Moonrise: The Golden Age of Lunar Adventures

by Mike Ashley

Before the Apollo 11 mission succeeded in landing on the Moon in 1969, writers and visionaries were fascinated by how we might get there and what we might find. The Greeks and Romans speculated about the Moon almost two thousand years before H.G. Wells or Jules Verne wrote about it, but interest peaked from the late 1800s when the prospect of lunar travel became more viable. This anthology presents twelve short stories from the most popular magazines of the golden age of SF – including The Strand Magazine, Astounding Science Fiction and Amazing Stories – and features classic SF writers such as John Wyndham and Arthur C. Clarke, as well as other writers for dedicated fans of the genre to discover.

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

320 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 15, 2018

About the author

Michael Raymond Donald Ashley is the author and editor of over sixty books that in total have sold over a million copies worldwide. He lives in Chatham, Kent.

Reviews

[Anissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I was shocked but because I was SO looking forward to reading this (I bought it in analog!). I adore lunar fiction but this turned out to be my least favourite of the British Library Science Fiction Classics. The forwards to each story were fascinating and wonderfully done as always but the stories just mostly didn't thrill me. I will say my favourite story here was Dead Centre by Judith Merrill, in which a moon landing is a family affair and a fatal one at that. It was a grim starter with elements of surprise and poignant. That one will stay with me.

Alas, everyone can't be a favourite. YMMV so check this one out if you're into the series or want to get into some lunar fiction.

[Nadia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Following on from its Classics Crime series, The British Library is expanding its genre interest by releasing two anthologies of classic science-fiction stories: Moonrise and Lost Mars.

As Mike Ashley the anthologies' editor remarks in his introduction "The Moon was a major factor in encouraging what we now call science fiction. up until we finally fulfilled our desire to reach the Moon in July 1969 with the Apollo 11 mission, there had been over two thousand years of writing and speculation about the Moon."

Ashley, who is also the author of the multi-volume History of the Science Fiction Magazine, selected 11 short stories that capture lunar adventures, and are set or are focused on the exploration of the Moon.

The "scientific prophecy", foresight, enthusiasm and sheer creativity of these authors are a beautiful testimony to what fiction can do and can reach. Moonrise is a collection of sci-fi gems. Authors like Charles Cloukey, Paul Ernst and John Munro are names that may be said to have largely been forgotten but the stories of these writers who once marked their genre during their life time are now revived. Other authors like H. G. Wells, John Wyndham, Arthur C. Clarke, Judith Merril have remained household names and their stories collected here are masterful.

The sci-fi short-stories collected in this anthology span from 1894, with 'Sunrise on the Moon' by John Munro to 1963 with 'After a Judgement Day' by Edmond Hamilton. Ashley introduces each story with erudite and succinct notes that remark on the fascinating context in which each story was being produced.

Moonrise opens with 'Dead Centre' by Judith Merril (1954). As pointed out by Ashley, sci-fi stories that focus on space travel often follow the explorers who went on these journeys but Merril here focuses on those that are left behind and imagines a family affected by one of its members taking off for the Moon. This impressive anthology closes with The Sentinel by Arthur C. Clarke (1951), a story that became part of C. Clarke's collaboration with Kubrick for 2001 a Space Odyssey.

A Visit to the Moon by George Griffith (1901) is the charming tale of a couple who are the first to own the type of spaceship that can take them around the universe, and they begin by exploring the surface of the moon for their honeymoon.

Our fascination with the Moon, reaching it, exploring it, and settling on it are a few of the motivations that the stories collected here delve into. I particularly enjoyed the dark sense of humour of H.G. Wells' story 'First Men In the Moon' (1901) in which one scientist comments on the coded messages that his former colleague now stranded on the Moon (because he left him there!) now sends about life with his Lunar captors.

I am very fond of stories within stories and so my favourite discovery was Charles Cloukey and his story 'Sub-Satellite' (1928), a story recounted to a friend. Cloukey imagines how competition between scientists might endanger coming back from the Moon. 'Sub-Satellite' is a suspenseful story with a sweet sentimental twist.

'Idiot's delight' by John Wyndham (1958) is a veritable jewel and is probably the strongest narrative in this anthology. It is part of an early series written by Wyndham in 1959 and in which he created the Troon family whom he follows as space exploration develops in each of the Troon members' life time. In it Wyndham looks at how human settlements on the Moon could end up being the only human groups alive if a nuclear war were to erupt on Earth.

'Lunar Lilliput' by William F. Temple (1938) and 'Nothing Happens on the Moon' by Paul Ernst (1939) are dark and amusing tales of humans who decide to leave their comfort to go and look for trouble on the surface of the Moon.

The sci-fi stories in Moonrise all differ in their prose, narrative style, themes and visions, but all are inspired by how technology could one day take everyone of us beyond the borders of our universe. And each writer asks: what kind of people would we then become?

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Moon has always inspired tales of wonder, tales which eventually propelled mankind into the Space Age.

Ashley's collection of stories is outstanding. There isn't a bad tale in the anthology and it should come as no surprise that Clarke's awesome story "The Sentinel" closes out this remarkable book.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

"He was a man, and this was not the place for men. Things had gone too fast."
(from 'After Judgement Day' by Edmond Hamilton)

I mostly enjoyed this. It is an interesting collection of stories focused on missions too, from, and on The Moon. Unsurprisingly considering its title.

There are various types of stories: the Victorian adventurer goes to the Moon type, including an extract from 'First Men in the Moon' by H.G. Wells, which makes me want to read the whole novel.

There is a couple of end of the world stories. One involving war and another plague. Both are interesting stories. One is by John Wyndham, 'Idiot's Delight', which manages to feel very of its Cold War / Imperial decline time. The other is by Edmond Hamilton, 'After a Judgement Day', which is one of the best in the collection I think.

Some of the stories are more scientifically based than others. Some are just exercises in imagination. Some feature a Moon with current occupants. One of which, 'Lunar Lilliput' by William F. Temple, is one of the more fun oddities in the collection, even though there's some unnecessary sort of romance sub-sub-plot going on that just seems to be there to fill space. 'Lunar Lilliput' also includes a speech that isn't far off the famous 'Pale Blue Dot' speech by Carl Sagan. Except it is split between three characters and isn't quite so well expressed.

William F. Temple had been Publicity Director of the British Interplanetary Society (BIS). Arthur C. Clarke was Treasurer of the BIS and his story 'Sentinal' concludes this collection. 'Sentinal' is, of course, the seed from which 2001 grew. It is interesting to read that first version of the story, particularly the difference in the design of the 'Sentinal' between the original short story and Kubrick's version (which I think is better.)

'Sentinal' is one of the best stories in the collection.

Some of the stories dwell on the isolation of those who would serve on the Moon and the risks involved. One of those, 'Nothing Happens on the Moon' by Paul Ernst, manages to play with the fear of madness a Moon traveller might have left to his own devices. It reminded me, in a small way, of Duncan Jones's film 'Moon', even if the stories go down very different routes:

"Nothing irregular to report," Hartigan said steadily
(from Nothing Happens on the Moon, Paul Ernst.)

I should also note that the introduction by the editor, Mike Ashley, does a fine job of surveying the long history of 'Lunar Adventure' stories and their evolution over time.

[Vineeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of sci-fi short stories from the 20th century when science was progressing in an exponential rate due to various wars. All these stories somehow involves the moon either being the destination or being the final resting place for humanity. The diverse collection of stories about a single celestial body which has been in the eyes of humanity for millennia is profound in a way that it inspires hope for us to do more.

Absolutely loved a few stories from this collection which i personally recommend anyone to just have a go when you have free time to pass.

1) First Men in the Moon by H.G.Wells
2) Sub-Satellite by Charles Cloukey
3) Lunar Lilliput by William F. Temple
4) Nothing Happens on the Moon by Paul Ernst
5) After a Judgement Day by Edward Hamilton
6) The Sentinel by Arthur C. Clarke

[Stephen Curran · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a nice idea for an anthology: imaginings about the moon, all written before we ever reached it. Some of the stories are well known (Arthur C. Clarke’s ‘The Sentinel’, which became part of the groundwork for 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY; the final passages from H.G. Wells’ wonderful FIRST MEN IN THE MOON) and some are less so (a boy’s own style adventure from Charles Cloukey; ‘Nothing Happens on the Moon’ by Paul Ernst, in which a lone lunar resident tackles an invisible space monster). All the flaws of SF are on display, with its stock characters and scientific speculations that usurp the plot, but much of its occasional magic is here too.

[Otherwyrld · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of short stories set on the moon are notable for the fact that they were all written before we had actually got there, and while some have not aged that well there isn't a single bad story among them. Also useful is the introduction which gives a fairly comprehensive history of stories of moon travel dating from ancient times up to the first serious story about travelling to the moon (by Jules Verne)

[Nigel Roberts]

A collection of stories from 'The Golden Age of Sci-fi'. It may have been the golden age, but time hasn't been kind. A couple of the stories were good, but most were too ponderous to enjoy.

[Martin Greaves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent anthology of short stories themed around lunar exploration, some by authors you’ll know, some by authors you probably won’t. Fascinating to see how prophetic some of the stories written in the early 20th century turned out to be.

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is worth the price of admission for the introduction alone, in which Mike Ashley gives us a mini history lesson on just how long people have been writing about voyages to the moon - and it didn't start with Verne and Wells! For centuries before that there are stories of how we might get off this planet (volcanoes! magnets! strap on vulture wings! anti-gravity paint!) and the strange creatures we might meet on the moon (giants! feminist utopia! Hebrews! mimes!).

The biggest surprise for me was learning Cyrano de Bergerac was a real person, who, not only a skilled fencer and soldier, but also an intelligent scholar and sci-fi writer. (!!!) All of this is to say that sci-fi and the theories it’s based on in an attempt to predict the future is not a new thing at all. We have always looked up at the heavens and wondered what it’s really like up there. Ashely emphasizes how science and science fiction are very much tied together, constantly influencing each other and spurring the other on.

Also, each story gets an individual introduction, telling a little background about the author and that particular story. (I would have liked it if Asimov’s ‘The Singing Bells’ had been included, but I get Ashley could only pick so many stories.)

And here we get a collection of stories all written in the last 100 years before the eagle landed in 1969 and we finally got see what’s up there...

Judith Merril's 'Dead Centre' was written in 1954 and, sadly, predicts the dangers of later in the century in both the immediate danger of people dying due to mechanical failure - and the worse, long term danger of the public losing interest and governments pulling funding. Despite the large canvas, it’s a very human, relatable story about relationships, fear, love, jealously, and the push and pull between staying safe at home with loved ones - and risking everything to go explore. Also, major kudos for the story passing the Bechtel test and doing so with such well-developed characters who get to DO STUFF! That said, Merril still managed to break my heart, and now I have a new female pulp author on my to-read list.

As a much needed uplift, the next story is George Griffith's 'A Visit to the Moon', written in 1901, about a newly married couple who are rich and in love and smart and decide being the first people to land on the moon is just the most romantic way to start your honeymoon. The bride gets to step on the moon first. It is oh so late-Victorian in attitude as we see people embracing technology, but absolutely sure that the Victorian way of life is perfect and forever. The couple explore the remains of a dead civilization like two Victorian tourists visiting the pyramids - which is to say, the disrespect is appallingly obvious to the modern reader, but the characters and author were clearly blind to it. Not much happens as they explore around, but it’s very sweet and the descriptions and details are the most quintessential Victorian sci-fi.

John Munro's 'Sunrise on the Moon' is quite dated with the use of astral projection, but it was written in 1894, and, as Ashley points out, Munro managed to predict the famous 'Earthrise' photo, and it’s a good point to compare it to a photo, as this story is nearly all description. Reading this story was kind of like being trapped at the office coffee machine listening to That Guy tell you all about the dream he had last night.

And, of course, we have an excerpt from H.G Wells. This section of 'First Men in the Moon' is about one of the characters being held captive by the moon natives and sending messages to Earth via a homemade telegraph. There is a lot of unintentional (I think) comedy as the narrator argues that the captive is lying in these messages when he claims he was left behind on purpose. The captive is a boor of the first order and it’s not surprising how badly things go for him when faced with someone who doesn't immediately kowtow to him just for being white and male. But the aliens were truly strange and fascinating – much more interesting than your average weird face make-up ‘Star Trek’ style aliens.

Charles Cloukey was fifteen when he wrote 'Sub- Satellite' and sold it to Amazing Stories in 1929. The framing device is awkward and amateur - there's no need for it to be a story-in-a-story - but you can feel his energy and optimism and intelligence radiate off the page as he becomes the first to describe getting to the moon via a rocket ship and how gravity - or lack of - effects ordinary actions. Tragically, Cloukey died of typhoid three years later when he was at college studying engineering. Sigh. A tragic what-might-have-been – for either sci-fi or science.

In William Temple’s ‘Lunar Lilliput’ a husband and wife team up with their best friend (“I should tell her that I love her / but the point is probably moot”, as the singer sang) to travel to the moon as part of private enterprise based on a real interplanetary science club the author belonged to. The story is written in 1938 and shows how strongly the 19th century mores were still ingrained (the female character talks about being the “gentler sex”, groan) even as people were looking forward to new technologies. They meet the last member of the lunar species and have an unfortunate run in with his lab experiments. However, these plucky British heroes, still so confident of their place in the world in the 1930’s, do better than the later characters in similar stories such as Alien: Covenant.

Another 1938 offering, Paul Ernst ‘Nothing Happens on the Moon’ is a much more accurate guess of how lonely and desolate the moon is – and how boring it is to get stuck with a posting in a place where nothing happens. Space is boring, something a lot of writers skip over. This poor grunt stuck on the moon-base has nothing to do – until a strange egg appears one day, then things rapidly get into ‘Jurassic Park’ territory as he is real danger, made worse by knowing how little help the shareholders back home are. A great story of an ‘everyman’ in a crazy situation, knowing he has to save himself.

Gordon Dickson’s ‘Whatever Gods There Be’ was my favorite. Written in 1961, he had a better understanding than earlier authors of the dangers the universe offers. Here, the crew of the first manned mission to the moon are in danger, and the stakes are very real. It’s Apollo 13 and The Martian put together – but the communications with Earth are also down. It has a bittersweet ending and I loved it for how the main character has the agency to decide how things end.

John Wyndam wrote ‘Idiot’s Delight’ as part of a series in the 1950’s when people understood the threat of nuclear war. This story show’s what it’s like to be stuck on the sidelines and watch a nuclear war play out in front of you. However, I don’t think he portrayed the anxiety and tragedy well enough – but that might because I saw it so well portrayed in Battlestar Galactica. Still, it did an excellent job showing how much war can be a game of poker – and how it’s possible to survive even while holding just a pair of three’s. Still, sucks there is only one female character and she is so marginalized.

Edmond Hamilton’s ‘After a Judgement Day’, written in 1963, is another apocalyptic situation – but more nuanced as here humans reap the unintended consequences of our actions, rather than doing something on purpose. Hamilton got the nickname “Earth Wrecker” for his writing style of constantly putting the planet in danger of annihilation, always in a different way. Here, two men on the moon face the fact humans are an almost extinct species, realistically facing the end in different ways, and make a decision to at least try and leave our mark for someone else to find.

And, fittingly, we close with Arthur C. Clarke’s ‘The Sentinel’, the short story written in 1951, that would eventually become Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey , which gets into all the weird and terrifying emotions of humans confronted with stark proof of not only not being alone, but with the clear evidence someone much, much smarter and older than us is out there. We are not alone…

[Phil On The Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting book in terms of looking at people's views of the future, but is not the greatest reading experience. I enjoyed it and one or two of the stories were excellent. But several had not aged well, including the H.G. Wells extract. Hats off to the British Library for exploring their collection.

[Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Released under the British Library's Science Fiction Classics label, MOONRISE: THE GOLDEN AGE OF LUNAR ADVENTURES is veteran anthologist Mike Ashley's collection of moon-themed sci-fi shorts. It's a mixed bag that generally improves as it goes on, ending up on a real high. Things begin with Judith Merril's acutely realistic DEAD CENTRE, a look at the life of an astronaut and the effect it has in particular on his young family. You wonder where it's going, but a twist ending really pulls the rug out. George Griffith's A VISIT TO THE MOON is an extract from his novel A HONEYMOON IN SPACE, a scientific romance in which a newlywed couple visit the moon and discover bizarre alien life. Hard to square with reality, but fun nonetheless. SUNRISE ON THE MOON is a short effort by John Munro describing an astronaut watching the titular phenomenon. It's quite well written, but has been superseded by the real-life pictures of the Earth from the moon that we've all subsequently seen.

I deliberately avoided the extract from the H.G. Wells novel FIRST MEN IN THE MOON, purely because I deliberately avoid abridged works and extracts; I'd much rather read the whole thing another time. Still, Charles Cloukey's SUB-SATELLITE is a fun, if dated adventure in which a couple of lunar heroes face off against a crazed Frenchman armed with a machine-gun, so it's quite amusing. William F. Temple's LUNAR LILLIPUT can be guessed from the title, so more fantasy than sci-fi, although the inclusion of a sentient griffin, of all things, is a novel touch.

NOTHING HAPPENS ON THE MOON sees Paul Ernst tackling the tale of an astronaut who discovers a strange meteorite that soon transforms into an invisible beastie. It reminded me of FORBIDDEN PLANET, and is as fun as it sounds, never outstaying its welcome. Gordon R. Dickson's WHATEVER GODS THERE BE is much more realistic, exploring a situation where there's not enough fuel to get back to Earth, so the team has to figure out what (or whom) to jettison. The character-focused approach works well here. Next up is the great John Wyndham with IDIOT'S DELIGHT, exploring a nuclear stand-off between America, Britain and Russia on the lunar surface. An intellectual adventure, interesting but not as much fun as his novel-length classics.

The last two stories collected here are really good and the finest in the volume, both exploring the imaginative limits of the genre. Edmond Hamilton's AFTER A JUDGEMENT DAY sees the Earth destroyed by plague and the only survivors living on the moon and accompanied by cyborgs. It's maudlin but surprisingly moving, with a great climax. Arthur C. Clarke's THE SENTINEL, originally published as SENTINEL OF ETERNITY, served as the basis for the Kubrick classic 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and tells an unsettling story of an alien transmitter found on the moon's surface. The twist ending is exemplary stuff and evokes more unease in the reader than many a more traditional ghost story.

[Ian Massey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't quite remember reading this book's sister volume - Lost Mars - enough to say for certain, but I'm fairly sure I enjoyed it more than this one, despite this volume including some cracking stories. And I use the word "including" rather than the phrase "being full of" deliberately.

Let's start with the ones I didn't like or, in one case, that I thought was slightly out of place. I'm not a huge fan of H.G. Wells, although I appreciate his place in science fiction literature. I find his style a bit too stuffy. So to have to read, again, part of The First Men In The Moon was a bit of a chore. (Yes, I know I didn't "have" to read it, but I pride myself in trying to read books from cover to cover, whether I'm enjoying them or not). I also, wasn't keen on Gordon R. Dickson's Whatever Gods There Be, but I can't put my finger on why. Maybe it just felt too slight. A Visit To The Moon, by George Griffith, did little for me - too old-fashioned in its idea that a couple, however well-to-do, could honeymoon in space as they did. The one story that I felt didn't fit was Edmond Hamilton's After A Judgement Day - yes, it was set on the Moon, but you'd hardly know it. These are supposed to be stories about the Moon, about Lunar exploration. This one mentioned the Moon once, maybe twice, and couldn't by it's nature have been set on Earth, but it could just have easily been set aboard a space station. The Moon played little or no part in the actual story.

Middle of the road stories in the collection included two on which I spotted the "twist almost immediately - Charles Cloukey's Sub-Satellite and John Wyndham's Idiot's Delight. Both were perfectly readable, though. As were Sunrise On The Moon (John Munro) and Lunar Lilliput (William F. Temple), the latter despite of it's very pulp-ish feel - you could almost picture the cover that would have gone with it if it had been a lead story.

The three that I liked most of all, perhaps inevitably, include the only full story in the book that I had read before. Arthur C. Clarke is one of my favourite authors and it was no chore the re-visit The Sentinel. I found Paul Ernst's Nothing Happens On The Moon charming in a way, it reminded me of The Outer Limits (maybe The Twilight Zone, but I don't think so).

Leaving the best to last, though, we come to Dead Centre by Judith Merrell. Before I read this story, the only other that had a similar impact on me was The Cold Equations which, the first time I read it as a schoolboy, brought me to tears. This one didn't quite do that, but I did find it incredibly moving and emotional. Credit to the writing.

As with all anthologies, this book introduced me to new authors, gave me a feeling for their contribution to and place in the genre and, though Mike Ashley's introduction, gave a potted history of the Moon in SF literature. And that's really all you can ask for.

[Ben · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another collection from the British Library’s collection of pulp magazines, with a similarly wide gulf in quality between the pieces.

Favourites: Dead Centre; The First Men in the Moon; The Sentinel.

* Dead Centre (Judith Merril, 1954). Great one to start with. Questions the role of people as people within the system asserting the impossibility of absolute compatibility between the two. Relatedly, notices the importance of human error and failure in order to inspire interest and support. No success without failure.

A Visit to the Moon (George Griffith, 1901). Vivid description, tiring gentleman-adventurer trappings. Interesting link (as in previous Ashley anthology) to anxieties about imperial decline.

Sunrise on the Moon (John Munro, 1894). Clunky pop-science - historical interest only.

* The First Men in the Moon (H. G. Wells, extract published 1901). ‘That wretched-looking hand sticking out of its jar seemed to have a sort of limp appeal for lost possibilities; it haunts me still, although, of course, it is really in the end a far more humane proceeding than our earthly method of leaving children to grow into human beings, and then making machines of them.’ (p.129). A profoundly haunting reflection of Wells’s hopes and fears for the future, expertly and subtly interwoven with the comedic narrative.

Sub-Satellite (Charles Cloukey, 1928). Prescient and imaginative, but only in a technical sense.

Lunar Lilliput (William F. Temple, 1938). I can’t bring myself to say anything nice about this - juvenile and yet aimed at least partly at an adult reading audience, the worst combination.

Nothing Happens on the Moon (Paul Ernst, 1939). Feels more like a child of 1950s pulp magazines, so interesting in that sense, but apart from that just another anaemic tale of a monster from the depths of space.

Whatever Gods There Be (Gordon R. Dickson, 1961). Simple lifeboat situation - the beginnings of good characterisation for Greene, but too expository.

Idiot’s Delight (John Wyndham, 1958). ‘We are here because the quintessential quality of our age is that of dreams coming true. The truly wishful dreams, the many-minded dreams are now irresistible-they become facts.’ (p.276). Including, of course, the ability to totally destroy each other and ourselves! A reasonably good twist at the end.

After a Judgment Day (Edmond Hamilton, 1963). Rather depressing, since there doesn’t seem any obvious purpose for doing a Voyager-gold-disk-style message in a bottle if humanity’s doomed anyway.

* The Sentinel (Arthur C. Clarke, 1951). ‘… we have set off the fire-alarm and have nothing to do but to wait.’ (p.348). After reading an enormous amount of pretty average prose married to interesting ideas, Clarke’s beautiful synthesis of vision and style is refreshing beyond words.

[D J Rout · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another anthology of mostly British works selected by the very competent Mike Ashley. It is marvellous to have 20th and 19th century views of the Moon and travel thereto in an easily accessible place. There are the usuals you would expect, such as an excerpt from The First Men in the Moon and 'The Sentinel' by Arthur C. Clarke, because they are so Moon-focussed, but it's also good to see George Griffith's view of the Moon and John Munro's rigorously worked out description of a sunrise on the Moon.

Anyway, this gets four stars because of 'Sub-Satellite' by Charles Cloukey. This phenomenally good story, published when the author was 16, contains so many of the certainties and predictions common to Golden Age SF that this guy deserves a posthumous Hugo or Grand Master or something. Everything in it was later refined by John W Campbell Jr, but it was all here first.

And now, the contents:

Introduction: Mike Ashley
Dead Centre: Judith Merrill
A Visit to the Moon: George Griffith
Sunrise on the Moon: John Munro
First Men in the Moon: H G Wells
Sub-Satellite: Charles Cloukey
Lunar Lilliput: William F Temple
Nothing Happens on the Moon: Paul Ernst
Whatever Gods There Be: Gordon R. Dickson
Idiot's Delight: John Wyndham
After a Judgement Day: Edmond Hamilton
The Sentinel: Arthur C. Clarke

[Aditya Rallan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the stories in this anthology are enjoyable, especially how views on lunar landscape and habitation have changed over the decades.

Dead Centre is realistic, emotional, and well-written. The story, often seen from the eyes of a six-year old, is touching as well as gripping, with its impending sense of doom. Whatever Gods There Be is similar, a poignant tale of friendship set against the backdrop of a lunar crash, and the predicament of the lunar as it struggles to fly back. After a Judgement Day is not as emotional, but has an interesting plot and managed to put me in the shoes of the astronauts.

Nothing Happens on the Moon is an edge of the seat adventure about a lonely man on the moon who faces a strong alien adversary. I believe the story would make a great on screen adaptation. The Sentinel is a well-known Arthur C Clarke classic, which might not appear particularly great seen in isolation, but is a great prequel to the Space Odyssey series. The aptly named Sub-satellite is taut and well-written, with a twist in the end. All three stories are also impressive due to the intermittent discussion of scientific concepts, which always makes science fiction a delight to read. In that sense, A Visit to the Moon starts well, but gradually loses its charm.

The other stories were mediocre, even HG Wells' First Men on the Moon, which reads like Burroughs' Mars series. That said, Wells goes into socio-political discussions that he alone is a master at, imagining a society with highly defined division of labour.

[Iona Sharma · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book I picked up out of academic interest, mostly, and surprised me by how much I genuinely enjoyed it. It collects some Golden Age lunar-exploratory SF, mostly in the public domain, with no particular logic, and a lot of it is good fun to read. I liked the extract from Wells' First Men in the Moon, having forgotten it's mostly defined by how much the two main characters hate each other; I also really liked "Lunar Lilliput" and "Sub-Satellite", which are both silly lunar capers; and "After a Judgement Day" achieves its purpose.

The stand-out story is the first, "Dead Centre" by Judith Merill, the only woman whose writing is included in the anthology, and whose story has emotional heft in the way the others didn't. Not-coincidentally, it's the only one that contains believable female characters. A couple of the others have the beautiful dainty wives of the mission commanders; Wyndham's, a deeply unstructured, flawed story even without this, contains a woman who joined the service because "the uniform matched her eyes". One might say, well, that was endemic to the form at the time, which I don't quite buy, but what grates about that is the acres of introductory text never so much at gestures any discussion of this, or of the all-white lunar future the stories depict. It might or might not have been a given, but it ought to have been acknowledged.

[Nur · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a compilation of some of the most classic sci-fi stories, all about the Moon. I gave it 2 stars, i realized science fiction classics might not be for me. Some of the stories are really boring or it’s hard to understand the point of the story. The writing style changes quite a lot, of course, because it’s different authors. If you’re interested in science fiction story writing history from 1890s, this one is for you.

[Debby Kean · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are 11 stories, published between 1894 and 1963. The best is by John Wyndham, a previously unknown gem, but all except a piece of generic ra-ra American nonsense by Gordon Dickson, are brilliant. I am amazed at the presience of the earliest stories, all are logical, tho' all are grim and ultimately sad!

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can peruse the table of contents and based on name recognition alone can figure out which stories will be the good ones.

The collection bends towards seriousness, and for many of the realistic, exploration, travel contributions the result is much like the Chesley Bonestell cover: sterile beauty.

The overall impression is one of stodginess.

[Nigel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A few, very old, stories I had not seen before. A lot of typos erroneously corrected by a bad spellchecker, or perhaps some of these stories had relied upon optical character recognition in taking them from their original homes? Anyway, a few nice ideas and a few less well known but able science fiction authors are included.

[Nickoli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not just a collection of classic lunar science fiction, but also a brief history of speculation and fiction about the moon, travel to it, and its residents. Each story has an introduction placing it in history and what was understood at the time.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good collection of vintage lunar SF. Some of the stories were very good and others not so much. Overall it balances out to 3 stars. Definitely worth picking up at your local library or if you can find it in a used book sale or bargain bin.

[Bruce Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Favourite stories:
Dead Centre by Judith Merril
Nothing Happens on the Moon by Paul Ernst
After A Judgement Day by Edmond Hamilton
The Sentinel by Arthur C Clarke

[Jay Maxfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting collection of moon/lunar short stories many of which have been forgotten or overlooked by Sci-Fi readers over the years but have now been republished by The British Library Group (I will list the stories below). There is an enthusiastic & well researched 23 page introduction by Mike Ashley on the development of moon based sci-fi and at the rear of the book is a source list of where each story was first published - which is excellent news for collectors and Sci-fi buffs.
Like all anthologies you will always find those stories where you find your self saying "how on earth haven't I come across that story before" and will enjoy reading it again if it ever crops up in another anthology with the same amount of pleasure. And there will be those stories where you ask yourself "why did they include this story in this anthology - it just doesn't meet the grade." Followed by some readers saying well "I've read some of these before. The ones I had read before were the HG Wells & Arthur C. Clarke stories which I thoroughly enjoyed reading again.
Most of the stories contained in this anthology I would rate good to excellent with the exception of After a Judgement Day or Sunrise on the Moon. As I'm not a fan of apocalyptic or unwieldy descriptive stories unless extremely well written. The stories which have a twist or a thought provoking idea are the stories that make me interested in Sci-Fi - two of these stories appear here - Nothing Happens on the Moon (the art of keeping silent) & The Sentinel (should we always investigated everything we find without first thinking out the consequences). I would give this book 8 out 10 but would advise reading Lost Mars the sister book to this collection also by The British Library as that book is even better than this one.
Dead Centre - Judith Merril - 1954
A Visit to the Moon - George Griffith - 1901
Sunrise on the Moon - John Munro - 1894
First Men in the Moon - HG Wells - 1901
Sub-Satellite - Charles Cloukey 1928
Lunar Lilliput - William F. Temple - 1938
Nothing Happens on the Moon - Paul Ernst - 1939
Whatever Gods there be - Gordon R. Dickson - 1961
Idiot's Delight - John Wyndham - 1958
After a Judgement Day - Edmond Hamilton - 1963
The Sentinel - Arthur C. Clarke - 1951