''Before the Golden Age: A Science Fiction Anthology of the 1930s'' is an anthology of 25

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

stories from 1930s

pulp magazines Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In contrast, magazine ...

, edited by American science fiction writer

Isaac Asimov yi, יצחק אזימאװ , birth_date = , birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR , spouse = , relatives = , children = 2 , death_date = , death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. , nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...

. It also includes " Big Game", a short story written by Asimov in 1941 and never sold. The anthology was first published in April 1974, and won the 1975

Locus Award The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine ''Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. In addition to the pl ...

for Best reprint anthology. The anthology was inspired by a dream Asimov had on the morning of 3 April 1973. In his dream, Asimov had prepared an anthology of his favorite science fiction stories from the 1930s and was delighted to get a chance to read them again. After waking, he told his fiancée Janet Jeppson about the dream, and she suggested that he actually do such an anthology. Doubleday agreed to publish the anthology, and Asimov's friend

Sam Moskowitz Sam Moskowitz (June 30, 1920 – April 15, 1997) was an American writer, critic, and historian of science fiction. Biography As a child, Moskowitz greatly enjoyed reading science fiction pulp magazines. As a teenager, he organized a branch of ...

provided him with copies of the relevant science fiction magazines. Asimov completed work on the anthology on 10 May. The stories were selected by Asimov, and the main selection criterion was the degree to which they influenced him when he was growing up in the 1930s. The prefatory material and individual introductions to the stories fill in the details about the early life of the

child prodigy A child prodigy is defined in psychology research literature as a person under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to young people who are extraor ...

, which effectively makes the volume an autobiographical prequel to his earlier collection ''

The Early Asimov ''The Early Asimov or, Eleven Years of Trying'' is a 1972 collection of short stories by Isaac Asimov. Each story is accompanied by commentary by the author, who gives details about his life and his literary achievements in the period in which he w ...

''. The anthology was first published as a large hardcover by Doubleday in 1974 and re-issued as three smaller paperbacks by Fawcett Books the following year. The series was re-issued multiple times between 1975 and '84 in sets of either three or four paperbacks. As of 2018, it is out of print.

In addition to the 26 stories, the anthology includes introductions and extensive commentary by Asimov.

1931

* " The Man Who Evolved" by

Edmond Hamilton Edmond Moore Hamilton (October 21, 1904 – February 1, 1977) was an American writer of science fiction during the mid-twentieth century. Early life Born in Youngstown, Ohio, he was raised there and in nearby New Castle, Pennsylvania. So ...

* "The Jameson Satellite" by

Neil R. Jones Neil Ronald Jones (May 29, 1909 – February 15, 1988) was an American writer who worked for the state of New York. Not prolific, and little remembered today, Jones was ground-breaking in science fiction. His first story, "The Death's Head Meteo ...

* "Submicroscopic" by Capt. S.P. Meek * "Awlo of Ulm" by Capt. S.P. Meek * "Tetrahedra of Space" by

P. Schuyler Miller Peter Schuyler Miller (February 21, 1912 – October 13, 1974) was an American science fiction writer and critic. Life Miller was raised in New York's Mohawk Valley, which led to a lifelong interest in the Iroquois Indians. He pursued this as ...

* " The World of the Red Sun" by

Clifford D. Simak Clifford Donald Simak (; August 3, 1904 – April 25, 1988) was an American science fiction writer. He won three Hugo Awards and one Nebula Award. The Science Fiction Writers of America made him its third SFWA Grand Master, and the Horror W ...

1932

* "Tumithak of the Corridors" by Charles R. Tanner * "The Moon Era" by

Jack Williamson John Stewart Williamson (April 29, 1908 – November 10, 2006), who wrote as Jack Williamson, was an American list of science fiction authors, science fiction writer, often called the "Dean of Science Fiction". He is also credited with one of t ...

1933

* " The Man Who Awoke" by

Laurence Manning Laurence Manning (July 20, 1899 – April 10, 1972) was a Canadian science fiction author. Manning was born in Saint John, New Brunswick, and attended Kings College in Halifax, Nova Scotia. As did his two older brothers, Manning signed up to ...

* "Tumithak in Shawm" by Charles R. Tanner

1934

* "Colossus" by

Donald Wandrei Donald Albert Wandrei (20 April 1908 – 15 October 1987)Minnesota Death Certificates Index
. ...

* "Born of the Sun" by

* "

Sidewise in Time "Sidewise in Time" is a science fiction short story by American writer Murray Leinster that was first published in the June 1934 issue of ''Astounding Stories''. "Sidewise in Time" served as the title story for Leinster's second story collection ...

" by

Murray Leinster Murray Leinster (June 16, 1896 – June 8, 1975) was a pen name of William Fitzgerald Jenkins, an American writer of genre fiction, particularly of science fiction. He wrote and published more than 1,500 short stories and articles, 14 movie ...

* "Old Faithful" by

Raymond Z. Gallun Raymond Zinke Gallun (March 22, 1911 – April 2, 1994) was an American science fiction writer. Early life Gallun (rhymes with "balloon") was born in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, the son of Adolph and Martha Zinke Gallun. He graduated from high scho ...

1935

* " Parasite Planet" by Stanley G. Weinbaum * "

Proxima Centauri Proxima Centauri is a small, low-mass star located away from the Sun in the southern constellation of Centaurus. Its Latin name means the 'nearest tarof Centaurus'. It was discovered in 1915 by Robert Innes and is the nearest-kno ...

" by

* "The Accursed Galaxy" by

1936

* " He Who Shrank" by

Henry Hasse Henry Louis Hasse (February 7, 1913 – May 20, 1977) was an American science fiction author and fan. He is probably known best for being the co-author of Ray Bradbury's first professionally published story, "Pendulum", which appeared in Novemb ...

* "The Human Pets of Mars" by Leslie Frances Stone * "The Brain Stealers of Mars" by

John W. Campbell John Wood Campbell Jr. (June 8, 1910 – July 11, 1971) was an American science fiction writer and editor. He was editor of ''Astounding Science Fiction'' (later called '' Analog Science Fiction and Fact'') from late 1937 until his death ...

* "Devolution" by

* " Big Game" by

(written in 1941)

1937

* "Other Eyes Watching" by

* "Minus Planet" by John D. Clark * "Past, Present, and Future" by

Nat Schachner Nathaniel Schachner ((January 16, 1895 – October 2, 1955), who published under the names Nat Schachner and Nathan Schachner, was an American writer, historian, and attorney, as well as an early advocate of the development of rockets for space ...

1938

* " The Men and the Mirror" by Ross Rocklynne

Reception

Theodore Sturgeon Theodore Sturgeon (; born Edward Hamilton Waldo, February 26, 1918 – May 8, 1985) was an American fiction author of primarily fantasy, science fiction and horror, as well as a critic. He wrote approximately 400 reviews and more than 120 sh ...

praised the anthology as "uniquely and delightfully Asimov," describing it as "a much-wanted aggregate of the long-remembered, mostly long-lost masterpieces of ragged-pulp sf which fired up so many of the writers

rom Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * ...

the Golden Age of John Campbell's ''Astounding''." Alexei and

Cory Panshin Cory Panshin (born 1947) is an American science fiction critic and writer. She often writes in collaboration with her husband, Alexei Panshin (1940–2022). The Panshins won the Hugo award for Best Non-Fiction Book in 1990 for ''The World Beyo ...

described ''Before the Golden Age'' as "a book that needed doing," saying that Asimov was perhaps the only writer who "could have the clout and the personal investment of love necessary to produce an anthology like this." Gerald Jonas, however, reviewing the anthology and related books for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', noted that "a little of this looking backward goes a long way," faulting "the defects of style, the prolixities, ndthe flaws of narrative construction" in the stories."Of Things to Come", ''

'', November 21, 1976 (Asimov, in his introduction to the book, had cheerfully conceded these stories to be "clumsy, primitive, and naive", "old-fashioned and unsophisticated".)

References

{{Reflist 1974 anthologies Books by Isaac Asimov Science fiction anthologies Doubleday (publisher) books

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