Golden Age Fiction

An expedition from Earth had gone to investigate the Crab Nebula. And—an expedition from Somewhere was already there! Now what is a spaceship skipper to do under such circumstances? Lead the possibly-deadly aliens home? Try to detsroy them? What can he do?

"First Contact" appeared in the May 1945 issue of "Astounding Science Fiction" on pages 7 to 33.

In the original printing, there was no section two.

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Murray Leinster (June 16, 1896 – June 8, 1975) was a pen name of William Fitzgerald Jenkins, an American writer of genre fiction, particularly of science fiction. He wrote and published more than 1,500 short stories and articles, 14 movie scripts, and hundreds of radio scripts and television plays.

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Music: "Mesmerizing Galaxy" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

The human race has deteriorated, and will die when the machines that have kept them alive in Subterannea for tens of millennia after the supposed death of the Sun eventually stop working. But there are those who believe that the Sun did not die, and the survival of humanity depends on it once again venturing Outside.

"If the Sun Died" appeared in "Astounding Stories," August 1931, pages 198 - 213.

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Roman Frederick Starzl (1899–1976) was an American writer. He, and earlier, his father (John V. Starzl), owned the Le Mars Globe-Post newspaper of Le Mars, Iowa. His writing is largely forgotten now, but he was called a "master" by the pioneer of space opera E. E. "Doc" Smith. Starzl's Interplanetary Flying Patrol, in "The Hornets of Space," may have influenced Smith's Galactic Patrol.

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Music: "Mesmerizing Galaxy" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Agent Cameron had the unenviable task of protecting the Galactic Capitol building from the Damakoi, fanatical beings 70 percent of whom hated the Galactic Federation and all it stood for. And now he had one of the Damakoi in front of him, warning him of a plot by another Damakoi to deploy a Theta Bomb inside the Capitol building. But, knowing the Damakoi well, he wasn't taking any chances.

"Deadly Decoy" appeared in "Amazing Stories," February 1957, pages 48 - 65.

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Robert Silverberg (born January 15, 1935) is an American author and editor, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a Grand Master of SF. He has attended every Hugo Award ceremony since the inaugural event in 1953.

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. Lord Darcy is modeled on Sherlock Holmes. 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.

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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 [email protected].

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Music: "Mesmerizing Galaxy" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

You're a detective and you have an assignment to find a client's wife. This good-time gal has found herself a nicer body and is masquerading as some other fellow's wife. So how can you find her? Simple. You get into one male body after another and become a different girl's husband each night. And you're determined to find her even if you have to be every woman's husband to do it!

"An Eye for the Ladies" appeared in the October 1956 issue of Fantastic magazine on pages 60 to 73. It appeared under the pen name of Darius John Granger.

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Stephen Marlowe (born Milton Lesser, August 7, 1928, Brooklyn, New York - February 22, 2008 (aged 79), Williamsburg, Virginia) was an American author of science fiction, mystery novels, and fictional autobiographies of Goya, Christopher Columbus, Miguel de Cervantes, and Edgar Allan Poe.

He is best known for his detective character Chester Drum, whom he created for the 1955 novel The Second Longest Night. Lesser wrote under various pseudonyms, including Adam Chase, Andrew Frazer, C H Thames, Jason Ridgway, Stephen Wilder, and Ellery Queen.

He was awarded the French Prix Gutenberg du Livre in 1988 for The Memoirs of Christopher Columbus, and in 1997 he was awarded the Life Achievement Award by the Private Eye Writers of America. He also served on the board of directors of the Mystery Writers of America.

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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 [email protected].

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Music: "Mesmerizing Galaxy" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

The Rocket was ready to take the first intrepid pioneers to the Moon. But the world's excitement turned to hate when William Stanley, president of the company that had built the Rocket, canceled the flight. The time wasn't right, he said. But the public wanted their Rocket to fly, and they were prepared to kill to make it happen.

"Rocket Summer" appeared in "Planet Stories," Spring 1947, pages 44 - 51.

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Ray Douglas Bradbury (August 22, 1920 – June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of genres, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and realistic fiction.

Bradbury is widely known by the general public for his novel Fahrenheit 451 (1953) and his short-story collections The Martian Chronicles (1950) and The Illustrated Man (1951). Most of his best known work is speculative fiction, but he also wrote and consulted on screenplays and television scripts, including Moby Dick and It Came from Outer Space. Many of his works were adapted into television and film productions as well as comic books.

The New York Times called Bradbury "the writer most responsible for bringing modern science fiction into the literary mainstream."

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Music: "Mesmerizing Galaxy" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Pst! This is top secret. Don't let it get around, but we've got the Russians right where we want them. They haven't got a secret left to their name. We know every detail. You see, the Russians were pretty sure their inner circle was leakproof, that no one could penetrate their vaults. But they reckoned without--

"The Man who Knew Everything" appeared in the October 1956 issue of "Fantastic" on pages 46 to 59.

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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.

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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 [email protected].

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Music: "Mesmerizing Galaxy" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Albrekt Verbrug was confident in his ability to hijack the Mars-Titan freighter 'By Jove,' and deliver its cargo of lithium and other materials to his comrades in the Flanjo military. But the crew of the 'By Jove' were experienced spacemen and Albrekt was not.

"Blow the Man Down" appeared in "Worlds of If Science Fiction," March 1955, pages 92 to 107.

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Charles Louis Fontenay (March 17, 1917 – January 27, 2007) was an American journalist and science fiction writer. He wrote science fiction novels and short stories.

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Music: "Mesmerizing Galaxy" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Nobody knew that Gruin had killed his sweetheart, but her little red heels tapped a march of death wherever he went, driving him to a desperate resolve.

"Clicking Red Heels" appeared in the June 1937 issue of Weird Tales on pages 668 to 677.

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Paul Frederick Ernst (November 7, 1899, Akron, Ohio – September 21, 1985, Pinellas County, Florida) was an American pulp fiction writer. He is best known as the writer of the original 24 "Avenger" novels, published by Street & Smith under the house name Kenneth Robeson.

His stories appeared in a number of early science fiction and fantasy magazines, including Astounding Stories, Strange Tales and Amazing, and he was the author of the Doctor Satan series (8 stories in all) which ran in Weird Tales from 1935 to 1936. His most famous work was the original 24 "The Avenger" stories in the eponymous pulp magazine between 1939 and 1942.

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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 [email protected].

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Music: "Mesmerizing Galaxy" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Bertrand Baxter was a man's man living in a household of women, most of whom baffled him. But, when he discovered a unique connection to his youngest daughter, who was still a baby, he devised a plan to understand women better.

"Go To Sleep, My Darling" appeared in "Infinity Science Fiction," November 1958, page 99 - 109.

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Winston Kinney Marks (1915-1979) was an American author of Science Fiction short stories who also wrote as Win Marks and used the pseudonyms Win Kinney and Ken Winney, each for just one story. He began publishing with "Mad Hatter" for Unknown in May 1940, but then, after "Manic Perverse" (October 1941 Astounding), was not heard of again until 1953 when he published The Water Eater (June 1953 Galaxy). He published nearly 60 further stories to 1959, with two final SF Magazine appearances in the late 1960s. His style was mildly hard-bitten and amusing. A posthumous collection is The Test Colony and Other Stories (2012).

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Music: "Mesmerizing Galaxy" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Step by grueling step the four of them slogged their way toward a tenuous safety. It was a magnificent display of their will for survival. The only question was, whose survival?

"The Survivors" appeared in "Amazing Stories," August 1961.

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T. D. Hamm (real name Thelma Hamm Evans, 1905 – 1995) was a science fiction writer with stories published in If, Tomorrow's Universe, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and several others.

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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 [email protected].

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Music: "Mesmerizing Galaxy" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.