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Before the Golden Age #3 of 4
Before the Golden Age, Book 3
A Science Fiction Anthology of the 1930s, Book 3 of 3
Contents:
Part Six: 1935 by Isaac Asimov
* Parasite Planet / Stanley G. Weinbaum;
* Proxima Centauri / Murray Leinster;
* The Accursed Galaxy / Edmond Hamilton;
Part Seven: 1936 by Isaac Asimov
* He Who Shrank / Henry Hasse;
* The Human Pets of Mars / Leslie F. Stone;
* The Brain Stealers of Mars / John W. Campbell;
* Devolution / Edmond Hamilton;
* Big Game / Isaac Asimov [Written 11/18/41];
Part Eight: 1937 by Isaac Asimov
* Other Eyes Watching / John W. Campbell, Jr.;
* Minus Planet / John D. Clark, Ph.D.;
* Past, Present and Future / Nat Schachner;
Part Nine: 1938 by Isaac Asimov
* The Men and the Mirror / Ross Rocklynne.
Originally 26 stories published in one hardcover volume.
Each of these classics has an introduction by Dr. Asimov. "In an unusual 'autobiographical' science fiction anthology, Asimov has assembled all of his favorite stories that he read as a boy, that helped lead him to become a scientist and sf author...The slam-bang action is still enjoyable." - Library Journal(less)
Contents:
Part Six: 1935 by Isaac Asimov
* Parasite Planet / Stanley G. Weinbaum;
* Proxima Centauri / Murray Leinster;
* The Accursed Galaxy / Edmond Hamilton;
Part Seven: 1936 by Isaac Asimov
* He Who Shrank / Henry Hasse;
* The Human Pets of Mars / Leslie F. Stone;
* The Brain Stealers of Mars / John W. Campbell;
* Devolution / Edmond Hamilton;
* Big Game / Isaac Asimov [Written 11/18/41];
Part Eight: 1937 by Isaac Asimov
* Other Eyes Watching / John W. Campbell, Jr.;
* Minus Planet / John D. Clark, Ph.D.;
* Past, Present and Future / Nat Schachner;
Part Nine: 1938 by Isaac Asimov
* The Men and the Mirror / Ross Rocklynne.
Originally 26 stories published in one hardcover volume.
Each of these classics has an introduction by Dr. Asimov. "In an unusual 'autobiographical' science fiction anthology, Asimov has assembled all of his favorite stories that he read as a boy, that helped lead him to become a scientist and sf author...The slam-bang action is still enjoyable." - Library Journal(less)
380 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
178 people want to read
About the author
Isaac Asimov
2,787 books28k 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 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 23, 2023
I bought this book at a thrift shop, pages yellowed and protected by a plastic sleeve that prevented me from flipping it open for sampling. Yet, I felt drawn to it and the titles advertised on the back cover. I am immensely enjoying it. I soon found out that there is a hardcover edition that collects all stories in this series into one book, but I opted to buy the remaining parts as separate paperbacks due to their portability.
I didn't expect Asimov's commentary to be so extensive, but I am glad for it. I was quickly compelled to purchase the remaining books to be able to read the rest of his autobiographical comments, and to complete the set (what an ingenious way of tricking me into reading am autobiography!). I know little about this era of science fiction, so the context provided by Asimov's commentary was a highly valuable framing device. I enjoyed knowing why he chose to include particular stories, how he felt about them at the time, how these stories influences others (including his own) and also what he was doing in his life when each story was published. These comments make the stories feel more alive to me, helping in transporting the modern reader to an older time.
The stories are also entirely enjoyable without the commentary. Notes on each:
The Parasite Planet is a strong opener and was also one of the titles that compelled me to purchase the book. It's strength is in it's imaginative description of the planet's ecosystem, and it fully lived up to my hopes and expectations. The female lead is deliberately written to be irritating, and that didn't bother me too much, though I was indifferent to the romance. I hope to read the sequel short story in the future. 4.5 stars, made the purchase worth it almost entirely on its own.
I enjoyed Proxima Centauri as well. The aliens were sufficiently interesting and disturbing, and the growing dread felt by our human characters before and during first contact was evident. I am told that this is one of Leinster's weaker works, which is great because that means I have a lot to look forward to if I explore more of his works. 3.5 stars.
The Accursed Galaxy is forgettable to me, even if I didn't dislike it and the characters were mildly witty. The twist of is supposed to demonstrate how small and unspecial humanity is, perhaps, a cosmic indifference to humanity perhaps, but this general idea has been done better elsewhere. 2.5 stars.
He Who Shrank portrays humanity's unspecialness in a much more compelling way. There is a nice twist that made me giddy from the moment the protagonist describes a yellow sun with a blue planet. Some suspension of disbelief is required for enjoyment, such as for how the shrinking mechanic works, how the protagonist somehow always lands on a planet with intelligent life, or how the protagonist doesn't truly encounter peril to his life at any point. The story may feel overlong in the middle. But the infinitude of the universe was well portrayed and so was the exhausting nature of the protagonist's journey. 3.5 to 4 stars
The writing in Human Pets of Mars didn't work for me right away and still isn't my favorite. Once I accepted the absurdity of the story, it became charming. For another execution of the idea (humans as pets of aliens), I like the animated movie Fantastic Planet. 2 stars.
The Brain Stealers of Mars is an entertaining story with some humor. The titular shape shifting creatures are quite fun. There are centaurs who are rather indifferent to the slow destruction of their kind. The two protagonists have nearly indistinguishable personalities from each other, but I wasn't really bothered. While they were problem solving their way out of the situation, the characters demonstrated a great amount of trust in each other, and that was fun to read too. 3.5 stars.
Devolution is by the same writer as The Accursed Galaxy, but a stronger emphasis on that cosmic indifference and a slight horror lean. I liked it more than Accursed. The twist itself wasn't particularly mind-blowing, and I was more interested in how the twist broke our protagonist's mind. 3 to 3.5 stars
Big Game is perhaps of value to the Asimov completionist but is not otherwise notable. I can see why he failed to sell it to any magazines. It does fit after Devolution as a continuation of some themes, but is too short to elaborate on its ideas in an interesting way. 2 stars at most.
Other Eyes Watching is mostly a dry description of the writer's speculative thoughts. It is very outdated and doesn't have characters, plot, or much anything to make it that interesting to a modern audience. The last two paragraphs were worth reading though, as it's speculation on what an alien might think of the solar system and of Earth, capturing a wistful feeling. 2 stars
Minus Planet is the funniest story in this book, and I was very entertained by the dry humor and absurdity of the whole situation (heck, the world committee of scientists agree that it is perfectly sensible to install rockets on the moon and toss it at a "planet" hurtling toward earth. Because we don't really need the moon. Because all it does is create tides). The story tries to justify the going-ons with a bunch of science that no longer holds up, but I didn't care because the whole thing was fun.
I confess that I skimmed Past, Present, and Future. I didn't feel like reading about the protagonist from Ancient Greece in the middle of my science fiction, and I winced at the parts about the second protagonist interacting with Mayans. Without investment in either character, I was also uninterested in their time travel shenanigans. Maybe entertaining if I was a kid in the 30s. Probably 2 stars at most.
The Men and the Mirror has an interesting setting with the mirror planet-thing. A space crook and a space cop helplessly slide back and forth across a planet; they are forced to work together to survive. I enjoyed this character dynamic more than any other in this book, with their mutual respect for each other even when it's the cop's job to capture the crook. There's also something very human about two grown men becoming increasingly irritated by their dire circumstances until they both throw fits. (There was a point when I thought the cop wasn't quite keeping up with the crook despite purportedly being of similar competence. Apparently the cop character felt that way too because he throws a tantrum over his feelings of inferiority and then gets stubborn. Then the crook throws a fit over the cop's stubbornness. It's amusing.). My interest in the setting and the characters also kept me engaged in the descriptions of the physics problem. I guessed correctly at some things they attempted, but when I got to the solution I said, "Really? Would that actually work?" Apparently it wouldn't because the physics is wrong, but my memory of general physics class is not sharp enough to effectively articulate why. It was still fun to read through the deductions. Anyway, I had fun. 4 stars
Regardless of how my story ratings average up, I feel that the overall experience is worth roughly 4 stars all the same, because I loved it as a whole even when I didn't love every story or every single Asimov rambling about his life.
I didn't expect Asimov's commentary to be so extensive, but I am glad for it. I was quickly compelled to purchase the remaining books to be able to read the rest of his autobiographical comments, and to complete the set (what an ingenious way of tricking me into reading am autobiography!). I know little about this era of science fiction, so the context provided by Asimov's commentary was a highly valuable framing device. I enjoyed knowing why he chose to include particular stories, how he felt about them at the time, how these stories influences others (including his own) and also what he was doing in his life when each story was published. These comments make the stories feel more alive to me, helping in transporting the modern reader to an older time.
The stories are also entirely enjoyable without the commentary. Notes on each:
The Parasite Planet is a strong opener and was also one of the titles that compelled me to purchase the book. It's strength is in it's imaginative description of the planet's ecosystem, and it fully lived up to my hopes and expectations. The female lead is deliberately written to be irritating, and that didn't bother me too much, though I was indifferent to the romance. I hope to read the sequel short story in the future. 4.5 stars, made the purchase worth it almost entirely on its own.
I enjoyed Proxima Centauri as well. The aliens were sufficiently interesting and disturbing, and the growing dread felt by our human characters before and during first contact was evident. I am told that this is one of Leinster's weaker works, which is great because that means I have a lot to look forward to if I explore more of his works. 3.5 stars.
The Accursed Galaxy is forgettable to me, even if I didn't dislike it and the characters were mildly witty. The twist of is supposed to demonstrate how small and unspecial humanity is, perhaps, a cosmic indifference to humanity perhaps, but this general idea has been done better elsewhere. 2.5 stars.
He Who Shrank portrays humanity's unspecialness in a much more compelling way. There is a nice twist that made me giddy from the moment the protagonist describes a yellow sun with a blue planet. Some suspension of disbelief is required for enjoyment, such as for how the shrinking mechanic works, how the protagonist somehow always lands on a planet with intelligent life, or how the protagonist doesn't truly encounter peril to his life at any point. The story may feel overlong in the middle. But the infinitude of the universe was well portrayed and so was the exhausting nature of the protagonist's journey. 3.5 to 4 stars
The writing in Human Pets of Mars didn't work for me right away and still isn't my favorite. Once I accepted the absurdity of the story, it became charming. For another execution of the idea (humans as pets of aliens), I like the animated movie Fantastic Planet. 2 stars.
The Brain Stealers of Mars is an entertaining story with some humor. The titular shape shifting creatures are quite fun. There are centaurs who are rather indifferent to the slow destruction of their kind. The two protagonists have nearly indistinguishable personalities from each other, but I wasn't really bothered. While they were problem solving their way out of the situation, the characters demonstrated a great amount of trust in each other, and that was fun to read too. 3.5 stars.
Devolution is by the same writer as The Accursed Galaxy, but a stronger emphasis on that cosmic indifference and a slight horror lean. I liked it more than Accursed. The twist itself wasn't particularly mind-blowing, and I was more interested in how the twist broke our protagonist's mind. 3 to 3.5 stars
Big Game is perhaps of value to the Asimov completionist but is not otherwise notable. I can see why he failed to sell it to any magazines. It does fit after Devolution as a continuation of some themes, but is too short to elaborate on its ideas in an interesting way. 2 stars at most.
Other Eyes Watching is mostly a dry description of the writer's speculative thoughts. It is very outdated and doesn't have characters, plot, or much anything to make it that interesting to a modern audience. The last two paragraphs were worth reading though, as it's speculation on what an alien might think of the solar system and of Earth, capturing a wistful feeling. 2 stars
Minus Planet is the funniest story in this book, and I was very entertained by the dry humor and absurdity of the whole situation (heck, the world committee of scientists agree that it is perfectly sensible to install rockets on the moon and toss it at a "planet" hurtling toward earth. Because we don't really need the moon. Because all it does is create tides). The story tries to justify the going-ons with a bunch of science that no longer holds up, but I didn't care because the whole thing was fun.
I confess that I skimmed Past, Present, and Future. I didn't feel like reading about the protagonist from Ancient Greece in the middle of my science fiction, and I winced at the parts about the second protagonist interacting with Mayans. Without investment in either character, I was also uninterested in their time travel shenanigans. Maybe entertaining if I was a kid in the 30s. Probably 2 stars at most.
The Men and the Mirror has an interesting setting with the mirror planet-thing. A space crook and a space cop helplessly slide back and forth across a planet; they are forced to work together to survive. I enjoyed this character dynamic more than any other in this book, with their mutual respect for each other even when it's the cop's job to capture the crook. There's also something very human about two grown men becoming increasingly irritated by their dire circumstances until they both throw fits. (There was a point when I thought the cop wasn't quite keeping up with the crook despite purportedly being of similar competence. Apparently the cop character felt that way too because he throws a tantrum over his feelings of inferiority and then gets stubborn. Then the crook throws a fit over the cop's stubbornness. It's amusing.). My interest in the setting and the characters also kept me engaged in the descriptions of the physics problem. I guessed correctly at some things they attempted, but when I got to the solution I said, "Really? Would that actually work?" Apparently it wouldn't because the physics is wrong, but my memory of general physics class is not sharp enough to effectively articulate why. It was still fun to read through the deductions. Anyway, I had fun. 4 stars
Regardless of how my story ratings average up, I feel that the overall experience is worth roughly 4 stars all the same, because I loved it as a whole even when I didn't love every story or every single Asimov rambling about his life.
October 27, 2008
I'm kind of torn -- on the one hand, ooh, old sci-fi! On the other....there is a *reason* science fiction had to grow up and let the girls in. It's a hell of an interesting concept for an autobiography, though.
September 10, 2023
The third in a series of books where Asimov reprints his favorite science fiction stories of his youth. Some of these were rather depressing, there were several stories of human beings being done in by malevolent aliens, and others were the protagonists ended up on the short end of the stick. Nevertheless, interesting stories from a bygone era.
December 24, 2021
-Gregory Kerkman
August 4, 2018
The best, in Asimov's opinion, science fiction stories of
the mid-1930's. He has interspersed them with a good deal
of autobiographical material, including how much he
enjoyed reading each story when he was young.
I don't find the stories to be very good, and I find
the autobiography irritating. To me, it has a
narcissistic flavor, like other autobiograpical
material of his.
the mid-1930's. He has interspersed them with a good deal
of autobiographical material, including how much he
enjoyed reading each story when he was young.
I don't find the stories to be very good, and I find
the autobiography irritating. To me, it has a
narcissistic flavor, like other autobiograpical
material of his.
January 22, 2014
Great collection of short stories. My favorite had to be Proxima Centauri,He Who Shrank, The Human Pets of Mars, and Big Game. Great stories for when you're traveling my train or subway and need something to occupy your time, but don't want to get into a novel.
September 13, 2016
Being able to look back at stories before we knew so much is such a great experience. The commentary that he gives at the end of each one, his feelings about how the stories have aged and comments of the way our views on society and representation have changed. It's just such a good read.
February 3, 2017
This is a strange little collection. As well as being a set of influential Pre-Golden Age science fiction, it is also part autobiography of Asimov. This latter part is less successful but the stories themselves are rather good.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews