Pulp Anthologies

[ensignoftheunit]

Hey guys, can you recommend any good anthologies from the golden age of science fiction? I've always been a fan of the science fiction pulp magazines published in the 1930's, 40's and 50's.

[nealasher]

I suggest sticking 'Golden Age' and 'Asimov' in the search bar of Amazon - that'll turn up numerous collections from that period.

http://theskinner.blogspot.com/

[Lowlander]

I do recommend Isaac Asimov's great pulp anthology "Before the Golden Age". It was published in a massive hard cover (912 pages) but the later paperback editions were split in 3 (US) or 4 (UK) volumes. A really great pulp collection with many stories that were never before published in book format.

Another good one if Damon Knight's Science Fiction of the 30's. Published in hardcover and trade paperback in the 70's with original pulp drawings.

If you want a complete overview you could try and check out a big Asimov project : in the 80's he edited this series for DAW books : 25 volumes from 1939 to 1963. Each volume collected the best sf from one year.

Ballantine published a series of books called "The Best Of" in the 1970's. Many of these titles (Best of Edmond Hamilton, Best of Leigh Brackett, Best of Raymund Z. Gallun, Best of C.L. Moore) have great pulp fiction from the 30's and 40's.

Other recommended volumes are : the Early Williamson (short stuff from Jack Williamson from the 20's and 30's) and of course the Best of Stanley Weinbaum. This last collection is probably the best single author collection with stories from the 30's you'll ever find.

Brian Aldiss did some good pulp anthologies. Evil earths (1975 ?) contains one of my favorite pulp novels from Henry Kuttner : The Time Trap.
And another big collection from the 70's : Galactic Empires with some good short novels from Planet Stories.

Two older pulp collections : Swords against Tomorrow by Robert Hoskins and Swordsmen in the Sky by Donald Wollheim.

If you like old sword & sorcery stuff from Weird Tales and Unknown worlds : Karl Edward Wagner edited this great pulp collection called Echoes of Valor. There were three books in this series.

For titles and tables of content you can do some research at www.isfdb.org

[Randy M.]

Hey guys, can you recommend any good anthologies from the golden age of science fiction? I've always been a fan of the science fiction pulp magazines published in the 1930's, 40's and 50's.

Adventures in Time & Space edited by Healy and McComas

If dig through old bookstores you sometimes come across old pbs of anthologies by Groff Conklin (pretty sure the spelling is right). He was a fine anthologist during the '40s and '50s.

Randy M.

[ensignoftheunit]

Picked up Before The Golden Age- splendid selection!

I'm currently trying to aquire some pieces by Damon Knight, but in the meanwhile, can anyone recommend any outstanding anthologies from the 40's and 50's?