Golden Age Fiction

The Jansky Radiation was emanating from a single source in space, according to Tommy's father, which meant that it was artificial, produced by a civilization beyond the solar system! Tommy's father would take weeks to analyze the signal in order to decipher it—a lifetime for Tommy—so he knew that he, like his comic book heroes, Space Captain McGee and the Star Rover, would have to step up...

His parents had sent young Percival out to Too Dry, Montana, to live with his Uncle to make a man of him, and for his health. But all Percival wanted was to get back home to New York, and for that he needed just three hundred dollars... "The Strike at Too Dry" appeared in "Blue Book Magazine," January 1925, pages 78 - 84. ----- If you have information about this author, I would be...

Two priceless diamonds, stolen from their original owner, but destined to be returned. Threatening letters from a mysterious Chinaman. A noblewoman's affair with a famous American actor. Hercule Poirot's little grey cells are once again put to the test. "The Western Star" appeared in the February 1924 issue of The Blue Book Magazine on pages 38 to 47. Please be aware that this stor...

Orville Potts couldn't escape the asylum to the past, as he didn't have detailed knowledge of it to create an adequate visualization. The future, though, was unwritten; he could visualize it however he wanted... "A Thought for Tomorrow" appeared in "Galaxy Science Fiction," November 1952, pages 83 - 94. ----- Robert E Gilbert (May 6, 1924 – April 4, 1993) was an American sc...

From the end of Time it came, a call for help as brave, as ageless as the very galaxies: "Save us or die, Vortex Blaster—but if you die, two worlds shall perish with you!" "The Vortex Blaster Makes War" appeared in the October 1942 issue of "Astonishing Stories" on pages 39 to 55. ----- Edward Elmer Smith (May 2, 1890 – August 31, 1965) was an American food engineer and sci...

Everyone thought Harry Owen had gone mad when he wrecked his own ship, the Shearwater, to save the passenger liner, the SS Western Pacific, from running aground in a violent storm. The story that Gorham related, however, explained that, while it was indeed madness that caused him to do it, it was a particular, but very common, kind of madness... "The Closed Door" appeared in Ainslee's...

It's one thing to blow a bubble of glib, journalistic lies. Quite another to have that bubble burst in a nightmarish, green beyond. "The Man Who Found Out" appeared in the September 1954 issue of "Fantastic Universe" on pages 70 to 76. ----- Roger D Aycock (6 December 1914 – 5 April 2004) was an American author who wrote under the pseudonym Roger Dee. He primarily wrote science...

The crew of the Markab had been sent by Galactic Service to intercept and stop the alien ship that had attacked ships of the fleet. But Rik Guelf, who was on this mission to search for his father, was hoping to make contact with the crystal woman who apparently commanded the five-mile-long translucent ship... "A World to Die For" was published in "Fantastic Universe," July, 1954, p...

One would have thought, with the invention of the wireless radio, that piracy would be a thing of the past. Jim Maitland, and the passengers and crew of the SS Andaman were to discover that modern pirates could use the wireless, too. "The Seven Missionaries" appeared in "McClure's Magazine," October 1923, pages 35 - 41. ----- Herman Cyril McNeile , MC (28 September 1888 – 14 Au...

Generations of men came and went while the computer pondered the data.  "The Last Question" appeared in the November 1956 issue of "Science Fiction Quarterly" on pages 6 to 15. ----- Isaac Asimov (c. January 2, 1920 – April 6, 1992) was an American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" sc...

Their orders were to leave the natives of the new planet strictly alone. But those surveyors' wives were women, and women don't obey orders—or leave people alone! "Woman's Touch" appeared in "Super-Science Fiction," February 1957, pages 46 to 66. ----- Evelyn E Smith (25 July 1922 – 4 July 2000) was an American writer of science fiction and mysteries, as well as a compi...

Civilization is established. Lensmen safeguard every world. But the threat of the Atomic Vortices still lingers. Neal 'Storm' Cloud, atomic physicist and human computer, is the only being capable of extinguishing these destructive forces. But there are other forces at work in the universe... "Storm Cloud on Deka" appeared in the June 1942 issue of "Astonishing Stories", on...

Box Garden The stranger had big ears, was terribly fearful of, and yet pitied, TV commercials, and kept going on about 'bansai,' with an 's.' "Box-garden" was published in "Science Fiction Adventures," April, 1958. ----- I, Gardener I was early for my appoinment with the great Dr. Ozoneff, and consequently, had to talk to his gardener for a few minutes before I was...

One Parachute and Two Men—and the Ship Couldn't Land. What Happened? "His to Fly" appeared in "The Popular Magazine", August 7th 1929, pages 106 to 115. ----- Richard Howells Watkins (May 26, 1895 - ?) was an author in the adventure/detective genre, a World War I veteran, a lifelong traveler, and an auto racing, aviation, and maritime enthusiast. ----- If there's a story yo...

Captain Kingsford, the only survivor of the Essex's ill-fated mission to Aldebaran IX, was recruiting another crew to revisit Aldebaran IX, mine the hugely rich ore deposits on that planet, and hunt and kill the monster that had killed his crew.  Philip "Buck" Rogers was sick of retirement and needed something to do, and Executive Officer on the Algonquin, Kingsford's new ship, see...

"We are the rats in the wainscoting of society—we operate outside of their barriers and outside of their rules. Society had more rats when the rules were looser, just as the old wooden buildings had more rats than the concrete buildings that came later. But they still had rats. Now that society is all ferroconcrete and stainless steel there are fewer gaps between the joints, and it takes a sma...

There was a savage cruelty in Durkin's hatred of his children. Little did he know that on other worlds—cruelty boomeranged. "The Cottage" appeared in the September 1954 issue of "Fantastic Universe" on pages 58 to 69. ----- Frank Belknap Long Jr. (April 27, 1901 – January 3, 1994) was an American writer of horror fiction, fantasy, science fiction, poetry, gothic romance, comic...

Bill Barlow, a former war ace, now took passengers for rides in his plane. One loop-the-loop too many however, and the airfield superintendant was forced to revoke his passenger license—friend or no friend. Luckily, his latest passenger, a Frank C Saxton, had a solution to this predicament that would take Bill on his most exciting adventure yet... "Prize of the Air" appeared in "Argosy...

They were out of place in the Manly Age--Stonecypher, a man who loved animals; Moe, a bull who hated men. Together, they marched to inevitably similar destinies... "Thy Rocks and Rills" appeared in "If, Worlds of Science Fiction", September, 1953, pages 76 to 98. ----- Robert E Gilbert (May 6, 1924 – April 4, 1993) was an American science fiction writer. ----- If there's a stor...

He had been sent to kill the Father of Evil, to purge his corruption from this world. But Wolverton had shot him down, captured him, and now, injured, he had to endure conversation with this loathed man.  "The Missionary" appeared in "Amazing Stories," October 1960. ----- Jesse Franklin Bone (1916-2006) was an American author and veterinarian whose writing gained prominence during...

Neal "Storm" Cloud, atomic physicist, through personal tragedy, is destined to become the most noted figure in the galaxy. "The Vortex Blaster" appeared in "Comet", July 1941, pages 2 to 17. ----- Edward Elmer Smith (May 2, 1890 – August 31, 1965) was an American food engineer and science-fiction author, best known for the Lensman and Skylark series. He is sometimes called...

"Get the pirate Gunther," were their orders. But Click and Irish were marooned on the pirate's asteroid—their only weapons a single gun and a news-reel camera. "The Monster Maker" appeared in "Planet Stories," Spring 1944, pages 39 - 47. ----- Ray Douglas Bradbury (August 22, 1920 – June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-c...

Why were Fred Kirr's shipmates calling the planet Gamma Tauri II, which they were surveying for evidence of intelligent life, a paradise, when it was in reality a desolate hell? Why was he the only one who could see the truth? Or was he the one going mad? "Trajectory to Taurus" appeared in "Amazing Stories," September 1960, pages 39 to 56. ----- Lester Hines Cole (14 July 1926...

Kidwell and Dexter, the daredevil aviators, were attempting to break the world altitude record at the State Fair. But, they were also muderers and thieves, and Pemberton, the renowned detective, had to wait until they returned from their adventures in the upper air before he could bring them to justice... "The Terrors of the Upper Air" appeared in "Amazing Stories Quarterly", Winte...

What kind of creature could make a nine-foot diameter, two-inch deep footprint in the soil of a forest? Charles Tinnerman and his companions were about to find out... "Quinquepedalian" appeared in "Amazing Stories," November 1963, pages 106 - 121 and 130. ----- Piers Anthony Dillingham Jacob (born 6 August 1934) is an American author in the science fiction and fantasy genres, publi...