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Ad Astra, v. 1, issue 2, July 1939

Page 3

AD ASTRA

Where's Hawk Carse!!
by Clifford D. Simak

  "...Where's Hawk Carse?  Where're the good old days?"  Plaintive wail of a reader writing an editor.
     ****
   Letters of that sort are fewer now.  There was a day when they blossomed on every hand.  They serve one purpose ... to remind us that science fiction is changing.
 
   It started to change back in 1933.  The change has continued, perhaps will continue for many years to come.  In other words, science fiction is developing.  Bound by no particular rules or conditions it will probably continue to develop.

   In 1934 a young man by the name of Stanley G. Weinbaum wrote "A Martian Odyssey" and made science fiction history.  Meanwhile, Nat Schachner wrote "Ancestral Voices" and Jack Wiliamson, "Born of the Sun', found no place in science fiction prior to 1933.

   That, I believe, was the turning point.  I do not mean that the three authors I mention did the job alone.  They are outstanding examples of a change that was bound to come.  Neither do I mean to cast apsersion on science fiction written before the publication of those stories.  Prior to 1933, science fiction had gone through the first writhing development and was emerging as a recognized story-type.

                           PAGE #3

Those old pioneers in the publishing and writing of science fiction had laid the groundwork without which no further development could have taken place.

   Within the past year or eighteen months there has been further and marked development.  Humor at last stands on it own feet in science fiction.  Human interest is being stressed.  Characterization has come into its own.  The definition of science fiction has broadened to include off-trail stories that would have garnered rejection slips a few years back.

  Now we come to Hawk Carse, the giant of the old days.  He could stride through a story today just as thunderously as he did then . . . for Hawk was a character, a hero who stood apart from the wooden people who walked woodenly through the yars of yester-year.  He was different -- he Hawk Carse and Hawk Carse alone.  He couldn't be anybody else.

  But if Hawk Carse came back to life again it would have to be in a different sort of story than the one in which he paraded at the turn of the decade.  Hawk Carse stories probably were tops then, they still stand as wonderful examples of one stage of development in science fiction.  But they wouldn't be good enough for today . . even as the best story of 1939 probably will not be good enough for the science fiction of 1945.  The Hawk, himself, will live.  He is immortal.

  Hawk Carse is used here merely as a symbol.  There were others like him, immortals who will live foreber in the heart of science fiction. 
(continued on next page)

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AD ASTRA Where's Hawk Carse!! by Clifford D. Simak "...Where's Hawk Carse? Where're the good old days?" Plaintive wail of a reader writing an editor. **** Letters of that sort are fewer now. There was a day when they blossomed on every hand. They serve one purpose ... to remind us that science fiction is changing. It started to change back in 1933. The change has continued, perhaps will continue for many years to come. In other words, science fiction is developing. Bound by no particular rules or conditions it will probably continue to develop. In 1934 a young man by the name of Stanley G. Weinbaum wrote "A Martian Odyssey" and made science fiction history. Meanwhile, Nat Schachner wrote "Ancestral Voices" and Jack Wiliamson, "Born of the Sun', found no place in science fiction prior to 1933. That, I believe, was the turning point. I do not mean that the three authors I mention did the job alone. They are outstanding examples of a change that was bound to come. Neither do I mean to cast apsersion on science fiction written before the publication of those stories. Prior to 1933, science fiction had gone through the first writhing development and was emerging as a recognized story-type. PAGE #3 Those old pioneers in the publishing and writing of science fiction had laid the groundwork without which no further development could have taken place. Within the past year or eighteen months there has been further and marked development. Humor at last stands on it own feet in science fiction. Human interest is being stressed. Characterization has come into its own. The definition of science fiction has broadened to include off-trail stories that would have garnered rejection slips a few years back. Now we come to Hawk Carse, the giant of the old days. He could stride through a story today just as thunderously as he did then . . . for Hawk was a character, a hero who stood apart from the wooden people who walked woodenly through the yars of yester-year. He was different -- he Hawk Carse and Hawk Carse alone. He couldn't be anybody else. But if Hawk Carse came back to life again it would have to be in a different sort of story than the one in which he paraded at the turn of the decade. Hawk Carse stories probably were tops then, they still stand as wonderful examples of one stage of development in science fiction. But they wouldn't be good enough for today . . even as the best story of 1939 probably will not be good enough for the science fiction of 1945. The Hawk, himself, will live. He is immortal. Hawk Carse is used here merely as a symbol. There were others like him, immortals who will live foreber in the heart of science fiction. (continued on next page)