Transcribe
Translate
Fantasy Digest, v. 1, issue 2, February 1939
Page 18
More information
digital collection
archival collection guide
transcription tips
18 FANTASY DIGEST stories (and you can see I am being extremely cautious and conservative in all my choices) are: JASON SOWS AGAIN by ARTHUR J. BURKS, a truly amazingly good story which would rank higher if the last chapter were not a slight let-down; ANACHRONISTIC OPTICS by M. SCHERE, THE EPHEMERAE by EDMOND HAMILTON, a haunting little tale; THE FAITHFUL by LESTER DEL RAY, which is tops in theme, with slightly erudite handling; THE COMMAND and THE MERMAN by L. SPRAGUE DE CAMP (Notice the percentage of above-the-average stories in the December issue); RULE EIGHTEEN and THE HIGHER DEATH by CLIFFORD D. SIMAK; & THE MEN AND THE MIRROR by ROSS ROCKLYNNE. These mentioned, I believe, really mark the cream of Astounding's literary crop during 1938. I haven't bothered to list dozens of stories which seemed to impress the editor considerably more than they did the reader. One story in particular was THE MASTER SHALL NOT DIE by R. DEWITT MILLER. The editor has praised it a dozen times in various editorials and notices, but he seems to be about the only one. The story is virtually forgotten by the greatest majority of fans. When exceptional stories are discussed it is rarely even mentioned. The greatest immortality story Astounding ever printed was MAN OF THE AGES by K.F. ZISKA. Finally, we reach the articles. ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION printed more articles than any other professional science-fiction magazine during the year 1938. Some of them were really of an exceptional nature. However, concensus of opinion seems to point to the fact that the articles are hardly more than tolerated by the readers. The finest during the year were CATASTROPHE by EDWARD E. SMITH, which was pretty fair as articles go but definitely technical; WITNESSES OF THE PAST by [WILLEYLEY?] which is, in my humble opinion the best article of the year. Nothing technical, writing style clear as a bell, informative and entertaining. The other outstanding articles were LANGUAGE FOR TIME TRAVELERS by L. SPRAGUE DE CAMP, the only article with a remotely humerous method of presentation and WHY ROCKETS DON'T FLY by PETER VAN DRESSER. What does this choice prove? It proves simply that
Saving...
prev
next
18 FANTASY DIGEST stories (and you can see I am being extremely cautious and conservative in all my choices) are: JASON SOWS AGAIN by ARTHUR J. BURKS, a truly amazingly good story which would rank higher if the last chapter were not a slight let-down; ANACHRONISTIC OPTICS by M. SCHERE, THE EPHEMERAE by EDMOND HAMILTON, a haunting little tale; THE FAITHFUL by LESTER DEL RAY, which is tops in theme, with slightly erudite handling; THE COMMAND and THE MERMAN by L. SPRAGUE DE CAMP (Notice the percentage of above-the-average stories in the December issue); RULE EIGHTEEN and THE HIGHER DEATH by CLIFFORD D. SIMAK; & THE MEN AND THE MIRROR by ROSS ROCKLYNNE. These mentioned, I believe, really mark the cream of Astounding's literary crop during 1938. I haven't bothered to list dozens of stories which seemed to impress the editor considerably more than they did the reader. One story in particular was THE MASTER SHALL NOT DIE by R. DEWITT MILLER. The editor has praised it a dozen times in various editorials and notices, but he seems to be about the only one. The story is virtually forgotten by the greatest majority of fans. When exceptional stories are discussed it is rarely even mentioned. The greatest immortality story Astounding ever printed was MAN OF THE AGES by K.F. ZISKA. Finally, we reach the articles. ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION printed more articles than any other professional science-fiction magazine during the year 1938. Some of them were really of an exceptional nature. However, concensus of opinion seems to point to the fact that the articles are hardly more than tolerated by the readers. The finest during the year were CATASTROPHE by EDWARD E. SMITH, which was pretty fair as articles go but definitely technical; WITNESSES OF THE PAST by [WILLEYLEY?] which is, in my humble opinion the best article of the year. Nothing technical, writing style clear as a bell, informative and entertaining. The other outstanding articles were LANGUAGE FOR TIME TRAVELERS by L. SPRAGUE DE CAMP, the only article with a remotely humerous method of presentation and WHY ROCKETS DON'T FLY by PETER VAN DRESSER. What does this choice prove? It proves simply that
Hevelin Fanzines
sidebar
