Astounding Stories, March, 1931

In Short

This pulp fiction issue gathers five tales of speculative adventure, featuring microscopic hidden universes, rogue invisible automatons, lost prehistoric civilizations, and temporal rescue missions. Scientists, reporters, and daring pilots confront monstrous beasts and megalomaniacal villains across distant ages and unseen dimensions. Through breathless escapes, improbable technology, and raw physical courage, these disparate heroes race against time to rescue imperiled women and secure world-changing secrets. The collection retains its historical charm as a vivid artifact of early American magazine science fiction, capturing the era’s boundless fascination with cosmic scales, futuristic machinery, and high-octane melodramatic storytelling.

The Story

The volume opens in the subterranean depths of Sentinel Mountain, where explorer Garry Connell discovers a chamber of ancient metallic caskets. Inside, the prehistoric king Horab wakes from centuries of suspended animation alongside a captive ancient princess. Horab summons a horde of primitive, dark-skinned subjects to swarm the intruder, but Garry fights his way clear. As the mountain violently collapses under its own weight, Garry rescues the young woman, leaving Horab and his ancient treasure buried under falling stone while the two survivors head toward the valley to rebuild their lives.

In a New York laboratory, reporter Fred Davis and his companion Alan venture into the microscopic universe hidden inside a golden atom. Shrinking down via chemical compounds, they pursue the villainous Polter, who has kidnapped Dr. Kent’s daughter, Babs, and forced the aging scientist to do his bidding. Navigating giant landscapes where tiny pebbles loom as fifty-foot buttes, the heroes confront Polter. An accidental spill of an enlarging compound mutates a common fly and microscopic pond organisms into towering monsters. After an intense battle of shifting scales, George Randolph takes a massive dose of the shrinking drug to match Polter's size, disarming the villain in a brutal wrestling match and securing the rescue of Babs and her father.

Back on the surface, newspaper man Eddie Vail investigates the secluded compound of scientist David Shelton. Shelton’s secret experiments with invisible, radio-controlled iron robots have spiraled out of control. When the mechanical beasts escape, they fall into the hands of Al Cadorna, a ruthless crime boss. Eddie tracks the runaway automatons to Cadorna’s hideout, where the gangster holds Shelton and his daughter Lina captive. After a bloody gunfight that leaves Cadorna’s henchmen dead, Cadorna turns his weapon on his own underlings before Eddie overpowers the criminal empire.

In the sunken realm of Atlans, American aviators Victor Nelson and Alden face public execution after being captured in a prehistoric jungle populated by allosauri and pteranodons. Trapped in a stone cell, they watch in horror as bronze grilles rise to feed fellow captives to giant carnivorous reptiles. Sent before the council of Hero Giles, they learn that the holy virgin Altara is scheduled to be sacrificed on the altar of Beelzebub by the evil priest Herakles. Nelson is dressed in sacrificial garlands by sympathetic slaves, but he uses his hidden modern gear to plan an escape and disrupt the bloody Jarmuthian ritual.

Finally, young scientist Charlie King analyzes a freshly fallen meteorite emitting a strange blue spatial distortion. Calculating that his estranged love Virginia has been dragged across the fourth dimension to a distant Pacific rock, Charlie and his friend Hammond board an airplane. Fighting severe sea storms and navigating tight time-space coordinates, they locate the reef just as Virginia is seized by a giant octopus, swooping down at top speed to execute a last-second aerial rescue.

How It Unfolds

Buried in Sentinel Mountain Garry Connell confronts the revived prehistoric monarch Horab inside a cavernous underground tomb. As primitive men pour from metal caskets, Garry grabs the ancient princess and escapes moments before the mountain caves in, burying the lost civilization and its treasure.

Into the Golden Atom Journalist Fred Davis and Alan use a size-altering drug to shrink down into a microscopic realm on a speck of quartz. They battle through giant topography to track down the rogue hunchback Polter and rescue the kidnapped Babs Kent.

Chaos in the Micro-Lab While trapped inside the atomic domain, Dr. Kent accidentally spills an enlarging compound on the floor. A common housefly ingests the chemical, mutating into a giant flying terror alongside microscopic water organisms that threaten to destroy the laboratory.

Rogue Metal and Gangsters Eddie Vail visits scientist David Shelton, only to be struck down as an invisible metal robot escapes the laboratory. Eddie follows the trail of rogue automatons straight to gangster chief Al Cadorna, engaging in a deadly shootout to free Shelton and his daughter.

The Beast Pit of Atlans Captive airmen Victor Nelson and Alden watch helpless prisoners being devoured by hungry allosauri in an ancient courtyard. Brought before the council, they discover a plot by the high priest Herakles to sacrifice the virgin Altara, prompting a desperate rescue attempt.

Flight Across Space-Time Physicist Charlie King discovers that a blue-glowing meteorite bends space and time, revealing his beloved Virginia trapped on a distant Pacific rock. Charlie flies his airplane through a raging thunderstorm, arriving just as a colossal monster strikes.

The People

• Garry Connell: A tough, solitary prospector who relies on his fists and split-second instincts. He seeks escape from the cavern, driven by a sudden protective devotion toward an ancient princess, and ends up buried under stone before rescuing her to the surface.
• Fred Davis: A resolute Montreal newsman who pursues the villainous Polter across dimensions. He wants to save his friends and expose the truth, braving terrifying scale changes to conquer his fears.
• Alan: A quick-tempered, loyal adventurer who stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Fred. He wants to free Babs from captivity, navigating the shifting hazards of the atomic world with stubborn determination.
• Polter: A bitter, hunchbacked criminal mastermind who craves vengeance against those who looked down on him. He uses size-altering compounds to build a miniature empire, ending up disarmed and defeated in a brutal physical clash.
• Eddie Vail: An intrepid reporter determined to uncover the truth behind mysterious invisible forces. He wants to protect Lina Shelton, risking his life against bloodthirsty mobsters and rogue steel monsters.
• Victor Nelson: An American aviator cast away in a subterranean world of prehistoric lizards and ancient empires. He wants to avoid becoming monster bait, utilizing his military wits to survive sacrificial altars.
• Charlie King: A brilliant young scientist who uses advanced physics to prove his worth. Driven by his love for Virginia, he works through exhaustion to pull off a daring aerial rescue.

In Its Own Voice

Garry Connell stands ready to defend his companion against an overwhelming wave of primitive warriors. "He swept one arm about the soft, yielding body beneath its wisp of garment, and he swung her behind him as he set himself to meet the attack."

Fred Davis and his companion navigate a sudden, terrifying shift in physical dimensions within the atomic world. "The slab itself was a broad square surface. The fragment of golden quartz lay in its center. It was now a jagged lump nearly a foot in diameter!"

Captive aviator Victor Nelson watches the terrifying fate that awaits prisoners in the ancient arena. "Snarling horribly, the vast slate-colored beasts plunged into the cell, terminating shrieks of mortal terror."

What It's Really About

Beneath its wild machinery and high-stakes thrills, this issue wrestles with the double-edged nature of human invention and the immense scale of the cosmos. Advanced science constantly slips out of its creators' control, whether through rogue invisible robots, spilled size-altering chemicals, or space-bending meteorites. The stories argue that modern intellect is useless without old-fashioned physical courage and moral discipline; technical genius frequently breeds megalomania, as seen in villains like Polter or Herakles. Furthermore, the prose reflects a persistent anxiety about human insignificance when confronted with the vastness of time and space. Whether facing prehistoric beasts beneath the earth or tiny universes within a speck of dust, human beings must rely on raw determination, loyalty, and love to maintain their humanity against an indifferent, overwhelming universe.

Why Read It Today

Readers drawn to early twentieth-century pulp magazines will find a spirited, unpretentious slice of speculative history. The issue delivers a brisk, theatrical reading experience where giant flies, prehistoric lizards, and fourth-dimensional aircraft collide in rapid succession. Its appeal lies in its shameless inventiveness and kinetic energy, offering an unfiltered look at how early science fiction authors envisioned atomic energy, robotics, and alternate dimensions.

However, modern audiences should approach the text with an awareness of its era. The writing contains melodrama, racial tropes, and period attitudes typical of 1930s adventure fiction—seen in the primitive "savage" portrayals and damsels in distress who exist largely to be carried out of danger. The prose relies heavily on exclamation points, convenient coincidences, and hasty scientific hand-waving. Yet, for those interested in the roots of modern space opera and superhero tropes, the issue offers a genuine, high-tempo window into the golden age of American pulp magazines.