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Horizons, v. 2, issue 4, June 1941

Page 5

HORIZONS

A FEAR OF REPRINTS

No one is more surprised than we to find these reviews rather popular. In fact, the last one inspired several fans to send in thorough reports of how their sentiments about the stories agreed and disagreed with ours. Maybe one or more of these lists will be found further on in this issue, but don't bet on it.

What we'll do next time is not known right now, though. We've now done a year of Astounding, one of Unknown, and this accounts for Famous Fantastic Mysteries and Fantastic Novels. During 1940 we also read all of Astonishing and Super Science, and they may or may not be picked on next issue. Too, we're buying regularly The Comet, and maybe by next issue twelve months of its publication will have rolled around. After next issue, of course, we'll start all over.

However, sad to relate, these are going to continue for a long time, whether you like them or not. We have to get our opinions down somewhere, and we no longer have time to write the pro magazines monthly as we once did. (If anyone says that two letters could be written to each pro in the time it takes to issue this, he is evil-minded and to be shunned.)

As last time, ratings are from 1 to five: 1 is as awful as 5 is superlative: 2 is poor and 4 is good, and all the rest get 3's. Too, once again most of the figures will be high, because the Munsey reprint magazines are good. We put them -- or it, now -- third in Widner's poll, behind only Astounding and Unknown.

We'll take the magazines by months, since we always thought of them as the same thing under two names, when both FFM and FN were in separation. The first six months of the year, as the magazines are dated, there was no Fantastic Novels, of course. But to begin:

Famous Fantastic Mysteries: January, 1940. Cover: for this and the next issue can't be rated, of course. ON THE BRINK OF 2000: 5. Our experience with this was unusual. A number of years ago, we picked up some old Amazings. One contains the final half of "Treasures of Tantalus". But -- we never read the whole magazine, and since we rarely touch a serial when one part is missing and liable not to be available for a long while, we merely glanced through the synopsis. Came the reprint of "On the Brink of 2000", somehow, sounding a tiny bit familiar. At least, we believe it was familiar; it's difficult to believe that reading those few words several years earlier could have stuck with me that long, but that's our story and we'll continue to believe it. We enjoyed "On the Brink", of course. A few months ago, running out of recent pros to read, we dug up the Amazings, and decided to read what we had of "Treasures", since it was the ending and it might be a long while before the beginning would ever turn up. This time we knew something was familiar. Finally, things clicked. The problem is: how come we never saw mention of the fact that the two stories are related, when both are so famous? Just one of those things, most likely. This -- "On the Brink of 2000" -- is one we've tagged for eventual re-reading. BEHIND THE CURTAIN: 3. We first read this the evening of a concert of the Hagerstown Symphony Orchestra, just before we left to play our first solo part on the English Horn. Under the circumstances, little can be remembered! The illustration for this has been in our possession a long while, for use in Spaceways' contest. Which enables us to notice that it was reversed in print -- the man on the left and the woman on the right. Does anyone know whether this is true of all illustrations in pulp magazines? THE RED GERM OF COURAGE: 2. Sacrilegious, no doubt, but accurate sentiments. We fail to see why fans admired Staral's stories in Argosy so much, unless it was just that they were in Argosy. There's little to distinguish this from the dreams of interplanetaries ground out every month today. AN ASTRAL GENTLEMAN: 3. There's not too much to be said about this, but it gives the impression of being about fifteen years older than it actually is. THE "V" FORCE: 3 again. A bit better than the last-mentioned, and a bit reminiscent -- or pregnant -- of the Unknown type of yarn, though of course Campbell would never give it a second glance if submitted to him. WEIRD TRAVEL TALES should have been called "A Filler" rather than "A Feature" on its contents page listing. Certainly something better than this could have been found in the stacks of past Munsey magazines, if nothing more than a few Men Who Make the Argosy, 2, if it must be rated. Letters quite typical [illegible]  to be found in The Readers' Viewpoint (and what a strikingly original [illegible] letter [illegible]

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HORIZONS A FEAR OF REPRINTS No one is more surprised than we to find these reviews rather popular. In fact, the last one inspired several fans to send in thorough reports of how their sentiments about the stories agreed and disagreed with ours. Maybe one or more of these lists will be found further on in this issue, but don't bet on it. What we'll do next time is not known right now, though. We've now done a year of Astounding, one of Unknown, and this accounts for Famous Fantastic Mysteries and Fantastic Novels. During 1940 we also read all of Astonishing and Super Science, and they may or may not be picked on next issue. Too, we're buying regularly The Comet, and maybe by next issue twelve months of its publication will have rolled around. After next issue, of course, we'll start all over. However, sad to relate, these are going to continue for a long time, whether you like them or not. We have to get our opinions down somewhere, and we no longer have time to write the pro magazines monthly as we once did. (If anyone says that two letters could be written to each pro in the time it takes to issue this, he is evil-minded and to be shunned.) As last time, ratings are from 1 to five: 1 is as awful as 5 is superlative: 2 is poor and 4 is good, and all the rest get 3's. Too, once again most of the figures will be high, because the Munsey reprint magazines are good. We put them -- or it, now -- third in Widner's poll, behind only Astounding and Unknown. We'll take the magazines by months, since we always thought of them as the same thing under two names, when both FFM and FN were in separation. The first six months of the year, as the magazines are dated, there was no Fantastic Novels, of course. But to begin: Famous Fantastic Mysteries: January, 1940. Cover: for this and the next issue can't be rated, of course. ON THE BRINK OF 2000: 5. Our experience with this was unusual. A number of years ago, we picked up some old Amazings. One contains the final half of "Treasures of Tantalus". But -- we never read the whole magazine, and since we rarely touch a serial when one part is missing and liable not to be available for a long while, we merely glanced through the synopsis. Came the reprint of "On the Brink of 2000", somehow, sounding a tiny bit familiar. At least, we believe it was familiar; it's difficult to believe that reading those few words several years earlier could have stuck with me that long, but that's our story and we'll continue to believe it. We enjoyed "On the Brink", of course. A few months ago, running out of recent pros to read, we dug up the Amazings, and decided to read what we had of "Treasures", since it was the ending and it might be a long while before the beginning would ever turn up. This time we knew something was familiar. Finally, things clicked. The problem is: how come we never saw mention of the fact that the two stories are related, when both are so famous? Just one of those things, most likely. This -- "On the Brink of 2000" -- is one we've tagged for eventual re-reading. BEHIND THE CURTAIN: 3. We first read this the evening of a concert of the Hagerstown Symphony Orchestra, just before we left to play our first solo part on the English Horn. Under the circumstances, little can be remembered! The illustration for this has been in our possession a long while, for use in Spaceways' contest. Which enables us to notice that it was reversed in print -- the man on the left and the woman on the right. Does anyone know whether this is true of all illustrations in pulp magazines? THE RED GERM OF COURAGE: 2. Sacrilegious, no doubt, but accurate sentiments. We fail to see why fans admired Staral's stories in Argosy so much, unless it was just that they were in Argosy. There's little to distinguish this from the dreams of interplanetaries ground out every month today. AN ASTRAL GENTLEMAN: 3. There's not too much to be said about this, but it gives the impression of being about fifteen years older than it actually is. THE "V" FORCE: 3 again. A bit better than the last-mentioned, and a bit reminiscent -- or pregnant -- of the Unknown type of yarn, though of course Campbell would never give it a second glance if submitted to him. WEIRD TRAVEL TALES should have been called "A Filler" rather than "A Feature" on its contents page listing. Certainly something better than this could have been found in the stacks of past Munsey magazines, if nothing more than a few Men Who Make the Argosy, 2, if it must be rated. Letters quite typical [illegible] to be found in The Readers' Viewpoint (and what a strikingly original [illegible] letter [illegible]