Tag: sci-fi

Next Time on Stars End

There’s probably an argument to be made that the “Big Three” of Golden Age Science Fiction, rather than Clarke, Asimov, and Heinlein, are Astounding, Galaxy, and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. A quick Duck-Duck-Go search confirms this and reminds me that I should really read more A. E. van Vogt.

We’re not there yet, though; we’re at a place where Galaxy Science Fiction had blasted off a mere five months before. It was largely an auspicious beginning, with the inaugural issue containing Richard Matheson’s “Third from the Sun” which was adapted into an excellent episode of The Twilight Zone ten years later. That reminds me, I should really read more Richard Matheson. That first issue also included Asimov’s “The Darwinian Pool Room” which the Good Doctor said was “among the least satisfactory stories I have ever written” so maybe the lift-off wasn’t flawless.[1]

Our focus here though is the fifth issue cover dated February 1951. It contains the second installment of Isaac Asimov’s Tyrann, and that is the subject of our next episode. Galaxy’s editor, Horace Gold was notorious for retitling stories and we, of course, know Tyrann as The Stars Like Dust ―.

So, how is Isaac’s second novel progressing? Have we defeated “Second Novel Syndrome” yet? And are we observing the protoplasmic form of Asimov’s unlikeable protagonists like Golan Trevize? Plus, what’s up with that infamous subplot? All that and more is in the episode!

By the way, I was surprised to learn that this issue of Galaxy also contained “The Fireman” by Ray Bradbury. That novella eventually grew into Fahrenheit 451, undeniably one of the classics of Science Fiction. Even if the lift-off wasn’t flawless, the launch was impressive and accelerating.

While we wait for our next episode, hopefully coming on Sunday, let’s enjoy the illustrations from this installment once again featuring some interesting use of negative space by John Bunch.

You can find the complete Issue here: Galaxy Science Fiction, February 1951.

The opening Two-page spread of Tyrann.

Resources

Stars End S5E17

Let’s dig into the Great and Glorious Az’s second novel! Join us for The Stars, Like Dust—! In this episode, we sift through chapters one through eight.

“The Podcast Murmured to itself Gently”

The Stars, Like Dust is book #003 in the Asimov canon. That’s a little misleading. Book #002 I, Robot is a fix-up; most of it had been written years before. This was the second time the Good Doctor sat down to write a book and he intended to write a Novel with a capital “N.” He wasn’t having a good time of it. Walter Bradbury, Asimov’s editor, had liked Pebble in the Sky and wanted a follow-up but he also wanted an outline and a couple of sample chapters. Bradbury rejected the first two proposals. John Jenkins of AsimovReviews.net put it this way.

…now that he was a Novelist, Asimov was thinking he needed to write like one and was getting carried away. Rather than his sticking to his usual sparse prose, he was getting distinctly florid, and he needed to tone things down.

That’s what comes from trying to write a Novel with a capital “N” I suppose. To make matters worse, when Galaxy Science Fiction bought the right to serialize the novel Horace Gold insisted on a subplot that Asimov really didn’t care for.

But now it was time to sit down and write, which is what our good friend Isaac does best. Join us to see how the book turned out! This reading coincides with the installment published in the January 1951 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction under the title Tyrann.