List of Early Science Fiction (PD and not yet in the catalog!)

Suggest and discuss books to read (all languages welcome!)
gweeks
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Joined: January 30th, 2007, 11:47 am

Post by gweeks »

Out of the sea by Leigh Brackett
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/68718

There was a lot of Leigh Bracket that went to PG from Planet Stories when I did it.

https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/25398

Greg
AJRumbaugh
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Post by AJRumbaugh »

Oh, I'm going to take on "Adrift in the Unknown." It's a delightful romp and adventure...if a bit cheesy. :)
flavo5000
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Joined: October 7th, 2021, 2:55 pm

Post by flavo5000 »

Hiya! For more exposure, I thought I'd post the novels I've found for the Weird Stories thread that would also be classified as sci-fi (before the term sci-fi, they were all weird, right?) that you could add to the OP.

Gertrude Atherton
The White Morning (1917) [32,649 word count]
A fictional account of the revolution in Germany that ended World War One. In this tale the uprising is a cross-class conspiracy of women, huge in scale but tightly organised from the top: led by an aristocrat who has betrayed her caste under the influence of wealthy liberal women from the USA.
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13496

Robert W. Chambers
The Green Mouse (1910) [46,077 word count]
It is about an invention that brings men and women together no matter where they are on earth. The two are destined to fall in love with each other and live happily together. The book contains the stories of several couples who meet in unusual circumstances where love always prevails. The book is very imaginative with a hint of Twilight Zone.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/10441/10441-h/10441-h.htm

G. P. R. James
The Commissioner; or, De Lunatico Inquirendo (1843) [520 pages]
Satirical science fiction - a Lunarian is sent to Earth.
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/t4rj4mq32&view=1up&seq=7

Oliver Onions
The Tower of Oblivion (1921) [142.646 word count]
Sir George discovers another writer, Derwent Rose, ten years his junior at 45, after a succes d'estime with the "mortal and inhuman irony of The Vicarage of Bray, the vehement and unchecked passion of An Ape in Hell.... [in] his last published book, The Hands of Esau ... a fundamental urbanity, a mellower restraint" (p. 3), aging backwards. During six months Rose has, "in irregular and unequal slips ... retrograded [to] thirty-five" (p. 24), which continuing is the action of the book. Onions having established that this phenomenon is real, not illusory, which he confirms from time to time with flawless touches, the story is of how it takes Rose and the people he meets. Three women fall in love with him; Sir George falls in love with one of them; or so they say. The speculation of the book is upon vigor, beauty, character, duty, personality, love, and art, but all that is by the way; so is the masterly plot — the title is understood three-quarters in, like Rebecca West's Black Lamb and Grey Falcon; science fiction is about people. Some of the people are alien.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/34703/34703-h/34703-h.htm


M. P. Shiel
The Lord of the Sea (1901) [83,972 word count]
THE LORD OF THE SEA, published in May 1901, is one of Shiel's most important and popular works. "... with the aid of a cache of diamonds recovered from a meteorite [Richard Hogarth] finances the building of giant floating fortresses that give him command of the sea-lanes. He uses this advantage to blackmail the nations into peace and social progress
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6993

The Last Miracle (1906) [77,290 word count]
Part of a loosely linked trilogy of science fiction novels, the first two being THE LORD OF THE SEA (1901) and THE PURPLE CLOUD (1901). "It is the tale of the final collapse of the traditional churches. It contains some grim scenes, including crucifixions, but it is more political than horrific."
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/41794

The Dragon (1913) [392 pages]
Science fiction novel of future war between Britain and China.
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112042037769&view=1up&seq=9&skin=2021

Frank R. Stockton
The Great War Syndicate (1889) [35,701 word count]
This story was written and is set towards the end of the 19th century at a time of increasing tension between the United States of America and the British Empire. When the tensions threaten to spill over into an actual conflict and the American public are demanding that their leaders declare a war which the United States is not well equipped to fight, a syndicate offer the US government a novel way to deal with the problem ...
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/427

The Great Stone of Sardis (1898) [58,610 word count] https://librivox.org/the-great-stone-of-sardis-by-frank-r-stockton/
flavo5000
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Joined: October 7th, 2021, 2:55 pm

Post by flavo5000 »

Btw, you can remove The Moon Maid by Burroughs. Looks like that was recorded back in 2019.
icequeen
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Post by icequeen »

The Crack of Doom has just been posted! viewtopic.php?p=2086968#p2086968 (I took it off the list in the first post.)
Ann

Audio, video, disco!
gweeks
Posts: 480
Joined: January 30th, 2007, 11:47 am

Post by gweeks »

gweeks wrote: August 2nd, 2022, 3:07 am
barleyguy wrote: August 1st, 2022, 6:11 pm Also, philchenevert created a Solo project for Skylark of Valeron. EE Smith seems to be very popular around here. :)
More is on the way. I expect to finish up the lensmen stories.
Galactic patrol by E. E. Smith
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/68815

Greg
barleyguy
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Joined: July 23rd, 2014, 1:56 pm

Post by barleyguy »

gweeks wrote: August 23rd, 2022, 3:10 am
Galactic patrol by E. E. Smith
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/68815

Greg
Thanks.

If nobody takes this one before I'm done with my current solo (October probably), I may do this one as well.

Cheers,

Harley.
So that's what an invisible barrier looks like... (Time Bandits)
flavo5000
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Joined: October 7th, 2021, 2:55 pm

Post by flavo5000 »

Here's another for the first post.

The Amphibians by S. Fowler Wright (1926)
http://www.sfw.org.uk/amphibians.shtml
[This site clearly uses the 1926 edition as signified by the preface]

Looks like a fun one!
barleyguy
Posts: 259
Joined: July 23rd, 2014, 1:56 pm

Post by barleyguy »

barleyguy wrote: August 27th, 2022, 10:46 am
gweeks wrote: August 23rd, 2022, 3:10 am
Galactic patrol by E. E. Smith
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/68815

Greg
Thanks.

If nobody takes this one before I'm done with my current solo (October probably), I may do this one as well.

Cheers,

Harley.
I went ahead and created a Solo project for Galactic Patrol, since nobody had jumped on it yet. I'm going to start it immediately after Vortex Blasters is done.
So that's what an invisible barrier looks like... (Time Bandits)
gweeks
Posts: 480
Joined: January 30th, 2007, 11:47 am

Post by gweeks »

barleyguy wrote: September 14th, 2022, 11:25 am
barleyguy wrote: August 27th, 2022, 10:46 am
gweeks wrote: August 23rd, 2022, 3:10 am
Galactic patrol by E. E. Smith
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/68815

Greg
Thanks.

If nobody takes this one before I'm done with my current solo (October probably), I may do this one as well.

Cheers,

Harley.
I went ahead and created a Solo project for Galactic Patrol, since nobody had jumped on it yet. I'm going to start it immediately after Vortex Blasters is done.
Hurray!

Gray Lensman is on its way now too. Probably a month or two still. It's not started P3 yet at PGDP.

Greg
stepheather
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Joined: July 14th, 2007, 5:18 pm
Location: In the urban wild

Post by stepheather »

Hi,

I don't see this one on here yet. It's a short story set in the Wild West of Mars, wherein the protagonist gets buried to his neck in the Martian sand. Martian wildlife with ESP complicate matters while he awaits rescue...

"The Aab" by Edward W. Ludwig
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66447

Thanks,
--Stephanie
*******************

Current solo:
Life among the Piutes

Native American history--Come read about removal plans, education, and laws:
Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, December 1837
barleyguy
Posts: 259
Joined: July 23rd, 2014, 1:56 pm

Post by barleyguy »

stepheather wrote: September 15th, 2022, 10:03 pm Hi,

I don't see this one on here yet. It's a short story set in the Wild West of Mars, wherein the protagonist gets buried to his neck in the Martian sand. Martian wildlife with ESP complicate matters while he awaits rescue...

"The Aab" by Edward W. Ludwig
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66447

Thanks,
That one looks short enough for the monthly short science fiction collection, and sounds fun too. Maybe someone will contribute it as a short story. :-)
So that's what an invisible barrier looks like... (Time Bandits)
flavo5000
Posts: 3684
Joined: October 7th, 2021, 2:55 pm

Post by flavo5000 »

Here are a couple by Ernest G. Henham that could be added to the original post that sound pretty interesting:
Bonanza: A Book of the Outside (1901)
Bonanza: A Story of the Outside (1901) is a tale of the Arctic Gold Rush in which prospectors stumble across a valley protected by a magnetic Force Field
https://books.google.com/books?id=SpFBAQAAMAAJ

Reign of the Saints (1911)
an sf tale set 200-300 years in the distant Near Future at a point when an internally divided UK is threatened by revolutionary strife
https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/010169017
philchenevert
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Post by philchenevert »

gweeks wrote: August 23rd, 2022, 3:10 am
gweeks wrote: August 2nd, 2022, 3:07 am
barleyguy wrote: August 1st, 2022, 6:11 pm Also, philchenevert created a Solo project for Skylark of Valeron. EE Smith seems to be very popular around here. :)
More is on the way. I expect to finish up the lensmen stories.
Galactic patrol by E. E. Smith
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/68815

Greg
I am also recording Skylark 3. This has been done already but I just want to do the entire trilogy. Isn't life fabulous? :thumbs:
Peruvian owls always hunt in pairs because they are inca hoots.
89 Decibels? Easy Peasy ! https://youtu.be/aSKR55RDVpk
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