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Fantascience Digest, v. 2, issue 3, March-April 1939
Page 8
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Page 8 FANTASCIENCE DIGEST ter from the typewriter and inserted another sheet of paper. Dear Jimmy:-Here's a scoop for SCIENCE FANTASY NEWS. Bill Davids was appointed editor of Jackson's new INCREDIBLE STORIES. This appointment was made after Jackson viewed Bill's fine work in connection with the last convention. More dope later. Your friend, Jack Silently, Jack inserted both communications in their respective envelopes and pasted on the stamps. He drew on his coat and walked to the door. He opened it and his fingers instinctively reached for the letter box. There were two postals in it, both of which requested Jack to write an article for a fan editor who needed it in a hurry. "Grand Old Fan" Jack Adams hissed softly as he slammed the door behind him. JACK WILLIAMSON'S VALHALLA By Milton A. Rothman A race of gods is menaced by a race of bad/people due to some incident that occured sometime in the past. To protect the good from the bad, a beautiful woman goes among the battlefields collecting those who have died there, and carries them off to the land of the gods. These soldiers, dead to the mundane world, have as their duty the task of obtaining a token of that incident than happened long ago. this task is, of course, opposed by the enemy race, among whom is a beautiful woman who ensnares the men, and finally ----? Well, then end depends upon what story we speak of. Those who think in terms of science fiction recognize the plot as that of "The Legion of Time" by Jack Williamson. Those familiar with opera recognize it as the story of Wagner's "Ring of the Nibelungen." Details are different, of course, and the ending is totally different, but the basic idea: of a conflict between two races, and the utilization of dead warriors to protect the one race is present in both stories. The four operas which compose the Tetralogy of the Ring finally ended in tragedy. Williamson's novel ends with a victory for the good people. That, of course, comes from the difference in the two mediums, and because the novel merely tells a story, whereas the opera digs down deep into psychology, philosophy, mythology, etc. I could go on to enumerate the minor differences, but that would serve no practical purpose, as we are not, as in the previous issue of FD, concerned with comparing the styles of two similar authors. Wagner would have made a wonderful science fiction author. His operas have that sweep of scope, that fantastic, romantic imagination which is so essential. His stories are all on such a big scale they overwhelm with their very massiveness. E. B.[?] Smith's stories are tiny when compared with Wagner. of course, the music creates a big part of the impression, but the words themselves, and the emotions transmitted by them are so wonderful that they defy description. It is worthwhile studying German simply to read Wagner, for the English translations are not worth the paper they are written on. And while on the subject of the connection between science fiction stories and opera, those (Continued on page 16)
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Page 8 FANTASCIENCE DIGEST ter from the typewriter and inserted another sheet of paper. Dear Jimmy:-Here's a scoop for SCIENCE FANTASY NEWS. Bill Davids was appointed editor of Jackson's new INCREDIBLE STORIES. This appointment was made after Jackson viewed Bill's fine work in connection with the last convention. More dope later. Your friend, Jack Silently, Jack inserted both communications in their respective envelopes and pasted on the stamps. He drew on his coat and walked to the door. He opened it and his fingers instinctively reached for the letter box. There were two postals in it, both of which requested Jack to write an article for a fan editor who needed it in a hurry. "Grand Old Fan" Jack Adams hissed softly as he slammed the door behind him. JACK WILLIAMSON'S VALHALLA By Milton A. Rothman A race of gods is menaced by a race of bad/people due to some incident that occured sometime in the past. To protect the good from the bad, a beautiful woman goes among the battlefields collecting those who have died there, and carries them off to the land of the gods. These soldiers, dead to the mundane world, have as their duty the task of obtaining a token of that incident than happened long ago. this task is, of course, opposed by the enemy race, among whom is a beautiful woman who ensnares the men, and finally ----? Well, then end depends upon what story we speak of. Those who think in terms of science fiction recognize the plot as that of "The Legion of Time" by Jack Williamson. Those familiar with opera recognize it as the story of Wagner's "Ring of the Nibelungen." Details are different, of course, and the ending is totally different, but the basic idea: of a conflict between two races, and the utilization of dead warriors to protect the one race is present in both stories. The four operas which compose the Tetralogy of the Ring finally ended in tragedy. Williamson's novel ends with a victory for the good people. That, of course, comes from the difference in the two mediums, and because the novel merely tells a story, whereas the opera digs down deep into psychology, philosophy, mythology, etc. I could go on to enumerate the minor differences, but that would serve no practical purpose, as we are not, as in the previous issue of FD, concerned with comparing the styles of two similar authors. Wagner would have made a wonderful science fiction author. His operas have that sweep of scope, that fantastic, romantic imagination which is so essential. His stories are all on such a big scale they overwhelm with their very massiveness. E. B.[?] Smith's stories are tiny when compared with Wagner. of course, the music creates a big part of the impression, but the words themselves, and the emotions transmitted by them are so wonderful that they defy description. It is worthwhile studying German simply to read Wagner, for the English translations are not worth the paper they are written on. And while on the subject of the connection between science fiction stories and opera, those (Continued on page 16)
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