Golden Age Fiction

Paul Lawley-Jones

Stories from the "Golden Age of Pulp Fiction." The "Golden Age of Pulp Fiction" is generally considered to be from the last decade of the 1800s to the mid-1900s, when magazines published on cheap pulp paper filled (mostly American) news-stands. Notable examples of these pulp fiction magazines include Argosy, Blue Book Magazine, Adventure, Detective Story Magazine, Weird Tales, and Astounding Stories. Please note that performance of a story is not a condoning, endorsement, or promotion of attitudes, prejudices, biases or opinions therein—particularly of gender and gender roles, ethnicity, disability, and sexuality—that an inhabitant of modern times would find distasteful. If you have a story that you'd like me to perform, let me know at goldenagefiction@proton.me.

  1. The Best Policy, by Randall Garrett

    5d ago

    The Best Policy, by Randall Garrett

    How do you lie by telling the truth? Well, when your life, and the life of the human race is on the line, you find a way. This short story appeared in the July 1957 issue of Astounding Science Fiction, under the pen name of David Gordon. ----- Gordon Randall Phillip David Garrett (December 16, 1927 – December 31, 1987) was an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was a contributor to Astounding and other science fiction magazines of the 1950s and 1960s. He is best known for the Lord Darcy books set in an alternate world where a joint Anglo-French empire still led by a Plantagenet dynasty has survived into the twentieth century and where magic works and has been scientifically codified. The Darcy books are rich in jokes, puns, and references, particularly of detective and spy fiction; Lord Darcy is modeled on Sherlock Holmes. Garrett wrote under a variety of pseudonyms including: David Gordon, John Gordon, Darrel T. Langart (an anagram of his name), Alexander Blade, Richard Greer, Ivar Jorgensen, Clyde Mitchell, Leonard G. Spencer, S. M. Tenneshaw, Gerald Vance. He was also a founding member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, as "Randall of Hightower" (a pun on "garret.") The short novel Brain Twister, written by Garrett with author Laurence Janifer (using the joint pseudonym Mark Phillips), was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1960. ----- If there's a particular story you'd like me to narrate, please let me know at goldenagefiction@proton.me. ----- Music: "Mesmerizing Galaxy" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

    49 min
  2. Corsairs of the Cosmos, by Edmond Hamilton

    Jun 21

    Corsairs of the Cosmos, by Edmond Hamilton

    How do you fight those who have the power to steal suns? Captain Dur Nal and his crew of the Interstellar Patrol are about to find out. This novelette appeared in the April 1934 issue of "Weird Tales". ----- Edmond Moore Hamilton (October 21, 1904 – February 1, 1977) was an American writer of science fiction during the mid-twentieth century. He is known for writing most of the Captain Future stories. Hamilton was a central member of the remarkable group of Weird Tales writers assembled by editor Farnsworth Wright, that included H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard. Through the late 1920s and early 1930s Hamilton wrote for all of the science fiction pulp magazines then publishing, and contributed horror and thriller stories to various other magazines as well. He was popular as an author of space opera, a subgenre he created along with E. E. Smith. His story "The Island of Unreason" (Wonder Stories, May 1933) won the first Jules Verne Prize as the best science fiction story of the year (this was the first science fiction prize awarded by the votes of fans, a precursor of the later Hugo Awards). In 1942 Hamilton began writing for DC Comics, specializing in stories for their characters Superman and Batman. He and artist Sheldon Moldoff created Batwoman in Detective Comics #233 (July 1956). ----- If there's a particular story you'd like me to narrate, please let me know at goldenagefiction@proton.me. ----- Music: "Mesmerizing Galaxy" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

    1h 6m
  3. The Price of Eggs, by Randall Garrett

    Jun 14

    The Price of Eggs, by Randall Garrett

    Royal babies were pretty important on Dynak, even if they did hatch out of eggs. So when Boccaccio di Vino mated with the Shannil, everyone held their breath. Especially di Vino. He might not have much more of it. "The Price of Eggs", by Randall Garrett appeared in the December 1959 issue of "Fantastic Science Fiction Stories" on pages 96 to 119. ----- Gordon Randall Phillip David Garrett (December 16, 1927 – December 31, 1987) was an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was a contributor to Astounding and other science fiction magazines of the 1950s and 1960s. He is best known for the Lord Darcy books set in an alternate world where a joint Anglo-French empire still led by a Plantagenet dynasty has survived into the twentieth century and where magic works and has been scientifically codified. The Darcy books are rich in jokes, puns, and references, particularly of detective and spy fiction; Lord Darcy is modeled on Sherlock Holmes. Garrett wrote under a variety of pseudonyms including: David Gordon, John Gordon, Darrel T. Langart (an anagram of his name), Alexander Blade, Richard Greer, Ivar Jorgensen, Clyde Mitchell, Leonard G. Spencer, S. M. Tenneshaw, Gerald Vance. He was also a founding member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, as "Randall of Hightower" (a pun on "garret.") The short novel Brain Twister, written by Garrett with author Laurence Janifer (using the joint pseudonym Mark Phillips), was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1960. ----- If there's a particular story you'd like me to narrate, please let me know at goldenagefiction@proton.me. ----- Music: "Mesmerizing Galaxy" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

    1h 2m
  4. Helen O’Loy, by Lester del Rey

    Jun 7

    Helen O’Loy, by Lester del Rey

    Can a robot be a person? Can a robot have feelings? Can a robot fall in love? Can one fall in love with a robot? With the latest technology and the right programming, the answer appears to be ... yes. "Helen O'Loy" appeared in the December 1938 issue of "Astounding Science Fiction" on pages 118 to 125. It was one of the stories selected in 1970 by the Science Fiction Writers of America as one of the best science fiction short stories published before the creation of the Nebula Awards. Consequently, it was published in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume One, 1929–1964. It was also a nominee for the 1939 Retro Hugo award for best short story. ----- Lester del Rey (real name Leonard Knapp) (June 2, 1915, Saratoga Township, Minnesota, – May 10, 1993, New York City, New York), was an American science fiction author and editor. He was the author of many books in the juvenile Winston Science Fiction series, and the fantasy editor at Del Rey Books, the fantasy and science fiction imprint of Ballantine Books (subsequently Random House.) Del Rey first started publishing stories in pulp magazines in the late 1930s, at the dawn of the so-called Golden Age of Science Fiction. He was a member of a literary banqueting club, the Trap Door Spiders, which served as the basis of Isaac Asimov's fictional group of mystery solvers, the Black Widowers. Del Rey was the model for "Emmanuel Rubin." He was awarded the 1972 E. E. Smith Memorial Award for Imaginative Fiction (the "Skylark") by the New England Science Fiction Association. He won a special 1985 Balrog Award for his contributions to fantasy, voted for by fans and organized by Locus magazine. The Science Fiction Writers of America named him its 11th SFWA Grand Master in 1990, presented 1991. ----- If there's a particular story you'd like me to narrate, please let me know at goldenagefiction@proton.me. ----- Music: "Mesmerizing Galaxy" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

    31 min
  5. Runaround, by Isaac Asimov

    May 31

    Runaround, by Isaac Asimov

    A robot must obey orders, but must also, on the other hand, have sense enough to disobey if the order would destroy it. But that can lead to a most embarrassing sort of situation, when a robot gives its owners a handsome runaround!  Today's story is "Runaround", by Isaac Asimov. It appeared in the March 1942 issue of "Astounding Science Fiction" on pages 94 to 103. "Runaround" is the first story to feature explicitly the Three Laws of Robotics. It appears in the collections "I, Robot" (1950), "The Complete Robot" (1982), and "Robot Visions" (1990). In 2018, "Runaround" was nominated for a retrospective 1943 Hugo Award for best short story. The story also features engineers Gregory Powell and Mike Donovan, recurring characters in several of Asimov's robot stories. ----- Isaac Asimov (c. January 2, 1920 – April 6, 1992) was an American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke. A prolific writer, he wrote or edited more than 500 books. He also wrote an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards. Best known for his hard science fiction, Asimov also wrote mysteries and fantasy, as well as popular science and other non-fiction. Asimov's most famous work is the "Foundation" series, the first three books of which won the one-time Hugo Award for "Best All-Time Series" in 1966. His other major series are the "Galactic Empire" series and the "Robot" series. He also wrote more than 380 short stories, including the social science fiction novelette "Nightfall", which in 1964 was voted the best short science fiction story of all time by the Science Fiction Writers of America. ----- If there's a story you'd like me to narrate, or a genre you'd like me to include more of, please let me know at goldenagefiction@proton.me. ----- Music: "Mesmerizing Galaxy" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

    47 min
  6. The Story of the Late Mr Elvesham, by H G Wells

    May 24

    The Story of the Late Mr Elvesham, by H G Wells

    When an offer seems too good to be true, it usually is. Today's story is "The Story of the Late Mr Elvesham", by H G Wells. It appeared in the June 1927 issue of "Amazing Stories" on pages 253 to 259. ----- Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, history, popular science, satire, biography, and autobiography. Wells' science fiction novels are so well regarded that he has been called the "father of science fiction". As a futurist, he wrote a number of utopian works and foresaw the advent of aircraft, tanks, space travel, nuclear weapons, satellite television and something resembling the World Wide Web. His science fiction imagined time travel, alien invasion, invisibility and biological engineering before these subjects were common in the genre. Brian Aldiss referred to Wells as the "Shakespeare of science fiction." Wells rendered his works convincing by instilling commonplace detail alongside a single extraordinary assumption per work – dubbed "Wells's law." His most notable science fiction works include The Time Machine (1895), which was his first novel, The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), The War of the Worlds (1898), the military science fiction The War in the Air (1907), and the dystopian When the Sleeper Wakes (1910). Wells was a diabetic and co-founded the charity The Diabetic Association (Diabetes UK) in 1934. ----- If there's a story you'd like me to narrate, or a genre you'd like me to include more of, please let me know at goldenagefiction@proton.me. ----- Music: "Mesmerizing Galaxy" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

    49 min
  7. Compassion Circuit, by John Wyndham

    May 17

    Compassion Circuit, by John Wyndham

    It’s comforting to hear a robot say: “I’ll take care of you!” But it can be terrifying, too.  Today's story is "Compassion Circuit", by John Wyndham. It appeared in the December 1954 issue of "Fantastic Universe" on pages 90 to 98. Regular readers of classic science fiction may notice the resemblance of the Compassion Circuit to Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics which were first introduced in his 1942 story "Runaround". ----- John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris (10 July 1903 – 11 March 1969) was an English science fiction writer best known for his works published under the pen name John Wyndham, although he also used other combinations of his names, such as John Beynon and Lucas Parkes. Some of his works were set in post-apocalyptic landscapes. His best known works include The Day of the Triffids (1951), The Midwich Cuckoos (1957). Wyndham participated in the Normandy landings, landing a few days after D-Day. He was attached to XXX Corps, which took part in some of the heaviest fighting, including surrounding the trapped German army in the Falaise Pocket. On 24 May 2015, an alley in the London Borough of Hampstead that appears in The Day of the Triffids was formally named Triffid Alley as a memorial to him. ----- If there's a story you'd like me to narrate, or a genre you'd like me to include more of, please let me know at goldenagefiction@proton.me. ----- Music: "Mesmerizing Galaxy" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

    27 min

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
6 Ratings

About

Stories from the "Golden Age of Pulp Fiction." The "Golden Age of Pulp Fiction" is generally considered to be from the last decade of the 1800s to the mid-1900s, when magazines published on cheap pulp paper filled (mostly American) news-stands. Notable examples of these pulp fiction magazines include Argosy, Blue Book Magazine, Adventure, Detective Story Magazine, Weird Tales, and Astounding Stories. Please note that performance of a story is not a condoning, endorsement, or promotion of attitudes, prejudices, biases or opinions therein—particularly of gender and gender roles, ethnicity, disability, and sexuality—that an inhabitant of modern times would find distasteful. If you have a story that you'd like me to perform, let me know at goldenagefiction@proton.me.

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