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Ad Astra, v. 1, issue 2, July 1939
Page 6
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Continuing: FUTURE TRENDS IN FANTASY by Jack Williamson --- even the original magazines would have been wrecked. Several things, however, now cause me to take a more optimistic point of view. One thing is the quality of the stories in the new magazines. I had feared that there wouldn't be enough good material to go around, and that it would be necessary to fill up the books with second-rate material. Evidently, I was mistaken. "The Black Flame" by Stanley G. Weinbaum, is a case in point. Apparently there had been no place for this story in the older magazines. It was one of the outstanding stories, however, I feel, of last year. Its publication, I believe, shows that Startling Stories fills a place that was previously empty. Thousands of admirers of John Taine must feel that, by bringing them the 70,000 words of his "Tomorrow" for fifteen cents Marvel Science Stories has justified its existence. The first issues of the old Amazing were filled entirely with reprint material. While the element of cost must have been considered, it probably would have been difficult to get enough good new science fiction stories to fill the magazine. There were then only a handful of trained science fiction writers, among them, Merritt, Burroughs, Leinster, and Cummings. But now, evidently, there are enough competent writers to supply excellent material for a considerable number of magazines. The one thing that has changed my opinion most definitely is the appearance of Campbell's Unknown. He announced that it was not to be science fiction, nor was it to be another Weird Tales. And the first issue proved his boast. Eric Frank Russell's "Sinister Barrier", by itself, might have been classified as one of the few perfect science fiction tales. Yet it had a significant difference. "Where Angels Fear" might have been published in Weird Tales. But still one feels the difference. And it is hinted at more strongly in "Trouble With Water". The announced aim of Unknown is to fill a previously empty niche. I believe it does. And I believe its success in doing that points out the real and hopeful future trend in the fantasy field. So long as each editor will take the trouble, as Campbell did, to discover and fill a vacant niche in the hall of magazines, I don't believe there is any danger to the field as a whole --- in fact, it looks as if the widened interest in the general field ought to help all the magazines. With a hundred million potential readers in America, and a hundred thousand of them enough to insure the success of a pulpwood magazine, it is hard to see any reasons for alarm. Of course, I have no way of knowing the circulation figures of Unknown. But I noticed that the stands were pretty well stacked with the first issue, and that the copies melted away very rapidly. I think that is a significant sign. ***
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Continuing: FUTURE TRENDS IN FANTASY by Jack Williamson --- even the original magazines would have been wrecked. Several things, however, now cause me to take a more optimistic point of view. One thing is the quality of the stories in the new magazines. I had feared that there wouldn't be enough good material to go around, and that it would be necessary to fill up the books with second-rate material. Evidently, I was mistaken. "The Black Flame" by Stanley G. Weinbaum, is a case in point. Apparently there had been no place for this story in the older magazines. It was one of the outstanding stories, however, I feel, of last year. Its publication, I believe, shows that Startling Stories fills a place that was previously empty. Thousands of admirers of John Taine must feel that, by bringing them the 70,000 words of his "Tomorrow" for fifteen cents Marvel Science Stories has justified its existence. The first issues of the old Amazing were filled entirely with reprint material. While the element of cost must have been considered, it probably would have been difficult to get enough good new science fiction stories to fill the magazine. There were then only a handful of trained science fiction writers, among them, Merritt, Burroughs, Leinster, and Cummings. But now, evidently, there are enough competent writers to supply excellent material for a considerable number of magazines. The one thing that has changed my opinion most definitely is the appearance of Campbell's Unknown. He announced that it was not to be science fiction, nor was it to be another Weird Tales. And the first issue proved his boast. Eric Frank Russell's "Sinister Barrier", by itself, might have been classified as one of the few perfect science fiction tales. Yet it had a significant difference. "Where Angels Fear" might have been published in Weird Tales. But still one feels the difference. And it is hinted at more strongly in "Trouble With Water". The announced aim of Unknown is to fill a previously empty niche. I believe it does. And I believe its success in doing that points out the real and hopeful future trend in the fantasy field. So long as each editor will take the trouble, as Campbell did, to discover and fill a vacant niche in the hall of magazines, I don't believe there is any danger to the field as a whole --- in fact, it looks as if the widened interest in the general field ought to help all the magazines. With a hundred million potential readers in America, and a hundred thousand of them enough to insure the success of a pulpwood magazine, it is hard to see any reasons for alarm. Of course, I have no way of knowing the circulation figures of Unknown. But I noticed that the stands were pretty well stacked with the first issue, and that the copies melted away very rapidly. I think that is a significant sign. ***
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