galacticjourney

by Gideon Marcus

If "no news is good news," then this has been a very good week, indeed! The Studebaker UAW strike ended on the 7th. The Congo is no more restive than usual. Laos seems to be holding a tenuous peace in its three-cornered civil war. The coup is over in the Dominican Republic, the former government back in power. John Glenn hasn't gone up yet, but then, neither have any Russians. The Studebaker UAW strike ended on the 7th. The Congo is no more restive than usual. Laos seems to be holding a tenuous peace in its three-cornered civil war. The coup is over in the Dominican Republic, the former government back in power. John Glenn hasn't gone up yet, but then, neither have any Russians.

And while this month's IF science fiction magazine contains nothing of earth-shattering quality, there's not a clunker in the mix – and quite a bit to enjoy! Get a load of these headlines:

(see the rest at Galactic Journey!)

Current Mood: hungry
Current Location: San Diego, CA
Crossposts: http://galacticjourney.livejournal.com/121516.html

At a local gathering of science fiction fans, my wife and I discussed the state of the genre, particularly how our digests are doing. Their boom began in 1949 and peaked in 1953, when there were nearly 40 in publication. That number is down to less than 10, and many are (as usual) predicting the end of the fun.

While it is true that the volume of production is down, I argued that the quality is up...or at least evolving. I used Galaxy's sister magazine IF as an example. IF pays it writers less than Galaxy, and it is a sort of training ground for new blood. Fred Pohl, the magazine's shadow editor, also prints more unusual stories there. As a result, the magazine's quality is highly variable, but the peaks tend to be interesting.

Sadly, this month's IF is chock full of valleys. You win some, you lose some. Still, for the sake of completeness, here's my review; as always, your mileage may vary!

(see the rest at Galactic Journey!)

Current Mood: optimistic
Current Location: San Diego, CA
Current Music: Move two Mountains - Marv Johnson
Crossposts: http://galacticjourney.livejournal.com/87985.html

Ten years ago, a World War Two vet named H. L. Gold decided to try his luck as editor of a science fiction digest. His Galaxy was among the first of the new crop of magazines in the post-war science fiction boom, and it quickly set an industry standard.

A decade later, Galaxy is down to a bimonthly schedule and has cut author rates in half. This has, predictably, led to a dip in quality, though it is not as pronounced as I'd feared. Moreover, the magazine is half-again as large as it used to be, and its sister publication, IF, might as well be a second Galaxy. All told, the magazine is still a bargain at 50 cents the issue.

Particularly the December 1960 issue. There's a lot of good stuff herein (once you get past yet another senilic Gold editorial):

(see the rest at Galactic Journey!)

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: San Diego, CA
Crossposts: http://galacticjourney.livejournal.com/78192.html

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Entries tagged with r.a.lafferty

[Feb. 10, 1962] Here is the News (March 1962 IF)

[March 2, 1961] Rounding out the month (March 1961 IF)

[Nov. 11, 1960] A Celebrated Veteran (December 1960 Galaxy)

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