Before Golden Age 3

Excellent, classic anthology. Irreplaceable, I already own two paper copies, one in HB, one in PB. Needs to be on Kindle.

To me the key piece is the 1930's novella "He Who Shrank" by Henry Hasse. To my knowledge this Fawcett paperback is the only place to obtain it. A scientist's apprentice absorbs a serum and grows smaller, ever smaller - the story really begins where 1956's "The Incredible Shrinking Man" ends as the apprentice falls into the fabric of the world. It's adventure, introspective and ultimately self-reflective in a way that's very rare for its time. It knocked off Asimov's socks when he read it, and mine too, 50 years later. Isaac Asimov chose and edited this stellar collection. I enjoy his often-autobiographical general introduction and his separate short intros to each of the stories. Many of the pieces here find some way of taking the reader's mind and spinning it - a pretty good accomplishment for pre-war pulp. These stories were lightning bolts to Asimov. Robert Silverberg, writing in Science Fiction 101 talks of the overwhelming impact of grand, mind expanding science fiction, of "a distinct excitement, a certain metabolic quickness at the mere thought of handling them, let alone reading them... you lurch and stagger, awed and shaken into a bewildering new world of images and ideas, which is exactly the place you've been hoping to find all your life." The stories in this anthology and its two sisters provided that electricity to Asimov. They still stand tall and will give you a kick too.

Contents of Book 1: "The Man Who Evolved" by Edmond Hamilton (Good) "The Jameson Satellite" by Neil R. Jones (Good) "Submicroscopic" by Capt S. P. Meek (Excellent) "Awlo of Ulm" by Capt S. P. Meek (Sequel to above)(Excellent) "Tetrahedra of Space" by P. Schuyler Miller (strange but Good) "The World of the Red Sun" by Clifford D. Simak (Good) "Tumithak of the Corridors" by Charles R. Tanner (Very Good) "The Moon Era" by Jack Williamson (Excellent) All stories were copyrighted 1931. In my opinion the stories vary from good to Excellent. If you like Sci-Fi / Fantasy of the early 20th century you will probably enjoy these stories or most of them anyway. The book also contains an interesting autobiography of the Editor Isaac Asimov discussing his childhood and his introduction to Sci-Fi through these and other stories. Thoroughly enjoyable. Contents of Book 2: (1933 and 1934) "The Man Who Awoke" Laurence Manning (Good) "Tumithak in Shawm" Charles R. Tanner (Excellent) "Colossus" Donald Wandrei (Good) "Born of the Sun" Jack Williamson (Good) "Sidewise in Time" Murray Leinster (Excellent) "Old Faithful" Raymond Z. Gallum (Good) Contents of Book 3: (1935-1938) "The Parasite Planet" Stanley Weinbaum (Excellent) "Proxima Centauri" Murray Leinster (okay) "The Accursed Galaxy" Edmond Hamilton (okay) "He Who Shrank" Henry Hasse (okay) "The Human Pets of Mars" Leslie Frances stone (awful) "The Brain Stealers of Mars" John W. Campbell, Jr. (Excellent) "Devolution" Edmond Hamilton (okay) "Big Game" Isaac Asimov (okay) "Other Eyes Watching" John W. Campbell, Jr. (Non-fiction) "Minus Planet" John D. Clark (okay) "Past, Present and Future" Nat Schachner (Good) "The Men and the Mirror" Ross Rocklynne (Good)

(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.

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.