some very entertaining stories; they just have to be read as historical examples of the best of a bygone age. Some of the ideas (and some of the prose!) are quite clunky, but remember what they say about those who don't remember the past. I most enjoyed the stories by Murray Leinster, David H. Heller, M.D., Frank Belknap Long, Jr., Stanley G. Weinbaum, Raymond Z. Gallun, and Harry Bates from the pre-Golden Age (before John W. Campbell became editor of Astounding Science Fiction) era, and thought all of the Campbell-chosen stories in the book's last section were fine. I speculate that Knight chose some of the authors' second-best stories from the time because Asimov had used the best in his book. The book includes a lot of the original pulp magazine illustrations along with the text, many of which are also delightful.

Review # 2 was written on 2019-04-05 00:00:00 Michael Goi Art fans may appreciate the selected (but incomplete?) original illustrations (eg Morey, Dold, Wesso, Schneeman), reproduced reduced but still discernible. Out Around Rigel: Unsurprising, poignant nonetheless. Leinster's Fifth Dimension Catapult: An uncomvincing simplification or two of how the device works; cut this by a third and you'd have a decent adventure story. Into the Meteorite Orbit: Private space research project leads to shenanigans from a logical source and suspenseful adventure. The Battery of Hate: Campbell here bores me a great deal with the economics, touting of electric vs gas power. The Wall: A surprising treat for readers of a major bestselling author's blockbuster novel and spinoff TV series. Practically no time needed to read this plodding story although a bit hard to visuaiize the goings-on. The Lost Language: Slight, but whimsical and interesting idea. The Last Men: Fairly well-written but unsatisfying vignette. The Other: Zany conversation with a surprise ending. The Mad Moon: A notch above the rest so far, thanks to Weinbaum's talent and good nature. Comes closest to what I'd expected in mood and plot from this collection. Davey Jones' Ambassador: Bleak predicament and encouraging resolution. Alas, All Thinking!: Enjoyable, B-movie like (wobbling between thought-provoking and comedic, even schmaltzy) time-travel yarn. The Time Decelerator: Credible opening relativistic justification for time travel leads to an adventure which manages to hold one's interest. The Council of Drones: Oddly compelling apiary story. Seeker of Tomorrow: Slightly more modernly written time-travel yarn, low-impact ending. Hyperpilosity: Clearly a harbinger of the Golden Age, original premise, well-told with lesser formality. Pithecanthropus Rejectus: Cleverly titled brief seriocomic account of an experiment. The Merman: Breezy early Golden Age predicament story The Day Is Done: Classic Golden Age early humanity requiem.