I managed to get through the first 29 issues of the Astounding Science Fiction golden age in 2011. I started out with an issue a week, and that proved to be too much for me. So I moved to one issue every other week, which seems to be just right. We began, nearly a year ago, with Episode 1, which covered the July 1939 Astounding. We concluded 2011 with Episode 29, which covered the November 1941 Astounding. At 26 Episodes each calendar year, that’s just over 2 Vacation years!
For 2012, while I am aiming for 26 episodes, I’m planning for 24. The reason is simple: last year, I was sick and that put me behind. It would also nice to be able go on vacation once during the year without worrying about having to keep a deadline. So while the schedule below reflects 26 Episodes, the realities of the world make me think it will likely be 24. But 24 is a nice round number, 2 full Vacation years. Episode 30 was the first for 2012.
Two of the Episodes have asterisks after the date. At present, these are the likely candidate dates for no Episode that week (and everything just shifts by 2 weeks). In the first case, it is because the date falls during the World Science Fiction Convention in Chicago. In the second case, it’s because I’ll likely be on vacation. And thanks to this page by Andrew May for making the compiling of these lists easy.
Here is the rest of the schedule for 2012, with a small preview of what is to come.
Episode 31: January 1942 (1/23/2012)
- Breakdown (Jack Williamson)
- Mechanistria (Eric Frank Russell)
- The Invaders (L. Ron Hubbard)
- Second Stage Lensman, part 3 of 4 (E. E. Smith)
- Soup King (Colin Keith)
- Fugitive from Vanguard (Norman L. Knight)
Episode 32: February 1942 (2/6/2012)
- The Rebels (Kurt von Rachen)
- There Shall Be Darkness (C. L. Moore)
- Second Stage Lensman, part 4 of 4 (E. E. Smith)
- The Sorcerer of Rhiannon (Leigh Brackett)
- Starting Point (Raymond F. Jones)
- Medusa (Theodore Sturgeon)
Episode 33: March 1942 (2/20/2012)
- Day After Tomorrow (Roby Wentz)
- Describe a Circle (Eric Frank Russell)
- Recruiting Station (A. E. van Vogt)
- Goldfish Bowl (Anson MacDonald)
- Runaround (Isaac Asimov)
- The Wings of Night (Lester del Rey)
- The Embassy (Martin Pearson)
Episode 34: April 1942 (3/5/2012)
- Silence Is–Deadly (Bertrand L. Shurtieff)
- Monopoly (Vic Phillips & Scott Roberts)
- Co-Operate – Or Else! (A. E. van Vogt)
- Beyond This Horizon, part 1 of 2 (Anson MacDonald)
- “If You’re Smart–” (Colin Keith)
- Strain (L. Ron Hubbard)
- The Eagles Gather (Joseph E. Kelleam)
- Pig Trap (Malcolm Jameson)
- Time Pussy (George E. Dale)
- Some Curious Effects of Time Travel (L. Sprague de Camp)
Episode 35: May 1942 (3/19/2012)
- Asylum (A. E. van Vogt)
- Foundation (Isaac Asimov)
- The Push of a Finger (Alfred Bester)
- Beyond This Horizon, part 2 of 2 (Anson MacDonald)
- Forever Is Not So Long (F. Anton Reeds)
Episode 36: June 1942 (4/2/2012)
- Heritage (Robert Abernathy)
- Bridle and Saddle (Isaac Asimov)
- My Name Is Legion (Lester del Rey)
- On Pain of Death (Robert Moore Williams)
- The Slaver (L. Ron Hubbard)
- A Nose for News (Roby Wentz)
- Time Dredge (Robert Arthur)
- Mudman (M. Krulfeld)
- Proof (Hal Clement)
Episode 37: July 1942 (4/16/2012)
- Penance Cruise (David V. Reed)
- Collision Orbit (Will Stewart)
- Tools (Clifford D. Simak)
- Secret Unattainable (A. E. van Vogt)
- Space Can (L. Ron Hubbard)
- Brimstone Bill (Malcolm Jameson)
- The Contraband Cow (L. Sprague de Camp)
- De Gustibus (Randall Hale)
- The Floater (Selden G. Thomas)
- The Qwerty of Hrothgar (R. Creighton Buck)
- Eat, Drink and Be Wary (Ray Bradbury)
- That Mysterious Bomb Raid (Bob Tucker)
- About Quarrels, About the Past (John Pierce, M.S.)
- The Strange Case of the Missing Hero (Frank Holby)
Episode 38: August 1942 (4/30/2012)
- Waldo (Anson MacDonald)
- Impediment (Hal Clement)
- Jackdaw (Ross Rocklynne)
- Kilgallen’s Lunar Legacy (Norman L. Knight)
- The Link (Cleve Cartmill)
- Deadlock (Lewis Padgett)
- Time Marches On (Ted Carnell)
- Destiny and Uncle Louie (Joseph Gilbert)
- The Image of Annihilation (Jack Speer)
- The Anecdote of the Negative Wugug (L. Sprague de Camp)
Episode 39: September 1942 (5/14/2012)
- Nerves (Lester del Rey)
- The Barrier (Anthony Boucher)
- With Flaming Swords (Cleve Cartmill)
- Starvation (Fredric Brown)
- The Twonky (Lewis Padgett)
- Pride (Malcolm Jameson)
Episode 40: October 1942 (5/28/2012)
- Anachron, Inc. (Malcolm Jameson)
- QRM – Interplanetary (George O. Smith)
- Lunar Landing (Lester del Rey)
- Warriors’ Age (Peter Risk)
- The Wabbler (Murray Leinster)
- The Beast (L. Ron Hubbard)
- The Second Solution (A. E. van Vogt)
Episode 41: November 1942 (6/11/2012)
- Overthrow (Cleve Cartmill)
- Minus Sign (Will Stewart)
- Four Little Ships (Murray Leinster)
- Sand (Colin Keith)
- The Gentle Pirates (John Berryman)
- Not Only Dead Men (A. E. van Vogt)
- Eureka! (Malcolm Jameson)
- The Green Sphere (Dennis Tucker)
- Avenue of Escape (Hal Clement)
- A Matter of Eclipses (P. Schuyler Miller)
- The Sleep that Slaughtered (Harry Warner, Jr.)
Episode 42: December 1942 (6/25/2012)
- Some Day We’ll Find You (Cleve Cartmill)
- Piggy Bank (Lewis Padgett)
- The Weapons Shop (A. E. van Vogt)
- Interlude (Ross Rocklynne)
- Johnny Had a Gun (Robert Moore Williams)
- The Flight That Failed (E. Mayne Hull)
- To Follow Knowledge (Frank Belknap Long)
- My Word (Frank J. Smythe)
- Take-Off (L. M. Jensen)
- Valadusia (Jack Bivins)
- True Fidelity (William M. Danner)
- The Human Bomb (Stanley Woolston)
- O’Ryan, the Invincible (T. D. Whitenack, Jr.)
Episode 43: January 1943 (7/9/2012)
- Barrius, Imp (Malcolm Jameson)
- The Search (A. E. van Vogt)
- Elsewhen (Anthony Boucher)
- Opposites – React!, part 1 of 2 (Will Stewart)
- Time Locker (Lewis Padgett)
- Nothing But Gingerbread Left (Henry Kuttner)
- The Cave (P. Schuyler Miller)
- Backfire (Ross Rocklynne)
Episode 44: February 1943 (7/23/2012)
- Mimsy Were the Borogoves (Lewis Padgett)
- Opposites – React!, part 2 of 2 (Will Stewart)
- The Weapon Makers, part 1 of 3 (A. E. van Vogt)
- Flight into Darkness (Webb Marlowe)
- The Man in the Moon (Henry A. Norton)
- Blue Ice (Henry Kuttner)
- Efficiency (Colin Keith)
- Noise is Beautiful! (Fox B. Holden)
- The Anecdote of the Movable Ears (L. Sprague de Camp)
Episode 45: March 1943 (8/6/2012)
- Shadow of Life (Clifford D. Simak)
- Clash by Night (Lawrence O’Donnell)
- The Weapon Makers, part 2 of 3 (A. E. van Vogt)
- Q. U. R. (H. H. Holmes)
- Shock (Lewis Padgett)
Episode 46: April 1943 (8/20/2012)
- Swimming Lesson (Raymond F. Jones)
- Escape (Joseph Gilbert & Fred W. Fischer)
- The Weapon Makers, part 3 of 3 (A. E. van Vogt)
- Open Secret (Lewis Padgett)
- Abdication (E. Mayne Hull)
- Downfall (Malcolm Jameson)
- Camouflage (John Aiken)
- Corpus Delicti (Henry Kuttner)
- Miraculous Fluid (Bob Tucker)
- A Snitch in Time (D. C. King)
- Ultimate Opposition (Roscoe E. Wright)
- Double, Double, Toil and Trouble (Nelson S. Bond)
Episode 47: May 1943 (9/3/2012*)
- Let’s Disappear (Cleve Cartmill)
- Gather, Darkness, part 1 of 3 (Fritz Leiber)
- Pacer (Raymond F. Jones)
- Ghost (Henry Kuttner)
- Fifth Freedom (John Alvarez)
Episode 48: June 1943 (9/17/2012)
- The World Is Mine (Lewis Padgett)
- Gather, Darkness, part 2 of 3 (Fritz Leiber)
- Pelagic Spark (Anthony Boucher)
- Sanctuary (H. H. Holmes)
- Whom the Gods Love (Lester del Rey)
- Competition (E. Mayne Hull)
- Calling the Empress (George O. Smith)
Episode 49: July 1943 (10/1/2012)
- Hunch (Clifford D. Simak)
- The Great Engine (A. E. van Vogt)
- Gather, Darkness, part 3 of 3 (Fritz Leiber)
- Unthinking Cap (John R. Pierce)
- The Renegade (Marion Henry)
- Gleeps (P. Schuyler Miller)
Episode 50: August 1943 (10/15/2012)
- One-Way Trip (Anthony Boucher)
- Judgment Night, part 1 of 2 (C. L. Moore)
- When Is When? (Malcolm Jameson)
- Endowment Policy (Lewis Padgett)
- The Mutant’s Brother (Fritz Leiber)
- M 33 in Andromeda (A. E. van Vogt)
Episode 51: September 1943 (10/29/2012)
- Attitude (Hal Clement)
- Judgment Night, part 1 of 2 (C. L. Moore)
- Concealment (A. E. van Vogt)
- Doodad (Ray Bradbury)
- Robinc (H. H. Holmes)
- Finance (David Charles)
- You Said It! (Charles Ben Davis)
- Y equals Sin X (Harold Wooster)
- Universal Solvent (Clayton James MacBeth)
- Der Fuehrer’s Base (George O. Smith)
- And Watch the Fountains (Ray Bradbury)
Episode 52: October 1943 (11/12/2012)
- Fifty Million Monkeys (Raymond F. Jones)
- Symbiotica (Eric Frank Russell)
- The Proud Robot (Lewis Padgett)
- The Storm (A. E. van Vogt)
- Tidal Waves (Malcolm Jameson)
- Willie (Frank Belknap Long)
- Paradox Lost (Fredric Brown)
Episode 53: November 1943 (11/26/2012)
- Gallegher Plus (Lewis Padgett)
- The Beast (A. E. van Vogt)
- Recoil (George O. Smith)
- “… If You Can Get It” (Murray Leinster)
- Death Sentence (Isaac Asimov)
Episode 54: December 1943 (12/10/2012*)
- The Debt (E. Mayne Hull)
- We Print the Truth (Anthony Boucher)
- Lost Art (George O. Smith)
- Fricassee in Four Dimensions (P. Schuyler Miller)
- The Iron Standard (Lewis Padgett)
Episode 55: January 1944 (12/24/2012)
- The Leech (Malcolm Jameson)
- Technical Error (Hal Clement)
- Ogre (Clifford D. Simak)
- Alias the Living (Frank B. Long)
- Far Centaurus (A. E. van Vogt)
- As Never Was (P. Schuyler Miller)
Skimming through this list, it looks like a pretty spectacular year. I’m particularly looking forward to Episodes 35 and 36 which contain the first two stories of Isaac Asimov’s FOUNDATION series.
Any stories or episodes you’re looking for to?
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This is where your vacation gets interesting.
Looking over past few months of your essays, 1941’s vacation – being so dominated by Heinlein – was more like a get-together with old friends, rather than a voyage of discovery.
However these next two years promise to be revelatory, due to two factors.
First Campbell grants van Vogt free rein to fill Astounding with his mad, feverish dreams.
And second, Henry Kuttner decides there is more to life than being a bottom-feeding hack.
These three authors (since Kuttner is inseperable from C.L. Moore) will produce many peak experiences for you this coming year.
How E. Mayne Hull fits into this, I will defer to the judgement of our van Vogt experts.
Mark2:
In looking through the list of stories coming up this year, there is a lot that I am looking forward to, not all of it famous stuff.
– April ’42 has “Time Pussy” by George E. Dale, one of the rare pseudonyms for Isaac Asimov.
– Same issue has a Joseph Kelleam story, and after “Rust”, I’ll read anything he wrote.
– Of course, May and June ’42 have the first two “Foundation” stories. FOUNDATION is quite possibly my all-time favorite SF and I’m looking forward to going through the entire original trilogy in the magazine.
– Hal Clement pops up in the June ’42 issue. I’ve never read Clement before, one of those writes that I should have read, but just haven’t gotten around to.
– Ray Bradbury makes some appearances, which ought to be pretty cool.
– Lester del Rey’s “Nerves” in September ’42
– C. L. Moore and Henry Kuttner independently, and then in February ’43, together as Lewis Padgett for “Mimsy…” and the next month as Lawrence O’Donnell!
– Fritz Leiber! Murray Leinster! Tony Boucher!
My oh my this is going to be fun!
Mark S. writes- “How E. Mayne Hull fits into this, I will defer to the judgement of our van Vogt experts.”
Regarding ‘A.E. van Vogt/E. Mayne Hull’, I must defer to Van Vogt scholar extraordinaire, Isaac Wilcott.
– Go to http://www.icshi.net/sevagram/
– Then click on Bibliography (Storysource), which will download to your browser a 1 Meg .pdf file
– At the start of the document is the TABLE OF CONTENTS. Click on the first item, in the right-hand column called SUPPLEMENTS, titled “The E. Mayne Hull Stories”
Waldo, Twonky, Borogroves, Foundation, Weapons Shop – so many classics!