Golden Age Fiction

Colby's murder plan was perfect—except at one point... "The Trap" appeared in "Munsey's Magazine", August 1929, pages 467 to 477. ----- 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 s...

The Thrid were the most intelligent creatures in the universe—they said so themselves. So intelligent that they had the perfect government that could never be wrong! The Grand Panjandrum—the leader of the government—could never be mistaken! Provincial Governors' words were truth—none could be contradicted. If you did, you were a criminal, or insane... "Manners and Customs of the Thrid"...

In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man, of course, is king. But how about a live wire, a smart businessman, in a civilization of 100% pure chumps? "The Marching Morons" appeared in "Galaxy Science Fiction", April 1951, on pages 128 to 158. ----- Cyril M Kornbluth (July 2, 1923 – March 21, 1958) was an American science fiction author and a member of the Futurians. He used a v...

Enid Twilley's life was lived vicariously through shows on the TV. So, when a malfunction caused her television to stop working, she thought her life had come to an end. However, the unique nature of the malfunction provided an opportunity for her life to take a completely new turn... "For Service Rendered" appeared in "Amazing Stories," April 1963, pages 99 to 113. ----- Jesse...

Morgue Ship This was going to be Sam Burnett's last trip collecting bodies from the debris of space battles in this war. Once all one hundred shelves were filled, they would return to Earth, and he would be back among the living again. The ninety-eighth body, however, was different, unexpected, one of the enemy, important. But more than that, they weren't dead... "Morgue Ship" appe...

The Minstrel's Curse had plagued the Chilton women for almost two centuries, and Edith Chilton, namesake of the one who had been the cause of the curse all those years ago, knew that it would not be lifted this time, for she loved the wrong man... "The Minstrel's Curse" appeared serialized in Norman L Munro's "New York Family Story Paper (volume XIX, numbers 952-955)" f...

Flying through a clinging, blinding fog, Lieutenant Adams flew straight into a death trap of flashing enemy planes and flaming, stuttering machine guns. "Rivals of the Clouds" appeared in "Triple-X Magazine," January 1929, pages 53 - 62. ----- Raoul Whitfield (November 22, 1896 – January 24, 1945) was an American writer of adventure, aviation, and hardboiled crime fiction. During h...

Your name is Merton and you find that all you have to do is reach into your safe to get money. The more you take, the more you find. And just when Quiggs has cut your future down to nothing. A wonderful discovery! Or is it? Of course it is. You'll be the richest man in the world. But will you? "Peter Merton's Private Mint" appeared in "Fantastic", October 1956, pages 74 to...

Gibberne's nerve stimulant, The New Accelerator, which could speed a man up to two or three times normal, was going to revolutionise human life. "The New Accelerator" appeared in "Amazing Stories," April 1926, pages 57 to 61 and 96. ----- Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories....

A week of rain had undermined the tracks, causing the train to derail. But the nearest place to land was twelve miles away! How was Nick Wentworth, chief pilot of the U. S. Air Patrol, going to land an Army transport hastily converted into an air ambulance in such awful conditions? And how was he going to get to the injured survivors of the train wreck?  "Flood Waters" appeared in "The...

The Square Pegs Lisabeth was not insane, not according to her, and not according to Asteroid Thirty-Six, where she was being taken by her brother and sisters, where the old Catherine the Great had died, and where they were waiting for the new one to arrive. Her! "The Square Pegs" appeared in "Thrilling Wonder Stories," October 1948, pages 101 to 108. ----- Defense Mech Halloway sta...

Title Fight There would be blood on the streets tonight when Alix 1340, a robot, beat the current middleweight champion of the world, Nick Nolan, a human. Alix was fighting for the rights of the robots, the right to be recognized as having that 'spark of life' that gave the humans dominion over the sea and the land. He had to win... "Title Fight" appeared in "Fantastic Universe...

What would happen when a police robot was posted to a law enforcement outpost on Mars? How could a robot—a machine, after all—be involved in something as complex as the application of law? At one time—this was before the Robot Restriction Laws—they'd been allowed to make their own decisions.... "Arm of the Law" appeared in "Fantastic Universe", August, 1958, pages 23 to 36. ---...

The Ice Goes Out This is a story of Alaska, in which honest men and crooks propose, but inscrutable Nature disposes. "The Ice Goes Out" appeared in "Adventure," July 1st 1928, pages 58 - 61. ----- Raw Men Dick Walton's father had sent him out on Hanson's Arctic trading schooner to make something of him, to make up for his own failings as a father, in the hopes that he could...

There was a comic book in the alien space ship—of a sort. But it wasn't meant for children. "Classified Object" appeared in "Fantastic Universe", July 1954, pages 115 to 129. ----- John Victor Peterson was an American author who began publishing work of genre interest with "Martyrs Don't Mind Dying" in "Astounding", January 1938, and writing science fiction...

A Long Way Back After the war that ravaged the world, he held the future of civilization in his numbed hands. The satellite was ready to beam power back to Earth, and knowing that he wouldn't live to see the results, from 22,500 miles out, he made the gamble. "A Long Way Back" appeared in "Amazing Science Fiction Stories" February 1960. ----- The Next Logical Step Normally, the...

Travelogue Adventure called late in the diffident, gentle, dreaming life of Wesley Filburn, mediocre writer of science fiction stories. But when it did call—in the shape of a strange child drowning in Sampson's Creek—it was just in time to save him from the machinations of the two women closest to him... "Travelogue" appeared in "Fantastic Universe," December 1956, pages 87 - 1...

Trust Lancelot Biggs to get the Saturn into a mess just when speed and good navigation meant the prize contract of the year...! "Lancelot Biggs, Master Navigator" appeared in "Fantastic Adventures," May 1940, pages 30 - 37. ----- Nelson Slade Bond (November 23, 1908 – November 4, 2006) was an American writer. His works included books, magazine articles, and scripts used in radio, f...

Referent Roby Morrison was special, a genius, but he didn't want to be. He wanted to escape the island where every waking moment was supervised. He wanted to be a normal boy doing normal things. He wanted to keep his dreams of the Sandman to himself. He wanted to bounce a rubber ball. He wanted to see his mother. He wanted to fly away from this place... "Referent" appeared in "Thri...

There was more at stake than just a football game for Lancelot Biggs; two hundred and fifty credits, his claims on three future planetary discoveries, the rights to his new uranium condenser, his rocket emblem...and his heart! "The Madness of Lancelot Biggs" appeared in "Fantastic Adventures," April 1940 pages 70 - 77. ----- Nelson Slade Bond (November 23, 1908 – November 4, 2006)...

The Man from Time Being the first Time Traveller, he couldn't have known about Time Fear; every date he observed terrified him. Lost in the vastness of Time, he didn't know how his colleagues would find him again. "The Man from Time" appeared in "Fantastic Universe," March 1954, pages 74 - 85. ----- Mr Caxton Draws a Martian Bird No animal the size of the 'huge bird&#39...

"Cooking," explained Biggs, "is simply a matter of chemistry." But little did he know he'd have to prove that statement in order to save the crew of the Saturn from pirates! "Lancelot Biggs cooks a pirate" appeared in "Fantastic Adventures," February 1940, pages 40 - 46. ----- Nelson Slade Bond (November 23, 1908 – November 4, 2006) was an American writer. His w...

Lancelot Biggs was perhaps the worst second mate Captain Hanson had ever shipped, and he was convinced of it when he ruined their cargo. But how dumb a man is, may sometimes be a matter of opinion. "F O B Venus" appeared in "Fantastic Adventures," November, 1939, pages 34 to 40. ----- Nelson Slade Bond (November 23, 1908 – November 4, 2006) was an American writer. His works include...

A man who refused to wear a Skin was labeled a "devil." Rastignac was such a man. He was a meat eater, adhered to the Philosophy of Violence, and was the leader of the Legal Underground of the Kingdom of L'Bawpfey. He could also see the end of Homo Sapiens on their adopted planet. All he wanted to do was to get to the Six Flying Stars—the space-ships that had brought humanity to this p...

People had been telling Henry Westing, who just wanted to live his own life in his own manner, that he should belong to something, that he should join. When The Organization started to pester him to join them, he knew they would evetually wear him down, unless... "The Man Who Wouldn't Sign Up" appeared in "Infinity Science Fiction," October 1958, pages 68 - 77. ----- Thomas Edw...