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Title: Before the Golden Age: A Science Fiction Anthology of the 1930s (Book 3) by Isaac Asimov, Stanley G. Weinbaum, Murray Leinster, Edmond Hamilton, Henry Hasse, Jr. John W. Campbell, Leslie Frances Stone ISBN: 0-449-22913-0 Publisher: Fawcett Books Pub. Date: August, 1975 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $1.95

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Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (4 reviews)

Rating: 4
Summary: Great Stuff From the 1930's
Comment: (This review refers to Volume One only.) Asimov has collected eight stories in this anthology that were influential in his own writing. Asimov read most of these stories when he was about 12 years old, being fortunate enough to devour most of them from pulp magazines that were sold in his father's candy store. As might be expected with any anthology, some stories are better than others, and some have held up better through the years than others. Yet these pieces are not included for comparison to current stories, but to show what Asimov read as a young person and how the works influenced him. Asimov's mini-autobiography alone is worth the price of the book. After each story, Asimov tells how an idea or a concept from a story led to the formation of one of his own works. A very interesting idea. "The Jameson Satellite" is a forerunner of "I, Robot," and "Submicroscopic" is a small step from "Fantastic Voyage." As mentioned by another reviewer, the reader will have to deal with several prejudices from the time these stories were written (especially racial), but overall this book is a great insight into what makes Asimov Asimov.

Rating: 5
Summary: Good old stories
Comment: This book contains the good old stories from the 1930's. There is nothing great here, but it is till worth reading. You can see the evolution of the Science Fiction field by reading the stories in this book.

Rating: 4
Summary: Great review of 30s science fiction and pulp scientifiction
Comment: This collection of early, pulp-style scifi works is a great joy. Asimov's introduction to the stories is exceedingly interesting and helpful. The stories sometimes show flaws or problems in their writing and in their attitudes (while several stories are forward-looking, most show the racism and misogyny common to that time), most of the stories are entertaining and all of them are interesting from a historical perspective. Check it out if you can get your hands on it, it's a great find. I really got a kick out of several pieces, which run the gamut from more reasonable 'conquered man, driven underground, strikes back at his evil alien oppressors' to the completely ludicrous story about the planets of our solar system hatching into giant space chickens. (That last story is meant to be taken seriously, by the way.) A veritable laundry-list of great, long out-of-print authors and some wonderful writing from the early days of popular science fiction.

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