sillypunk's review against another edition
5.0
LIKE SO GOOD: https://blogendorff.com/2019/12/23/book-review-astounding/
kami5's review against another edition
4.0
Review
Very thorough and well researched book into the lives of authors who shaped the science fiction literary world that I was lucky to have stumbled into. The book is certainly a long digest but it’s easy to read for a bit, set down and then dive right back into the lives of the golden age SF writers.
Very thorough and well researched book into the lives of authors who shaped the science fiction literary world that I was lucky to have stumbled into. The book is certainly a long digest but it’s easy to read for a bit, set down and then dive right back into the lives of the golden age SF writers.
jeremyanderberg's review against another edition
4.0
I quite enjoyed this, but it's a touch long and I think you'd really have to be into literary history/biography to get much out of it. In my sci-fi phase of reading right now, it made for great background material. The intersection of the lives of these sci-fi titans was fascinating, and also very weird. What a strange and talented mix of characters!
derekjohnston's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
4.0
An interesting and engaging group biography of key figures in the development of US SF, centred on John W.Campbell, and the shifting relationships between him, Heinlein, Hubbard and Asimov, with numerous others moving around them. This doesn't shy away from the less appealing aspects of each person, and it presents them as having shifting attitudes rather than being fixed. It helps to explain some of those shifts, and so the knock-on effects that they might have had more widely.
david_agranoff's review against another edition
5.0
My 2019 review
Being a reader of Sci-fi and horror is one thing but being a part of the community is another. I always point out to people not from the punk rock world that one of the differences between mainstream music and the punk scene is the lack of walls. I grew up knowing the bands I listened to. We were friends, if there was a stage it was short and basically for launching stage dives more than separating the fans from the bands. The genre fiction community has a little bit more separation but as a writer myself over the years I have met the majority of my living writing heroes, and a few that we have since lost like Richard Matheson, Ursula Leguin, and Harlan Ellison to name a few.
This process gives insight into the people behind the books and it is a good picture we can learn from. Good or bad you learn a lot about how these people live and you get a positive insight into the business. While I have always known the community and authors interacted since early in the 20th century I never thought we would get a detailed history of the genre going this far back. Not like this history which is not afraid to show you every wart even if it has an infected ingrown hair. Yeah, some of it was that ugly.
Growing up as a super young science fiction reader in the late 80's there were certain names and books you always saw on the shelf. While John Campbell and his magazine were a good part of the foundation of the genre. Our generation knows very little about its history and the value of having a tell-all history of the genre gives everyone a chance to feel like we were hanging out in the New York offices and bars of the conventions. Lee gives us a chance to feel like we were there.
Lee has done his research and this book is very detailed. I loved getting details of how The marriages and lives of Asimov and others were. This was fascinating but I did find myself wanting more details on the operation of the magazine or how the stories were developed. I am sure I was not alone in wondering why the book was not entirely devoted to Campbell but as the book goes on you get an idea for how interwoven their lives were. There are great tidbits about how Campbell worked with his writers. Like how he prompted stories out of Heinlein or suggested classic elements like the law of robotics or the story Nightfall to Asimov.
We got a lot more pages devoted to Ron Hubbard and the creation of Scientology which I admit I didn't know Campbell was so heavily involved. If it wasn't Hubbard and Campbell creating a cult, it was Asimov being a serial groper. I am surprised Heinlein came off as the most likable. Campbell himself had some awful positions and it is hard not to walk away from this book disliking the man. That said it is important also to understand the role he played in making Science Fiction what it is today. There is not one person who had a bigger impact on the growth and direction of the genre and Lee doesn't sugar-coat his flaws while making this point.
Details like that AE Van Vogt reading John W. Campbell's classic story "Who Goes There" while standing at a newsstand and was inspired to become a writer more than the day-to-day growth of Hubbard's cult. It was interesting to learn that one factory during World War 2 was the workplace of three golden-age writers.
I did find myself wanting to know more about other authors and possibly get a wider view of the genre at the time. For example, when Robert Bloch, HP Lovecraft, or the women that wrote for Campbell like Leigh Brackett have mentioned it is maddening to not get the attention on them.
I may sound like I am complaining ultimately I am not. I am so excited this book exists and I am thankful Alec Nevala-Lee took the time to write it and more importantly research it. This book is clearly a labor of love and puts you in the trenches of Golden Age Sci-fi for better or worse. Any serious student of the Science Fiction Genre must read this book.
Being a reader of Sci-fi and horror is one thing but being a part of the community is another. I always point out to people not from the punk rock world that one of the differences between mainstream music and the punk scene is the lack of walls. I grew up knowing the bands I listened to. We were friends, if there was a stage it was short and basically for launching stage dives more than separating the fans from the bands. The genre fiction community has a little bit more separation but as a writer myself over the years I have met the majority of my living writing heroes, and a few that we have since lost like Richard Matheson, Ursula Leguin, and Harlan Ellison to name a few.
This process gives insight into the people behind the books and it is a good picture we can learn from. Good or bad you learn a lot about how these people live and you get a positive insight into the business. While I have always known the community and authors interacted since early in the 20th century I never thought we would get a detailed history of the genre going this far back. Not like this history which is not afraid to show you every wart even if it has an infected ingrown hair. Yeah, some of it was that ugly.
Growing up as a super young science fiction reader in the late 80's there were certain names and books you always saw on the shelf. While John Campbell and his magazine were a good part of the foundation of the genre. Our generation knows very little about its history and the value of having a tell-all history of the genre gives everyone a chance to feel like we were hanging out in the New York offices and bars of the conventions. Lee gives us a chance to feel like we were there.
Lee has done his research and this book is very detailed. I loved getting details of how The marriages and lives of Asimov and others were. This was fascinating but I did find myself wanting more details on the operation of the magazine or how the stories were developed. I am sure I was not alone in wondering why the book was not entirely devoted to Campbell but as the book goes on you get an idea for how interwoven their lives were. There are great tidbits about how Campbell worked with his writers. Like how he prompted stories out of Heinlein or suggested classic elements like the law of robotics or the story Nightfall to Asimov.
We got a lot more pages devoted to Ron Hubbard and the creation of Scientology which I admit I didn't know Campbell was so heavily involved. If it wasn't Hubbard and Campbell creating a cult, it was Asimov being a serial groper. I am surprised Heinlein came off as the most likable. Campbell himself had some awful positions and it is hard not to walk away from this book disliking the man. That said it is important also to understand the role he played in making Science Fiction what it is today. There is not one person who had a bigger impact on the growth and direction of the genre and Lee doesn't sugar-coat his flaws while making this point.
Details like that AE Van Vogt reading John W. Campbell's classic story "Who Goes There" while standing at a newsstand and was inspired to become a writer more than the day-to-day growth of Hubbard's cult. It was interesting to learn that one factory during World War 2 was the workplace of three golden-age writers.
I did find myself wanting to know more about other authors and possibly get a wider view of the genre at the time. For example, when Robert Bloch, HP Lovecraft, or the women that wrote for Campbell like Leigh Brackett have mentioned it is maddening to not get the attention on them.
I may sound like I am complaining ultimately I am not. I am so excited this book exists and I am thankful Alec Nevala-Lee took the time to write it and more importantly research it. This book is clearly a labor of love and puts you in the trenches of Golden Age Sci-fi for better or worse. Any serious student of the Science Fiction Genre must read this book.
darmok's review against another edition
5.0
An illuminating and incredible book, and an important one, too. Astounding Science Fiction (the magazine) is responsible for much of what the genre is today -- for both good and ill. Nevala-Lee has broadened my understanding of science fiction's present as much as its past.
The first work of nonfiction that I've read -- and loved -- outside of school. Universal recommendation.
The first work of nonfiction that I've read -- and loved -- outside of school. Universal recommendation.
saruwine's review against another edition
5.0
This is a monumental, and monumentally important, book. I’m not a fan of the writers portrayed here—I think I’ve only ever read one Heinlein, one half an Asimov, and certainly nothing by Hubbard—yet this was fascinating and entertaining from cover to cover.
Now I only wish someone would write something similar about a genre and people I actually care about…
Now I only wish someone would write something similar about a genre and people I actually care about…
bookaneer's review
4.0
Update (2/8/20): If you watched the Hugo Award ceremony or paid attention to SFF Twitter, you might know that glorifying the name of Campbell should be taken seriously. The brave Jeannette Ng again delivered a beautiful speech and specifically mentioned Alec Nevala Lee since she was not the first one making a stand (though she did lit the fire) on Campbell. Go read this book, you'll get a comprehensive picture.
Original review (2019):
I ended up liking this book more than expected. This is a very useful reading for those who'd like to get a sense of how the science fiction world during those Golden Age and a little bit beyond. As I grow to read more short stories and zines it is great to know about Astounding and Analog and the people behind them.
Full review to come, but I just want to say that Hubbard and Campbell were absolutely vile.
Original review (2019):
I ended up liking this book more than expected. This is a very useful reading for those who'd like to get a sense of how the science fiction world during those Golden Age and a little bit beyond. As I grow to read more short stories and zines it is great to know about Astounding and Analog and the people behind them.
Full review to come, but I just want to say that Hubbard and Campbell were absolutely vile.