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Spaceways, v. 4, issue 6, whole no. 29, 1942
Page 20
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20 SPACEWAYS The READERS ALWAYS WRITE John W. Campbell, Jr., 79th Seventh Ave., New York, New York, writes: Take back them harsh words of yours on page 20 of the new Spaceways; they partly ain't so, and they partly ain't fair. " The "ain't so" part is that three years statement--it's been more than four. I took over astounding before Palmer took over Amazing, if you remember. " The "aint's fair" part lies in this; no other editor in science-fiction and fantasy has taken so thorough a cleaning out of top-rank authors. I admit that, temporarily, Astounding and Unknown have slumped a little in story quality. There's a reason, and that reason is being eliminated rapidly, is, in fact, about gone. " The reason is the war, and its effect on my regular contributors. Heinlein-MacDonald followed Hubbard into active duty, and has proceeded to lead the procession of post-December 7th change-overs. Isaac Asimov is now in, after several months of juggling, de Camp's in after similar efforts. " For some time, their working time was heavily curtailed, and mine was extended--trying to find new authors of similar quality. " That isn't easy, I think you'll agree. To replace half a dozen second or third-rate writers isn't so hard; to find enough new, top-rank authors capable of real production as well as real quality is something else again. " I think a good measure of the problem has been solved. For a time, Astounding will not be running serials; new authors generally need the practice of shorts, then novelettes and shot novels before tackling serials. But you'll find some of the new men are good. Fred A. Senour, 210 Alameda St., Rochester, New York, types: Look Before You Leap--8. I thought this badly needed, as this was one of the places where I disagreed most heartily with the Cynic. I'm glad someone had the nerve to take the time to dig up concrete examples to show the other side of the picture. Smith is never guilty of inconsistency--tho he has other faults. (Never is probably too strong--I might get called on that.) But what I'm driving at, is that his yarns are as a whole very consistent. The main fault, and what the Cynic could have said with some justification, was that he tries to cover too much territory. SSL would have been a much better yarn for the elimination of some of the inter-twining threads of action, and expansion of the other themes. As an example of this, I might cite Nadreck. His inclusion in the story weakened when so much time is spent in developing this one man, and then his actions are slighted over by saying that he refused to tell--well, maybe that gives you the idea. As a separate story in the series, Smith could have made use of such a character nicely. That is, build a story around that character, and let him come in touch with the rest of the outfit--Kim and Clarissa, etc. But the combining of the two is not so hot. Anyway, I was glad to see the article. D. W. Boggs, 2215 Benjamin St., N. E., Minneapolis, Minn., reports: Lowndes' dissertation concerning reprints was singularly surprising. That he would defend his publications is understandable, but the chip-on-the-shoulder attitude toward the last is not. I hope Columbia doesn't back him on some of those statements. " Personally, I don't object strenuously to reprints when said reprint is merely a minor item int he issue--such as Standard's are. Nor do I kick when the reprint is the major item--or only item--of an avowed reprint mag, such as FFM or the Z-D Quarterlies. (However, I do think that such publications should clearly state on the cover that they use reprints. not just "Reissue" or "Classic Fantasy Novel".) What I don't like is a magazine that
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20 SPACEWAYS The READERS ALWAYS WRITE John W. Campbell, Jr., 79th Seventh Ave., New York, New York, writes: Take back them harsh words of yours on page 20 of the new Spaceways; they partly ain't so, and they partly ain't fair. " The "ain't so" part is that three years statement--it's been more than four. I took over astounding before Palmer took over Amazing, if you remember. " The "aint's fair" part lies in this; no other editor in science-fiction and fantasy has taken so thorough a cleaning out of top-rank authors. I admit that, temporarily, Astounding and Unknown have slumped a little in story quality. There's a reason, and that reason is being eliminated rapidly, is, in fact, about gone. " The reason is the war, and its effect on my regular contributors. Heinlein-MacDonald followed Hubbard into active duty, and has proceeded to lead the procession of post-December 7th change-overs. Isaac Asimov is now in, after several months of juggling, de Camp's in after similar efforts. " For some time, their working time was heavily curtailed, and mine was extended--trying to find new authors of similar quality. " That isn't easy, I think you'll agree. To replace half a dozen second or third-rate writers isn't so hard; to find enough new, top-rank authors capable of real production as well as real quality is something else again. " I think a good measure of the problem has been solved. For a time, Astounding will not be running serials; new authors generally need the practice of shorts, then novelettes and shot novels before tackling serials. But you'll find some of the new men are good. Fred A. Senour, 210 Alameda St., Rochester, New York, types: Look Before You Leap--8. I thought this badly needed, as this was one of the places where I disagreed most heartily with the Cynic. I'm glad someone had the nerve to take the time to dig up concrete examples to show the other side of the picture. Smith is never guilty of inconsistency--tho he has other faults. (Never is probably too strong--I might get called on that.) But what I'm driving at, is that his yarns are as a whole very consistent. The main fault, and what the Cynic could have said with some justification, was that he tries to cover too much territory. SSL would have been a much better yarn for the elimination of some of the inter-twining threads of action, and expansion of the other themes. As an example of this, I might cite Nadreck. His inclusion in the story weakened when so much time is spent in developing this one man, and then his actions are slighted over by saying that he refused to tell--well, maybe that gives you the idea. As a separate story in the series, Smith could have made use of such a character nicely. That is, build a story around that character, and let him come in touch with the rest of the outfit--Kim and Clarissa, etc. But the combining of the two is not so hot. Anyway, I was glad to see the article. D. W. Boggs, 2215 Benjamin St., N. E., Minneapolis, Minn., reports: Lowndes' dissertation concerning reprints was singularly surprising. That he would defend his publications is understandable, but the chip-on-the-shoulder attitude toward the last is not. I hope Columbia doesn't back him on some of those statements. " Personally, I don't object strenuously to reprints when said reprint is merely a minor item int he issue--such as Standard's are. Nor do I kick when the reprint is the major item--or only item--of an avowed reprint mag, such as FFM or the Z-D Quarterlies. (However, I do think that such publications should clearly state on the cover that they use reprints. not just "Reissue" or "Classic Fantasy Novel".) What I don't like is a magazine that
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