Golden Age Fiction

About Golden Age Fiction

Classic Stories of Science and Fantasy Fiction. Science fiction and fantasy stories have captivated audiences for as long as stories have been told. The Epic of Gilgamesh, written around 2000 BCE, is often cited as one of the earliest science fiction, or fantasy fiction, stories, depending who you talk to. Speculative fiction began to take shape prior to and during the European Enlightenment, encouraged by the new scientific discoveries being made. Thomas More's 1516 book, "Utopia", describes an island nation whose inhabitants have developed a seemingly perfect society. Several books from this period deal with voyages to, or societies living on, the moon; Johannes Kepler's "Somnium", 1634, Francis Godwin's "The Man in the Moone", 1638, and Cyrano de Bergerac's "Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon", 1656. Voltaire's "Micromégas", 1752, suggests that people of other worlds may be more advanced than those of Earth. Mary Shelley's classic novel "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus", published in 1818, contains the archetypal 'mad scientist' experimenting with advanced technology. Another of her novels, "The Last Man", in 1826, is cited as the first Dystopian story. Alexander Veltman's novel "The forebears of Kalimeros: Alexander, son of Philip of Macedon", 1836, was the first Russian science fiction novel and the first novel to use time travel, although via a magical hippogriff rather than technological means. Samuel Butler's 1872 novel "Erewhon" describes machines that could become sentient and replace humans. Edward Everett Hale's "The Brick Moon", published serially in 1869 in The Atlantic Monthly, was the first story to describe an artificial satellite. "The Case of Summerfield" written by William Henry Rhodes and published in 1871 in the Sacramento Union newspaper, introduces the first 'weapon of mass destruction' used by a 'mad scientist' to blackmail the world. Edward Page Mitchell published science fiction short stories in The Sun for more than a decade, from 1874 onwards, dealing with invisibility, faster than light travel, teleportation, time travel, cryogenics, mind transfer, mutants, cyborgs and mechanical brains. In the 19th Century, Jules Verne and H G Wells represented divergent styles of speculative fiction. Verne's mix of accurate technology and daring romantic adventures could be considered the earliest 'hard' science fiction. Well's more didactic approach skipped over much of the science and technology in order to critique Victorian society, and could be considered the first 'soft' science fiction. Both were commercially successful, and showed that a comfortable living could made writing such stories. American author L. Frank Baum's book "Tik-Tok of Oz", 1914, contains the first literary appearance of handheld wireless communicators. Jack London's science fiction short stories "The Unparalleled Invasion", published in McClure's in 1910, and "The Red One", published in Cosmopolitan in 1918, contain germ wafare and extraterrestrials, respectively. Then came the so-called golden age of science fiction from around the mid-1920s to the mid-1940s. Pulp magazines such as Astounding Stories, Amazing Stories, Wonder Stories, Galaxy, If Magazine, and Weird Tales filled newstands and helped launch the writing careers of many of the giants of science fiction; household names such as Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Heinlein, Philip K. Dick, Ray Bradbury, Leigh Brackett, and Frank Herbert. The rich heritage upon which they drew, and to which they contributed, continues to influence modern science fiction and fantasy writers, and will undoubtedly do so far into the future. Please note that performance of a story is not a condoning, endorsement, or promotion of attitudes, prejudices, biases or opinions therein—particularly of gender and gender roles, ethnicity, disability, and sexuality—that an inhabitant of modern times would find distasteful. If there's a story that you'd like me to narrate, let me know at citiesinthesky@proton.me (mailto:citiesinthesky@proton.me).

Publisher

Paul Lawley-Jones

Category

arts · fiction

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

23 Nov 2024

Latest episode

17 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

197 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   17 Sept 2026

   Incident, by Thomas J O’Hara

   A floating coffin was the ship, its lone survivor specter-gaunt and adrift in a pitiless universe. This short story appeared in the May 1955 issue of Fantastic Universe. ----- If you have information about this author, I would be grateful if you could let me know at goldenagefiction@proton.me (mailto:goldenagefiction@proton.me). ----- If there's a story you'd like me to narrate, please let me know at goldenagefiction@proton.me (mailto:goldenagefiction@proton.me).

2. 

   13 Sept 2026

   Public Enemy, by Kendell Foster Crossen

   At long last, Public Police Officer Brad Raynor was going to see some action--perhaps he’d have some of the excitement that policemen in the past experienced every day! This short story appeared in the December 1952 issue of Dynamic Science Fiction. ----- Kendell Foster Crossen (July 25, 1910 – November 29, 1981) was an American pulp fiction and science fiction writer. He was the creator and writer of stories about the Green Lama (a crime-fighting Buddhist superhero whose powers emerged upon the recitation of the Tibetan mantra "Om mani padme hum") and the Milo March detective and spy novels. His pen names included Richard Foster, Bennett Barlay, Kent Richards and Clay Richards, Christopher Monig (the name of the ghost of the town of Crossen on the Oder), and M.E. Chaber (from the Hebrew word ‘mechaber’, meaning author). He wrote hundreds of radio scripts for The Green Lama, Suspense, The Saint, Mystery Theater, and others. His later television credits include 77 Sunset Strip, The Man from Blackhawk, Man and the Challenge, and Perry Mason. Crossen was one of the founders of the Mystery Writers of America and the uncredited editor of its first anthology, Murder Cavalcade (1946). ----- If there's a story you'd like me to narrate, please let me know at goldenagefiction@proton.me. ----- Music: "Mesmerizing Galaxy" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

3. 

   6 Sept 2026

   Youth, by Isaac Asimov

   Red and Slim found the two strange little animals the morning after they heard the thunder sounds. They knew that they could never show their new pets to their parents. This novelette appeared in the May 1952 issue of "Space Science Fiction". ----- Isaac Asimov (c. January 2, 1920 – April 6, 1992) was an American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke. A prolific writer, he wrote or edited more than 500 books. He also wrote an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards. Best known for his hard science fiction, Asimov also wrote mysteries and fantasy, as well as popular science and other non-fiction. Asimov's most famous work is the "Foundation" series, the first three books of which won the one-time Hugo Award for "Best All-Time Series" in 1966. His other major series are the "Galactic Empire" series and the "Robot" series. He also wrote more than 380 short stories, including the social science fiction novelette "Nightfall", which in 1964 was voted the best short science fiction story of all time by the Science Fiction Writers of America. ----- If there's a story you'd like me to narrate, please let me know at goldenagefiction@proton.me (mailto:goldenagefiction@proton.me). ----- Music: "Mesmerizing Galaxy" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com (http://(incompetech.com)). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

6 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 43 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

85

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

0

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