Famous Science-Fiction Stories: Adventures in Time and Space

by Raymond J. Healy (Editor), J. Francis McComas (Editor), Lester del Rey (Contributor)

Requiem (1940) by Robert A. Heinlein
Forgetfulness (1937) by John W. Campbell, Jr.
Nerves (1942) by Lester del Rey
The Sands of Time (1937) by P. Schuyler Miller
The Proud Robot (1943) by Henry Kuttner
Seeds of the Dusk (1938) by Raymond Z. Gallun
Black Destroyer (1939) by A. E. van Vogt
Symbiotica (1943) by Eric Frank Russell
Heavy Planet (1939) by Milton A. Rothman
Time Locker (1943) by Henry Kuttner
The Link (1942) by Cleve Cartmill
Mechanical Mice (1941) by Eric Frank Russell
V-2: Rocket Cargo Ship (1945) essay by Willy Ley
Adam & No Eve (1941) by Alfred Bester
Nightfall (1941) by Isaac Asimov
A Matter of Size (1934) by Harry Bates
As Never Was (1944) by P. Schuyler Miller
Q.U.R. (1943) by Anthony Boucher
Who Goes There? (1938) by John W. Campbell, Jr.
The Roads Must Roll (1940) by Robert A. Heinlein
Asylum (1942) A. E. van Vogt
Quietus (1940) by Ross Rocklynne
The Twonky (1942) by Henry Kuttner & C. L. Moore
Time-Travel Happens! (1939) essay by A. M. Phillips
Robot's Return (1938) by Robert Moore Williams
The Blue Giraffe (1939) by L. Sprague de Camp
Flight into Darkness (1943) by J. Francis McComas
The Weapons Shop (1942) by A. E. van Vogt
Farewell to the Master (1940) by Harry Bates
Within the Pyramid (1937) by R. DeWitt Miller
He Who Shrank (1936) by Henry Hasse
By His Bootstraps (1941) by Robert A. Heinlein
The Star Mouse (1942) by Fredric Brown
Correspondence Course (1945) by Raymond F. Jones
Brain (1932) by S. Fowler Wright

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Classics, Science Fiction Fantasy

997 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1946

About the author

Raymond John Healy (1907-1969) was a pioneering American anthologist who edited four science fiction anthologies from 1946 to 1955, two with J. Francis McComas. The first, Adventures in Time and Space (1946, with McComas as coeditor) is generally recognized as the finest early anthology from the Golden Age of Science Fiction.

Reviews

[Ted · Rating 5 out of 5]

Then shall we list to no shallow gossip of Magellans and Drakes. Then shall we give ear to voyagers who have circumnavigated the Ecliptic; who have rounded the Polar Star as Cape Horn.

This is a quote from the book. Or more accurately, a quote from inside the book, written in pencil on a lined notecard, by me, when, where, by what circumstances I know not. The question is, dear reader, do you know the source? It's from a book by an author of some fame ...

It's from Mardi, and a Voyage Thither by Herman Melville. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mardi



For a previous Update, see bottom of review - re the "Lewis Padgett" stories.



This is probably one of the first science fiction anthologies ever published (1946), and is recognized as one of the best of the early ones. The copy I have is one of the old Modern Library Giants. The dustcover looks exactly as pictured.

There are many early giants of S.F. represented here. Heinlein, Del Ray, Asimov, Van Vogt, Alfred Bester, Harry Bates, Anthony Boucher, de Camp. Also three stories by "Lewis Padgett", a pseudonym used by both Henry Kuttner and his wife C.L. Moore, and sometimes used for stories that they collaborated on. All three stories by Padgett (The Proud Robot, Time Locker, The Twonkey) are in fact (but perhaps not!) written by both Kuttner & Moore. I'm going to re-read these stories, as well as some of the others. [See update below].

As one of the shelves I've got this book on indicates, I read it over fifty years ago, probably when I was in high school (back in the last millennium). I thought I might throw a review in here since I did check mark several stories that I must have especially liked. It's possible that I've also read some of these stories again in the intervening decades.

Here are the stories I marked. Two of them with special markings are at the end.

Adam and No Eve Alfred Bester
A Matter of Size Harry Bates
As Never Was P. Schuyler Miller
Asylum A.E. Van Vogt
Flight Into Darkness Webb Marlowe
By His Bootstraps Anson MacDonald
Correspondence Course Raymond F. Jones
Brain S. Fowler Wright

Special mention:
Black Destroyer A.E. Van Vogt
Farewell To the Master Harry Bates
Nightfall Isaac Asimov - A story I've never forgotten since reading it half century ago.



I also need to mention that the opening story, Requiem by Robert Heinlein, is the first place I became acquainted with the following epitaph. I can't recall how long it was before I found out that the grave in question is Robert Louis Stevenson's.

On a high hill in Samoa there is a grave. Inscribed on the marker are these words:

 Under the wide and starry sky
 Dig my grave and let me lie.
 Glad did I live and gladly die
 And I lay me down with a will!

 This be the verse that you grave for me:
 Here he lies where he longed to be,
 Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
 And the hunter home from hill.

Update 10/15/2013
About the "Lewis Padgett" stories, written (perhaps) by Henry Kuttner and his wife C.L. Moore. The evidence I see about this collaboration is confusing. In various Wiki articles one can find indications, even definite statements, that (a) these stories were collaborations, and (b) that they were written by Kuttner alone. On balance, it appears that the first two of the following stories were likely written by Kuttner alone, while the third one was almost certainly a collaboration. But no matter who wrote them, all three stories are quite good.

The Proud Robot is a fairly typical story of the type I’ve called the “cheerful resolution” story (in another SF review), and a story with a lot of humor. It’s also one of the very few stories I’ve seen appear in more than one of the five “independent” SF anthologies I have; this one and The World Treasury of Science Fiction published forty-plus years later. By independent anthologies I mean anthologies that have stories by more than one author, that are not part of a series of anthologies, and are not limited to stories from a single SF magazine. There are 164 stories in these five anthologies, with only four repeats. Besides Padgett’s story, the one that you may know is Isaac Asimov’s classic Nightfall, an amazing story that I’ve never forgotten since reading it as a kid.

In the World Treasury introduction to this story it’s stated that Kuttner and Moore “had one of the most impressive and successful collaborations in SF history”, and that they wrote in such close collaboration “that later neither could identify their own sentences. Until Kuttner’s sudden death in 1958, they were a joint writing persona, the most admired writer in SF among those who recognized unusual stylistic achievement.”

Time Locker is a bit darker story, though it does have an ending that could be called satisfying (the bad guy gets his). These two stories (both published in 1943) were part of a series of stories about a drunken inventor named Galloway Gallegher. The previous story features an inventor called “Gallegher”, this one an inventor called “Galloway”. There are two clues that this is the same person. First, in The Proud Robot, the first paragraph ends with the sentence “The affair of the time locker had begun that way …” (Though in the World Treasury anthology, that sentence no longer appears.)

The second clue is that the inventor, although called different names in the two stories, is described in both as being usually drunk, imbibing various cocktails that he can dial up on one of his inventions, a mechanical liquor bar which dispenses his favorite drinks directly into his mouth via spigot, as he lays on his favorite couch thinking about what to invent next. Sounds like the same guy to me.

Anyway, both these stories are of that early type of SF which was really written for entertainment value, not to explore deep questions about science or man’s future. Padgett/Kuttner obviously had a lot of fun with these stories, not just in writing them, but in tweaking the noses of his readers with moves like calling the same character “Galloway” in one story and “Gallegher” in the other.

The Twonkey apparently is a Kuttner/Moore collaboration. Despite the fact that a 1953 “comedy-science fiction” film (according to Wiki) was based on this story, I found it quite horrifying. (Wiki’s plot synopsis indicates that the ending of the movie was different than the published story’s ending, thus removing the aspect of the story that I found disturbing.)

The story is about an alien who finds himself somehow in a mid-century earth factory where console radio-phonographs of the type I remember from my young years are being produced. The alien is confused, but he quickly decides to go about his normal job. He assembles a twonkey, which he makes to look exactly like the factory’s product, then disappears from the story. The console, which operates outwardly as would be expected by someone buying it, turns out to have strange and frightening powers, which are apparently used by the leaders of the alien race to control their subjects. A man buys the console, brings it home, things go progressively from bad to worse. His wife, with brave, heroic resolution, attempts to destroy the console. Things end very badly for both of them. Then there is a final twist, indicating that the story is not over. Not a comedy at all; the suspense and apprehension are built up masterfully.

[Werner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note, April 21, 2022: I just edited this review to make a couple of minor grammatical/stylistic changes.

Originally published in 1946, this thick anthology was the first major venture by a mainstream U.S. publisher in the SF field, and as such a significant contributor to the post-war popularization of the genre with general readers outside of what had been, up to that time, a small ghetto of fans served by a handful of pulp magazines. (The new popular interest in and respectability of the genre was largely due to the war's obvious vindication of two staple SF themes that the English-speaking pre-war scientific community had largely dismissed as nutcake fantasies: atomic energy and rocketry; science fiction, people suddenly felt, was the form of literature best adapted for learning about the new scientific reality. Capitalizing on this interest, the editors included, along with the 33 stories, two scientific essays on rocketry and time travel, which I did not read --my interest here was just in the fiction.) Since I'd read most of the stories, I've had the collection posted for some time on my read shelf; but I've only recently read the last few so that I could review the book.

Drawing their material strictly from the genre pulps of the 1930s and early 40s, and trying to select what they felt to be the best samples of that tradition, the editors assembled works from 23 authors (several, obviously, represented more than once) who include many of the best known of that generation. The Goodreads description above gives a helpful complete contents list of essays and stories, with the authors --and also identifies the latter by their real names as well as the pen names that frequently disguise their identity in the book itself. (It might be mentioned, though, that while they only credit Henry Kuttner as "Lewis Padgett," his wife C. L. Moore was a frequent collaborator in works published under that moniker.)

Given their origin, the stories often reflect the limitations of the technophilic, largely secular humanist perspective of the handful of pulp magazine editors who shaped the American SF ghetto in and before its "Golden Age" --especially John W. Campbell, Jr., two of whose own stories are included. (One author, Eric Frank Russell, was British, but the two stories by him appeared in the U.S. pulps.) Uncritical Darwinism is often a theme and a presupposition, as is triumphalist utopian optimism; but the two ideas sometimes war against each other, as some writers imagine the concepts of extinction and devolution applying to the human race like other species before them, or predict the dying of the solar system, in a philosophic framework devoid of purpose or teleology and holding no brief for humanity as such. (H. P. Lovecraft and his tradition, which developed outside the SF ghetto, isn't represented here; but the latter perspective has much in common with his "cosmicism.") Hard science definitely predominates, except for the several time-travel stories, and most of those revolve around time paradoxes, a type of scenario that I find too implausible to summon a "willing suspension of disbelief" for. And the style of writing in a number of the stories is relatively pedestrian. (In several cases, I had some trouble identifying which stories I'd already read --which does NOT speak well for their memorable quality!) Heinlein's "The Roads Must Roll" is particularly poor stylistically, long and tedious; it also reflects his ultra-right wing economic attitudes in his picture of labor union members as the villains, ignorant and duped tools of a union boss out to victimize society for his own personal agenda. And while the true literary value of SF has never lain in successful prediction of future technology, his vision here of the future replacement of the highway system by a system of giant conveyor belts is so implausibly wild and off-beam, flying in the face of economic and technological practicality, that it boggles the mind to think that any editor took it seriously. Another booby prize in that area goes to Lester del Rey's "Nerves," where the message is that atomic energy MUST be pursued, despite the misgivings of the troglodytic, backward-looking naysayers --but it must be pursued because it's of irreplaceable value as a killer of the boll weevils that bedevil the cotton industry! :-) (In that story, a Chernobyl-style meltdown is, of course, averted by a technologically brilliant hero, the kind we can always automatically count on to save us --the effect of that message, on any readers with a nodding acquaintance with reality, might not have been as reassuring as del Rey imagined it to be. :-)) And the "humor" of the "Lewis Padgett" stories featuring Galloway, the inventor who's scientifically brilliant only when he's intoxicated, has not worn well over the ensuing decades.

Those considerations pulled down the overall rating of the collection. But there are stories here that would easily deserve five stars, rated by themselves. Van Vogt's "The Weapons Shop" and Heinlein's "Requiem" are absolute masterpieces, libertarian classics that will endure forever. S. Fowler Wright's "Brain" is the complete antithesis of the whole secular humanist utopian vision, a root-and-branch excoriation of that whole school and everything it stands for, which is doubly satisfying here because it's so unexpected in this venue! (Not surprisingly, its appearance in this anthology was its first U.S. publication --given its British setting, Wright may also have been British.) It's also amazingly prescient in predicting the anti- democratic nature of scientific elitism's influence on government, and the willingness of science-worshipers to annihilate a whole city full of civilians as a military expedient. (Unfortunately, since 1945 the latter hasn't been confined to the realm of fiction --nor has the former.) Other favorites of mine include de Camp's "The Blue Giraffe" and Fredric Brown's delightful "The Star Mouse." Campbell's "Who Goes There?" and Van Vogt's "Black Destroyer" are two of the best variations on the "humans vs. super-deadly menacing monster" theme ever penned. And besides these standouts, several second-tier tales, such as "Symbiotica" and "Within the Pyramid," are entertaining and well worth a read. Even some of the stories whose presuppositions I don't share are well-written; and Asimov's "Nightfall" has one of the genre's most original premises (though he couldn't resist his trademark bashing of religious believers in trying to execute the premise). So overall, the collection well deserves a positive rating, as one that I liked!

[AID∴N · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I can steal a phrase from Mark Twain, the Golden Age of SF was more Gilded than Golden.

It had ambition, it lacked guidance. It had inspiration, it lacked verve. It dreamed, but it dreamed in tunnel-vision.

Adventure's in Time and Space proposes to be '33 of the Greatest Stories, Novelettes & Short Novels by the Best SF Writers of All Time!"

That's a tall order and no surprise the volume falls short.

It doesn't help that the whole thing begins with a essay by the editors equal in pretension to a 8th grader claiming that their paper-mâché model of the solar system will revolutionize our present understanding of cosmology.

"Science fiction very nearly falls between two stools. Is it literature? Or is it prophecy? We content that it is both."

Oh please. There is a Heinlein story in here about how cars will be replaced by a national system of giant conveyor belts.

Golden Age SF can be said to have a fascination with a few core ideas: space voyages, time travel, the growth and development of robotics, the proliferation of atomic technology and, finally, the potential for a superhumanity.

In all of the above, subsequent scientific discoveries, technological progress, or societal changes have radically rewritten our understanding or these things. Their illusions of prophecy stripped away, the stories here have to stand alone as lowly works of literature.

How flimsy they hold up. It's a veritable Futurist Potemkin City.

To quote Ursula Le Guin, "Prediction is the business of prophets, clairvoyants and futurologists. It is not the business of novelists."

I wish she had been around 30 years earlier, she might have saved the genre a lot of grief.

There is a lot of mediocrity here. "Heavy Planet," "Flight into Darkness," and "Seeds of the Dusk," are decent vignettes but hardly worth seeking out the volume for.

“Nerves” is a pedantic embarrassment. It's inclusion is inexcusable.

“Nightfall,” by Asimov, is considered the greatest science fiction short story ever. It isn't, but it's not bad, either.

Even the story by Alfred Bester, probably the best writer included in the volume, is thoroughly okay.

Van Vogt is Van Vogt. His stories are bad but you read them for the sizzle, not the steak. “Black Destroyer” has legendary status and its initial publication is supposed to herald the arrival of SF's 'Golden Age," but, personally, I found his other two stories far more interesting.

“Requiem,” by Heinlein is probably the best story in the bunch. It is actually able to elicit a real emotion in your bosom, if you let it.

The only stuff consistently great here are the Lewis Padgett stories. A pseudonym for the husband and wife team of Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore, the works by 'Padgett' are burlesques. Despite being dated, they're still hilarious. "The Proud Robot" is every bit as good as Douglas Adams, though thoroughly American. The "Twonky" manages to do that rare alchemical trick of slowly turning humor in terror with real effect.

It says a lot that the authors who were writing humor hit their mark with more success than the 'serious' ones. One can imagine a room full of bearded men (or sideburned men), jawlines clenched, pipes in hand, earnestly trying to plot to course of human destiny. Meanwhile, in the corner, the only girl invited to the party points out of the absurdity of it all to her date and he has the sense to chuckle as well.

That's a bit what this volume feels like.

It's all a shame to me, because it doesn't have to be that way. Reading a list of the authors left out of this volume is like reading a list of people who were doing exactly the kinds of interesting things that should have been appreciated by the editors. No Arthur Clarke? No Ray Bradbury? No Theodore Sturgeon? Not even a little Cordwainer Smith? Hell, even James Blish would have spiced the whole thing up.

I suppose, everything withstanding, that there isn't a more thorough single-volume introduction to Golden Era SF (The Science Fiction Hall of Fame probably has better stories but it is multi-volume. What you have here is the a sterling reduction of Campbellian SF (virtually every single story included here was published in Astounding Science Fiction first). For better or for worse, these stories mark an epoch many still regard as unrivaled. To millions who grew up reading them, these sort of stories ARE Science Fiction and much of what has been written subsequently is a degeneration, an abandonment of principle, a wandering off course.

Obviously, however, I couldn't disagree more. After reading this collection, I'm quite glad SF changed when it did.

[Jon]

Contains the following 1943 Retro Hugo finalists for various short fiction categories:

“Nerves” by Lester del Rey (Astounding Science Fiction, September 1942) Read 4/13-18/2018; This story had good characterization, but the medical and atomic sciences didn't stand the test of time well. Liked it (3.5 stars)

“Asylum” by A.E. van Vogt (Astounding Science Fiction, May 1942)

“The Twonky” by C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner (Astounding Science Fiction, September 1942) - Read 4/9/2018; Similar in subject matter to the Brown short story but more sinister. Liked it. (3.5 stars)

“The Weapon Shop” by A.E. van Vogt (Astounding Science Fiction, December 1942) Read 4/22/2018; Very odd short story of a strange political philosophy. (3 stars)

“The Star Mouse” by Fredric Brown (Planet Stories, Spring 1942) Read week of 4/23/2018; Cute, delightful, poignant first contact story of mice and men and tiny aliens. (3.5 stars)


Read (in 2016) the 1941 Retro Hugo nominee for Best Novelette:

“Farewell to the Master” by Harry Bates

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recall the title of virtually every one of these stories not so much because I read them here, but because they're famous and have been read in anthology after anthology.

[Still · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished the novella by John Campbell, "Who Goes There?" - an intense and harrowing read. Damned scary even if the dialogue is clumsy.

This novella is available on Kindle (which I've just purchased) for $3.03 which includes an introduction by William Nolan and an original screen treatment.
Don't know if I'm interested in reading any of the rest of this massive tome.
Rating is for the Campbell novella only.

[Doug McNair · Rating 5 out of 5]

You want Golden Age SF? This is it!!! All the great ones are in here: Robert Heinlein, Lester del Rey, Alfred Bester, Isaac Asimov . . . and on and on and on. Read this to find out how your great-grandparents imagined the future. You won't be disappointed.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Adventures in Time and Space” edited by Raymond J. Healy and J. Francis McComas is one of the best collections of science fiction short stories, novellas, and novelettes ever published. Originally released in August of 1946 as collection of 35 works from what are now considered the legends of science fiction. It was tied for 4th on the Arkham Survey in 1949 and the top rated book on the Astounding/Analog polls in 1952 and 1956. In 1966, 20 years after it was published, it was still rated as the 20th best science fiction book on the Astounding/Analog pole, and in 1999 it was ranked as the 3rd best SF anthology of all time.

Fourteen of the original 35 stories have also been long remembered by science fiction fans, including such stories as ‘Requiem’ (Robert Heinlein), ‘Forgetfulness’ (Don A. Stuart, a.k.a. John W. Campbell, Jr.), Nerves (Lester Del Rey), Black Destroyer (A.E. van Vogt), Nightfall (Isaac Asimov), and many more. One must be careful in purchasing this book to be sure to get the full collection. The second edition omits five of the stories, and there are several derivative collections that were released using the same or similar names. The original 35 story collection was republished in 1957 under the title ‘Famous Science Fiction Stories: Adventures in Time and Space.’

[Muzzlehatch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't think this was the very first SF anthologoy published in the USA -- I believe there was a Pocket paperback original a couple of years earlier, and Groff Conklin's 'The Best of Science Fiction' came out the same year (1946) -- but it remains the best-known and best-loved early example. It's easy to see why; 1000 pages of extremely well-chosen stories from the early years of the "Golden Age", 1937-1945, by virtually every big-name American writer in the field. It's all from the magazines, mostly "Astounding", and nearly every story and writer featured went on to become classics in the field. Sadly, in 2008, both the anthology and even some of the writers within are now fading into history; the book is apparently out of print as I write this. It can be easily found on eBay or in used book stores though; I'd plump for a copy of the Modern Library edition from the 50s, a hardcover with thin paper but nice heft and quality. This is one that you'll want to keep.

Personal favorite stories: van Vogt, "The Weapon Shop"; Campbell Jr, "Who Goes There"; Asimov, "Nighfall"; Heinlein, "Requiem"; van Vogt, "Black Destroyer"; Del Rey, "Nerves". I still haven't gotten through every story, so I expect that list to grow.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of the first hardcover editions of science fiction short stories, and so it's a good idea for anyone interested in beginning to read the genre who wants to know how the American strain of pulp science fiction got started, in the magazines of the 30's. Sure, the stuff written in the 60's and onwards is, for the most part, better literature, but there is something in the best of these old stories, call it an earnest sense-of-wonder if you like, or a genuine faith in human intellect, or an uncynical belief in the power of ideas alone to shock, that has rarely been replicated since. There are, of course, good and bad stories in this anthology, and lots of mediocrity, but if you read the best ones, which take up about half the volume, you'll have begun your education on an important period in the genre. You will also know whether or not you like so-called "Golden Age" science fiction. It's not to everyone's tastes, to be sure.

So, what are the best? Mostly, the ones written by authors that later came to be known as the masters, along with a few hidden gems. Here are my suggestions:

Read Robert Heinlein's "Requiem," "The Roads Must Roll," and "By His Bootstraps." Heinlein's voice dominated science fiction for over half a century, and these are seminal early stories reflecting the Heinlein worldview and approach. The first two are part of his massive future history series, and they give you a strong sense of the character-based social/political stories he was interested in telling. The third one is a mind-taxing comedy about the paradoxical possibilities of time travel, a classic of the field superseded years later only by another Heinlein story about time paradoxes, "All You Zombies..." Heinlein is credited with making the future feel "lived in" - his conversational voice and his knack for sneaking exposition into his stories make his futures feel real in a way that previous fictional futures had not. He is the seed from which modern science fiction as we know it sprouted.

Read "The Proud Robot," "The Time Locker," and "The Twonky," by Lewis Padgett, who is really Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore, a power couple of the "Golden Age." These stories are quick and funny and smart as hell. "The Twonky" is also quite shocking. They feel very contemporary, too.

Read "Black Destroyer" and "The Weapons Shop," by A. E. Van Vogt. "Black Destroyer" is often said to have initiated the "Golden Age." Well, maybe that's silly, but Van Vogt, when he's good, is amazing, even if his stories make no sense. They have a weird, dreamlike intensity, often powerfully, even triumphantly, illogical, and they influenced many writers afterwards, most notably Philip K. Dick. He's probably not good in any "literary" sense, but the man is clearly insane, and his stories benefit greatly from that fact.

Read "Nightfall," by Isaac Asimov. Then, go read his Foundation and Robot stories. But start here. His intellectual rigor and scope of imagination were essential to the development of the genre, and this story is archetypal Asimov in its calm but absolutely compelling unraveling of a logical problem, his forte throughout his career.

Read "A Matter of Size" and "Farewell to the Master," by Harry Bates. Bates is less well-known, and if these stories are any indication, that's a shame. "A Matter of Size" is a delightful adventure about a human invited to a planet of giants for mysterious reasons. The set pieces are great, and the mystery's resolution is satisfying. "Farewell to the Master," having almost nothing to do with the famous movie based on it, is about a reporter investigating an uncanny robot from the stars. It's another mystery, and it works like clockwork - best of all, it's genuinely moving, and quite unforgettable. It has one of the best endings in science fiction.

"Q.U.R.," by Anthony Boucher, is another gem. It's a funny and very clever robot story whose plot hinges on how well some people can make a robot mix a drink like their Martian bartender can - the world depends on it! Great fun.

Henry Hasse's "He Who Shrank" is a classic example of one of those crazy 1930's stories that can be summed up in a single sentence - in this case, "Each atom contains an entire UNIVERSE!" Its considerable power stems from the breadth and intensity of that basic idea. It's worth the long read.

I had never heard of Raymond Jones before, but I found his "Correspondence Course" to be a lovely little Twilight Zone-esque mystery about a widower returning from the Second World War to find himself taking a correspondence course by mail with a school that can't possibly exist. It's surprisingly touching, once the mystery is solved.

And the final story, S. Fowler Wright's "Brain," is something else entirely. It feels not at all like pulp, but like the UK scientific romances of H. G. Wells or Olaf Stapledon. It's a funny and vicious satire of the scientific worldview, and I immediately wrote down his name so I can find more of his writing.

So - about half this collection is worth reading, well worth reading. Everything else you can take or leave. Some of it is fine, if instantly forgettable. Often there are potentially interesting ideas that are ruined by dull plotting or labored, overwritten prose or flat characters, all of which were rampant problems in the genre writing of the time. You can read them if you're addicted to this stuff. But the stories I've pointed out are all great, many of them intensely influential or iconic, and can be read with just as much excitement today as 70 years ago.

[Jay Bolling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories were great, but most of the older stories' styles feel stilted.

[Michael O'Donnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

First published in 1946, this anthology contains 33 stories and 2 fact articles, mainly taken from the pulp magazines of the 1930s and early 1940s. The majority of the content is from Astounding Science Fiction, with one story from Amazing Stories and one from Planet Stories, plus ‘Brain’ by S. Fowler Wright from his 1932 single author collection ‘The New Gods Lead’. The two fact articles are ‘V-2 — Rocket Cargo Ship’ by Willy Ley, looking at the history of the Nazi rocket program, and ‘Time-Travel Happens!’ by A. M. Phillips, examining the claims of Edwardian ladies Miss Moberly and Miss Jourdain, who are said to have experienced a time-slip to the year 1789, whilst visiting Versailles in 1901.

Edited by Raymond J. Healy and J. Francis McComas (who went on to become a founding editor, along with Anthony Boucher, of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction) the book contains a well-above-average selection of stories for the time, including some classics which have stood the test of time and are still well known today.

The well-known stories in the book include ‘Requiem’ by Robert A. Heinlein, about an old man’s quest to fulfil his dream of visiting the Moon; A. E. Van Vogt’s first published sf story ’Black Destroyer’; ’Nightfall’ by Isaac Asimov, about a planet which only experiences darkness once every 2000 years; ‘Who Goes There’ by Astounding editor John W. Campbell Jr. (under his pseudonym Don A. Stewart), which went on to be adapted as the movie ‘The Thing’, about a shape-shifting alien found trapped in the arctic ice; ‘The Roads Must Roll’ by Robert A. Heinlein (winner of the 2016 Retro Hugo Award for best novelette of 1940), about a future labour dispute affecting the conveyor-belt-like road system; ‘The Weapons Shop’ by A. E. Van Vogt, about a mysterious inter-dimensional shop which pops up to help people who have been oppressed by capitalism or authoritarian society; ‘Farewell to the Master’ by Harry Bates, filmed as ‘The Day The Earth Stood Still’, but with a completely different story to the film, apart from the visitor’s name Klaatu and his robot Gnut (Gort in the film); and ‘By His Bootstraps’ by Robert A. Heinlein (under his pseudonym Anson MacDonald), about a man interacting with himself via a time portal.

Among the less well known stories, there isn’t really a clunker among them — all are above average and readable, and some deserve to be more well known, such as ‘Seeds of the Dusk’ by Raymond Z. Gallun, about alien spores which try to colonise Earth, and ‘The Star Mouse’ by Fredric Brown, a humorous tale of the first mouse in space, who returns with increased intelligence following an encounter with an asteroid.

Credited with bringing the best of pulp SF to a more general audience and voted ‘All-Time Best Book’ in the 1952 Astounding readers poll, beating A. E. Van Vogt’s ’Slan’ into second place, this anthology deserves a place on any SF reader’s shelf. Buy it now — you won’t be disappointed.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here's the deal. There was a hardcover book by this title published, and then the hardcover was broken into two volumes for paperback publication, one of the same title, which I have, and then "More Adventures in Time and Space," which I don't have.

However, in looking at the contents of the hardcover, I've read most of the stories in it in other formats so I've read somewhat over half of this book. But I only own the first paperback.

Good stuff though. This is a collection that deserves it's good reputation.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the classics. Start here if you are not familiar with the masters of scifi.

[Jared Millet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gee whiz. I've been picking through this anthology for two years and three months, and well.. I'm done. Thank Crom.

First off, I love Golden Age SF, but the stories in this particular collection haven't aged well at all. Adventures in Time & Space is important for historical reasons - it was one of the first, if not the first, hardcover anthologies of science fiction from the pulps. Almost all the stories were taken from the pages of Astounding and represent what the editors viewed as the literary cream of the 1940s SF crop.

And therein might lie the problem. When I read stuff from the Golden Age, I'm usually looking for cheesy, pulpy, old-fashioned fun. The stories here, though, exemplify what I believe the editors considered SF's "big, important ideas" of the time, which gives many of the stories a pompous, didactic feel (on top of the cardboard characters, cringeworthy values, "old fogey" dialog, and often just god-awful prose).

I could never recommend anyone read this whole book on purpose, though there are a few gems (which can be found anthologized elsewhere): Asimov's "Nightfall," Campbell's "Who Goes There?" and Van Vogt's "Black Destroyer." There's the obligatory Heinlein (whom I enjoy less and less the older I get) and two stories that surprised me: "Farewell to the Master" by Harry Bates (which was clearly the basis for The Day the Earth Stood Still) and "Nerves" by Lester Del Rey (probably the best-written story of the bunch, though it also shows that the authors of the time had no idea what atomic power really was or what it could do).

For me, though, the brightest sparks in the anthology were three stories by Lewis Padgett, an author I'd never heard of before. A little Wikipedia search turned up that Lewis Padgett was a pseudonym for the writing team of Henry Kuttner and his wife, C.L. Moore.

I've had a couple of Moore's books staring at me from my shelf for a while, and I also recently read a piece by Robert Silverberg in which he listed her as one of his favorite authors. That was enough to get me to order two out-of-print anthologies of Moore's and "Padgett's" stories. The next time I go traveling back to the Golden Age of yore, C.L. Moore will be my first author of choice.

[Betty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why I choose to end the year by reading an anthology of 1940’s era scifi is beyond me. Why I needed 1,004 pages to finish 2025 escapes me. Why I felt it necessary to annotate each story with a pithy summary/commentary is equally strange.
These stories are very early scifi, and a lot of them are dated in unpleasant ways. There is lots that is good here: “Nightfall” and “Farewell To The Master”, which is a very early version of “The Day The Earth Stood Still”, are two that are excellent. The three short stories by Heinlein are typical Heinlein and so good. But this collection also includes a lot of sexist ideology, rampant colonialism, and a surprising obsession with Nazis and atomic power.
“Who Goes There?” Is actually an earlier version of “The Thing”, a movie I absolutely love. But this short story precursor to the movie is simply awful. I found it barely readable.
This one is from my bookshelf, and I am glad I re-read, but I wont be visiting this again in a hurry. Im glad some of these stories have been re-worked and updated. Not everything was better in the good ‘ole days.

[Ken Kase · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of the 33 stories presented in this volume, I found the following to be the best of the bunch:

Forgetfulness by Don A. Stuart (John W. Campbell Jr.)
The Sands of Time by P. Schuyler Miller
Black Destroyer by A. E. Van Vogt
Seeds of the Dusk by Raymond Z. Gallun
The Link by Cleve Cartmill
Nightfall by Issac Asimov
The Weapons Shop by A. E. Van Vogt
Farewell to the Master by Harry Bates
He Who Shrank by Henry Hasse

Some of the stories have not aged well. Some are clunky, some are a bit silly. But discovering these nine stories made the effort of reading such a large anthology worth it. On the whole, this is a good overview of the early days of science fiction. If you seek to experience early science fiction and understand the genre's development, this is a good place to start. If you're just looking for great stuff to read, the nine stories above will not disappoint.

[Jeff Greason · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was recommended to me, and correctly so, as one of the earliest collections of then-classic SF short works. Perhaps half of the stories have been often reprinted in other collections, but some are more obscure, and I found them excellent. There was a jarring but enjoyable moment when running in to an old Willy Ley article about how the V-2 might one day lead to moon rockets -- which drives home that this volume, and ALL the stories within, were written in or prior to 1946! Highly recommended if you like good short SF and you haven't read a lot of the classic older works. Still a good buy even if you have.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a lot of classic style science fiction and two stories that were superior to the rest. One of those stories was Nerves and it was a nail biter, suspenseful and realistic in a terrifying way. The other story that was worth reading is The Proud Robot, it's suspenseful and delightfully funny. Not rolling in the floor laughing, but gentle chuckles.
The rest of the works are okay but nothing to crow about.

[Luci · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first story by Heinlein was a disappointment, hasn't stood up well under the test of time.
But the rest were all excellent, although dated, good plots and good writing. Classic Sci Fi
captured from the 1930's and 40's. I particularly liked 'By His Bootstraps' a time travel
tale in which Heinlein comes back with a great story later in the book. 'The Blue Giraffe'
by L. Sprague de Camp was memorable also.

[Sean Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first got a hold of this book when I was 11. Many of these stories were formative in the development of my thinking, in particular 'He Who Shrank' which helped my understanding of the true nature of the infinite multiverse.

[Eric Winter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best anthology of classic sci fi I have ever read. At least 4 of these stories became films.

[Frank Ashe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was robbed! This is a much shorter version of the original US anthology. But has some classic stories.

[Tell Tale Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Requiem (1940) by Robert A. Heinlein

Forgetfulness (1937) by John W. Campbell, Jr.

Nerves (1942) by Lester del Rey

The Sands of Time (1937) by P. Schuyler Miller

The Proud Robot (1943) by Henry Kuttner

Seeds of the Dusk (1938) by Raymond Z. Gallun

Black Destroyer (1939) by A. E. van Vogt

Symbiotica (1943) by Eric Frank Russell

Heavy Planet (1939) by Milton A. Rothman

Time Locker (1943) by Henry Kuttner

The Link (1942) by Cleve Cartmill

Mechanical Mice (1941) by Eric Frank Russell

V-2: Rocket Cargo Ship (1945) essay by Willy Ley

Adam & No Eve (1941) by Alfred Bester

Nightfall (1941) by Isaac Asimov
Are we truely alone? This particular piece of science fiction, while a short story, speaks to a lot of diffrent issues. These issues include but are not limited to: Do scientists really have a right to interpret the knowledge they aquire, what effects does religion have on society, and how does the human mind react to completely new situations on a world wide scale. This is an incredible piece of work that one cannot help but feel disappointed it is not a full novel.

A Matter of Size (1934) by Harry Bates

As Never Was (1944) by P. Schuyler Miller

Q.U.R. (1943) by Anthony Boucher

Who Goes There? (1938) by John W. Campbell, Jr.

The Roads Must Roll (1940) by Robert A. Heinlein

Asylum (1942) A. E. van Vogt

Quietus (1940) by Ross Rocklynne

The Twonky (1942) by Henry Kuttner & C. L. Moore

Time-Travel Happens! (1939) essay by A. M. Phillips

Robot's Return (1938) by Robert Moore Williams

The Blue Giraffe (1939) by L. Sprague de Camp

Flight into Darkness (1943) by J. Francis McComas

The Weapons Shop (1942) by A. E. van Vogt

Farewell to the Master (1940) by Harry Bates

Within the Pyramid (1937) by R. DeWitt Miller

He Who Shrank (1936) by Henry Hasse

By His Bootstraps (1941) by Robert A. Heinlein

The Star Mouse (1942) by Fredric Brown

Correspondence Course (1945) by Raymond F. Jones

Brain (1932) by S. Fowler Wright

-Gregory Kerkman & Emily Schmidt

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review in a bit.

Selections:

* "Introduction" by Our Co-editors.
* "Requiem" by Robert A. Heinlein.
* "Forgetfulness" by Don A. Stuart.
* "Nerves" by Lester del Rey.
* "The Sands of Time" by P. Schuyler Miller.
* "The Proud Robot" by Lewis Padgett.
* "Black Destroyer" by A. E. Van Vogt.
* "Symbiotica" by Eric Frank Russell.
* "Seeds of the Dusk" by Raymond Z. Gallun.
* "Heavy Planet" by Lee Gregor.
* "Time Locker" by Lewis Padgett.
* "The Link" by Cleve Cartmill.
* "Mechanical Mice" by Maurice A. Hugi.
* "V-2 Rocket Cargo Ship" by Willy Ley.
* "Adam and No Eve" by Alfred Bester.
* "Nightfall" by Isaac Asimov.
* "A Matter of Size" by Harry Bates.
* "As Never Was" by P. Schulyer Miller.
* "Q. U. R." by Anthony Boucher.
* "Who Goes Thers?" By Don A. Stuart.
* "The Roads Must Roll" by Robert A. Heinlein.
* "Asylum" by A. E. Van Vogt.
* "Quietus" by Ross Rocklynn.
* "The Twonky" by Lewis Padgett.
* "Time-Travel Happens!" By A. M. Phillips.
* "Robot's Return" by Robert Moore Williams.
* "The Blue Giraffe" by L. Sprague De Camp.
* "Flight Into Darkness" by Webb Marlowe.
* "The Weapons Shop" by A. E. Van Vogt.
* "Farewell to the Master" by Harry Bates.
* "Within the Pyramid" by R. De Witt Miller.
* "He Who Shrank" by Henry Hasse.
* "By His Bootstraps" by Robert A. Heinlein.
* "The Star Mouse" by Frederic Brown.
* "Correspondence Course" by Raymond F. Jones.
* "Brain" by S. Fowler Wright.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will remember this book fondly for the rest of my life, because we shared it with Veronica at ages 11 and 12. We read this as bedtime stories between November of '14 and July of '15. We did take a break in December for a Christmas book.

Jack Vance must have read "Seeds of the Dusk," as it rings like a Vance Dying Earth story, and it must have influenced him.

"Farewell to the Master" is the basis for the film "Day the Earth Stood Still." I had not encountered the story before.

"Who Goes There?" is not as good as the film versions. I read it as a Doc Savage homage story.

"The Proud Robot" was our favorite. In my version the robot has a very funny voice.

A couple of the stories have maintained a strong but sad emotional power, especially "Quietus" and "He Who Shrank."

The book includes one long science article about the possibility of travel into space and one paranormal article about the possibility a few Parisians fell backward in time, the "Moberly–Jourdain Incident."

This book came to my attention because in "The World of Science Fiction 1926-76: The History of a Subculture" Lester del Rey called "Famous Science-Fiction Stories" the most influential and highest quality science fiction book of its time.

Veronica gives it 3 stars, because some stories were great, some good, and some bad.

[Anastasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a science fiction anthology at the heart of a sci-fi class I took a few years ago in the American Studies department at University of Maryland, and it seems to have gone out of print. I was planning to use it for one of my own classes for its unique historical placement: this is, in short, the pioneering anthology of science fiction back from the era of World War II when writers like Asimov and Heinlein were beginning to shape the genre. Many of the stories--like the vision of roads that move instead of cars that move after traffic has reached the breaking point--are rather dated but still carry the early influences of union politics, class warfare, social anxieties and technological wonders that would survive far beyond the imagination of the 1940s.

[Paul Barone · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one of the best for "golden age" fans One of the earliest sci-fi anthologies. Includes "Farewell to the Master," the inspiration for "The Day the Earth Stood Still" as well as the seminal "Forgetfulness" by Don A. Stuart (nom de plume of famous editor John D. MacDonald), as well as his "Who Goes There?" (inspiration for the films "The Thing (From Outer Space)," Asimov's "Nightfall," Bester's "Adam and No Eve," Van Vogt's "The Weapon Shop," (prequel to his famous novel of the same name) and the first two stories of Heinlein' famous "Future History" series, "Requiem" and "The Roads Must Roll." Also includes Van Vogt's now (unjustly) forgotten "Asylum," a sci-fi (not horror) vampire story. A book you will not put down! Required Reading!

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent collection of science fiction stories from the 1940s. There are some really good stories and some mediocre ones in the collection. You can tell which authors went on to become famous science fiction writers and which ones did not. I believe the story that inspired the original The Day the Earth Stood Still is in this collection. The character names and situations are just too similar to be coincidental. It is a collection from the 1940s, so there is a film noir quality about the characters and almost all the stories are exceedingly androcentric. Still, an enjoyable read.

[Ken Bickley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, first published in 1946, contains 8 premium science fiction stories by grand masters. (The edition pictured is a 1954 paperback re-print by Pennant Books.) All are reprinted from "Astounding Stories" and date from the late 1930s to early 1940s. My copy, unfortunately, is falling apart from age, but it's available at some on-line dealers. I recommend it to all sci-fi fans, of any generation. The final story, "Farewell to the Master", by Harry Bates, my have suggested the classic movie "The Day the Earth Stood Still".