Alec Nevala-Lee’s book Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction, is a fascinating look at the group of talented and imaginative men - and a few women - who turned science fiction, once just one pulp genre among many, into a cultural force that underlies much of what America - and hence, to some extent, the world - understands as entertainment and influenced how America looks at, and shapes, its future. The person at the heart of this group, and this book, though less welknown outside of fannish circles, is the formative editor of Astounding Science Fiction, John W. Campbell. It is not overstating the matter at all to say that, through his working relationships with many of the great sf writers of the time, it was Campbell’s tastes, inclinations, and often his ideas and pet projects that determined the development if mainstream American science fiction.
Nevala-Lee here presents what is the first biography of John W. Campbell, intertwined with keypoint biographies of the three authors whose work and personal contact helped ‘make’ Astounding Into the magazine Campbell wanted, Isaac Asimov, L. Ron Hubbard, and Robert Heinlein. The book also places considerable emphasis on the role of Campbell’s first wife, Doña Stewart Stebbins, whose silent contributions to his writing helped to mature and deepen his work. In acknowledgement, Campbell published most of the stories that bore heavy testament to Doña’s influence under the pen name Don A. Stuart.
It is also a history of the magazine, and to some degree, of early fandom, particularly those aspects of fandom where the writers Campbell nurtured interacted with both fans and other writers. And for anyone interested in science fiction, its beginnings, development, and personalities, it is a fascinating read.
What stands out clearly in Nevala-Lee’s account is the impact that a devotion to the value of science on civilisation had on Campbell and the authors in his inner circle. They believed that science was the key to the future, and to the advancement of the human race. Along with this came the conviction that science fiction could be a tool in spreading the influence of science, snd that science fiction fans were a special group of people with the potential to offer more to the world than anyone suspected. As an editor, Campbell used the magazine, and his influence over the writers who submitted stories to him, and wrote stories based on his suggestions, to promote this view of science, and science fiction fans. Campbell and many of the writers he cultivated were particularly drawn to the idea that the principles of ‘hard’ science would eventually prove to be applicable to all aspects of the human condition, including psychology.
By necessity, Astounding is also a record of the early development of Dianetics, and thus Scientology. Campbell’s long-standing fascination with the idea of a ‘science of the mind’ made him particularly interested in the work that Hubbard - who was always exaggerating his activities, accomplishments, and abilities to a point that might have stretched incredulity had he not had the demeanor of a larger-than-life heroic character - claimed to be doing in healing people with both mental and physical afflictions through his new, scientific approach to the human mind. In many ways, Campbell was an early collaborator with Hubbard in the development of dianetics, as well as one of Hubbard’s earliest and most enthusiastic patients. Campbell was so enamoured with dianetics that he attempted to ‘convert’ everyone he knew - particularly his authors - to the belief that dianetics was the greatest advancement in the understanding of the human mind, and the creation of a rational superman who would create a civilisation without illness or war. Some prominent authors were intrigued, and joined the rapidly growing movement, others thought it was pure nonsense, and some even broke with Campbell over his drive to sell dianetics to them. Campbell was particularly hopeful of enlisting both Heinlein and Asimov, but Heinlein, on his new wife Ginny’s advice, decided to wait for more research, and Asimov, being naturally cautious, declined to get too deeply involved.
Just as Campbell was weakening his ties to many of the authors who were regulars in Astounding with his attachment to dianetics, authors who might have become involved simply because Astounding was the market they relied on, two potential rivals entered the field - Herbert Gold’s Galaxy, and the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, helmed by Anthony Boucher and J. Francis McComas. Astounding’s preeminence in the field was being challenged, and both Asimov and Heinlein, among others, were submitting to the new magazines and being published. The Golden Age of science fiction, which is often said to have begun with July 1939 issue of Astounding Science Fiction, was drawing to an end.
Nevala-Lee continues his narrative through to the final passing of the Golden Age influences, with the deaths of Campbell, Heinlein, Hubbard and Asimov, but the meat of the book is, as the title suggests, the Golden Age years. The author has been even-handed in his account of Campbell’s life and pursuits, showing both the things that made him and his influence on science fiction worthy of recognition, and the many flaws and eccentricities that made him a problematic influence for so many. It’s a remarkable study of the imprint of a man on an entire genre of popular culture, and I recommend it to any serious student or fan of science fiction.
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