87 Authors of the Sci-Fi/Fantasy Golden Age

How well do you know your genre?

I’m on a mission to become better acquainted with mine.

If you’ve ever read Battlefield Earth, you’ve seen the mega list of names to which Hubbard dedicated the book – the Golden Age authors of the magazines from the ’30s and ’40s, such as Amazing Stories and John W. Campbell Jr.’s Astounding Science Fiction.

Though hardly the beginning of the genre, the Golden Age was that sweet spot, when it was just beginning to bud, to find its voice – before the genre grew too big for one person to read in a lifetime.

Though I’ve read a lot of science fiction, I’ve only read seven of these authors. Seven!

I want a better grasp on the classics than that. I’m starting with Before the Golden Age: A Science Fiction Anthology of the 1930s, compiled by Isaac Asimov. These are his favorite stories from when he was growing up – ones that influenced his own journey to writerdom. Some of these authors aren’t on Hubbard’s list, but of course I’m going to read them anyway.

How have you studied your genre? What authors most influenced your writing style? Tell me in the comments!

And if sci-fi and fantasy are your game, take a gander at this infographic. Hubbard’s full list is in text below, so you can copy and paste anywhere (I made myself a little Evernote checklist).

infographic listing 87 authors of the Golden Age of Science Fiction and Fantasy

Click and it can be yours.

And the text version:

Science Fiction & Fantasy Golden Age Authors

He mentions these first:
Robert A. Heinlein

A.E. van Vogt

John W. Campbell, Jr.

And then all these:

Forrest J. Ackerman

Poul Anderson

Isaac Asimov

Harry Bates

Eando Bender

Alfred Bester

James Blish

Robert Bloch

Nelson Bond

Anthony Boucher

Leigh Brackett

Ray Bradbury

Fredric Brown

Arthur J. Burks

Edgar Rice Burroughs

Karel Capek

E.J. Carnell

Cleve Cartmill

Arthur C. Clarke

Hal Clement

Groff Conklin

Ray Cummings

L. Sprague de Camp

Lester del Rey

August Derleth

Ralph Milne Farley

Hugo Gernspack

Mary Gnaedinger

H.L. Gold

Edmond Hamilton

Robert E. Howard

E. Mayne Hull

Aldous Huxley

Malcolm Jameson

David H. Keller

Otis Adelbert Kline

C.M. Kornbluth

Henry Kuttner

Fritz Leiber

Murray Leinster

Willy Ley

Frank Belknap Long

H.P. Lovecraft

R.W. Lowndes

J. Francis McComas

Laurence Manning

Leo Margulies

Judith Merril

Sam Merwin, Jr.

P. Shuyler Miller

C.L. “Northwest Smith” Moore

Alden H. Norton

George Orwell

Raymond A. Palmer

Frederik Pohl

Fletcher Pratt

E. Hoffman Price

Ed Earl Repp

Ross Rocklynne

Eric Frank Russell

Nathan Schachner

Idris Seabright (Margaret St. Clair)

Clifford D. Simak

C.A. Smith

E.E. “Doc” Smith

Olaf Stapeldon

Theodore Sturgeon

John Taine

William F. Temple

F. Orlin Tremain

Wilson Tucker

Jack Vance

Donald Wandrei

Stanley G. Weinbaum

Manly Wade Wellman

H.G. Wells

Jack Williamson

Russell Winderbotham

Donald A. Wollheim

Farnsworth Wright

S. Fowler Wright

Philip Wylie

John Wyndham

Arthur Leo Zagat