I’m pleased to share a new set of great books that came into public domain and are available for free from Project Gutenberg. Many people assume that public domain is all about classic literature from XIX century. It’s not true. You can find a lot of much younger publications.
Some time ago, I put together 12 great sci-fi titles from 30s, 40s, and 50s, including stories by Philip K Dick. In fact, Project Gutenberg has much more vintage sci-fi publications than that. Astounding Stories of Super-Science are the next great thing to download.
Astounding is the initial name of Analog Science Fiction and Fact, the longest running sci-fi magazine. By many enthusiasts it’s considered the best of its genre. The magazine was launched by William Clayton, a well-respected publisher of several pulp titles. He hired Harry Bates as the editor.
Bates wanted to pack Astounding with straightforward action-adventure stories. Scientific elements were only present to provide minimal plausibility. As Brain Plucker blog remarks:
Astounding started as a “Blood-n-Thunder” pulp with an emphasis on action, and damn the science. There are some very good authors contained in these pages like Edmond Hamilton, Murray Leinster, Hugh B. Cave, Arthur J. Burks, and Miles J. Breuer.
In the first two years, Astounding Stories of Super-Science were published in the USA without a copyright notice. That’s why they are available in public domain.
The full list of 20 issues of Astounding, published between January 1930 and August 1931, is available here, and below you can find most popular titles, together with stories included in each volume.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, January 1930
- The Beetle Horde – Victor Rousseau
- The Cave Of Horror – Captain S. P. Meek
- Phantoms Of Reality – Ray Cummings
- The Stolen Mind – M. L. Staley
- Compensation – C. V. Tench
- Tanks – Murray Leinster
- Invisible Death – Anthony Pelcher
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, March 1930
- Cold Light – S. P. Meek
- Brigands of the Moon (Part 1 of 4) – Ray Cummings
- The Soul Master – Will Smith and R. J. Robbins
- From the Ocean’s Depths – Sewell Peaslee Wright
- Vandals of the Stars – A. T. Locke
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, May 1930
- Into the Ocean’s Depths – Sewell Peaslee Wright
- Murder Madness (Part 1 of 4) – Murray Leinster
- Brigands of the Moon (Part 3 of 4) – Ray Cummings
- The Jovian Jest – Lilith Lorraine
- The Atom-Smasher – Victor Rousseau
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, June 1930
- Out of the Dreadful Depths – Charles Willard Diffin
- Murder Madness (Part 2 of 4) – Murray Leinster
- The Cavern World – James P. Olsen
- Brigands of the Moon (Part 4 of 4) – Ray Cummings
- Giants of the Ray – Tom Curry
- The Moon Master – Charles Willard Diffin
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, August 1930
- The Planet of Dread – R. F. Starzl
- The Lord of Space – Victor Rousseau
- The Second Satellite – Edmond Hamilton
- Silver Dome – Harl Vincent
- Earth, the Marauder (Part 2 of 3) – Arthur J. Burks
- Murder Madness (Part 4 of 4) – Murray Leinster
- The Flying City – H. Thompson Rich
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, October 1930
- Stolen Brains – S. P. Meek
- The Invisible Death – Victor Rousseau
- Prisoners of the Electron – Robert H. Leitfred
- Jetta of the Lowlands (Part 2 of 3) – Ray Cummings
- An Extra Man – Jackson Gee
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, November 1930
- The Wall of Death – Victor Rousseau
- The Pirate Planet (Part 1 of 4) – Charles Willard Diffin
- The Destroyer – William Merriam Rouse
- The Gray Plague – Lloyd Arthur Eshbach
- Jetta of the Lowlands (Part 3 of 3) – Ray Cummings
- Vagabonds of Space – Harl Vincent
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