My 1957 Pyramid paperback edition omits three stories that were in the original 1950 hardback edition of this anthology. My paperback had a rather high number of typo errors which surprised me. Some of these stories just are not that great from a modern viewpoint. Dated in various ways of style, but they are very much of their time and lets us go back 70-80 years and imagine what the writers imagined. Some however are very good and made me glad I gave this collection a try. I think the most notable story for me was Robert Moore Williams' "The Red Death of Mars." This one gave me the sorts of creeps and shivers that early stories such as some that are in Ray Bradbury's 'Martian Chronicles' did. This first appeared in the July 1940 issue of Astounding Science Fiction magazine. I was also charmed by the Scottish engineer in the story who could have been a model for Star Trek's Scotty! That was 80 years ago for this story, and for a science fiction story that old, this was good. I believe I've only read one other short story by this author several years back (and remember it as a good one). I have an unread novel by him in an Ace double.

I liked in one way or another almost every story in here. One of my other favorites was "The Plants" by Murray Leinster. My two least favorites were the science heavy one by Hal Clement, although it too had merits, and the finale by ElRon. The oldest story, the title one, by Manly Wade Wellman, was a little frightening with its sense of progress at any cost. I was also caught up in Van Vogt's story "Far Centaurus".

Even if nothing else was any good, the 'Red Death of Mars' story made this worth the trouble.

The included material was:
Foreword (1950) • essay by Martin Greenberg
Introduction (1950) • essay by Willy Ley
Men Against the Stars • (1938) • novelette by Manly Wade Wellman
The Red Death of Mars • (1940) • novelette by Robert Moore Williams
The Iron Standard • (1943) • novelette by Lewis Padgett (aka husband and wife team Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore)
Schedule • (1945) • short story by Harry Walton
Far Centaurus • (1944) • short story by A. E. van Vogt
Cold Front • (1946) • novelette by Hal Clement
The Plants • (1946) • short story by Murray Leinster
Competition • (1943) • novelette by E. Mayne Hull (wife of A E Van Vogt)
When Shadows Fall • (1948) • short story by L. Ron Hubbard

The editor states the purpose of this anthology was a theme, something new at the time. The stories were chosen and arranged to show the advancement of man into space in a timeline. The stories imagine there is a super volatile "atomic hydrogen" fuel, ancient race on Mars, a fully populated Venus with the equivalent of an "Earthman Go Home" sign, and so on. Fun stuff with a dark edge to it. ( )

According to the editor's foreword, this 1950 anthology is a selection showing mankind's conquering of space, with each story showing a progression. This review is of the Pyramid paperback reprint of Men Against the Stars, which does not have 'Trends' by Isaac Asimov,' 'Locked Out', by H. B. Fyfe, or 'Bridle and Saddle', by Isaac Asimov from the Gnome Press hardcover edition.

The introduction by Willy Ley gives a short, but fascinating history of rocket science from 1919 through World War II. If the original reactions to the idea of sending a rocket to the moon seems unlikely today, this 64-year-old recalls her veteran father telling her that when he heard about the first atomic bomb being dropped on Hiroshima, his reaction was incredulity -- that was science fiction! Mr. Ley was correct about us having spaceships long before the end of the 20th century, but his progression of events was off.

Names dropped: Dr. Robert H. Goddard, Prof. Hermann Oberth, Dr. Walter Hohmann, Count Guido von Pirquet,

'Men Against the Stars' by Manly Wade Wellman (1938)*** Luna Port was constructed in 1996. Major DeWitt was in command in 1997. It's now 1998 and the commander of Luna Port is becomes one Major John Tallentyre. He has a problem: the crew of Shop Number Sixty-One won't take off for Mars. I can't blame them. Ship Number Fifty-One blows up at the beginning of the story. Later we'll get flashbacks to the loss of Ships Fifty-Nine, Forty-Two and Forty-Five. Major DeWitt isn't going to force the mutinous crew to take off. He's overwhelmed by the fact that only four of the fifty-six ships that left the moon for Mars made it instead of blowing up. Noel Crispin, the woman who handles the office files, agrees with DeWitt. Tallentyre takes the opposite view. I don't like what he did and, considering what happens, I really, really hate the ending. Couldn't there have been just a smidgen of thought for the difference it would have made to the most recent casualties had some news reached the moon a bit earlier?

Notes: A Prince Rupert's Drop is a tadpole-shaped hardened glass bead. Sure hope those black spots on the skin caused by the sun aren't melanoma. Interesting that Mr. Wellman thought the port to get to the moon would be named Nevada. Ernie the 76-year-old mechanic remembers seeing the parade for Charles Lindbergh in 1927. It was Qoheleth/Kohelet who wrote that line about it being better to be a living dog than a dead lion in 'Ecclesiastes,' chapter 9, verse 4.

'The Red Death of Mars' by Robert Moore Williams(1940)***½ It's October 16, 2347. There are abandoned cities on Mars, on which the first Earth ships landed eleven years ago. The current city under study is Torms. It differs from the other cities found in that possessions aren't scattered and no bones are lying in the dust. Another difference is the number of faceted jewels that resemble, but are not, rubies all over the city. The current humans found the ship that came before them, but what happened to its crew is a mystery. They will find out -- and it will lead to a frightening situation. While I'm at it, it'ds a pity that Sutter didn't listen to McIllrath.

Notes: Photographs taken in 1939 showed Mars canals were artificial. The ships use uranium fission engines.

Gnome Press co-founder and editor of the series, Martin Greenberg, came up with the idea of a collection of short stories that reflected a certain set of ideas or progression of ideas. From the perspective of the modern SF reader, this is nothing new. It could even be considered ‘old hat’ with themed collections for everything imaginable, from SF crime to gay vampires. However, it was new 60 years ago and this particular book represents perhaps the very first published ‘theme anthology’ in SF history.

Complete review at: The Great Gnome Press Science Fiction Odyssey, and a close-up examination of the book itself.
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