Science Fiction: Classic Stories of the Golden Age of Science Fiction

Asimov's 'The Mammoth Book Of...' series

by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, Charles G. Waugh

These fantastic tales are as fresh and relevant today as they were when they first appeared in the 1940s, the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Theodore Sturgeon’s “Killdozer!” details the liberation of a mutant energy force with intelligence and a will to destroy. “With Folded Hands,” by Jack Williamson, unfolds a terrifying vision of the future where humanoid mechanisms secure “happiness” for all human beings. In a corrupt empire to come, “The Weapons Shop” of A.E. van Vogt’s world may be the only source for legal and moral justice. Plus, there’s an early “Foundation” tale by Issac Asimov, and many other brilliant examples by C.L. Moore, Lester del Rey, and more.

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

480 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Works 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...

Reviews

[useFOSS · Rating 5 out of 5]

Time Wants A Skeleton (1941) by Ross Rocklynne 5/5
The Weapon Shop (1942) by A.E. van Vogt 5/5
Nerves (1942) by Lester del Rey 5/5
Daymare (1943) by Fredric Brown 5/5
Killdozer! (1944) by Theodore Sturgeon 4.5/5
No Woman Born (1944) by C.L. Moore 4/5
The Big and the Little (1944) by Asimov 5/5
Giant Killer (1945) by A. Bertram Chandler 4.5/5
E for Effort (1947) by T.L. Sherred 5/5
With Folded Hands (1947) by Jack Williamson 4.5/5
Introduction: The Age of Campbell by Asimov 5/5

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

*Time wants a Skeleton. Clever Time Travel mystery, fun enough; I might look for more by Ross Rocklynne.

*The Weapons Shop. Inspirational. I feel as if it must have been influential as I recognize some of the ideas. Makes me want to find more by Van Vogt, though I confess the name seems familiar to me in a negative way already. I'll check for sure, though.

*Nerves. Better as this novelette; wish that I hadn't tried to read del Rey's novelization prev.

*Killdozer! I doubt it was Sturgeon's intent, but the story works as an argument for a bit of management and bureaucracy... one reason that this team falls apart is because there's no higher up taking charge, no procedure, etc. Also the racism, though supposedly from the perspective of the characters rather from that of the author, is gratuitous and ugly.

*No Woman Born. Worth the whole book. A rebuttal to the Frankenstein story, and so much more. Beautifully written. Also, fairly widely avl.; I'm sure I've read it a couple of times before... I recommend you find it for yourself (try ISFDB.com).

*The Big and the Little. From 'Foundation' and just as lame on this read as it was the first time. Sorry, but even though the idea of a psychohistory is cool, Asimov is just so wrong it reads more like a parody than anything worth reading.

*Giant Killer. Moving and provocative, with an ending that I did not manage to figure out. In the hands of a better writer than A. Bertram Chandler it would be a more famous classic. Character named Weena.

*E for Effort. Interesting concept but I'm not sure the author was writing the story that he meant to when he started. Maybe there was too much editorial intrusion, given the era in which it was written and the ending.

*With Folded Hands. Another that is famous, and has been expanded to a pair of novels. Do read the story. Don't bother with the books. Btw, main character named Underhill, which is a fun coincidence as I just finished FotR.

Overall, two stars for this collection from the 40s because that means "it was ok."

[Canavan · Rating 3 out of 5]

✭✭✭

“Time Wants a Skeleton”, Ross Rocklynne (1941) ✭
“The Weapon Shop” (variant title: “The Weapons Shop”) , A. E. Van Vogt (1942) ✭✭
“Nerves”, Lester del Rey (1942) ✭½
“Daymare”, Fredric Brown (1943) ✭✭
“Killdozer!”, Theodore Sturgeon (1944) ✭✭✭½
“No Woman Born”, C. L. Moore (1944) ✭✭✭✭
“The Big and Little” (variant title: “The Merchant Princes”), Isaac Asimov (1944) ✭✭✭½
“Giant Killer”, A. Bertram Chandler (1945) ✭✭✭✭
“E for Effort”, T. L. Sherred (1947) ✭✭
“With Folded Hands”, Jack Williamson (1947) ✭✭✭✭

[Dominic Stastny · Rating 4 out of 5]

All in all many intriguing stories which are for the most part also of a mysterious nature. The age of these stories certainly shows in what one might call retro-futurism nowadays. Still, a fascinating portrayal of themes such as artificial intelligence, post-humanism and space.

[Larry · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ok collection of early SF novellas. One or two gems (Time Wants a Skeleton by Ross Rocklynne, Nerves by Lester del Rey, No Woman Born by C. L. Moore, and With Folded Hands,Jack Williamson), the rest, not much to write home about.

[Claus Willumsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

De fleste af novellerne er gode og enkelte er fremragende.

[Andrew]

A fantastic mixed bag selection of 1940s Sci-Fi. I particularly enjoyed the opener "Time Wants a Skeleton" and the final story "With Folded Hands". It's amazing the insight into the culture of the 1940s that comes from reading stories like these.

[Nicholas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This gets 3 stars. There was only one story I didn't care for at all, and three that were actually pretty interesting. The rest were just . . . passable? Ultimately, as a collection of SF from that time period, it doesn't pick the best the time had to offer.

[Bobo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The newest short story here is from 1947. This is a good introduction into American short science fiction from 1920 to 1947. Only two of the stories were in anthologies I've read before.

[Brett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anthology,Science Fiction

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boy, the past really *is* a foreign country.

[Guy Haley · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s a lot to love about Mammoth Books, mostly because they’re great collections of short-form fiction at a reasonable price. Great reads all round, the only thing not to love about them is the brand’s need to include “The Mammoth Book of…” in every title, which makes some of them somewhat unwieldy…

This Mammoth Book has a particularly unwieldy title. But it is also particularly interesting. It’s a reprint of a 1989 collection that brought together 10 stories SF anthologists Isaac Asimov, Martin H Greenberg and Charles Waugh regarded as being representative of the “Golden Age” of science-fiction, that period in the 1940s which saw the genre gradually begin to shake off the pulp roots epitomised by the likes of the Lensman series, and take a more hard science tack.

For us what might appear to be most interesting is that this is a selection Asimov, one of SF’s great founding fathers, made only a few years before he died. But it is more than that. Asimov himself, in his introduction, attributes the existence of the Golden Age, and therefore modern SF, to John Campbell Junior, author and editor of the magazine Astounding Science Fiction. It was Campbell that spotted the talents of such authors as Asimov, Heinlein, Vogt, Clarke, Sturgeon, Del Rey and many, many others, honing the story skills of each and shaping their development. Asimov asserts rightly that Campbell was one of the giants of the genre. His influence has far outreached his own lifespan, even to the extent that when SF went off in the different directions of the New Wave, it was a deliberate move away from Campbell’s scientifically rigorous style of science fiction. Rebellion is surely a sincere form of flattery.

Eight out of the ten stories presented here are drawn from Astounding Science Fiction, so this collection, as representative as it is of Asimov’s taste, is also a fantastic glimpse into a bygone era of SF publishing. It is a direct look at the pages of a magazine that has influenced the genre to this day, and through those pages gives us an insight into the mind of the man who shaped them. This is Asimov’s tribute to Campbell, and an education to us for whom Campbell’s name has faded into the background buzz of richly inter-mingled genres. We live in a dazzling, multilayered world of SF now, a far cry from the relentlessly scientist stories of Campbell’s era, but we wouldn’t have it without these authors or their mentor.

Onto the stories, they are:

Time Wants a Skeleton, by Ross Rocklynne

The Weapons Shop, by AE Van Vogt

Nerves, by Lester Del Rey

Daymare, by Fredric Brown

Killdozer, by Theodore Sturgeon

No Woman Born, by CL Moore

The Big and The Little, by Isaac Asimov

Giant Killer, by A Bertram Chandler

E for Effort, by T L Sherred

With Folded Hands, by Jack Williamson

The stories are published in chronological order – the first dating from 1941, the last from 1947, though to be honest, this does little for the readability of the book. Time Wants a Skeleton is the weakest of the bunch. It is poorly written, and groans under a weight of expository dialogue. It’s a basic time-travel paradox, revolutionary at the time, but to modern eyes it looks so much like a bad episode of Star Trek: Voyager. Because of the story’s weakness, its numerous anachronisms become all the more obvious, further dating the tale. But the stories do improve, and massively so.

Speaking of anachronisms, they abound throughout the collection. Though Campbell insisted his authors emphasise the science as much as the fiction, it is hard to predict the future path of technology, and this goes doubly for societal changes: everyone smokes, for example, and women swoon repeatedly over square-jawed spacemen. These visions of futures never to be, essentially the 1940’s in space, give the book much of its academic interest. Imagine a present, let alone a future, without computers, or genetics, or mobile phones. Here we have 22nd centuries where heroes have to go to the library to look things up on microfiche, where there is no method of identifying a corpse better than fingerprinting. Even in Isaac Asimov’s far-future Foundation tale The Big and the Little, which scrupulously avoids referencing contemporary mores, has one jarring moment (to 21st century eyes) where a letter is delivered via a message tube. Asimov explained all this away in later Foundation stories as science caught up with his tales, but it is still noticeable.

Then there are the atomics. Everything is atomic. Atomics was “magic science” to the writers of the 40s, and in these tales seems to be capable of pretty much anything.

Do not judge the authors harshly (a difficult task admittedly, as their world is not so distant as that of Wells or Verne, and therefore their incorrect predictions are all the more uncomfortable). We effectively live in their future, and have 20/20 hindsight, whereas the best they had was 3D glasses. Think on this, much of our current SF includes the “magic sciences” of genetics and nanotech. How foolish will our post-modern, post-human cyber-tales appear to future eyes?

There are also some quaint literary conventions that have long since fallen by the wayside. Chandler’s Giant Killer, for example, is a fine example of the “Jar of Orange Tang” story form mocked by the Turkey City Lexicon.

However, though outmoded social convention or pulp writing sometimes cause unintentional amusement, how the ideas still shine. The dodgy particle physics of Del Rey cannot undermine the tension of his story of doctors under extreme pressure, nor can Chandler’s denouement take away from the energy of his tale, while Sturgeon’s Killdozer would be equally silly, and equally as exciting, if written now. And no book that contains CL Moore’s No Woman Born, whose poetic musings on the nature of the human soul will send shivers down your spine, can be put aside no matter what the merits of the rest of the contents. There are other greats too, notably E for Effort by TL Sherred – a great warning against the dangers of knowledge, and the excellent robot-nightmare story With Folded Hands. These stories are gems, SF heritage, and should be treasured as such.

As the decades march by, entertainment is often the first aspect of literature to crumble away; and books become dry works wrought in archaic language for schoolchildren to struggle through and professors to pore over. Fortunately for us, this is not the case here. Yes, The Mammoth Book of Golden Age Science Fiction will inform you of where our favourite genre comes from, and give you an insight into the mindset of the times and the hopes and fears its people had for the future, but it is also all great fun

[Almustafa Couch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a fine exploration of the science-fiction genre. Dealing with issues such as anthropomorphism and free market capitalisms many faults, this book shows examples of the genres mainly successful attempt's to cover such important issues, giving guidance and caution when dealing with such things. The Asimov story is a member of the "Foundation"series, it is useful to have read that series before tackling this book.

[Blair · Rating 2 out of 5]

Plenty of creative ideas but such a chore to read through.

This collection of short novels ends up becoming a chore to finish reading. A solid collection of ideas with enough creativity to hook readers, but amateurish writing and overexposure that ends up becoming condescending ruin the fun. The vast majority of the stories are just ''meeh'', and the classic writing style shows through in the way the characters express themselves.

I didn't enjoy it.

[Alessandra Cahill · Rating 4 out of 5]

As these are older Sci-fi stories, I wasn't expecting to like them as much as I did! They weren't all to my taste, but I really enjoyed Giant Killer, With Folded Hands, E For Effort and Daymare. The Big And The Little and The Weapons Shop were also good reads. These editions do have quite a lot of typos though.

[Anthony Faber · Rating 2 out of 5]

Long stories from the golden age. Dated, but it was interesting. The science misconceptions alone are worth the price of admission.

[Michael H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of "older" science fiction stories.

[Janet Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a sci-fi novella and this was an extremely solid collection of ‘em

[Emanuele Patrocco · Rating 2 out of 5]

Raccolta di romanzi brevi (e racconti lunghi) risalenti agli anni 30, tutti originariamente pubblicati sulle riviste economiche diffuse negl stati uniti all'epoca. Dovrebbero essere il meglio di quella che viene chiamata l'età dell'oro della fantascienza, e probabilmente lo sono, purtroppo non reggono minimamente il confronto con la produzione fantascientifica dei decenni successivi. L'espressione "età dell'oro" in effetti non si riferisce alla qualità media delle pubblicazioni ma all'interesse che il nuovo filone aveva generato presso il pubblico americano, specialmente giovane, moltiplicando in breve tempo il numero di riviste ad esso dedicate. Lettura utile per chi vuole curiosare un po' di fantascienza degli albori, altrimenti sconsigliata.

Seguono brevi commenti ai romanzi, principalmente a scopo di promemoria personale.

1. "L'ombra fuori del tempo", uno degli ultimi scritti di h.p. lovecraft, stile impeccabile e molto evocativo come in tutti i suoi racconti, trama scarna e poco accattivante come in molti suoi racconti.
2. Racconto dozzinale a tema "scienziato pazzo" ad opera di h.l. gold, celebre direttore di riviste fantascientifiche ma non certo un grande scrittore.
3. La figura dello scienziato pazzo torna ne "il corpo di jane brown" scritto da cornell woolrich. Woolrich è uno specialista dell'hard boiled e nel tentativo di adattarsi alla fantascienza finisce per tirar fuori un breve romanzo horror di quarta categoria.
4. Il migliore dell'antologia, "who goes there" di john wood campbell è un classico del genere dal quale è stato tratto l'altrettanto famoso film intitolato "la cosa".
5. Murray leinster, autore pulp tuttofare ed iperprolifico, utilizza lo strumento "bivi nel tempo" (che è anche il titolo del racconto stesso in italiano) per costruire una storia bizzarra e non troppo curata. Del resto agli autori pulp era espressamente richiesto di scrivere così.
6. Ancora più stravagante il racconto di harry bates, primo direttore della rivista astounding stories, in cui il protagonista viaggia nel futuro e trova un mondo popolato di eremiti deformi: malriuscito ma almeno è originale.
7. Macchina del tempo anche per "l'uomo in cerca di futuro" di e.f. russell, dove il protagonista esegue una serie di salti nel futuro trovando il pianeta in constante cambiamento sociale. Semplice ma divertente.
8. Intitolato "l'arrivo della fiamma", ambientazione post-apocalittica, è in atto una guerra tra signori feudali e condottieri immortali. Piuttosto acerbo e molto melodrammatico ma l'autore, stanley weinbaum, sembra avere del potenziale. Purtroppo non farà in tempo ad esprimerlo causa la morte dopo appena un paio d'anni di carriera letteraria.
9. "Dividi e domina" di sprague de camp, autore molto apprezzato dagli appassionati, spero non grazie a racconti come questo. La trama è talmente assurda che non posso esimermi dal riportarla per sommi capi: il pianeta terra è stato conquistato da una razza aliena di roditori ermafroditi che hanno costretto l'uomo a ritornare alla vita medievale ma un gruppo di ribelli, praticando la scienza in segreto, riesce a creare in laboratorio delle pulci specializzate nell'aggredire gli invasori. Dopo aver accuratamente diffuso i parassiti per tutto il globo, i ribelli attaccano e sconfiggono i roditori mentre questi ultimi sono alle prese con le pulci.
10. "Lupi dalle tenebre" di Jack Williamson, mediocre racconto incentrato sulla licantropia ed i mondi alieni. Troppa carne al fuoco ed infatti gli stessi temi saranno affrontati indipendentemente, e meglio, dallo stesso autore nei suoi romanzi successivi.

[Bernard Martis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection spanning decades and themes.

Every story on this anthology comes from a different year. Although every one of them is science fiction, each story is from a different genre. One is a murderer mystery, one a psycho thriller, one horror, one drama, etc.

I absolutely loved some of the novellas on the genres that I enjoy and did not care for the ones in the genres I don't read. If you like a genre, you will like the stories. Absolutely fantastic read.

[Carl · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent collection of classic science fiction short stories taken from the 1940s. Many of them cannot be found published anywhere, and for good reason: most of the stories were mediocre. That being said, "E for Effort" and "No Woman Born" were both intriguing stories that introduced cool technology and colorful characters. I feel like "E for Effort" would be a great movie. If I had to recommend one story in this collection, it would be this one. Overall, a fun distraction.

[R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ross Rocklynne: "Time Wants A Skeleton" (1941) • novella 2/5
A. E. van Vogt: "The Weapons Shop" • (1942) • novelette 3.5/5
Lester del Rey: "Nerves" (1942) • novella 2/5
Fredric Brown: "Daymare" (1943) • novelette 1.5/5
Theodore Sturgeon: "Killdozer!" (1944) • novella 3/5
C. L. Moore: "No Woman Born" (1944) • novelette 2.5/5
Isaac Asimov: "The Big and the Little" (1944) • novelette 2/5
A. Bertram Chandler: "Giant Killer" (1945) • novella 3/5
T. L. Sherred: "E for Effort" (1947) • novelette 3/5
Jack Williamson: "With Folded Hands" (1947) • novelette 4/5

Overall 2.6/5

[Kiro Selanor · Rating 1 out of 5]

I only read a few of the stories, and they weren't good so I decided not to continue. This book contains a collection of SF stories from the 1940's, chosen by Isaac Asimov. I was hoping for Asimov-level stories, but they were far inferior. "Time Wants a Skeleton" was boring. "The Weapons Shop" seemed promising, but didn't deliver. "Nerves" was too long, so I didn't even finish it. "Daymare" was ok, but ultimately the solution to the murder mystery was a Deus ex Machina. At that point I bailed (before even getting to the lone Asimov story).

[Deepa · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow wow wow! deeply satisfying mind blowing amazing stories. love love love sci fi of this age. end of war, atom bomb, space travel(?) or at least the anticipation of it made for most delicious sci-fi ever. i enjoyed each n every one of them. some of then have familiar themes, but these must be the original no? what a fun read! :) its over.. no worries i have a stock pile os asimovs n arthur clarks.

[lettrici_geniali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uno dei pochi libri che da bambina iniziai senza finire (mi rendo conto che può risultare pesante in tenera età). Me lo sono ritrovato nuovamente tra le mani intorno ai quindici anni, e in maniera spassionata vi dico che si tratta di uno dei libri più belli di argomenti fantascientifico, perché contiene la più alta tradizione del genere, che peraltro è uno dei più belli in assoluto, quindi per forza di cose...

[Stephen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sometimes the whiff of mold from classics is overwhelming. Still, if you're looking for a sample of the old pulps, here is a collection to whet your appetite. Warning: File this on your shelf alongside other curios.

[Andrew Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

some good stuff from the 40's.
a lot different from today's mess of thrillers-full-of-plot-error. if today's writers would turn off the action movies and read this stuff we'd see a lot better new fiction

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

KILLDOZER RULES!

[Jo]

If I can get past the one-dimensional (that dimension being the BOOB dimension) females in hot little space outfits, I might actually like this book.

[Jetamors · Rating 3 out of 5]

My two favorite stories from this were "Nerves" and "E for Effort".