The Girl in the Golden Atom Book Review

Technically, this book comes before the Golden Age of science fiction. However, I found myself reading it and checking it off my TBR, ignoring my goal of reading “sci-fi classics.” In my opinion, The Girl in the Golden Atom deserves to be considered a classic in its own right, among other pre-Golden Age titles. Let’s get into the review.

The Girl in the Golden Atom was published in 1922 by author Ray Cummings. In the story, a man known simply as the Chemist discovers that, under a microscope, a scratch on a ring he owns is a gateway into a minuscule world not unlike our own. He gathers a range of his associates and announces he intends to journey into this world. How so? He invented a drug that shrinks things, allowing him to enter the scratch on the ring and disappear.

First, I want to touch on the originality of the book. This came at a time when science fiction was still relatively new. Authors like H. G. Wells and Jules Verne introduced revolutionary concepts that became the standard of what we read today. While the idea of this book might not seem as original today, it was an entirely new idea at the time. Ray Cummings, the author, is also regarded as a founding father of science fiction, just like Verne and Wells. I think this book deserves a spot among other books doing the same.

I also enjoyed the characters in this book. Even though they had names like the Chemist and the Very Young Man, they developed over the course of the story very well. I think books of this genre of sci-fi focus as much on character as on concept, with some more successful than others. Since this book first appeared serialized, each episode works to develop more than just the story. Additionally, I liked that the main female character develops some agency over the course of the novel.

This entire journey served to make me want to read more early science fiction books as well as Golden Age ones. If anything, this means my TBR grew a little bit. But that’s a good problem to have. See you all next week for another blog post! Happy reading!

You can get a FREE LIST of 100+ science fiction and fantasy literary journals to submit to when you subscribe!

I have a freelance editing service now! Contact me about book editing, beta reading, and brainstorming book titles. Use the contact form below to ask for a free 15-minute consultation.

…

Are you new to the blog? Check out my most popular post here!

#girlinthegoldenatom #radiumagebooks

You can check out my AUTHOR SITE here.