WARNING: REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS
Lots of people know that John W. Campbell was one of the genre's most important editors, but not so many people understand that he was equally as important as a writer of short stories. During the late 1920's and the early 1930's Campbell was actually one of the three or four most important authors, along with EE "Doc" Smith and Edmund Hamilton. Prior to the works we are about to explore, Campbell wrote super-science stories that were very typical of the pulp era. But in 1934 Campbell had an idea, wrote a novelette called Twilight, and single-handedly changed the entire direction of the genre. It was not a lark; Campbell meant to write something new and different, and reportedly discussed his idea with his wife for months before finishing the work. What he came up with was, and still is regarded by many as the catalyst for the most important paradigm change that SF has ever gone through. Twilight was intense, moody, gloomy and epic. In it Campbell threw off all the motifs of the dominant form of Space Opera and began to explore the psychological reactions of his characters. More importantly he wished to evoke a psychological reaction in his readers, but something other than awe. Something more akin to the tingly feeling you get when a big rig just misses you.....Please click here or on the book cover above to be taken to the rest of the review.
WARNING: REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS
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