The Science-Fiction Newspaper

RAN CLANS GATHERING CONVENTION SUCCESS BRITISH FANDOM' scored another outstand ­ plausible rather than fantastic stories. ing triumph with the success of the third Professor Low opened the proceedings by SFA Convention held in London. An impos ­ pointing out that s-f repelled the ordinary ing array of celebrities, very strong English public by asking them to believe Provincial representation and great enth­ what they deemed to be impossible; yet if usiasm marked the occasion 4. we gave them more familiar everyday objects - The afternoon session/ given over to and associations we could build up s-f 1 ; the Association ’s private business was story interest quite as intriguing and yet——- quickly and satisfactorily dealt with, far more plausible than the spate of yarns several charges in the personnel of the we "have to-day. Until this step were taken Executive receiving confirmation. It s-f would make no material advance in this was hoped on all sides, that accelerated country. progress would result. Professor Low W.H. Gillings pursued the same point, was again elected President, the other although not prepared to go as far as Prof. nomination being'Walter H. Gillings, Low. Yet he admitted the public had to Editor of TALES OF WONDER. be weaned on simple stories before we could ' Evening provided the highlight of the attempt to approach the high level of' 1930. proceedings. A crowded platform gave He sincerely hoped we would never deterior ­ the large gathering of members and friends ate to the level of present US stories and . (including several ladies) over three promised to do his utmost to keep TALES OF hours varied entertainment, such well- WONDER on the right path, known personalities as Professor Low, W.J • W.J. Passingham followed up with the view Passingham, author of several s-f serials, that the average s-f yarn was little better and W.H. Gillings giving addresses, while' than a fairy tale, because it was. just as M.G. Hugi and Charnock Walsby - s-f auth­ impossible. To put over fiction at all ors' - Ted Carnell, SFA Treasurer, BIS you must be convincing and accurate, so he Clarke and F.J. Arnold - leading fans - insisted s-f should be this also, giving added congratulations. personal examples from his own experience The three main speakers each asked for to prove his point. He suggested that as a more moderate policy than is being pur­ editors knew their public best the only way sued at present in USA, pleading for to be a successful writer was to write to 2 SCIENCE-FANTASY REVIEW, MONDAY, MAY 29, 1939

utors - or would-be contributors. Comment, SCIENCE-FANTASY REVIEW too,'we shall make but always in the inter­ : Every OTHER Monday : est of Truth and our Search for a Better To-morrow. Editorial Board But calumny we abhor together with its General: L. J. J ohns on employers; we know a few axioms concerning Literature: J.F. Burke those to whom it is not pleasant to listen, Science: E.G. Ducker and whose writings do not make easy reading. News : L.V. Heald Our principles forbid us revealing their Art: A., Bloom X1Ö.IT10 S e • s

Treasurers & Distributors: SCIENCE-FICTION SERVICE ON THE SOAP BOX 15 Houghton Street. Liverpool, 1 England By M. Windass, Leeds l-gdc per copy Back numbers not available So this is S—FR! I’m not so sure after reading it that the initials don’t stand for Such Frightful Nonsense. However, I EDITORIAL like your slant and I hope you won’t degen­ erate to the level of other fan magazines; K.G. Chapman, former Executive -Secret' that is, wailing how bad all s-f indubit­ ary, dropped a bombshell at the 1939 ably is and how good the fans running the Convention by revealing that recent ynagazine are in particular. changes in SFA personnel were precipitat And say! Who in the antithesis of ed by backbiting and insulting remarks ' Heaven is that guy Heald? Never heard freely indulged in by certain members« of him in fandom before. Officials had no objection to honest 15 criticism, but recent methods made it By M.K. Hanson, London impossible for them to continue as before This position is strongly deprecated All that guff about the BIS selling its ty ‘th© S-F REVIEW* IP h.onGS’t opinions ’secrets (and its soul) to the Air IfibiStry cannot be aired without becoming object­ iis, I am given to understand, without ary ionable, personal and vindictive and then \ solid foundation in fact. If it did the developing into an underground whispering Ibis membership would drop pretty rapidly. campaign there is something wrong some­ Please convey my congratulations on the where - either in the 3FA itself or its iS-FR as a whole to the right quarter, I members. Criticisms, yes; but insults, I liked the neat and newsy first issue a lot land will subscribe without fail next Sunday no! S-FR will exert its right to criticise It will do so without fear or favour, "Whenever truth is discovered that ought MOULD fOU BELIEVE IT . . . ? to be made public we shall endeavour to do so no matter how unpleasant it may be; FLASH GORDON serial commences in "Modern that is our duty to s-f fans, authors and Wonder" shortly editors;, and if any of our remarks may ______, .... ______seem on occasion to tend towards person­ al insult we tender our apologies for WIDE ’WHITE PAGE a book by Boall Cunningham such is not the policy of the Editor even is now Remaindered @ Is.Od. Fantasyarn though it may be that of certain contrib- I of idealist civilization in Antarctic. SCIENCE-FANTASY REVIEW, MY 29, 19g9 3

PRO-MAG PARS KEY-NOTES (2) Why Do You Read?

FANTASY 'appears again in July! -28th to be exact, Seems possible we aye In the Notes last issue we gave to have regular publication henceforth. suggestions as to a method for use in Congratulations' to FANTASY, and long determining the value of. stories and life! • ■ articles you- read,. Since you were asked to allot some 70 marks for the TALES OF WONDER OUT JUNE 30th PRINTS Idea, it may be as well to ask the question given above in order to arrive Venus Adventure by John Beynon at this marking, Across th'e A.byss by &,C, Wallis I , suggest that you REAP for thre'e' City of Machines by F.J. Arnold reasons at least;-. Week-End Rocket to the Moon - Noy! 1. To gain knowledge ~ :: '^y■AiC. Clarke - .2, To experience some kind of pleasur- Preacher of Eternity by M.G. Hugi ' able sensation, The Yeast Men. by p.H. Keller 3» To acquire something which will, or Big Cloud by Coutts Brisbane ' may-, prove, useful in life. The three are. radically distinct, American ARGOSY Weekly regularly pres­ although they may well be intermixed." ents good fantasy: Issue for February For example., one person may argue'that 25 f eatures NON-STOP TO MARS by /Jack he is not interested, in 1, unless it ’ Williamson - a 20-page -novelet. comes under 2, or 3. That would' demon­ Issues from March strate a short-sighted view of things, 11 (.six in all) contain SEVEN OUT OF but as a rule.it would be quite inaccurate TIME by Arthur Leo Zagat former part­ Actually every man is interested in the ner-in the Schachner-Zagat axis. pursuit, of knowledge for its and "his own sake, whether he admits or is aware of Latest Remainder of ASTOUNDING' is- the fact or not.' February 1939 issue, which contains no More common are those who state they outstanding stories, read for entertainment (2.) only. They, "Crucible of Power" by Jack William­ too, demonstrate that the statement is son reads more like a synopsis than a not to be taken too seriously whenever story, ' Shorts are cameo-like but ent­ they ask for certain better standards of ertaining; Schachner1 's and Kummer’s writing, plots, or the like. stories are passing good, Therefore, it id wiser to include all "Cosmic Engineers" starts as a ser­ three factors in your critique. Mr, A. ial in this issue but comment, is with­ may make up his 70 thus: (1) 25; (2) held until all parts are published. 20; (3) 25; while Mr, B.' allots 10, 40, Don’t miss. R. Sprague de Camp’s 20, .They differ very considerably, yet letter about King Arthur fable. both allow 70 for the idea. Why do;Y0U • Cover excellent, read? ■ ' ' -ELG

. SCIENCE FICTION, Charles D» Hornig’s new magazine has already seen two CONTAGION TO THIS WORLD issues in U.S.A, but has not yet been seen in this country either current or a book by Fedor Kaul is now available Remainder, With the August issue out as a Remainder @ Is.Od,' Brilliant in America June 20th, this'magazine crippled, scientist infects Europe with will appear monthly; is at present a malignant plague.,, A very well written .regarded as the only real s—f magazine novel that is recommended. operating across the Atlantic,. .SCIENCE-FANTASY REVIEW, MAY 29, 1939

SCIENCE-FICTION IN 1938: A Review boasted a revised contents page, while book-jacket illustrations were introd­ LAST YEAR was undoubtedly the most uced, Editor Campbell claiming-..good eventful in the history of Science­ reception of the changes. fiction since 1926 saw the birth of ■ On the whole, progress in 1938 shows' science-fiction magazines with'the great promise for the future. Whether first issue of AMAZING STORIES. More, this promise will be -fulfilled or not new publications appeared on the remains to be seen. A higher level of market than in any other s-imilar writing is definitely necessary, and far period, while great changes took more hack work must be consigned to the place in those already established. editorial waste-basket. Fans must keep In England, FANTASY'S first tent­ up the pressure until-their demands are ative issue was followed in America met. by.MARVEL SCIENCE STORIES, STARTLING STORIES, and promise of DYNAMIC SCIENCE STORIES and FANTASTIC THE WAY TO A NEW-TO-MORROW ADVENTURES, .As each is continuing to appear science-fiction's support­ IN HIS recent -radio speech, the Duke ers must have increased corr.espond- of Windsor said' love of Peace should -ingly in number; a fact which we precede love of country. In other words not.with satisfaction.' only internationalism can save the world • - .These new magazines are at least from the destruction of a future war. up to■contemporary standards and S-f is in itself international in give hope that with the inclusion of nature with fan activities extending book-length, novels in MARVEL and- throughout the globe, and surmounting STARTLING we shall get many first- all national frontiers, ..Many yarns class yarns in future. . praise a future World State in which Changes in the established mag­ .individual countries will be welded azines are no less important. together in universal brotherhood and AMAZING STORIES now appears under Earth as a single nation will reach a the. banner of Ziff-Davis Publishing glorious new To-morrow! Co, of Chicago, and.from October on­ . .Weread much of.the necessity for and wards replied to fans requests, by the "benefits" of a future war and that becoming a Monthly. ' , the highest form of Service one can give Two ‘s-f authors secured editor­ is to train -to kill one’s fellow men. We ships: Raymond A, Palmer of AMAZING must confess our distrust of such doc­ and John W. Campbell, Jr.-of ASTOUND­ trines. S-FR demands who wants to ING, Future contents pages will fight whom. Our difficulties with other prove whether or not' this new trend nations are not so great that .we must is beneficial. cease thinking Of solutions to them and On the Art side, new blood appear­ resort to savage emotion-relieving ed. Julian S. Krupa and Robert' slaughter. This, too, is the belief of Fuqua gracing AMAZING's pages met with the Little Man in every state. a mixed reception. Paul is once Looks like we’ve got to push science­ again in print in MARVEL and'DYNAMIC, fiction harder than, ever, both at home while WessoloWski and Morey continue and abroad, and make the nations realize to lead the field. In March, AST­ there are real alternatives to war. OUNDING' s title doffed "Stories" for "SCIENCE-FICTION"; in December, the ’AW 13 POLTON.CROSS? cover-title was. adopted to more modern Because we fear Thornton got the Ayre! style of lettering. This issue