Golden Age Masterworks - Golden? Includes spreadsheet and cover art.  

Gollancz really have let the side down big time in the last fifteen years. Tragic and annoying.

@@outlawbookselleroriginal Thank you Steve.

Ultimately Gollancz is a business and another collectible series means sales.

@@vintagesf very true.

I need to catch up to your reading. My collecting is out pacing my reading.

I've been wondering how much WWII plays into defining the golden age. There seems to be a parallel.

@@vintagesf Yes, I've often thought that, the dates intertwining so obviously with European theatre opening of hostilities and the dawn of the Atomic age. It's more of a literary thing really, though, ultimately I think- 'The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction' appeared in 1949 and 'Galaxy' in 1950 and that's what really made a difference- like Campbell, Boucher and Gold cared about the quality of SF but provided alternative venues to writers who found it hard to cope with Campbell's increasing dogmatism and cranky theories-which you'll know about having read the 'Astounding' book. Within a few years though, people were finding Gold similarly frustrating (though about different opinions to Campbell's) but by the mid to late fifties SF books were becoming more of a thing and paperbacks had started to make an impact, so magazine editors were not so powerful- a range of editorial voices is always a good thing. But before Campbell, there wasn't a lot of discipline except for Harry Bates and a few others.

@@outlawbookselleroriginal I agree with your thoughts. Narrow opportunities allowed for a classification but when more sales options appeared the product widened in scope and style.

@@vintagesf Absolutely. As you know, I'm a tickler for terminology, not because I'm a pedant, but because I feel if we all use the same jargon consistently, it makes communication easier and more compact- I get very irked by people flinging terms like 'Golden Age' around as if it's a broad thing, when it's as much an 'editorial school' as it is a period. I think people often misuse it as they seem to think SF history can be divided up into neat periods in the way that comics fans seem to have done with their adoption of terms like 'Golden Age', 'Atomic Age' and 'Silver Age' etc as if they are equivalents of geological periods. Art is more complex than that! Good to chat with you as always!

@@outlawbookselleroriginal I think coming from comic books and graphic novels I assumed that the golden age was a definable period of time. Always learning!

@@JosephReadsBooks TBRs have an inverse relationship with my book budget.

That's great! Thank you for letting me know!

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Yes! Thank you! I was going to post the same thing. I used to be adamant about sanctity of the calendar and what happened, when. Now I am more tolerant. As long as we all broadly know what we are talking about, it is fine. (Also, I couldn't remember the correct attribution for the quote and was getting set to look it up, so thank you for that, too.)

One of my favorite quotes on the pheomena of science fiction!

I'm guilty of lumping them together as vintage SF.

@@vintagesf I feel less of a fail now :)

@@bartsbookspace Thank you Bart!

Some good points here. I find the cover art varies wildly. Stock images are frustrating yet occasionally they are used to great effect. I think the Golden Age Masterworks overall are a good looking series.

@@portland-182 Certainly are a number of authors that could be included such as Asimov.

I agree that the cover art is vivid and engaging. Re: AEvV, I think it is about contracts and projected sales.

Agreed. Same reason we don't see the Foundation trilogy or Robots from Asimov.

I wonder if that’s changed a little for Vogt, I believe a story of his was in Baen’s somewhat recent Time Troopers.

@@LiamsLyceum I think you're right: I just checked the contents list of _Time Troopers_ (2022) over on the *Internet Speculative Fiction Database* website and not only does it include a Vogt story but also "All You Zombies-" (1959) by Robert A. Heinlein: the very story which the Vandermeers wanted to include in their 2016 anthology.

@@paulcampbell6003oh yes, I had forgotten about that one’s inclusion!

@@SleepyBookReader-666 I agree but I don’t like it. I continue to look for historical and sociological context as well as the author’s story.