Before Star Trek or Gene Roddenberry and before Star Wars and George Lucas, the science fiction writers of the 1950s and 1960s were writing some of the hippest genre literature of the era. Here are three imaginative novellas from some of these pioneers of pulp science fiction.
Star Ways by Poul Anderson is an action-packed saga of the Nomads, space gypsies voyaging endlessly through the cosmos, and of Joachin of the starship Peregrine, who must act as both bait and trap for the deadliest foe the Nomads had ever known.
In George Henry Smith’s Druids’ World, a fantasy of a crumbling civilization with ties to King Arthur’s era, a strong leader, Adam Max McBride, faces off with both a corrupt ruling class and horrible nonliving polymorphs in a battle to save the homeland.
In The Day the World Stopped by Stanton A. Coblentz, a US president and his advisors plan to use the ultimate weapon in “preventive war” against Red China, while a young senator who tries to avert the calamity gets unexpected help from space visitors who offer him the use of their special powers.
Poul Anderson (1926–2001) was one of the most prolific and popular writers in science fiction. He won the Hugo Award seven times and the Nebula Award three times, as well as many other awards, including the Grand Master Award of the Science Fiction Writers of America for a lifetime of distinguished achievement. With a degree in physics and a wide knowledge of other fields of science, he was noted for building stories on a solid foundation of real science, as well as for being one of the most skilled creators of fast-paced adventure stories. He was author of over one hundred novels and story collections, several hundred short stories, and several mysteries and nonfiction books.
George Henry Smith (1922–1996) was an American science fiction author. He wrote the three novels of the Dylan MacBride series, as well as six other novels.
Stanton Arthur Coblentz (1896–1982) was an American author and poet. He received a master's degree in English literature and then began publishing poetry during the early 1920s. His first published science fiction was "The Sunken World," a satire about Atlantis, in Amazing Stories Quarterly for July, 1928. The next year, he published his first novel, The Wonder Stick. He also wrote books of literary criticism and nonfiction concerning historical subjects.
Tom Weiner, a dialogue director and voice artist best known for his roles in video games and television shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Transformers, is the winner of eight Earphones Awards and Audie Award finalist. He is a former member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.