Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlen, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction Audiobook (Free)

An Economist Best Publication of the Year

A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Best Publication of 2018

‘Enthralling…A clarion contact to expand American literary background.” – Washington Post

“Engrossing, well-researched… This sure-footed background addresses important issues, like the lack of racial diversity and gender parity for a lot of the genre’s history.” – Wall Street Journal

“Something special to science fiction enthusiasts everywhere.” – Sylvia Nasar, New York Times bestselling author of A about Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlen, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Technology Fiction Beautiful Mind

Astounding is the landmark account from the extraordinary relationship between 4 controversial writers-John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, and L. Ron Hubbard-who tripped a revolution in science fiction and permanently changed our world.

This remarkable cultural narrative centers on the figure of John W. Campbell, Jr., whom Asimov called “the most powerful force in science fiction ever.” Campbell, who hasn’t been the subject of a biography until now, was both a visionary author-he composed the storyplot that was later filmed as The Thing-and the editor from the groundbreaking publication most widely known as Astounding Research Fiction, in which he uncovered countless legendary authors and published classic works ranging from the I, Robot series to Dune. Over a period greater than thirty years, from your rise of the pulps towards the debut of Superstar Trek, he dominated the genre, and his three closest collaborators reached unimaginable heights. Asimov became probably the most prolific writer in American history; Heinlein emerged as the primary science fiction author of his generation with the novels Starship Troopers and Stranger inside a Strange Land; and Hubbard achieved lasting fame-and infamy-as the creator of the Church of Scientology.

Drawing on unexplored archives, thousands of unpublished characters, and a large number of interviews, Alec Nevala-Lee provides a riveting portrait of the circle of authors, their function, and their tumultuous private lives. With unprecedented scope, play, and fine detail, Astounding identifies how fan lifestyle was born in the depths of the fantastic Depression; follows these four close friends and rivals through World War II and the dawn of the atomic era; and honors such remarkable women as Performña Campbell and Leslyn Heinlein, whose pivotal jobs in the history from the genre have gone largely unacknowledged. For the first time, it reveals the startling extent of Campbell’s influence on the concepts that evolved into Scientology, which prompted Asimov to observe: “I understood Campbell and I knew Hubbard, and no motion can have two Messiahs.” It appears unsparingly at the tragic final work that estranged others from Campbell, bringing the golden age of science fiction to an in depth, and it illuminates how their challenging legacy continues to form the imaginations of hundreds of thousands and our eyesight into the future itself.