Whitney at the Secret Sauce of Storycraft YouTube channel recently reviewed several science fiction books she called Just D@mn Good Vintage Science Fiction Reads. She intentionally avoided books considered classic science fiction and defined the kind of books she was looking for in used bookstores as vintage science fiction. She defined vintage science fiction as books published before barcodes appeared on their covers. That would be the mid-1980s. This would be science fiction her parents and grandparents would have read.
She reviewed these books (Links will bring up the video at YouTube):
- Inherit the Stars by James P. Hogan
- Daybreak 2250 AD by Andre Norton
- Star Kings by Edmond Hamilton
- Deathworld by Harry Harrison
- Sirius by Olaf Stapledon
- Goblin Reservation by Clifford D. Simak
- Ship Who Sang by Anne McCaffrey
- Little Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper
- Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison
- Trouble with Lichen by John Wyndham
- Empire Star by Samuel R. Delany
- Downward to the Earth by Robert Silverberg
- Iceworld by Hal Clement
- Hospital Station by James White
- Decision at Doona by Anne McCaffrey
I have read most of these books with Empire Star and Downward to the Earth being two of my Top 25 science fiction novels. Whitney’s reviews made me think about all the old books I found in used bookstores that weren’t famous but were fun reads. Maybe not outstanding examples of the genre, but the fun kind of science fiction that made you forget about your worries.
Her video makes me want to make my own list of Vintage SF Gems. Books to look for at library book sales that maybe no one is buying. Books you don’t see reprinted in new editions at new bookstores. If you don’t want to hunt used editions, these vintage SF titles are often reprinted as Kindle books at Amazon, sometimes for just $1.99. Kindle and Audible editions are the best sources for finding vintage science fiction today after the demise of the mass-market paperback.
My favorite science fiction books back in the 1960s were Heinlein’s Juveniles. Robert A. Heinlein’s reputation is fading, and I think that’s partly due to online reviewers reviewing the wrong books. Heinlein wanted to be remembered for Starship Troopers, Stranger in a Strange Land, and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. And those are generally the titles found on new bookshelves and often reviewed. But they are also Heinlein’s novels that many people dislike including myself. And the novels written after that are even worse.
I wish modern reviewers would review Heinlein’s work from the 1950s. If you see old copies of these books give them a try. These science fiction books have given me the most fun over my entire lifetime. I’ve reread them many times. They are how I epitomize science fiction. All by Robert A. Heinlein.
- Have Space Suit-Will Travel
- Tunnel in the Sky
- Time for the Stars
- The Rolling Stones
- Farmer in the Sky
- Citizen of the Galaxy
- Starman Jones
- The Star Beast
- Double Star
- The Door Into Summer
After this plug for Heinlein, I want to remember those vintage science fiction titles I believe deserve more readers. I’m just going to post images of the covers I fondly remember. Hopefully, you might spot these books at used bookstores, charity shops, and friends-of-the-library sales in their funky old editions. For me, old covers are essential to the vintage science fiction experience.
These are just a handful of books I could recall from memory this morning.
James Wallace Harris, 2/23/25
Classics of Science Fiction 
My two favorite Heinlein books are Double Star and Door into Summer, and of course, I love most of his juveniles, but I also like Stranger. It’s a rambling book, of course, but I read it at a critical point as a teen and in particular it was the first time I ever encountered any criticism of religion.
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I loved STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND when I first read it 13. But as I aged, with each rereading I had more and more ethical problems with the story.
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I agree that Stranger in its totality has problems, but it has so many ideas (and I’m talking about the original published version of 1961 here not the so-called original that his widow rushed into print after his death), sprinkled throughout that I still find it worthwhile. And I’ve never found a better definition of love.
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I do agree it was a great idea for a science fiction novel. And it has plenty of nifty aspects. It was very ambitious for SF at the time.
I need to reread it regarding your point about love. I remember it for its intolerance.
Interestingly, I should reread it because I’m thinking of switching my religious affiliation from atheist to pantheist. If I do I might to embrace that Thou Art God address.
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No need to read the whole thing if all you want is his definition of love. I quoted it in this post https://namelyjt.com/2021/12/27/the-definition-of-love/
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Hi Jim, Thanks for sharing this fab list—a real journey down memory lane, with many fascinating titles to follow up on. It is important to value and revisit these speculative histories and archetypes. What you’re doing is important … particularly to SF scholars (and aspirational ones, like me! 😉 )
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Hi,
Although I haven’t responded in a long while, I’ve continued to read each of your articles. This one prompted me to write.
Like you, I’m a big fan of Heinlein’s books, mainly the juveniles, from the fifties. And like you, I have a hard time reading anything of his after Podkayne of Mars. Those juveniles got me hooked on science fiction, along with other authors like Andre Norton, Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke. All of them, as you know, wrote their own juveniles, some as good as the “adult” sci fi being published at the time. Those covers were really something! I remember the first time I saw the Ace paperback of Daybreak 2250 AD (Starman’s Son).
And, although not up to the heights of the Big Three, writers like Lester del Rey and Murray Leinster added greatly to my enjoyment of the genre. I’ve many first editions of the Winston Science Fiction series, also with those wonderful dustjackets.
Thanks for your articles. You’ve introduced me to many authors I would have otherwise never discovered. But there’s nothing like those “sense of wonder” books from the fifties.
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I’d loved to have a set of the Winston Science Fiction books. Those covers were fantastic. However, it would take a pile of money to get them.
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The covers alone inspired dreams worth dreaming.
Even the end of the world & mankind rebooted type stories had a boldness and optimism missing from most modern literature. Some modern editors would call these books socially reckless.
Fran
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Many thanks for this feature. I agree about the covers. I think SFF illustration is an art form in itself, comparable to Surrealism, Cubism, etc.
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