The moon is hell

What Hacker News says

1. fractallyteAug 2018
   Another spectacularly important figure in SF was John W Campbell (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_W._Campbell), a contemporary of Hugo Gernsback. He overhauled science fiction from fantastic space opera into a modern, speculative genre. This included cultivating a number of writers that later became giants in the field - including HN favorite Isaac Asimov.

   And, yes, there is a Campbell award!

   He was also a seriously brilliant writer, from classics like 'Who Goes There?' and 'Cloak of Aesir', to the almost-forgotten 'All'. There was a big fuss over Andy Weir's 'The Martian', but everyone seems to have overlooked Campbell's 'The Moon is Hell!' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moon_Is_Hell!).

   Buzz Lightyear's catchphrase 'To Infinity and Beyond!' - Campbell wrote it first ('The Mightiest Machine', 1947)!

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2. kabdibOct 2014
   When I was 12 or 13 I discovered E E "Doc" Smith, John W Campbell and Philip Nowlan. I'd been reading more contemporary authors like Heinlein and Andre Norton, and the sheer "noise" of these older books were astonishing. What teenage boy doesn't like antimatter planets being flung at Boskonian space pirate outposts, or spaceships powered by solidified light? For a while I loved them.

   I still have fond memories of Smith's galaxy-spanning Skylark series, the planet bashing swagger of the Lensman series, and Campbell's unapologetic "super science", but the prose has not aged well and I find them difficult to read now. I feel a little sad about that.

   I can still recommend Smith's The Skylark of Space and Skylark Three, and Campbell's The Moon is Hell, but not much else.

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