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Fantascience Digest, v. 3, issue 1, whole no. 12, January-February 1940

Page 38

Page 38                     FANTASCIENCE DIGEST

   Plausibility or Super-Science. I agree with the writer. ---7
   It's Astounding! Warner, that,s all.   ---7
   Argosy: 1938. Very comprehensive.
   What Future for the Fan Magazine? A little pessimistic. ---6
   Case History. A little old.-6
   Science Fiction Spotlight. Very good; indispensible.  ---8
   Retelling the Old Timers. No wonder you made Fischer one of the staff. He's indespensible, too.--7
   Can You Answer These? I tried but couldn't make a hundred. ---7
   Author's Dream (5)Fair. ---5
   The Reader Comments. ---6
   Why Ghouls Leave Home. Somewhat forced in spots, and rambling. More or less a series of bright cracks, some of which were rather funny.    ---5
   And that's that. 

   TED DIKTY: Having neglected commenting on previous issues of Fantascience Digest -- sheer laziness on my part, I fear -- I think I'd better strike when the iron is hot. The mag came this morning and my letter will probably be mailed tomorrow morn.

   Liked the yellow covers. They're colorful, butdo not detract from the printing. Cover rates a 7.

   "Dawn of Death"; only 6, but if the pro mags were rated, some of their fiction wouldn't even get that! 
   Burke's article, while it did not present any new ideas, gets a 6 because I agree with it. As he says, human beings will always be more interested in human beings than in super-scientific machinery. All the stories in my ten favorite stf novels are chiefly human interest yarns. Even those two scientifically extravagant yarns, "Spacehounds of IPC" and the "Stone from the Green Star" had a highly human side to them.

   Wollheim certainly paints a black picture in regards to the future of science fiction. I do not believe anything of the sort will happen. Perhaps Don himself has changed his mind by this time, seeing as how the war has been on for three months and no mag has dropped out and, what is more, the total has reached fifteen mags. Aside from that, it is a well-written article. 7 
   "Argosy; 1938"; "Mackley" (and I know who he is, having been the first one to accept material from him under that name) has a fairly readable review. I don't care much for reviews anymore, they being mere repetition of well-known facts. However, the writing saved this one. Give it 6. Incidentally, he's right in saying William Grey Beyer is another Weinbaum. Who wants to disagree?

   "Spotlight" is always good. 8 Having read the "Darkness and Dawn" trilogy very recently, I did not get quite the same pleasure I would have ordinarily. But I must say it was a well-written and accurate review of the book. 7

   For once, Braddbury has written a flopperoo. Slightly too ghoulish for my taste and not humorous enough. 4 
   "Case History" rates 7 as most of the info is new to me.
 
   Warner -- 6. 

   Mimeographing and format is tops. 9 
   Luck to Fantascience Digest! 

   SAM MOSKOWITZ: The July-August-September issue of Fantascience Digest was up to the old standard except for one thing. There wasn't any particular feature that stood head and shoulders above everything else. "Dawn ofDeath" contained a nice note of tragedy. Gosh! how I like tragedy. No story is a great story without an unhappy ending, to my mind, and I'm not being sarcastic. However Fischer's yarn rates only fair...Burke's article OK, but I'm having a tough time figuring out the relation of the quoted poetry to the rest of the article...Cloukey satisfactory.

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Page 38 FANTASCIENCE DIGEST Plausibility or Super-Science. I agree with the writer. ---7 It's Astounding! Warner, that,s all. ---7 Argosy: 1938. Very comprehensive. What Future for the Fan Magazine? A little pessimistic. ---6 Case History. A little old.-6 Science Fiction Spotlight. Very good; indispensible. ---8 Retelling the Old Timers. No wonder you made Fischer one of the staff. He's indespensible, too.--7 Can You Answer These? I tried but couldn't make a hundred. ---7 Author's Dream (5)Fair. ---5 The Reader Comments. ---6 Why Ghouls Leave Home. Somewhat forced in spots, and rambling. More or less a series of bright cracks, some of which were rather funny. ---5 And that's that. TED DIKTY: Having neglected commenting on previous issues of Fantascience Digest -- sheer laziness on my part, I fear -- I think I'd better strike when the iron is hot. The mag came this morning and my letter will probably be mailed tomorrow morn. Liked the yellow covers. They're colorful, butdo not detract from the printing. Cover rates a 7. "Dawn of Death"; only 6, but if the pro mags were rated, some of their fiction wouldn't even get that! Burke's article, while it did not present any new ideas, gets a 6 because I agree with it. As he says, human beings will always be more interested in human beings than in super-scientific machinery. All the stories in my ten favorite stf novels are chiefly human interest yarns. Even those two scientifically extravagant yarns, "Spacehounds of IPC" and the "Stone from the Green Star" had a highly human side to them. Wollheim certainly paints a black picture in regards to the future of science fiction. I do not believe anything of the sort will happen. Perhaps Don himself has changed his mind by this time, seeing as how the war has been on for three months and no mag has dropped out and, what is more, the total has reached fifteen mags. Aside from that, it is a well-written article. 7 "Argosy; 1938"; "Mackley" (and I know who he is, having been the first one to accept material from him under that name) has a fairly readable review. I don't care much for reviews anymore, they being mere repetition of well-known facts. However, the writing saved this one. Give it 6. Incidentally, he's right in saying William Grey Beyer is another Weinbaum. Who wants to disagree? "Spotlight" is always good. 8 Having read the "Darkness and Dawn" trilogy very recently, I did not get quite the same pleasure I would have ordinarily. But I must say it was a well-written and accurate review of the book. 7 For once, Braddbury has written a flopperoo. Slightly too ghoulish for my taste and not humorous enough. 4 "Case History" rates 7 as most of the info is new to me. Warner -- 6. Mimeographing and format is tops. 9 Luck to Fantascience Digest! SAM MOSKOWITZ: The July-August-September issue of Fantascience Digest was up to the old standard except for one thing. There wasn't any particular feature that stood head and shoulders above everything else. "Dawn ofDeath" contained a nice note of tragedy. Gosh! how I like tragedy. No story is a great story without an unhappy ending, to my mind, and I'm not being sarcastic. However Fischer's yarn rates only fair...Burke's article OK, but I'm having a tough time figuring out the relation of the quoted poetry to the rest of the article...Cloukey satisfactory.