The Evolution of Science Fiction discussion

Nominations for the May 2020 read are for books published during the Pulp Era of SF, 1920-1939.

SF novels or short story collection/anthologies that have not previously been read by the group are eligible. Please check the bookshelf & the nomination rules for further clarification before nominating a book.

Previously nominated books are on this bookshelf. More qualifying authors & books can be found here.

Please add your nominated book title as a clickable link directly to the goodreads' book page, with author and year, so it looks like this:
Children of Time
Adrian Tchaikovsky
2015
(If you can't create book links, please include the URL to the book.)

Tell us why you chose the book that you're nominating. Remember that books require seconding now. Each member is allowed to make one nomination & second one other book other than their own.

We'll close this nomination thread on the 15th of February, in order to have plenty of time for poll(s) and then for acquisitions of the winner(s).

So, far we have the following nominations & seconds:

The Artificial Man and Other Stories by Clare Winger Harris - Nom by Ed - Second by Forthencho Pacino

Frozen Hell by John W. Campbell Jr. - Nom by Jim (the other one) - Second by Gregg

The Skylark of Space by E.E. "Doc" Smith (1928) - Nom by Jim (Me!) - Second by Michael.

Cat Country : A Satirical Novel of China in the 1930s by Lao She - Nom by Jo - Second by Ed

I nominate The Artificial Man and Other Stories by Clare Winger Harris. Unfortunately available only in Kindle and used paperbacks. If someone knows another source for stories by Harris, I'll switch my nomination.

I was tempted to cheat and nominate The Heads of Cerberus by Francis Stevens. But that is 1919 and doesn't quite make it into this timeframe. :(

Ed wrote: "I nominate The Artificial Man and Other Stories by Clare Winger Harris. Unfortunately available only in Kindle and used paperbacks. If someone knows another source ..."

I read an earlier version of her short stories called "Away from the Here and Now: Stories in Pseudo-Science", that was the same except it didn't include her last story "The Vibrometer". I thought it was interesting to read stories from the 1920's by the first woman to publish stories under her own name in the science fiction magazines of that time period. The stories are dated but still interesting and enjoyable for someone interested in the historical evolution of science fiction.

Jim wrote: "...I read an earlier version of her short stories called "Away from the Here and Now: Stories in Pseudo-Science"..."

That is actually the one I preferred to nominate, but it is even harder to find. Good to know the set of stories is similar.

I really had trouble finding anything from the 20s or 30s that looked good to me.

I would like to nominate Frozen Hell by John W. Campbell. This is an expanded version of his novella [Who Goes There?] apparently based on a recently discovered original manuscript before it was edited and shortened for publication. Who Goes There? was one of my favorite stories by Campbell after I learned it was the basis for the many movie versions of "The Thing". This version is listed as 169 pages so I guess that qualifies as a book. It appears to be available on Amazon in many different formats. I will be very interested to see what was added to the original that I read many years ago which I thought was a classic example of paranoia brought on by a shape shifting alien.

The Skylark of Space by E.E. "Doc" Smith (1928) is The first of the great "space opera" science fiction novels, The Skylark of Space remains a thrilling tale more than 80 years after its creation. according to the blurb.

As I recall, I liked his Lensman series better, but it's been a really long time since I read this & I'd like to do so again with more of an eye toward how it was influential.

Jim wrote: "I would like to nominate Frozen Hell by John W. Campbell. This is an expanded version of his novella [Who Goes There?] apparently based on a recently discovered original ..."

That's really interesting. I liked the short story a lot as well as a couple of the movies. If we do read the novel form, I'd want to at least skim the short story again.

I will second Jim's pick.

Frozen Hill, I mean.

OK, we have 3 nominations & 1 second so far. You'll find them listed in message #2 of this topic.

Jim wrote: "The Skylark of Space by E.E. "Doc" Smith (1928) is The first of the great "space opera" science fiction novels, The Skylark of Space remains a thrilling tale more tha..."
I'll second this! Everyone remembers E.E. "Doc" Smith and his Lensman series, but this was the first of his books I ever read. I think it would be fun to reread after all these years and discuss!

Would you consider Cat Country by Lao She from 1933 as scifi? If so i'd like to nominate it.

Jo wrote: "Would you consider Cat Country by Lao She from 1933 as scifi? "

I don't see why not. It's not "hard SciFi", but that is fine.

It's been added, Jo. I see that the top shelf it's on is SF, too.

Jo wrote: "Would you consider Cat Country by Lao She from 1933 as scifi? If so i'd like to nominate it."

This could be an interesting read as it would have multiple layers involved. It could be read as a straight forward SF story using an alien race to provide a different POV. Or if the reader has some knowledge of China in the 1930's it can be read as a allegorical look at what the author perceived to be problems in the Chinese government and culture at the time.

Jim wrote: "This could be an interesting read ..."

Are you "seconding" it? Never mind, I will second it myself.

3 days left for nominations and seconds!

OK. All up to date.

Ed wrote: "Jim wrote: "This could be an interesting read ..."

Are you "seconding" it? Never mind, I will second it myself.

3 days left for nominations and seconds!"

Whoops. I got so involved with my answer that I forgot about seconding it!!

A little late, but the poll is up. You can find it here:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

I sent out invitations, but I saw an error that said I'd hit my limit of 201, so you might not get one. Daffy damn system.
:(

The poll ended yesterday & we'll be reading The Skylark of Space by E.E. "Doc" Smith in May.