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Fantascience Digest, v. 2, issue 2, January-February 1939
Page 6
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Page 6 FANTASCIENCE DIGEST their originality, nor for breath-taking ideas, but simply for their reversion to the stf. of an earlier day; a day when the story was judged on its readability and enjoyment-production; not for whether every last detail of the science contained in the story was accurate to the Nth degree, and whether was in any way connected with the plot of a story that had appeared before. These first stories were pure and simple stf. ---yarns of giant germs, of first space flights, of menaces to the earth; of the type of stf. we cut our teeth on. One sore spot was the illustrations. The inner illustrations for the first few issues were inexcusably bad; but now they seem to be improving at least a little but very, very slowly. Covers were not bad; and the general editorial policies of the magazine seemed to be approved of. One very significant thing is that in the letter department of each issue, at least two or three letters have called attention to the fact that the American magazines have become so utterly implausable of late that they have stopped purchasing them. Is this merely conservatism on the part of the English people, or isnit a preview of what is to happen over here? In the next few issues of TALES OF WONDER, however, the stories became less elementary; more complicated and less 'likely'. But on the whole, the magazines have consisted mostly of rather simple stf., of a type that can be most easily absorbed by the average man. At the same time a story occasionally appears that is darlingly original. One of these, "The Smile of the Sphinx," has probably aroused as much, if not more, comment than any story for a long time. (next column) TALES OF WONDER remains delightfully British. Readers use almost undecipherable slang in writing to the magazine; practically all of its authors are from England, with exceptions in a few cases such as Edmond Hamilton and Dr. Keller---the Keller stories being reprints. Each story is accompanied by a little 'pre-view' or description by the editor,much as WONDER and AMAZING did for years, and in each issue a pep-talk if forthcoming from optimistic editor Gillings. The magazine seems destined for success; let us hope it does carry on as it has for the past year. Of FANTASY little can be said, due to the fact that it has only appeared to the tune of one issue (as this is being written). It seems a little more sensationally inclined than TALES OF WONDER, though to the American reader both magazines appear ultra-conservative compared to our native products. Perhaps FANTASY will also succeed; in all probability it will, though TALES OF WONDER had a fresher field. But competition may make both magazines better, and as England has not so great a reading public as America, there is little likelihood of a third magazine appearing there in the near future. But be that as it may, one fact is not to be denied; England is waking up! MY FAVORITE SCIENCE FICTION STORY by Oswald Train One of the most outsttanding work of science fiction I have read is "Exiles of the Moon," by Nat Schachner and Arthur L. Zagat. This story had just enough action for interest. It portrayed in a gripping manner the behavior of people under tyrannical oppression. The authors treated space travel matter-of-factly, as if it were an everyday occurence. Lastly, the characters were real -- not mere puppets or robots.
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Page 6 FANTASCIENCE DIGEST their originality, nor for breath-taking ideas, but simply for their reversion to the stf. of an earlier day; a day when the story was judged on its readability and enjoyment-production; not for whether every last detail of the science contained in the story was accurate to the Nth degree, and whether was in any way connected with the plot of a story that had appeared before. These first stories were pure and simple stf. ---yarns of giant germs, of first space flights, of menaces to the earth; of the type of stf. we cut our teeth on. One sore spot was the illustrations. The inner illustrations for the first few issues were inexcusably bad; but now they seem to be improving at least a little but very, very slowly. Covers were not bad; and the general editorial policies of the magazine seemed to be approved of. One very significant thing is that in the letter department of each issue, at least two or three letters have called attention to the fact that the American magazines have become so utterly implausable of late that they have stopped purchasing them. Is this merely conservatism on the part of the English people, or isnit a preview of what is to happen over here? In the next few issues of TALES OF WONDER, however, the stories became less elementary; more complicated and less 'likely'. But on the whole, the magazines have consisted mostly of rather simple stf., of a type that can be most easily absorbed by the average man. At the same time a story occasionally appears that is darlingly original. One of these, "The Smile of the Sphinx," has probably aroused as much, if not more, comment than any story for a long time. (next column) TALES OF WONDER remains delightfully British. Readers use almost undecipherable slang in writing to the magazine; practically all of its authors are from England, with exceptions in a few cases such as Edmond Hamilton and Dr. Keller---the Keller stories being reprints. Each story is accompanied by a little 'pre-view' or description by the editor,much as WONDER and AMAZING did for years, and in each issue a pep-talk if forthcoming from optimistic editor Gillings. The magazine seems destined for success; let us hope it does carry on as it has for the past year. Of FANTASY little can be said, due to the fact that it has only appeared to the tune of one issue (as this is being written). It seems a little more sensationally inclined than TALES OF WONDER, though to the American reader both magazines appear ultra-conservative compared to our native products. Perhaps FANTASY will also succeed; in all probability it will, though TALES OF WONDER had a fresher field. But competition may make both magazines better, and as England has not so great a reading public as America, there is little likelihood of a third magazine appearing there in the near future. But be that as it may, one fact is not to be denied; England is waking up! MY FAVORITE SCIENCE FICTION STORY by Oswald Train One of the most outsttanding work of science fiction I have read is "Exiles of the Moon," by Nat Schachner and Arthur L. Zagat. This story had just enough action for interest. It portrayed in a gripping manner the behavior of people under tyrannical oppression. The authors treated space travel matter-of-factly, as if it were an everyday occurence. Lastly, the characters were real -- not mere puppets or robots.
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