H. Rich Thompson & Hal K. Wells 
Astounding Stories. January 1931. 
Volume 5, No. 1. January, 1931

Science Fiction has always drawn some of our most creative writers to its form. Back in the early decades of the twentieth century events conspired to propel the whole genre forward from the earlier works of Jules Verne and other luminaries.New media technologies were coming to the fore with radio and television to add to new industrial processes and ideas. Hollywood’s golden years were creating ‚escapist fare‘ as the world battled with war and depression where the impossible seemed possible. On the streets pulp magazines were becoming the dominant form of mass market reading. The real world had shrunk and other worlds were sought.Writers were able to fuse ideas with technical ‚know how‘ and create fabulous inventions of other worlds and other times. These inspired other writers to re-imagine almost everything in the search for new situations and environments.A Golden Age was upon us. These are their stories…….THE DARK SIDE OF ANTRI by SEWELL PEASLEE WRIGHTCommander John Hanson Relates an Interplanetary Adventure Illustrating the Splendid Service Spirit of the Men of the Special Patrol.THE SUNKEN EMPIRE by H. THOMPSON RICHConcerning the Strange Adventures of Professor Stevens with the Antillians on the Floor of the Mysterious Sargasso Sea.THE GATE TO XORAN by HAL K. WELLSA Strange Man of Metal Comes to Earth on a Dreadful Mission.THE EYE OF ALLAH by C. D. WILLARDOn the Fatal Seventh of September a Certain Secret Service Man Sat in the President’s Chair and Looked Back into the Eye of Allah.THE FIFTH-DIMENSION CATAPULT by MURRAY LEINSTERThe Story of Tommy Reames‘ Extraordinary Rescue of Professor Denham and his Daughter Marooned in the Fifth Dimension. (A Complete Novelette.) FOREWORD, CHAPTER I, CHAPTER II, CHAPTER III, CHAPTER IV, CHAPTER VTHE PIRATE PLANET by CHARLES W. DIFFINTwo Fighting Yankees-War-Torn Earth’s Sole Representatives on Venus-Set Out to Spike the Greatest Gun of All Time. (Part Three of a Four-Part Novel.) WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE, CHAPTER XIII, CHAPTER XIV, CHAPTER XVMYSTERIOUS CARLSBAD CAVERNABOUT THE AUTHORS