FORGOTTEN BOOKS #385: THE BEST OF AMAZING STORIES

the best of amazing stories
The Best of Amazing Stories: The 1940 Anthology features a great mix of tales by Ross Ricklynne, Raymond Z. Gallun, Don Wilcox, Ralph Milne Farley, and other forgotten writers. I remember reading some AMAZING STORIES pulps from the Forties as a kid. Great fun! This anthology shows all the 12 covers from the entire year of 1940 on the back cover. Nice feature! If you’re in the mood for some retro Science Fiction of World War II vintage, this package is perfect for you for a mere $12.99 on AMAZON! GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Publisher’s Note
Introduction
“The Voyage That Lasted 600 Years” by Don Wilcox
“The Monster Out of Space” by Malcolm Jameson
“Truth is a Plague!” by David Wright O’Brien
“Paul Revere and the Time Machine” by A. W. Bernal
“The Living Mist” by Ralph Milne Farley
“The Day Time Stopped Moving” by Bradner Buckner
“The Mathematical Kid” by Ross Rocklynne
“The Strange Voyage of Dr. Penwing” by Riichard O. Lewis
“Three Wise Men of Space” by Donald Bern
“Sons of the Deluge” by Nelson S. Bond

27 thoughts on “FORGOTTEN BOOKS #385: THE BEST OF AMAZING STORIES

  1. maggie mason

    the story Paul Revere and the time machine sounds intriguing to me.

    Right now, I’m reading the new Lee Child and enjoying it.

    Reply
  2. Jeff Meyerson

    I must admit that of the older stuff I’ve been catching up with in recent years, the 1950s reboot (to quote Joe Scarborough’s favorite word) brought a lot better “good old stuff” than most of the 1940s stuff. Rocklynne is the most familiar name in this group, but I dare say none of them is a Heinlein or an Asimov.

    Reply
    1. Todd Mason

      Rocklynne at his best one of the best here (the rather promising O’Brien one of the WW2 casualties suffered by sf writers) and very impressive at his best in a long career, but Nelson Bond was at least as well known as any of them, including pulp machine Repp, and a better writer than Repp. Asimov, as he might’ve noted, hadn’t yet hit his stride by 1940, either…his first story had been in AMAZING in ’39, and he liked the Robert Bloch story in that issue better than his own.

      Reply
      1. Todd Mason

        Back in the ’70s, the prevailing Conventional Wisdom was that the ’40s were The Golden Age, and the ’50s were when Things Got Watered Down. The counter-argument about the ’50s was coming into full force then. I tend to agree that the ’50s were when the average quality of prose in the field was on par with that of other sorts of writing…as the lesser pulpsters tended to fall out, and while new mediocrities and Stanley Mullen and Everett B. Cole came in, they (mostly) didn’t prosper long.

  3. Todd Mason

    Some of the brighter stars of the Ray Palmer AMAZING and FANTASTIC ADVENTURES, particularly as they were in 1940, and certainly Rocklynne, Bond, Jameison and Farley had sustained careers elsewhere…as did “Bernal,” burst from his disguise as Ed Earl Repp:

    9 • Introduction (The Best of Amazing Stories: The 1940 Anthology: Special Retro-Hugo Edition) • essay by uncredited
    16 • The Voyage That Lasted 600 Years • (1940) • novelette by Don Wilcox
    51 • The Monster Out of Space • (1940) • novelette by Malcolm Jameson
    82 • Truth Is a Plague! • (1940) • novelette by David Wright O’Brien
    110 • Paul Revere and the Time Machine • (1940) • novelette by Arthur William Bernal [as by A. W. Bernal ]
    134 • The Living Mist • (1940) • novelette by Ralph Milne Farley
    166 • The Day Time Stopped Moving • (1940) • shortstory by Ed Earl Repp [as by Bradner Buckner ]
    184 • The Mathematical Kid • (1940) • shortstory by Ross Rocklynne
    205 • The Strange Voyage of Dr. Penwing • [Dr. Penwing] • (1940) • shortstory by Richard O. Lewis
    216 • Three Wise Men of Space • (1940) • shortstory by Albert Bernstein [as by Donald Bern ]
    224 • Sons of the Deluge • (1940) • novel by Nelson S. Bond

    Reply
      1. Todd Mason

        Are you sure you’re not thinking of the TSR anthologies, that went decade by decade? I think this is the only one published so far by the new AMAZING trademark owner, and his Experimenter Publishing (named after Gernsback’s).

  4. Jerry House

    An interesting line-up, George. The Wilcox is a semi-classic and the Bond novel is certainly worth the price alone. AMAZING under Ray Palmer has gotten a bad rap, although it’s sales were evidently very good. It’s target audience seemed to be younger, or least less sophisticated , readers — a 180 turn from the typical ASTOUNDING reader. Nonetheless, very issue seemed to have at least one entertaining story and often more than that. Palmer’s regular stable included some very talented writers among the journeyman horde.

    Reply
    1. Todd Mason

      Yes, if he’d been less cynical, his magazines would’ve been at least pretty good (much as the UNIVERSE he published wasn’t Too shabby)…but he loved a stunt like the Shaver Mystery, and of course loved being an early proponent of UFOlogy. Still, his nonsense was on balance a bit less pernicious than John W. Campbell’s nonsense. Even if it was easier to read the bulk of Campbell’s magazines…usually! (The issues edited by a very bored Campbell of the latest ’50s and latest ’60s also not so..um…thrilling nor wondrous.)

      Reply
      1. george Post author

        Todd, the Shaver Mystery had a loyal following (they would be Trump supporters today, I think) and that strategy sold a lot of issues.

    2. george Post author

      Jerry, I confess I picked up this AMAZING STORIES collection because I love the great cover artwork included on the back cover. The quality of the stories surprised me.

      Reply
  5. Richard R.

    I’ve read Wilcox, Farley, Rocklynne and Bond, but have no idea if it was these particular stories. An anthology of interest, but I’d prefer the 1950s and 1960s anthologies.

    Reply
  6. Todd Mason

    BTW, this one was edited by (very short-term) GALAXY editor Jean Marie Stine and Steve Davison, the AMAZING trademark owner. I see I was wrong…they do have another one out, collecting stories from the magazine’s first year, 1926.

    Reply
    1. Todd Mason

      Good to know! William McGivern always a good choice for reprinting…from the yard goods era of AMAZING and FA, he was the one contributor, along with Robert Bloch, already an artist, who would add a little something to the kind of routine work Palmer often looked to publish.

      Reply

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