Nominations for BotM - Jun2021 - 1940-1959: The Golden Age

[Jim]

Nominations for our June 2021 read are for the Golden Age of SF, 1940-1959.
SF novels or short story collection/anthologies that have not previously been read by the group are eligible. Please check the bookshelf & the nomination rules for further clarification before nominating a book.

Previously nominated books are on this bookshelf. More qualifying authors & books can be found here.

Please add your nominated book title as a clickable link directly to the goodreads' book page, with author and year, so it looks like this:
Children of Time
Adrian Tchaikovsky
2015
(If you can't create book links, please include the URL to the book.)

Tell us why you chose the book that you're nominating. Remember that books require seconding now. Each member is allowed to make one nomination & second one other book other than their own.

We'll close this nomination thread on the 15th of March, in order to have plenty of time for poll(s) and then for acquisitions of the winner(s).

---------------------
Nominations
Dragon's Island by Jack Williamson, nom by Rouven
The Canopy Of Time by Brian W. Aldiss, nom by Ronald

Noms with seconds
The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov, nom by Rafael, 2d by Rosemarie
Wasp by Eric Frank Russell, nom by Leo, 2d by Ed
The Green Hills of Earth by Robert A. Heinlein nom by mod Jim, 2d by RJ

[Rafael]

I nominate The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov.

[Rosemarie]

I will second The Caves of Steel.

[Jim]

Damn, I forgot to lock this until tomorrow, make it important, & save the second comment for nominations. Oh well. I'll put them at the end of the first message.

[Leo]

I nominate Wasp by Eric Frank Russell, 1957. I had a lot of fun reading his Next of Kin, and expect nothing less from Wasp, this being his most famous book. Russell was British and served in the army, so you can prepare for some typical humour.

[Ed]

I second Wasp. It is already on my TBR pile.

[Cato]

I nominate Dragon's Island (1951, also known as "The Not-Man") by Jack Williamson. It's an interesting book that I would like to reread. Williamson invented the term "Genetic engineering" in Dragon's Island.

[Ronald]

I nominate The Canopy Of Time, also known as Galaxies Like Grains of Sand by Brian Aldiss.

The book was originally published in 1959, a collection of short stories published in the 1950s.

I read the book, which I purchased from a second-hand bookstore, before Goodreads existed. I think all the stories are good.

The book is available for the Kindle.

[Ed]

Two more days to make nominations or to second one. Nomination ends at the end of April 15.

[Jim]

I'll nominate The Green Hills of Earth by Robert A. Heinlein. It is a collection of short stories, some of his finest work, IMO. This collection includes:
Delilah and the Space-Rigger
Space-Jockey
The Long Watch
Gentlemen Be Seated
The Black Pits of Luna
It's Great to Be Back
We Also Walk Dogs
Ordeal in Space
The Green Hills of Earth
Logic of Empire
Future History 1951-2600 AD

[Jim]

It's just about time to close the nominations. We only have 2 that were seconded & 3 others that haven't been.

Nominations (These need seconding to be in the poll.)
Dragon's Island by Jack Williamson, nom by Rouven
The Canopy Of Time by Brian W. Aldiss, nom by Ronald
The Green Hills of Earth by Robert A. Heinlein nom by mod Jim

Noms with seconds
The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov, nom by Rafael, 2d by Rosemarie
Wasp by Eric Frank Russell, nom by Leo, 2d by Ed

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I will second Green Hills of Earth

[Jim]

The poll is up. You can find it here:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

[Jim]

Jim wrote: "I'll nominate The Green Hills of Earth by Robert A. Heinlein. It is a collection of short stories, some of his finest work, IMO. This collection includes:
Delilah and the ..."

One interesting fact about these stories is that all but 2 were originally published in mainstream magazines instead of a science fiction magazine.

"Delilah and the Space Rigger" (1949; originally published in Blue Book)
"Space Jockey" (1947; originally published in The Saturday Evening Post)
"The Long Watch" (1949; originally published in The American Legion Magazine)
"Gentlemen, Be Seated!" (1948; originally published in Argosy Magazine)
"The Black Pits of Luna" (1948; originally published in The Saturday Evening Post)
"It's Great to Be Back!" (1947; originally published in The Saturday Evening Post)
"—We Also Walk Dogs" (1941; originally published in Astounding Science Fiction)
"Ordeal in Space" (1948; originally published in Town & Country)
"The Green Hills of Earth" (1947; originally published in The Saturday Evening Post)
"Logic of Empire" (1941; originally published in Astounding Science Fiction)

[Jim]

Interesting. Thanks, Jim. "The Long Watch" (1949; originally published in The American Legion Magazine) makes perfect sense & so does "It's Great to Be Back!" (1947; originally published in The Saturday Evening Post). I loved the twist at the end of the latter.

[Jim]

The poll finished on the 6th so we'll be reading The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov. It's one of his first robot novels & a murder mystery. Asimov is best known for his robots, but he wrote quite a few good murder mysteries. It's a pretty quick read, too.

I've created the discussion topic here:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
but closed it to comments until 1Jun.

[Allan]

One of my Asimov favorites, and I still have my old copy on the shelf.

Also, regarding The Green Hills of Earth, all of its stories can also be found in The Past Through Tomorrow, which gathers all of Heinlein's future history stories. It's a great collection that includes the novella of Methuselah's Children, which was later expanded into a novel that serves as the prelude to Time Enough for Love.

[Jim]

The only problem with "The Past Through Tomorrow" is its size. It might be more manageable in some editions, but my old one is a brick. It is handy for looking up the odd story, but I like to read the stories in the smaller collections. Much easier to handle.