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FMS Digest, v. 1, issues 1-5, February - July 1941
v.1:no.1: Page 3
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THE FUTURE OF SCIENCE FICTION By Clifford D. Simak Condensed from THE FANTASITE February, 1941 For a long time science fiction was formula. Then, suddenly, something happened. Stanley Weinbaum wrote "Martian Odyssey." Jack Williamson wrote "Born of the Sun." Don Wandrei strolled onto the scene. Other things happened, too. But those few examples give you an idea. Science fiction shook off the old belief that the saga of a man going to another planet and making the acquaintance of the three-legged, seven-eyed, 18-fingered residents of that planet constituted a story. Science fiction started to go places. It's been going places ever since. I would be the first to deny that all the pre-Weinbaum stories were lousy. What was meant is that they all followed pretty much the same pattern... and that doesn't mean they weren't good. But they were pretty much the same. From necessarily crude beginnings, we have advanced up to the present day science fiction story which is well rounded in every respect. We have achieved realism, an elusive sort of modern-day fantasy, humor, characterization, in some cases satire... and when satire arrives one may be fairly certain that type of literature is out of its swaddling clothes. No more do wooden men stalk through wooden plots. Your typical science fiction character of today seems to be alive. Plot is given equal consideration with the scientific basis of the story. Just what science fiction is going to do next is harder to say today than it would have been a few months ago. The advent of new magazines, and a resulting flurry of story types, serve to confuse any analysis. A few months ago I would have guessed the trend would be toward ever increasing realism. Now it appears there may be a decided swing back to the modern-day fantasy. We may be sure of this however: All literature follows certain broad trends and science fiction is no exception. The direction in which science fiction is moving may be obscured, but the direction will be there. Henceforward we probably will get more of every kind of story and the development of any particular type will be slower as a result. Perhaps today we have formulae which we do not even recognize, but which in a few years will be as outmodel as the ray gun. Perhaps we'll come back again to the idea of spattering star streams all over the place and cracking open universes. It wasn't a bad idea. A fellow could have a lot of fun with it. Probably we'll come back to a lot of the old basic ideas. I have a hunch we will... and soon. But we'll come back to them because we liked them and don't want to get along without them. And in the meantime we'll go ahead to new ideas and new ways of presenting them. We'll eventually have so many different types of stories that we can afford to weed out the ones we don't like, keep the ones we do. Unquestionably science fiction has development... I think that we can expect it to continue its development. It seems to have won a secure place with the American reader. EARL SINGLETON "It is with great sorrow that I write to tell the fans of the death of Earl Singleton, my room mate." So begins a brief letter received by Doc Lowndes, associate editor of F F F, on February 12. The writer, Oliver K. Smith, goes on to say: "Though usually very spirited, Earl was subject to occasional periods of silently morbid speculation and, on Sunday evening, February 9... he shot himself in the temple with a small caliber pistol... He evidently died instantly." -FANTASY FICTION FIELD February 22, 1941
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THE FUTURE OF SCIENCE FICTION By Clifford D. Simak Condensed from THE FANTASITE February, 1941 For a long time science fiction was formula. Then, suddenly, something happened. Stanley Weinbaum wrote "Martian Odyssey." Jack Williamson wrote "Born of the Sun." Don Wandrei strolled onto the scene. Other things happened, too. But those few examples give you an idea. Science fiction shook off the old belief that the saga of a man going to another planet and making the acquaintance of the three-legged, seven-eyed, 18-fingered residents of that planet constituted a story. Science fiction started to go places. It's been going places ever since. I would be the first to deny that all the pre-Weinbaum stories were lousy. What was meant is that they all followed pretty much the same pattern... and that doesn't mean they weren't good. But they were pretty much the same. From necessarily crude beginnings, we have advanced up to the present day science fiction story which is well rounded in every respect. We have achieved realism, an elusive sort of modern-day fantasy, humor, characterization, in some cases satire... and when satire arrives one may be fairly certain that type of literature is out of its swaddling clothes. No more do wooden men stalk through wooden plots. Your typical science fiction character of today seems to be alive. Plot is given equal consideration with the scientific basis of the story. Just what science fiction is going to do next is harder to say today than it would have been a few months ago. The advent of new magazines, and a resulting flurry of story types, serve to confuse any analysis. A few months ago I would have guessed the trend would be toward ever increasing realism. Now it appears there may be a decided swing back to the modern-day fantasy. We may be sure of this however: All literature follows certain broad trends and science fiction is no exception. The direction in which science fiction is moving may be obscured, but the direction will be there. Henceforward we probably will get more of every kind of story and the development of any particular type will be slower as a result. Perhaps today we have formulae which we do not even recognize, but which in a few years will be as outmodel as the ray gun. Perhaps we'll come back again to the idea of spattering star streams all over the place and cracking open universes. It wasn't a bad idea. A fellow could have a lot of fun with it. Probably we'll come back to a lot of the old basic ideas. I have a hunch we will... and soon. But we'll come back to them because we liked them and don't want to get along without them. And in the meantime we'll go ahead to new ideas and new ways of presenting them. We'll eventually have so many different types of stories that we can afford to weed out the ones we don't like, keep the ones we do. Unquestionably science fiction has development... I think that we can expect it to continue its development. It seems to have won a secure place with the American reader. EARL SINGLETON "It is with great sorrow that I write to tell the fans of the death of Earl Singleton, my room mate." So begins a brief letter received by Doc Lowndes, associate editor of F F F, on February 12. The writer, Oliver K. Smith, goes on to say: "Though usually very spirited, Earl was subject to occasional periods of silently morbid speculation and, on Sunday evening, February 9... he shot himself in the temple with a small caliber pistol... He evidently died instantly." -FANTASY FICTION FIELD February 22, 1941
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