Review of Alec Nevala-Lee's 'Astounding'
Truly Astounding
One of the joys of reading on a Kindle (or, in my case, a Kindle app) is the ease of bookmarking. As one indication of how important, I found Alec Nevala-Lee's Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction, and bookmarked it 10 times more than any other book I've read in the past few years. (The runner-ups are The Perversity of Things: Hugo Gernsback on Media, Tinkering, and Scientifiction by Grant Wythoff and Dreaming the Beatles by Rob Sheffield, though I read those two on paper.)
It's no surprise (at least to me) that Astounding had much more of an impact on me—a transformative impact—than The Perversity of Things. I knew neither Gernsback or Campbell in person, or by any means other than their published writing. In contrast, I knew and worked with Isaac Asimov, the high point of which was getting him to write a Preface for my first published book, In Pursuit of Truth: Essays on the Philosophy of Karl Popper in 1982. It was a collection of essays (I contributed one) of which I was the editor, and I didn't have to work very hard to get Asimov to write the Preface; We already knew each other (I'd sent him my analysis of the Foundation trilogy published a few years earlier in Media and Methods—here's his postcard response—and he quickly accepted Humanity Press's not overly generous offer of $100 to write the Preface for the Popper volume). And, as President of the Science Fiction Writers of America from 1998 to 2001, and as a science fiction writer myself, I also knew or still know many of the secondary players in Astounding, including Harlan Ellison, Arthur C. Clarke, Hal Clement, Robert Silverberg, Sam Delany (I first heard about him from his mother Ruth, in the mid-1960s, in the George Bruce Branch Library in Harlem, where she worked as a librarian and I as a clerk), Ray Bradbury, David Kyle, Barry Malzberg, Greg Benford, Joe Haldeman, Janet (Jeppson) Asimov, and many others. So seeing them in these pages was a tour through many significant conversations and interactions I've had in my own life.
And on being a science fiction writer myself, Nevala-Lee's book also tapped into another profound wellspring of my career: I've been published in Analog 17 times (15 stories and two nonfiction articles—one story acquired by Trevor Quachri, all the rest by Stan Schmidt), and am a card-carrying member (well, pin-affixed) of the Analog Mafia. Stan's editing philosophy continued the best of Campbell's. In my case, for example, Stan urged me to not kill off Phil D'Amato (which I had in the first draft of The Chronology Protection Case), just as Campbell had urged Frank Herbert not to kill Alia in Dune, one of a plethora of winning details that Nevala-Lee puts in this book. The Chronology Protection Case was made into a short movie, now on Amazon Prime, and Phil D'Amato's appearance in my first novel, The Silk Code, won a Locus Award for Best First Novel of 1999.
OK, so I love Nevala-Lee's book. But what about people without my professional history? I can't say for sure, but I would bet that any science fiction writer, as well as any science fiction fan, would find this book riveting, and a treasure trove of context-setting scenes. What follows, in rough order of their appearance in the book, are some of the highlights for me:
1. I knew that Paul Krugman was influenced by the Foundation stories, but not Elon Musk. Given the latter's age, I wonder if he was reading Analog in the mid-late 1990s, when my stories first started appearing in its pages.
2. Campbell, as a kid, kept a garter snake in his pocket. I wonder if Stan Schmidt, who had pet snakes, knew about this.
3. I was fascinated to learn that Campbell's favorite professor at MIT was Norbert Wiener. I studied Wiener's Cybernetics when earning my PhD in Media Ecology under Neil Postman at NYU in the late 1970s. Cybernetics also appears later in the book in its extensive discussion of dianetics—the least favorite part, for me, because I never related to Hubbard, dianetics, or Scientology, but it's an important part of the Campbell story.
4. It turns out that Campbell, like Gernsback, was in effect a media ecologist, presaging the kind of thinking that Marshall McLuhan made famous, by observing that unlike radio, television was very possessive, "you have to look at it," and "Man molded the machine, but the machine is going to mold Man." This difference between radio and television played a crucial role in my doctoral dissertation, Human Replay: A Theory of the Evolution of Media, and I often say that radio amply survived the advent of television if for no other reason than you can listen to radio, but can't (safely) watch television, when driving. I'm grateful to Nevala-Lee for alerting me that Campbell made this point back in the 1930s.
5. One thing I do have in common with L. Ron Hubbard: He was elected President of the NY Chapter of the American Fiction Guild in 1935. As I already mentioned, I was President of SFWA at the end of the 20th century. That, and later being Chair of the Department of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University in NYC, convinced me that elected office was no pleasure, and indeed took too much time away from writing.
6. A lot of the material about Asimov comes from his two-part autobiography,In Memory Yet Green and In Joy Still Felt, which I devoured as soon as they were published (1979, 1980). But it was fun to read it all again—ranging from Asimov getting $64 for his first sale, Marooned Off Vesta, to Amazing Stories not Astounding (my first sale of a science fiction story to a professional publication was also to Amazing Stories—Albert's Cradle in 1993—and the first payment I ever received for any writing was $65 from The Village Voice for A Vote for McCartney in 1971)—to Campbell continually coming up with essential ideas for both the Foundation and the robot stories. (I should also mention that, like Asimov, I have no intention of ever writing under any name other than my own. Except Asimov eventually did, and I won't. I want the girl who didn't laugh at my jokes in 5th grade to see the error of her ways when she walks into a bookstore—or, in today's world, when she's browsing on Amazon.) And it was enlightening to read material about Asimov from other sources that I didn't know.
7. I also studied General Semantics in the NYU Media Ecology PhD program. I still give talks at some of their meetings, and therefore enjoyed Nevala-Lee's recounting of Heinlein's interest in the subject and movement.
8. I do have something else in common with Hubbard: when a potential recommender invited Hubbard to write the recommendation himself, Hubbard obliged with, "This will introduce one of the most brilliant men I have ever known." A reviewer once asked me to write a review of one of my stories, because he was pressed for time. I did, and said it was the best example of this kind of story ever written. I sent it to the reviewer for his approval and he decided to write his own review, after all.
9. It was great reading about Campbell's launching of the Probability Zero section. That was where I had my first publication in Analog, in February 1995.
10. Campbell and Nevala-Lee repeatedly refer to Heinlein as Astounding's (and science fiction's) best writer (until Asimov's The God Themselves in 1972, when Nevala-Lee says Asimov "finally pulled ahead" of Heinlein). I disagree: Asimov was almost always the best science fiction writer, by virtue of his Foundation stories (at least, beginning with The Mule in 1945), his robot stories, and The End of Eternity for good measure. But Heinlein was second, with no one even close behind him, until Philip K. Dick (who I learned in Nevala-Lee's book was published in Astounding/Analog only once).
11. I love this quote from S.I. Hayakawa: "The art [of science fiction] consists in concealing from the reader, for novelistic purposes, the distinctions between established scientific facts, almost-established scientific hypotheses, scientific conjectures, and imaginative extrapolations," from ETC, 1951. I was book editor of that journal in the late 1970s.
12. Nevala-Lee provides many examples of Campbell's astute—and not-so-astute—scientific thinking. I'd say that his most accurate was his anticipation of the hydrogen bomb.
13. I hadn't known that Claude Shannon—co-creator of the Shannon-Weaver model of communications, fundamental to any study of the subject—was a neighbor of Campbell in New Jersey!
14. Nevala-Lee should have said more about The Puppet Masters (1951)—one of Heinlein's best novels, one of the best science fiction novels, period, and of which a good movie has yet to be made (unlike Starship Troopers).
15. I don't blame Asimov for long resisting acquiring an agent. I've had mixed results with agents over the years myself.
16. I also loved learning that Campbell sent Heinlein a Tom Lehrer record as a "peace offering" after an argument (they would "never fully reconcile").
17. I'm with Heinlein not Asimov in Heinlein's bristling at editor instructions and revisions.
18. Heinlein's The Door Into Summer (1956) indeed ranks among his best work—and I'd say among the all-time best time-travel novels—but it comes in second, again, in my opinion, to Asimov's The End of Eternity, published a year earlier. (Nevala does say that it's Asimov's "best single novel." He doesn't say if Heinlein was moved to write his novel after reading Asimov's.)
19. Campbell's rejection of Asimov's Ugly Little Boy was one of his worst mistakes—the story is one of Asimov's very best (and, as Nevala-Lee tells us, one of Asimov's favorites).
20. The material about Charles Manson being inspired by Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land strikes me as the same as Manson being inspired by the Beatles' "Helter Skelter"—you can't blame a creator for what a lunatic gets out of the creator's work.
21. Apropos the mention of Marvin Minsky: I should add that he's also on record as saying his work in AI was triggered by Asimov's robot stories.
22. Campbell's racism in the 1960s was indeed repugnant, as Nevala-Lee says, not to mention his critique of the demonstrators at Kent State in 1970. Silverberg was right not to want to work him after the racism became apparent.
23. I was (sadly) reminded that Mitt Romney said Hubbard's Battleship Earth was his "favorite novel." Back in June 2007, that was one of 10 reasons which led me to wonder if Mitt Romney was a cylon.
So there you have it—a sampling of the gems Nevala-Lee's book offers. If you have any interest in science fiction, let alone knowledge of its history and authors, you'll find this book indispensable. And, if you've ever written any science fiction, maybe transformative, too. It had that exhilarating effect on me, because it made clear that what little I've done as a science fiction writer is tied to a genre, a tradition, that propelled us, and lit up our lives, in the 20th century, and still does.
About the Creator
Paul Levinson
Novels The Silk Code & The Plot To Save Socrates; LPs Twice Upon A Rhyme & Welcome Up; nonfiction The Soft Edge & Digital McLuhan, translated into 15 languages. Best-known short story: The Chronology Protection Case; Prof, Fordham Univ.
Keep reading
More stories from Paul Levinson and writers in Futurism and other communities.
Review of 'The Orville' 2.2
Porn addiction and planetary disintegration were not really connected in the excellent second episode of the second season of The Orville—that is, not at first, at least. By the end, they come together and make for a compelling and as always funny episode in this bizarro Star Trekian series.
By Paul Levinson5 years ago in Futurism
The Business of Nature
Dew drops reflected the light of the sun. The inhabitants of Whispering Woods woke up to the golden droplets of water on the leaves of the flora. The oaks particularly enjoyed the light and the maples did, too. Happiness enveloped all who lived there, even the rocks that cried out in the night delighted in the morning.
By Skyler Saundersabout 13 hours ago in Fiction
Comments (1)
Great review, one of the few objective reviews of this book I have seen. I have been reading Science Fiction since 1963. Since reading Nevala - Lee's Astounding, in Fall of 2023, I thought I would research this topic and write a review. I still consider the Campbell created "Golden Age" to be the pinnacle of SF. Whether or not if 2 or 3 of his dozens of published authors had serious issues. A review of Nevala – Lee’s Astounding, Hardcover Edition. John W. Campbell Jr. [JWC] and everyone else alive in Western Civilization were the immediate products of one of the most incredible scientific, technological, and educational advancement periods in the History of the world, to 1939. The Printing Press, Maxwell's Equations leading to radio, TV, RADAR, etc., Agronomy had essentially been invented by Lincoln's land grant colleges, Edison and Westinghouse created a lot of modern conveniences. Advancements included electrification of cities, airplanes, automobiles, telephones, Einsteinian Physics, X-Ray medical apparatus, etc. Korzybski had created General Semantics and “time binding” of knowledge to next generations as an alternative to the ancient and Modern Philosophies that had often failed to produce broadly shared safety, education, stability, and prosperity. In 1939, Campbell was a Physicist, teenage Asimov would later receive a Doctorate in Biochemistry, Heinlein [RAH] had an Engineering background, and A E van Vogt was already published. There were many other great Golden Age SF authors, the contents pages of “Adventures In Time And Space” by Healy/McComas is filled with them, but only thru 1945. Later anthologies add many more. People thought mankind could achieve much, thru education (mind training). With WWII coming, JWC and nearly everyone else felt that totalitarianism and powerful retrogressive forces were existential threats to mankind's otherwise bright future. By studying history, using analogy/allegory and cautionary tales, they tried to educate readers on many differing aspects of ideology, promote science, education and multiple other topics, besides writing interesting, entertaining and literate Science Fiction. JWC and others thought the human mind, with proper training, may be capable of all kinds of feats. Telepathy, telekinesis, psionics, and such were considered. That said, neither Campbell or van Vogt spent a large amount time with the original Dianetics, a year or 2 for each with van Vogt branching off with a different group and JWC moving on. After reading Nevala - Lee's “Astounding” this reviewer purchased “The John W. Campbell Letters Volumes l and II” and published by AC Projects, Inc. I procured Alva Rogers “Requiem For Astounding”, and downloaded the text of James Gunn's classic 1971 film, “Lunch With John Campbell” where JWC speaks with many well known SF authors of the era. To see this resource type “Christopher McKitterick Sturgeon Campbell Campbell DVD” in your browser. Already in the library were “Billion Year Spree” by Brian Aldiss, “The World Of Science Fiction” By Lester Del Rey, “The Science Fiction Book” by Rottensteiner and a few more. All of JWCs Astounding/Analog editorials are available free online from several sources. Reading them is recommended. Some of the concerns regarding Nevala- Lee’s “Astounding” are as follows. Nevala - Lee's reference technique is often difficult to follow. Sometimes, not enough detail is given to discern where the info came from, particularly in Chapter 15. Those were read, but they were very difficult to research, as they could not be verified. Nevala – Lee seems to elevate Hubbard as one of the big three SF authors/figures of The Golden Age of SF to criticize later Dianetics involvements at the expense of A E van Vogt. Who began the Golden Age in the July, 1939 issue of Astounding with "Black Destroyer". Hubbard definitely was published but did not get the fan response of those JWC names below, before or after WW II active duty curtailed his writing. Rogers in “Requiem For Astounding” documents the popular stories monthly thru 1957. Regardless if the Golden Age is thought to be 1939 thru 1946 or thru 1950, the big three in the 1940s were considered by JWC and the fans to be Heinlein, van Vogt and Asimov. This line up with van Vogt is supported by a JWC letter to Terry Carr 6/17/1968 and contained in the “John W. Campbell Letters Volume I”. JWC names van Vogt with Asimov and RAH as the “Big Ones”. van Vogt wrote with his wife, E. Mayne Hull, who JWC published, too. van Vogt is a very significant and influential figure in SF literature [in my opinion: second only to Wells in creating SF’s basic ideas - with input from JWC, but was minimized by a few critics who could not comprehend some of his work, or did not until decades later. van Vogt’s 1945 “The World of Null A” was published in the US and British editions of Astounding 4 years prior to George Orwell’s 1949 printing and release of “Nineteen Eighty – Four”. “Null A” likely influenced Orwell. van Vogt uses concepts from Korzybski’s General Semantics to promote retaining for mankind, word meanings, sane philosophies, and the importance of succeeding generation’s ability to read and understand the written records of human history. van Vogt demonstrates this generational passing of knowledge in “Null A” thru analogy, by having his main character Gilbert Gosseyn [Go-Sane], die several times to reawaken in duplicate bodies with his memory intact - “time binding”. Orwell is not so esoteric. His appendix in Nineteen Eighty - Four describing Newspeak as a way of destroying the past and rewriting History is very clear on this subject and it is critically important literature. RAH seems to take a shot at this topic in 1959’s “Starship Troopers” with his History and Moral Philosophy high school classes replacing Newspeak/General Semantics. All 3 successfully approach this topic. Nevala - Lee appears to think Astounding collapsed in the 1950s due to the appearance of other SF magazines. The opposite is correct. JWC and Astounding’s success was noticed by the publishing industry, leading to other SF magazines and competition for authors. That is another success story by JWC and his crew. This was by no means the end of Astounding and created multiple outlets for authors, and Analog survives as of 2024. JWC and Astounding/Analog continued on for 20 more years, publishing many great authors and stories. Many feel The Golden Age lasted until JWC’s death in 1971. On pages 331 – 332 Nevala - Lee notes a lack of evidence for differences in opinion between Hubbard and JWC. Nevala - Lee observes it is impossible to verify or determine. But on page 360, he notes an anecdote from Mr. Benford, without mentioning, there is no way to verify it. On page 362 Nevala - Lee has a few quotes and criticisms from a stream of consciousness, disorganized letter, probably one of many raucous attempts to get Asimov to write a story JWC wants from his old friend, dated 10/4/1957. This letter is in “The John W. Campbell Letters Vol I”. However, Nevala – Lee does not mention that JWC returned to this issue with the organized editorial “Sociological Barrier” in the April 1963 issue of Analog that specifically rejects racism and mentions Egypt, that basically asks for someone to research this and write a story about it. Some saying that JWC supported the 1968 George Wallace Presidential bid may not have read the editorial cited. That editorial (Political Entropy) is in the November 1968 Analog magazine, available online. A brief read contrasting the US two party system problems and a protest vote. On page 364, there is a discussion of Samuel R, Delany’s 1968 “Nova” [the GD word] submission to JWC, who rejected it. JWC also rejected RAH’s 1962 “Stranger in A Strange Land” [sex, cannibalism] 6 years earlier. JWC’s letter to Alexi Panshin, 9/8/1970, “The John W. Campbell Letters Vol I”, would explain these rejections. JWC writes to Panshin: “Part of my rejection of the “New Wave” stories stems from the observation that sex has not played any major role in any of the great millennia-enduring epic of human literature. Conclusion: Sex literature is literature of “planned obsolescence’--- it is a short-lived type.” Strangely, Nevala – Lee gives a pass to RAH’s 1964’s “Farnham’s Freehold”. A work that characterizes all black people as megalomaniac, sex slave owning cannibals. Among a promotion of more near universally rejected concepts. NOT published by JWC. The Nevala – Lee “Astounding” book reads a lot like a fictional historical novel, which may be hard to avoid with so much to cover. If entirely accurate, it is saddening to hear that RAH treated his first wife terribly, that Hubbard had a lot of self-made trouble, Asimov was a serial groper, and that JWC’s first wife deserted him and abandoned their children. But JWC, according to his 2nd wife, was a good parent and spouse, and they stayed together for 20 years until he passed. Her comments are found here: “The John W. Campbell Letters Vol I”, in the John Wood Campbell introduction by Perry A. Chapdelaine, SR. and George Ray. Summation: There is no evidence that JWC was a “Fascist” and a lot that he was not. JWC published multiple anti-totalitarian works of SF by many authors, including RAH, van Vogt, Williamson, Dickson, etc. JWC’s authors also chose multiple varied and lighter topics, too. However, the Futurians were sympathetic to the Soviet Union. As the Soviet mass murders, gulags, and forced famines became known during and after WWII, that rapidly diminished. JWC published at least 10 female authors, as Nevala - Lee points out. JWC began publishing C. L. Moore almost as soon as he started editing Astounding. From the beginning of his editorship, he was definitely stirring writers up to get them interested in writing about all issues, being deliberately in opposition during fact and plot debates to create well thought-out, well-rounded stories. JWC also published in Astounding/Analog many Science Fiction short stories and novels critical of discrimination and racism soon after he became editor and up until his death. He was also concerned about too much “help” from the large nations to undeveloped nations. He felt that destroyed their cultures - some see this thought as racism. Here are a few: A E van Vogt “Slan” novel serialized in Astounding 1940. About a young boy whose family is “different” and the lethal discrimination he must overcome. One of the first Golden Age novels, and it was hugely successful. Grade A+ Lester Dey Rey “The Wings Of Night” short story 1942. A First Contact and anti-racist short story. Two independent Space Truckers land on the Moon with engine troubles. There, they meet the last survivor of a non-human Lunar Civilization, who spectacularly fixes their ship’s drive due to his ancient knowledge, but one of the truckers has issues. Grade A+ Eric Frank Russell “Jay Score” short stories beginning 1941. A multi racially crewed space ship travels about, with adventures: “Symbiotica” is a very famous entry in this series. Another Star Trek influence? Grade A+ A E van Vogt “The Mixed Men” 1943-1945 series, later a novel of the same name and released under several titles. Due to a new transporting invention malfunction, a sort of new race is created on Earth. They face discrimination and leave Earth, only to be discovered thousands of years later by a vast and powerful Earth military starship, commanded by a very determined woman. The ship is so large that you move thru it by transporter. Tractor beams, FTL drives, telepathy, political intrigues, romantic interests, space battles, you name it. Grade A+ This book, and van Vogt’s “The Voyage of The Space Beagle” and short stories are considered by many to have influenced Forbidden Planet, Star Trek, Alien, X Men, Terminator and more. Due to a copyright issue with Astounding magazine revealed by Nevala – Lee [thanks, was not aware of this] that went on for 5 years and spending time on Dianetics, van Vogt lost 10 years of productivity, never recovering his top form. What a loss. Poul Anderson “The Helping Hand” short story 1950. Anderson’s powerful story about accepting too much help from expanding wealthy planets [nations], and how that can affect your culture. Grade A+ Keith Laumer “The Last Command” short story 1967. Do AI robot tanks qualify as human beings? SF at its best. Contemplating battle, technology, age, duties, due diligence, and loyalties. Grade A+ Gordon R. Dickson “Wolfling” novel, first serialized in Analog 1969. An alien? race that rules by skin color shows up on Earth. The main character is too dark for their caste system and is considered a Wolfling, but he is also Earth’s secret agent emissary to the invaders. Slavery, spying, Galactic Empire, surprises, a “competent man” tries to save the Earth from evil. The ending is a little complex. Contrast this to “Farnham’s Freehold”. Grade B+ There are many other works somewhat similar to Nevala – Lee’s subject matter. I am sure there are more than this: Aldiss' “Billion Year Spree”, Del Rey's “The World of Science Fiction”, Sam Moskowitz, also James Gunn's classic 1971 film, “Lunch With John Campbell” - text located here, type: “Christopher McKitterick Sturgeon Campbell Campbell DVD” in your browser. It has interviews with people who were there with JWC for years. The Asimov tribute to JWC in the “John W. Campbell Memorial Anthology” edited by Harry Harrison, is highly recommended reading. Nearly all anthologies thru 1985 will have a discussion of JWC, and all of JWC’s editorials are available to be read online. Nevala – Lee receives a 10 for effort, a 5 for execution. FYI, nearly all of van Vogt is available online, too. As JWC encouraged, study multiple sources and viewpoints, and decide for yourself! References to and excerpts from the John W. Campbell Letters Volume I and II are used and reprinted with permission of AC Projects, Inc, 7111 Sweetgum Road, Fairview, TN, 37062