Coming Soon! Vintage Science Fiction Month!
Posted on: November 30, 2019
A cool thing about “getting old” is that there are things I’ve been doing so long that I don’t remember when they started, or why they started, or how they get started. Like an in-joke with your family, no one knows how the joke got started, but everyone laughs and smiles when someone says it.
Vintage Science Fiction month is my favorite iteration of life time hobbies and family in-jokes, it even grew so big that I have a co-host, Jacob at Red Star Reviews! Jacob fearlessly run the Vintage Science Fiction Month twitter account, sets up guest posts, and generally keeps me out of trouble.
Over the years, Vintage SciFi Month has had read alongs, interviews, guest posts, book reviews, cover art galleries, author bios, podcasts, bingo cards, blind date with the book give aways, you name it! Every year there is something new, something more, new readers, different titles, new outlooks on old books.
Just joining us and have no idea what I’m talking about?
Vintage Science Fiction month takes place every January, and has a few guidelines:
– read, watch, listen to, or experience something science fiction / fantasy that was created in 1979 or earlier
– talk about it online sometime in January
– have fun
Those are just guidelines, not rules. Some people follow the “I’ll read a book that is older than I am”, and they were born in 1988 or 1942. Totally ok. Some people only want to do e-books or audiobooks or watch old TV shows. Also totally ok. Some people end up reading something they didn’t really enjoy, and unfortunately it wasn’t fun. No one is obligated to like everything they read, and it’s ok to say you didn’t like something.
Jacob and I do this every year, and we invite you to join us.
Have questions? have recommendations? Want to know what publishers are doing e-books of Vintage titles? I could make assumptions about what your questions are, but who wants that?
If you have questions, put them in the comments below. If I don’t know the answer, I’ll find some other Vintage Sci Fi -ers who do! let’s crowdsource this FAQ!
22 Responses to "Coming Soon! Vintage Science Fiction Month!"
November 30, 2019 at 3:01 pm
Hello, I actually was born in 1942, but I haven’t read nearly as much SF as most readers of this blog, and my hat’s off to you for putting together this exchange of ideas on a regular basis. Anyway, in the fifties there was this SF film, “It Came From Outer Space.” I just loved it, then along came “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” So I guess I like intelligent alien stuff – if it ends on a mutual understanding note. Can you or somebody tell me of a great alien book written before I was born? Thanks!
LikeLike
November 30, 2019 at 3:44 pm
Maybe the “Captain Future” pulps or the John Carter/Barsoom series would fit the bill?
LikeLike
November 30, 2019 at 9:22 pm
It’s a possibility! Thanks! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barsoom
LikeLike
December 1, 2019 at 4:12 pm
my friend John recommends “First Contact” by Murray Leinster, says it is a clever, optimistic story. came out in the mid 1940s. Hmmm. . . clever? optimistic? sounds perfect to me!
LikeLike
December 3, 2019 at 7:22 pm
Oooo…I might just have to do this! There is some old science fiction I’ve been meaning to get to, and this gives me a reason to read it sooner rather than later.
LikeLike
December 3, 2019 at 8:35 pm
We’d love to have you join in! This is a wonderful way to get around to the older scifi that has been sitting on your bookshelf. If you’re on twitter, tag your posts with #VintageSciFi, or @VintageSciFiMonth, and Jacob and I will help promote your posts.
December 6, 2019 at 1:10 am
I’ve been saving stuff all year! I love starting January off with a pile of old sci-fi. I got Spock Must Die! and all sorts of things.
December 17, 2019 at 3:32 pm
Just to clarify, is it okay to choose science fiction films or TV shows that aired before 1979 for this challenge? I’ll be participating either way, just want to make sure I’m following the rules.
LikeLike
December 17, 2019 at 8:53 pm
oh yeah! we always get a lot of films, tv shows, and even radio shows every year! the more variety, the better. (rules? they are more like really loose guidelines)
LikeLike
January 7, 2020 at 1:30 pm
[…] This month I will post a little more here than I have been. I look forward to participating in Vintage SF Month again and have several vintage SF books sitting on my shelf that have been read but not […]
LikeLike
9 | Vintage Science Fiction Month: “The Caves of Steel” by Isaac Asimov (1953)
January 18, 2020 at 12:00 am
[…] by Berthold Gambrel on January 18, 2020January 17, 2020 From Little Red Reviewer […]
LikeLike
16 | Vintage Science Fiction Month Book Review: “Foundation” by Isaac Asimov (1951)
January 28, 2022 at 12:01 am
[…] The book is actually a series of short stories compiled together, and in some ways, that shows. None of the different characters are around long enough for them to be really fleshed out, but the dilemmas they face are interesting, as are their ways of resolving them. In a way, it feels to me like a forerunner of the original Star Trek, in that each situation presents some moral or ethical situation for the characters to work through. (Another reason this book is perfect for Vintage Science Fiction Month!) […]
LikeLike
the Little Red Reviewer 
November 30, 2019 at 2:56 pm
This is interesting! I’m not hugely well-read on sci-fi but I might just look into this!!:)
LikeLiked by 1 person