The Evolution of Science Fiction discussion

Last month we returned to modern day with nominations so this month it's back to the beginning. As a change we are going split the periods as follows, pre-1950 and then by decade. This month is pre-1950's so we are looking for nominations of any sci-fi novel or book of short stories from this period. As we have already covered a lot of books from this period you may want to check the bookshelf to see what we have already read before nominating. One nomination per person please.

Current Nominations
Shambleau by C.L. Moore
The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares
The Voyage of the Space Beagle by A.E. van Vogt
Professor Dowell's Head by Alexander Romanovich Belyaev
Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

I was quite interested in one of the stories mentioned in last month's discussion so i'd like to nominate Shambleau by C.L. Moore from 1933. It's only 50 pages and also contained in this book http://www.amazon.com/Best-C-L-Moore-... which covers some of her other pre-1950's work.

I nominate The Invention of Morel
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9...
It was first published in 1940, republished by NYRB Classics. Its average goodreads rating is over 4 stars. I gave it 5. Its a novella, so it can be read in a day or two.
I think its best not to say what the book is about.

I'll nominate The Voyage of the Space Beagle by A.E. van Vogt.

From Wikipedia:
Van Vogt's first SF publication was inspired by The Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin.[4] "The Black Destroyer" was published by John W. Campbell in Astounding Science Fiction, July 1939, the centennial year of Darwin's journal. It featured a fierce, carnivorous alien, the coeurl, stalking the crew of an exploration spaceship. The second Space Beagle story appeared in December, "Discord in Scarlet". Each was the cover story[5] and was accompanied by interior illustrations, created by Frank Kramer[a] and Paul Orban.[6][7] (Van Vogt and Kramer[a] thus debuted in the issue of Astounding that is sometimes singled out for ushering in the "Golden Age" of science fiction.[8]) The former story served as the inspiration for a number of science fiction movies.[b] In 1950, the two were combined with two other stories as a fix-up novel, The Voyage of the Space Beagle (Simon & Schuster), which was published in at least five European languages by 1955.[6] Positing the need for exobiologists who will appreciate the differences between the inhabitants of other planets and ourselves, it stresses the importance of the civilian rather than military in exploration of other cultures.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._E._v...

I nominate Professor Dowell's Head by Alexander Romanovich Belyaev



This particular edition I'm giving the link to is dated 1980, but the book was originally written in 1925.

This is a classic tale of horror, suspense and science fiction. by a bestselling Soviet science fiction author. It is interesting as it is, but it also gives an interesting perspective on early SciFi among Russian speaking authors.

I like all the other nominees so far. They sound sophisticated, far-reaching, and challenging. That said, I'm going to bring down the tone of the neighborhood and nominate The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. From the reviews, it is an old-fashioned adventure story, with the politically incorrect views one would expect in a novel published in 1912. Why? Because I'm a Sherlock Holmes fan and I'm curious about a sci-fi book written by his creator.

A helpful review on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/review/R1VH3UIN...

Hello,

I have a suggestion from Italy.
Le meraviglie del Duemila (1907), from Emilio Salgari.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8...

The Wonders of 2000, Emilio Salgari.

Cheers.
Goreti

CS wrote: "I like all the other nominees so far. They sound sophisticated, far-reaching, and challenging. That said, I'm going to bring down the tone of the neighborhood and nominate The Lost World so if you want to nominate something else instead....

It is quite a fun read though!

Goreti wrote: "Hello,

I have a suggestion from Italy.
Le meraviglie del Duemila (1907), from Emilio Salgari.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8......"

Hi Goreti,

I'm not sure I can put this one up for nomination as there doesn't seem to be an English translation available unless you can know of one? I can't find it on Amazon and according to wikipedia only his Tiger of Malaysia Series and Black Corsair series are translated into English. This is pretty much what I see on Amazon as well. If you can find it in translation, can you let me know where. Thanks!

Jo wrote: "Goreti wrote: "Hello,

I have a suggestion from Italy.
Le meraviglie del Duemila (1907), from Emilio Salgari.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8......"

You are correct, I'm actually surprised, I can't find any English translations available.

Let me then suggest another book.
Lord of the World, from Robert Hugh Benson

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Double cheers,
Goreti

Jo wrote: "...so if you want to nominate something else instead..."

Nope. I'll nominate it. But if you want to reject it for polling, go ahead.

Bit of a late suggestion, but how about Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Read it years ago whilst I was still at school, so it's probably due for a revisit.