The Novels of 1938

This page provides an overview of the range of relevant works published in 1938. This includes an article (of which a version was included in the booklet distributed at the 2013 Worldcon) describing some of what was happening in the field, and a list below of as many as possible 1938 science fiction and fantasy novels.

We will keep the list under review as more information becomes available, so be sure to check back later to see if new items have been found for your consideration.

Science fiction and fantasy novels published in 1938 include:

• The World Goes Smash – Samuel Hopkins Adams
• The Pyromaniac – Arthur Bruce Allen
• When Women Reign –August Anson
• The Lord of the Rushie River – Cicely Mary Barker
• One Came Back – Neil Bell
• The Secret of Tibet – William Dixon Bell
• La Amortajada – Maria Luisa Bombal (Spanish language)
• The Great Amen – Arthur J Burks
• Carson of Venus – Edgar Rice Burroughs (Argosy serial)
• The Lad and the Lion – Edgar Rice Burroughs
• The Red Star of Tarzan (also as Tarzan and the Forbidden City) – Edgar Rice Burroughs (Argosy serial – alternate title is book-form publication in the same year)
• At Midnight on the 31st of March – Josephine Young Case
• Not Since Genesis – J Storer Clouston
• Das Ende des Goldes – Rudolf H Daumann (German language)
• Gefahr aus dem Weltall – Rudolf H Daumann (German language)
• The Green Death [Doc Savage] – Harold A Davis (as Kenneth Robeson)
• The Munitions Master [Doc Savage] – Harold A Davis (as Kenneth Robeson)
• The Red Terrors [Doc Savage] – Harold A Davis (as Kenneth Robeson)
• The Living Fire Menace [Doc Savage] – Harold A Davis & Lester Dent (as Kenneth Robeson)
• The Mountain Monster [Doc Savage] – Harold A Davis & Lester Dent (as Kenneth Robeson)
• The Devil Genghis [Doc Savage] – Lester Dent (as Kenneth Robeson)
• Devil on the Moon [Doc Savage] – Lester Dent (as Kenneth Robeson)
• Fortress of Solitude [Doc Savage] – Lester Dent (as Kenneth Robeson)
• Genius Jones – Lester Dent (Argosy serial)
• The Giggling Ghosts [Doc Savage] – Lester Dent (as Kenneth Robeson)
• The Pirate’s Ghost [Doc Savage] – Lester Dent (as Kenneth Robeson)
• The Submarine Mystery [Doc Savage] – Lester Dent (as Kenneth Robeson)
• The Motion Menace [Doc Savage] – Lester Dent & Ryerson Johnson (as Kenneth Robeson)
• Chaos – Shaw Desmond
• World-Birth – Shaw Desmond
• Lebensstrahlen – Hans Dominik (German language)
• Zagribud – John Russell Fearn (Amazing serial)
• The Sea Priestess – Dion Fortune
• Towers in the Mist – Elizabeth Goudge
• The Fire Princess – Edmond Hamilton (Weird Tales serial)
• The Tramp – L Ron Hubbard (Astounding serial)
• A Modern Monte Cristo – Fedor Kaul
• The Sign of the Burning Hart – David H Keller, MD (might be a collection rather than a fix-up novel)
• Asleep in the Afternoon – E C Large
• Out of the Silent Planet – C S Lewis
• The Kleinart Case [Gees] – Jack Mann
• Maker of Shadows [Gees] – Jack Mann (Argosy serial)
• General Manpower – John S Martin
• Minimum Man, or, Time Be Gone – Andrew Marvell
• Dead Ned – John Masefield
• The Thought-Reading Machine – André Maurois (first English language edition)
• Three Thousand Years! – Thomas Calvert McClary (Astounding serial)
• The Journey of Tapiola – Robert Nathan
• Legions of the Accursed Light [Spider] – Norvell Page (as Grant Stockbridge)
• The Invasion of America – Frederick C Painton (Argosy serial)
• Saurus – Eden Philpotts
• The Doomsday Men – J B Priestley
• Strange Awakening – Dorothy Quick
• London Skies are Falling Down – Garnet Radcliffe (Argosy serial)
• The Drums of Fu-Manchu – Sax Rohmer
• Galactic Patrol – E E “Doc” Smith (Astounding serial)
• The Hollow Skin – Virginia Swain
• The Silver Princess in Oz – Ruth Plumly Thomson
• More About Worzel Gummidge – Barbara Euphan Todd
• The Voyage of the Neutralia – B Wallis (Weird Tales serial)
• The Sword in the Stone – T H White
• The Legion of Time – Jack Williamson (Astounding serial – might count as novella)
• The Adventure of Wyndham Smith – S Fowler Wright
• The Hidden Tribe – S Fowler Wright
• Ark of Fire – John Hawkins (American Weekly serial – date of last part still unclear)

(Where works were serialised, it is the publication date of the final instalment that counts for eligibility purposes.)