Best Classic Science Fiction Books

When John W. Campbell took over as editor of Astounding in 1939, he instituted a new regime. Now, he told them, he wanted sound science, with the most formidable antagonist being the physical laws of the universe, and with mankind being at least the intellectual equal of any aliens encountered. (We will overlook, for the moment, his interest in psi and his devotion to the ideas of Dianetics.) Campbell knew exactly what he wanted, and would make his authors rewrite and rewrite until he got it, and the result was a major change in the character of science fiction.

Campbell ushered in what has become known as the Golden Age of science fiction, a period that saw the rise of what we recognise as hard sf.

By the early 50s, new magazines such as Galaxy, If and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction were emerging to challenge the dominance of Campbell's Astounding. They maintained the emphasis on hard sf that Campbell had initiated, but also encouraged a more humane and occasionally a more experimental approach. The style of science fiction that Campbell championed remained the dominant mode of science fiction until the emergence of the New Wave in the 1960s, but let's face it, when you think about science fiction you automatically call to mind the classic stories from Campbell's Golden Age.