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Cover of Astounding Stories, May, 1931

Astounding Stories, May, 1931

by Various (1900–1981)

  • Free to read
  • 5 hours to read
  • 19 chapters
  • Reading level: 6th grade

"Astounding Stories, May, 1931" by Various is a collection of science fiction stories published in early 20th century (specifically the early 1930s). The magazine features a series of imaginative and thrilling narratives, showcasing brave characters who embark on extraordinary adventures through space, encountering mysterious celestial phenomena and dangerous creatures. The opening of "Astounding Stories" introduces readers to a vivid future where airships dominate the skies and characters like Walter Harkness are involved in groundbreaking transportation and explorations. In this first chapter, Harkness, a young entrepreneur, faces a catastrophic tsunami and financial ruin, yet learns of a mysterious new satellite dubbed the "Dark Moon" that has joined the Earth’s orbit. This new development forces him to confront both personal and external threats as he seeks to explore the Dark Moon with his pilot Chet Bullard, setting the stage for a gripping adventure amidst unforeseen challenges. The narrative combines elements of suspense, exploration, and the potential for discovery, drawing readers into its fantastical world.

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  • Science fiction · Periodicals
  • Science fiction, American · Periodicals

Read the opening

Chapter I: There Comes a New World

[Sidenote: Mysterious, dark, out of the unknown deep comes a new satellite to lure three courageous Earthlings on to strange adventures.]

The one hundred and fifty-ninth floor of the great Transportation Building allowed one standing at a window to look down upon the roofs of the countless buildings that were New York.

Flat-decked, all of them; busy places of hangars and machine shops and strange aircraft, large and small, that rose vertically under the lift of flashing helicopters.

The air was alive and vibrant with directed streams of stubby-winged shapes that drove swiftly on their way, with only a wisp of vapor from their funnel-shaped sterns to mark the continuous explosion that propelled them. Here and there were those that entered a shaft of pale-blue light that somehow outshone the sun. It marked an ascending area, and there ships canted swiftly, swung their blunt noses upward, and vanished, to the upper levels.

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Contents

  1. Front Matter
  2. Chapter I: There Comes a New World
  3. Chapter II: Escape
  4. Chapter III: The Space Terror
  5. Chapter IV: The Rescue in Space
  6. Chapter V: The "Dark Moon"
  7. Chapter VI: Trapped
  8. Chapter VII: In the Labyrinth
  9. Chapter VIII: The Half-Men
  10. Chapter IX: The Throwers of Thunder
  11. Chapter X: "But Awfully Dumb...."
  12. Chapter XI: "Nothing to Be Done"
  13. Part Two of a Four-Part Novel: By Ray Cummings
  14. Part Two of a Four-Part Novel: By Ray Cummings
  15. Chapter VIII: The Murder of Major Atwood
  16. Chapter IX: Migul — Mechanism Almost Human
  17. Chapter X: Events Engraven on the Scroll of Time
  18. Chapter XI: Back to the Beginning of Time
  19. Chapter XII: A Billion Years in An Hour!
  20. Chapter XIII: In the Burned Forest

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About this edition

This free edition of Astounding Stories, May, 1931 by Various comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #30532, released 2009-11-23. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Short Stories, Science-Fiction & Fantasy, Adventure.

Summary provided by Project Gutenberg (automatically generated).