Thought-variant stories from Astounding in the early 1930's

[Bick]

Full list of Tremaine's thought-variant stories in Astounding Stories:

1933
Ancestral Voices - Nat Schachner (Dec 33)

1934
Colossus - Donald Wandrei (Jan 34)
Rebirth - Thomas Calvert McClary (Feb 34) - I believe it's a 'thought-variant', but it's not explicitly stated, just inferred in an editorial*
Born of the Sun - Jack Williamson (Mar 34)
He From Procyon - Nat Schachner (Apr 34)
The Brain of Light - John Russell Fearn (May 34)
Sidewise in Time - Murray Leinster (Jun 34)
Before Earth Came - John Russell Fearn (Jul 34)
The Skylark of Valeron - Edward E. Smith (Aug 34)
The Living Equation - Nat Schachner (Sep 34)
Inflexure - Clyde Crane Campbell (Oct 34)
The Mole Pirate - Murray Leinster (Nov 34)
The Mightiest Machine - John W. Campbell, Jr (Dec 34; 5-part serial)

1935
The Ultimate Metal - Nat Schachner (Feb 35)
The Einstein Express - J. George Frederick (Apr 35; 2-part serial)
Earth's Mausoleum - John Russell Fearn (May 35)
The Son of Old Faithful - Raymond Z. Gallun (Jul 35)
The Galactic Circle - Jack Williamson (Aug 35)
Islands of the Sun - Jack Williamson (Sep 35; 2-part serial)

1936
White Adventure - Warner van Lorne (Apr 36)
The time Entity - Eando Binder (Oct 36)

1937
The Great Thought - K. Raymond (Mar 37)


* See this from the Feb '34 issue:

 

[dask]

Hugo worthy research.

 

[dask]

Nicely done. If this were the 60s I’d make a poster of the stuff in this attachment.

 

[Extollager]

I just read “The Ultimate Metal” by Schachner as reprinted in Conklin’s Best of Science Fiction. On my old scale for stories in Conklin’s anthologies, this one would get maybe a 2. I’d have to look up the scale, but I think 2 was about right for a passably entertaining story that needn’t be read. A professionally published writer today would probably tell the story with more literary sophistication and certainly more horror effects when the great skyscraper made with an artificial element vaporizes but also drag it out. I’d rather read this original version for its historical interest, for one thing. The satirical elements must’ve been kinda trite even then (the depiction of the businessman, for example).

 

[Extollager]

Full list of Tremaine's thought-variant stories in Astounding Stories:

1933
Ancestral Voices - Nat Schachner (Dec 33)

1934
Colossus - Donald Wandrei (Jan 34)
Rebirth - Thomas Calvert McClary (Feb 34) - I believe it's a 'thought-variant', but it's not explicitly stated, just inferred in an editorial*
Born of the Sun - Jack Williamson (Mar 34)
He From Procyon - Nat Schachner (Apr 34)
The Brain of Light - John Russell Fearn (May 34)
Sidewise in Time - Murray Leinster (Jun 34)
Before Earth Came - John Russell Fearn (Jul 34)
The Skylark of Valeron - Edward E. Smith (Aug 34)
The Living Equation - Nat Schachner (Sep 34)
Inflexure - Clyde Crane Campbell (Oct 34)
The Mole Pirate - Murray Leinster (Nov 34)
The Mightiest Machine - John W. Campbell, Jr (Dec 34; 5-part serial)

1935
The Ultimate Metal - Nat Schachner (Feb 35)
The Einstein Express - J. George Frederick (Apr 35; 2-part serial)
Earth's Mausoleum - John Russell Fearn (May 35)
The Son of Old Faithful - Raymond Z. Gallun (Jul 35)
The Galactic Circle - Jack Williamson (Aug 35)
Islands of the Sun - Jack Williamson (Sep 35; 2-part serial)

1936
White Adventure - Warner van Lorne (Apr 36)
The time Entity - Eando Binder (Oct 36)

1937
The Great Thought - K. Raymond (Mar 37)


* See this from the Feb '34 issue:
View attachment 76535

That blurb says Fearn’s “Man Who Stopped the Dust” will be the next issue’s “thought variant,” but it looks like the Williamson story “Born of the Sun” was instead.

 

[Bick]

That blurb says Fearn’s “Man Who Stopped the Dust” will be the next issue’s “thought variant,” but it looks like the Williamson story “Born of the Sun” was instead.

Well spotted! In March ‘34 the Williamson was definitely the ‘thought-variant’ story. The Fearn was also published that same month as a second ‘feature story’, with that title, but was noted as an “ultra-scientific study of the month”, but not as a ‘thought-variant’.

I suspect whether stories got the ‘thought-variant’ moniker or not was rather subjective and decided month-month by Tremaine based on what he received and scheduled for publication.

 

[Bick]

Hugo worthy research.

Feel free to nominate it

 

[Bick]

View attachment 76537
Nicely done. If this were the 60s I’d make a poster of the stuff in this attachment.

I can't open Extollager's link - doesn't link to anything for me, I'm afraid.

 

[dask]

Yeah, it's not working for me anymore either. It was earlier though.

 

[Extollager]

I don’t know why the document wasn’t available. I need to update it anyway. Then I’ll try posting it again.

 

[Extollager]

Here's the list, without images:

THOUGHT-VARIANT SF

Dates refer to the appearance of the story in an issue of Astounding. Lists of thought-variant stories were posted by Bick at SFF Chrons 6-7 March 2021.

1.Ancestral Voices - Nat Schachner (Dec 33)

The Distributed Proofreaders Canada eBook of Ancestral Voices, by Nat Schachner. (fadedpage.com)

No book reprint found.


2.Colossus - Donald Wandrei (Jan 34)

Reprinted in Asimov’s Before the Golden Age.

Rept. Cadogan & Bremer: Colossus: The Collected Science Fiction of Donald Wandrei (1989)

Colossus (collection) - Wikipedia

I think the text of “Colossus” in the Cadogan & Bremer edition might have been a revision.

3.Rebirth - Thomas Calvert McClary (Feb 34) – Bick thought this was a thought-variant, but said it may only be a 'feature story'; it’s not explicitly stated to be a thought-variant story.

Bart House “novel” 1944

Reprinted in Rebirth, Hyperion Press 1976

4.Born of the Sun - Jack Williamson (Mar 34)

Rpt. In Asimov’s anthology Before the Golden Age

5.He From Procyon - Nat Schachner (Apr 34)

The Distributed Proofreaders Canada eBook of He From Procyon (fadedpage.com)

No book reprint found.
6.The Brain of Light - John Russell Fearn (May 34)

No book reprint known to DN.


7.Sidewise in Time - Murray Leinster (Jun 34)

Wikipedia lists multiple appearances:

Sidewise in Time, edited by Murray Leinster, Shasta, 1950

Worlds of Maybe, edited by Robert Silverberg, Dell, 1970

Before the Golden Age, edited by Isaac Asimov, Doubleday, 1974

The Best of Murray Leinster, edited by J.J. Pierce, Del Rey, 1978

The Time Travellers—A Science Fiction Quartet, edited by Robert Silverberg & Martin H. Greenberg, Donald I. Fine, 1985

Great Tales of Classic Science Fiction, edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg & Charles Waugh, Galahad, 1988

First Contacts, edited by Joe Rico, NESFA Press, 1998

“Sidewise in Time” was one of the two most popular of the thought-variant short stories with anthologists.


8.Before Earth Came - John Russell Fearn (Jul 34)

Reprinted in a 2014 Wildside Press book:

Before Earth Came by John Russell Fearn (fantasticfiction.com)

9.The Skylark of Valeron - Edward E. Smith (Aug 34)

Multiple book publications as a novel. Was the Astounding text a short version?

10.The Living Equation - Nat Schachner (Sep 34)

No reprint found.

11.Inflexure - Clyde Crane Campbell (Oct 34)

No reprint found.
12.The Mole Pirate - Murray Leinster (Nov 34)

Curtis Books paperback:

The Moon Era: 9780123070142: Amazon.com: Books

Also New English Library.13.The Mightiest Machine (serial in 5 parts) - John W. Campbell, Jr ( Dec 34)

Hadley hardcover, Ace paperback, possible Gollancz edition


14.The Ultimate Metal - Nat Schachner (Feb 35)

Reprinted in Conklin’s The Best of Science Fiction.


15.The Einstein Express - J. George Frederick (Apr 35; 2-part serial)

Not anthologized, so far as I know.

16.Earth's Mausoleum - John Russell Fearn (May 35)

Not anthologized, so far as I know.

17.The Son of Old Faithful - Raymond Z. Gallun (Jul 35)

Goodreads reports: --- has appeared in such anthologies as Imagination Unlimited, Science Fiction: The Great Years, Before the Golden Age, The Best of Raymond Z. Gallun, The Analog Anthology #2: Readers' Choice, Gosh!Wow! (Sense of Wonder) Science Fiction, and in dozens of others around the world.----

“The Son of Old Faithful” was, like “Sidewise in Time,” a short story popular with anthologists.


18.The Galactic Circle - Jack Williamson (Aug 35)

(see next item)
19.Islands of the Sun - Jack Williamson (Sep 35; 2-part serial)

These two stories appear to be collected in Haffner Press’s Wizard’s Isle

Publication: Wizard's Isle (isfdb.org)

20. White Adventure - Warner van Lorne (Apr 36)

No book reprint found.

21.The Time Entity - Eando Binder (Oct 36)

No book reprint found.

22.The Great Thought - K. Raymond (Mar 37)

No book reprint found.

 

[Extollager]

Attached I hope you can find the updated list, here with some images.

 

[Extollager]

Full list of Tremaine's thought-variant stories in Astounding Stories:

1933
Ancestral Voices - Nat Schachner (Dec 33)

1934
Colossus - Donald Wandrei (Jan 34)
Rebirth - Thomas Calvert McClary (Feb 34) - I believe it's a 'thought-variant', but it's not explicitly stated, just inferred in an editorial*
Born of the Sun - Jack Williamson (Mar 34)
He From Procyon - Nat Schachner (Apr 34)
The Brain of Light - John Russell Fearn (May 34)
Sidewise in Time - Murray Leinster (Jun 34)
Before Earth Came - John Russell Fearn (Jul 34)
The Skylark of Valeron - Edward E. Smith (Aug 34)
The Living Equation - Nat Schachner (Sep 34)
Inflexure - Clyde Crane Campbell (Oct 34)
The Mole Pirate - Murray Leinster (Nov 34)
The Mightiest Machine - John W. Campbell, Jr (Dec 34; 5-part serial)

1935
The Ultimate Metal - Nat Schachner (Feb 35)
The Einstein Express - J. George Frederick (Apr 35; 2-part serial)
Earth's Mausoleum - John Russell Fearn (May 35)
The Son of Old Faithful - Raymond Z. Gallun (Jul 35)
The Galactic Circle - Jack Williamson (Aug 35)
Islands of the Sun - Jack Williamson (Sep 35; 2-part serial)

1936
White Adventure - Warner van Lorne (Apr 36)
The time Entity - Eando Binder (Oct 36)

1937
The Great Thought - K. Raymond (Mar 37)


* See this from the Feb '34 issue:
View attachment 76535

It's interesting that the "thought-variants" are described in the Feb. 1934 blurb in terms that suggest -- over 30 years earlier -- the Dangerous Visions anthologies.

The surprise for me, when I tried to track down sources, was how few of the thought-variant short stories had ever been reprinted in anthologies or collections. Perhaps, like some of the stories edited by Ellison, there was an element of hype present sometimes! Granted: some anthologists didn't have access to the magazines and may have relied mostly on stories they found in anthologies prepared by other editors and on stories in single-author collections.

I hope Chronsters can, one way or another, account eventually for readings of all of the stories, with comments on this thread. I tried to get the ball rolling with remarks on "The Ultimate Metal" last night. I rated it at 2. This is the system I had in mind, from the thread on reading around in Conklin's anthologies:

5/5: Outstanding stories in one's whole personal experience of reading sf and a cherished classic

4/5: Exceptionally good

3/5: Worth reading

2/5: Perhaps passable entertainment, but eminently skippable

1/5: Not worth reading

 

[dask]

I hope Chronsters can, one way or another, account eventually for readings of all of the stories, with comments on this thread. I tried to get the ball rolling with remarks on "The Ultimate Metal" last night. I rated it at 2. This is the system I had in mind, from the thread on reading around in Conklin's anthologies:

5/5: Outstanding stories in one's whole personal experience of reading sf and a cherished classic

4/5: Exceptionally good

3/5: Worth reading

2/5: Perhaps passable entertainment, but eminently skippable

1/5: Not worth reading

Unfortunately my copy of the Conklin Best Of Science Fiction is the revised edition and is missing 18 stories that appeared in the first and from what I can tell “The Ultimate Metal“ isn’t available from fadedpage.com yet.

 

[Extollager]

Ouch! Caveat emptor as regards that Conklin anthology, then.

And whoops! My list contains an error. I reported:

17.The Son of Old Faithful - Raymond Z. Gallun (Jul 35)

Goodreads reports: --- has appeared in such anthologies as Imagination Unlimited, Science Fiction: The Great Years, Before the Golden Age, The Best of Raymond Z. Gallun, The Analog Anthology #2: Readers' Choice, Gosh!Wow! (Sense of Wonder) Science Fiction, and in dozens of others around the world.----

....However, the story in Asimov's Before the Golden Age is titled just "Old Faithful" -- not "The Son of Old Faithful." "Old Faithful" was published in the Dec. 1934 issue, while "Son" was in the July 1935 issue. Goodreads was not in error -- it was referring to "Old Faithful." But I was careless and took it to be referring to "Son."

I apologize.

"Son of Old Faithful" appears to be included here:

The Old Faithful Saga by Raymond Z. Gallun (goodreads.com)

 

[Bick]

I read the second 'thought-variant' story, Collosus, by Donald Wandrei. A bit of background and a brief review of the story, below.

One of the nice things about reading these issues of Astounding Stories from the mid-'30's is the sense of time travel. There is a slight other-worldliness about them and the stories they contain. I know Isaac Asimov read these in his youth. He didn't have the money to have bought them, but the candy stores his family owned carried newspapers and magazines, and we know Astounding was his favourite - he never missed an issue. Nat Schachner is known to have been a favourite author of the young Asimov. He turned 14 in January 1934, and I can imagine him in his room above the candy shore at 1312 Decatur Street, Brooklyn, reading these very same issues. The site as it looks today (currently boarded up), is shown below.

Colossus - Donald Wandrei (Thought-variant feature story)
The second 'thought-variant' story published in Astounding Stories by Orlin Tremaine was a story that has become fairly well-known since it first saw press. Wandrei (below) wrote in this tale the first story (I understand) that considers that the universe we are in may be a tiny part of a succession of larger universes. A new idea at the time, Wandrei's hero jets off from Earth, leaving behind a terminal war and sets off to discover what is at the end of the universe. Science very much takes a back seat to spectacular notions in this tale. Despite referencing Einstein's contention that you can't travel faster than light, Wandrei's hero just does anyway, with the suggested consequence that as his speed increases, his ship gets larger and larger. Eventually, he gets to the 'end' and breaks through, to find he has left a single atom, and is now a tiny man in the laboratory of giant aliens in their own universe. This is fun and enjoyable, but mostly from an historical perspective. Although proposed as a 'thought-variant' in which we should open our minds to amazing new ideas, it actually works better if you leave your mind at the door as you enter - far too much makes zero logical or common sense!

Donald Wandrei

 

[dask]

Did you get this story from Gutenberg? I searched there and could find neither it nor the issue it appeared in.

 

[Extollager]

Thank you for the write-up & the picture of Asimov's place, Bick. Shouldn't that building be on the National Register of Historic Places with some kind of plaque?

By my scale above, "Colossus" gets a solid 3/5 or 3.5./5.

 

[dask]

Thank you for the write-up & the picture of Asimov's place, Bick. Shouldn't that building be on the National Register of Historic Places with some kind of plaque?

Absolutely.

 

[Bick]

Did you get this story from Gutenberg? I searched there and could find neither it nor the issue it appeared in.

They are all available from the archive link on ISFDB for every issue. They can also all be found here.