Transcribe
Translate
Spaceways, v. 4, issue 1, whole no. 24, December 1941
18
More information
digital collection
archival collection guide
transcription tips
18 SPACEWAYS [[handwritten number 7]] BEACON LIGHT by S F CYNIC The Beacon's on Astounding again. We consider it the last outpost of genuine scientific fiction; that's why we feel so strongly about the 1941 letdown in quality. It's run by a man who knows science, who's interested in practically every phase of it, and w ho has quite a stock of data tucked away in his grey cells, but not gathering dust. And the "staff" writers are nearly all highly competant in one field or another of scientific endeavour. You may find an occasional error in Astounding, but that's just one of those things that slip by; it isn't because the editor is indifferent, or doesn't know the difference. Last outpost of scientific fiction. That sounds rather grim, eh? Well, let's go into it a little deeper, then. Scientific fiction as the dyed-in-the-wool followers know it consists of fiction based on extrapolations from known data. It doesn't consist of just a story. It doesn't consist of just science, or just and extrapolation. True, some things published do. But they're the errors, and aren't supposed to be counted. They are the things the active fan writes in, in protest about--or, we'd better say, used to write in protesting. You rarely see such letter today; they weren't too much in evidence five years ago. But when magazine stf. was starting out, and for a number of years after it got going, got to the point where the reprint was the exception rather than the rule, stf. was stuff which made you think. Either it stirred something in those grey cells, or you found it boring and didn't finish it. And when you wrote in to the editor, your letter consisted mainly of discussing the various aspects of scientific ideas brought up in the current issue. The Science Quiz consisted of questions whose answers could be found in the tales scattered throughout the book. As to the quality of the fiction--it was good, bad, or indifferent, all depending. But it was scientific fiction! Astounding Stories of Super Science was the first indication that the old-time type of magazine couldn't last. Not because the fiction standards were lower, not because as a whole it was more sensational, but because its policy of action first and pseudo-science second made a big hit. Look over the readers' section of the first few years of Astounding, and you'll see. There were a few who talked about the science in the yarns, some who found flaws in it, but Astounding's readers' letters were mostly: gosh, wow, boyoboyoboy! There's no need to go into much more detail; scientific ideas became less and less important: the story was the thing. So we see today collections of more or less readable stories---some very good stories. But, outside of Astounding (originally the worst offender) there's little of the quality which made stf. and which made the originalstf. fan. The original fan was interested in science: [[underlined in pencil]]he wasn't, as some thought, a scientist in the making, but he did enjoy dabbling[[end underline]] in it. The original fan magazines were full of scientific discussions, some boring, but many highly interesting. The fans who have sprung up in recent years, in years since the passing of the Gernsback Wonder, or the Sloane Amazing, or the Tremaine Astounding--what do they know of real scientific fiction? Very little. They're used to stories where the various catch-words, stock phrases, etc., abound. There's little or nothing in the tales to stimulate ratiocination. One, the one, exception is Astounding--and its top rank shows that real scientific fiction still has appeal. But we are not optimistic--we fear it cannot last much longer in its present form. We mean by this not physical appearance, but in policy. What of the others? Some are good; some bad; some indifferent. Some are run by oldtime fans: some by competent editors who broke themselves into the field when the necessity came. There's no use of crying or wailing about the situ-
Saving...
prev
next
18 SPACEWAYS [[handwritten number 7]] BEACON LIGHT by S F CYNIC The Beacon's on Astounding again. We consider it the last outpost of genuine scientific fiction; that's why we feel so strongly about the 1941 letdown in quality. It's run by a man who knows science, who's interested in practically every phase of it, and w ho has quite a stock of data tucked away in his grey cells, but not gathering dust. And the "staff" writers are nearly all highly competant in one field or another of scientific endeavour. You may find an occasional error in Astounding, but that's just one of those things that slip by; it isn't because the editor is indifferent, or doesn't know the difference. Last outpost of scientific fiction. That sounds rather grim, eh? Well, let's go into it a little deeper, then. Scientific fiction as the dyed-in-the-wool followers know it consists of fiction based on extrapolations from known data. It doesn't consist of just a story. It doesn't consist of just science, or just and extrapolation. True, some things published do. But they're the errors, and aren't supposed to be counted. They are the things the active fan writes in, in protest about--or, we'd better say, used to write in protesting. You rarely see such letter today; they weren't too much in evidence five years ago. But when magazine stf. was starting out, and for a number of years after it got going, got to the point where the reprint was the exception rather than the rule, stf. was stuff which made you think. Either it stirred something in those grey cells, or you found it boring and didn't finish it. And when you wrote in to the editor, your letter consisted mainly of discussing the various aspects of scientific ideas brought up in the current issue. The Science Quiz consisted of questions whose answers could be found in the tales scattered throughout the book. As to the quality of the fiction--it was good, bad, or indifferent, all depending. But it was scientific fiction! Astounding Stories of Super Science was the first indication that the old-time type of magazine couldn't last. Not because the fiction standards were lower, not because as a whole it was more sensational, but because its policy of action first and pseudo-science second made a big hit. Look over the readers' section of the first few years of Astounding, and you'll see. There were a few who talked about the science in the yarns, some who found flaws in it, but Astounding's readers' letters were mostly: gosh, wow, boyoboyoboy! There's no need to go into much more detail; scientific ideas became less and less important: the story was the thing. So we see today collections of more or less readable stories---some very good stories. But, outside of Astounding (originally the worst offender) there's little of the quality which made stf. and which made the originalstf. fan. The original fan was interested in science: [[underlined in pencil]]he wasn't, as some thought, a scientist in the making, but he did enjoy dabbling[[end underline]] in it. The original fan magazines were full of scientific discussions, some boring, but many highly interesting. The fans who have sprung up in recent years, in years since the passing of the Gernsback Wonder, or the Sloane Amazing, or the Tremaine Astounding--what do they know of real scientific fiction? Very little. They're used to stories where the various catch-words, stock phrases, etc., abound. There's little or nothing in the tales to stimulate ratiocination. One, the one, exception is Astounding--and its top rank shows that real scientific fiction still has appeal. But we are not optimistic--we fear it cannot last much longer in its present form. We mean by this not physical appearance, but in policy. What of the others? Some are good; some bad; some indifferent. Some are run by oldtime fans: some by competent editors who broke themselves into the field when the necessity came. There's no use of crying or wailing about the situ-
Hevelin Fanzines
sidebar
