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The Best of Astounding: Classic Short Novels from the Golden Age of Science Fiction
Contents:
Introduction / Poul Anderson
Sucker Bait / Isaac Asimov
The Stolen Dormouse / L. Sprague de Camp
The 5th-Dimension Tube / Murray Leinster
The Shadow Out of Time / H.P. Lovecraft
Bindlestiff / James Blish
We Have Fed Our Sea / Poul Anderson
Introduction / Poul Anderson
Sucker Bait / Isaac Asimov
The Stolen Dormouse / L. Sprague de Camp
The 5th-Dimension Tube / Murray Leinster
The Shadow Out of Time / H.P. Lovecraft
Bindlestiff / James Blish
We Have Fed Our Sea / Poul Anderson
- GenresScience Fiction
448 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1992
22 people want to read
About the author
James E. Gunn
268 books118 followersAmerican science fiction author, editor, scholar, and anthologist. His work from the 1960s and 70s is considered his most significant fiction, and his Road to Science Fiction collections are considered his most important scholarly books. He won a Hugo Award for a non-fiction book in 1983 for Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction. He was named the 2007 Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
Gunn served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, after which he attended the University of Kansas, earning a Bachelor of Science in Journalism in 1947 and a Masters of Arts in English in 1951. Gunn went on to become a faculty member of the University of Kansas, where he served as the university's director of public relations and as a professor of English, specializing in science fiction and fiction writing. He is now a professor emeritus and director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction, which awards the annual John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best novel and the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award at the Campbell Conference in Lawrence, Kansas, every July.
He served as President of the Science Fiction Writers of America from 1971–72, was President of the Science Fiction Research Association from 1980-82, and currently is Director of The Center for the Study of
Science Fiction. SFWA honored him as a Grand Master of Science Fiction in 2007.
Gunn began his career as a science fiction author in 1948. He has had almost 100 stories published in magazines and anthologies and has authored 26 books and edited 10. Many of his stories and books have been reprinted around the world.
In 1996, Gunn wrote a novelization of the unproduced Star Trek episode "The Joy Machine" by Theodore Sturgeon.
His stories also have been adapted into radioplays and teleplays:
* NBC radio's X Minus One
* Desilu Playhouse's 1959 "Man in Orbit", based on Gunn's "The Cave of Night"
* ABC-TV's Movie of the Week "The Immortal" (1969) and an hour-long television series in 1970, based on Gunn's The Immortals
* An episode of the USSR science fiction TV series This Fantastic World, filmed in 1989 and entitled "Psychodynamics of the Witchcraft" was based on James Gunn's 1953 story "Wherever You May Be".
Gunn served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, after which he attended the University of Kansas, earning a Bachelor of Science in Journalism in 1947 and a Masters of Arts in English in 1951. Gunn went on to become a faculty member of the University of Kansas, where he served as the university's director of public relations and as a professor of English, specializing in science fiction and fiction writing. He is now a professor emeritus and director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction, which awards the annual John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best novel and the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award at the Campbell Conference in Lawrence, Kansas, every July.
He served as President of the Science Fiction Writers of America from 1971–72, was President of the Science Fiction Research Association from 1980-82, and currently is Director of The Center for the Study of
Science Fiction. SFWA honored him as a Grand Master of Science Fiction in 2007.
Gunn began his career as a science fiction author in 1948. He has had almost 100 stories published in magazines and anthologies and has authored 26 books and edited 10. Many of his stories and books have been reprinted around the world.
In 1996, Gunn wrote a novelization of the unproduced Star Trek episode "The Joy Machine" by Theodore Sturgeon.
His stories also have been adapted into radioplays and teleplays:
* NBC radio's X Minus One
* Desilu Playhouse's 1959 "Man in Orbit", based on Gunn's "The Cave of Night"
* ABC-TV's Movie of the Week "The Immortal" (1969) and an hour-long television series in 1970, based on Gunn's The Immortals
* An episode of the USSR science fiction TV series This Fantastic World, filmed in 1989 and entitled "Psychodynamics of the Witchcraft" was based on James Gunn's 1953 story "Wherever You May Be".
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 18, 2021
Given the name of this anthology and authors included - Asimov, L. Sprague de Camp, Blish, Anderson - I was looking forward to a series of rip-roaring yarns from the best of the best. Instead, I got weak or incomprehensible plots (The Stolen Dormouse, The Shadow Out of Time), poor writing (The Fifth-Dimension Tube), and ludicrous dialogue (Bindlestiff).
The only readable novella was the first, Sucker Bait by Isaac Asimov; and even then I would not count it among the top 380 stories he wrote.
It is incomprehensible to me that from the leading magazine of the golden age of science fiction James Gunn (the anthologist) could not select better works.
The only readable novella was the first, Sucker Bait by Isaac Asimov; and even then I would not count it among the top 380 stories he wrote.
It is incomprehensible to me that from the leading magazine of the golden age of science fiction James Gunn (the anthologist) could not select better works.
November 24, 2021
A selection of vintage SF short novels (Novelettes?)from the 1930s through the 195os. Some little cestnuts by such as L. Sprague de Camp, Murray Leinster and H. P. Lovecraft. The best of the lot is "We Have Fed Our Sea" by Poul Anderson. From 1958, this is something which we would now call Hard Science Fiction. Involving a disparate crew of 4 people exploring a dead star and becoming trapped in a gravitational well that requires a monumental feat of scientific and mechanical skills to escape. Well told and sympathetic to the human condition.
November 25, 2020
It seems that these authors very much disliked jungles. In two of the stories humans are fighting against jungles that are threatening to take over their cities, with less honorable men having given up that fight and allowed the jungle into their city. In another story a jungle is used as a backdrop as a horrible and strange experience. In a fourth story a planet that with huge icecaps and a temperate climate around the equator is presented as an Eden. That leaves just two stories without anything to say on jungles.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews