Monday, April 6, 2015

supplement to the context-setting for WHO KILLED SCIENCE FICTION?--short sf in the 1950s.

Among the anthologies that have mined the increasing post-WW2 sophistication in sf and fantasy magazines (and related media the magazine writers would publish with), one of the most impressive series has been the Great SF Stories: [year] retro-annuals Isaac Asimov and M. H. Greenberg edited (with input from Barry Malzberg and others) beginning in the latest 1970s...which give a good sense of how much good work was being spread to a wide variety of magazines and original anthologies over the decade--contemporary Year's Best annuals from the 1950s follow, and another latest-1970s retro-anthology, with some overlap between the various volumes, but this rather lengthy data-gather does give some sense of the ferment of the decade:

 Indices courtesy the Locus Indices; "CNB" is Locus cofounder/editor Charles N. Brown):

 Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories: 11 (1949) ed. Isaac Asimov & Martin H. Greenberg (DAW 0-87997-918-6, Mar ’84 [Feb ’84], $3.50, 317pp, pb) Anthology of 15 stories from 1949 with notes Asimov. This series offers an excellent historical survey of the sf field. Recommended. (CNB)


Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories: 12 (1950) ed. Isaac Asimov & Martin H. Greenberg (DAW 0-87997-953-4, Sep ’84 [Aug ’84], $3.50, 319pp, pb) Anthology of 18 classic stories.
  • 9 · 1950 Introduction · Martin H. Greenberg · in
  • 13 · Not with a Bang · Damon Knight · ss F&SF Win/Spr ’50
  • 19 · Spectator Sport · John D. MacDonald · ss Thrilling Wonder Stories Feb ’50
  • 26 · There Will Come Soft Rains · Ray Bradbury · ss Colliers May 6 ’50
  • 34 · Dear Devil · Eric Frank Russell · nv Other Worlds Science Stories May ’50
  • 70 · Scanners Live in Vain · Cordwainer Smith · nv Fantasy Book #6 ’50
  • 105 · Born of Man and Woman · Richard Matheson · vi F&SF Sum ’50
  • 109 · The Little Black Bag · C. M. Kornbluth · nv Astounding Jul ’50
  • 138 · Enchanted Village · A. E. van Vogt · ss Other Worlds Science Stories Jul ’50
  • 154 · Oddy and Id [“The Devil’s Invention”] · Alfred Bester · ss Astounding Aug ’50
  • 170 · The Sack · William Morrison · ss Astounding Sep ’50
  • 190 · The Silly Season · C. M. Kornbluth · ss F&SF Fll ’50
  • 205 · Misbegotten Missionary · Isaac Asimov · ss Galaxy Nov ’50
  • 221 · To Serve Man · Damon Knight · ss Galaxy Nov ’50
  • 230 · Coming Attraction · Fritz Leiber · ss Galaxy Nov ’50
  • 244 · A Subway Named Mobius · A. J. Deutsch · ss Astounding Dec ’50
  • 260 · Process · A. E. van Vogt · ss F&SF Dec ’50
  • 267 · The Mindworm · C. M. Kornbluth · ss Worlds Beyond Dec ’50
  • 281 · The New Reality · Charles L. Harness · nv Thrilling Wonder Stories Dec ’50
Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories: 13 (1951) ed. Isaac Asimov & Martin H. Greenberg (DAW 0-88677-058-0, Jul ’85 [Jun ’85], $3.50, 337pp, pb) Anthology of the best of 1951 plus an introduction about the year in the world and in sf. An excellent anthology. The whole series is highly recommended. (CNB)
  • ix · Introduction · Martin H. Greenberg · in
  • 1 · Null-P · William Tenn · ss Worlds Beyond Jan ’51
  • 15 · The Sentinel [“Sentinel of Eternity”] · Arthur C. Clarke · ss Ten Story Fantasy Spr ’51
  • 27 · The Fire Balloons [“‘In This Sign...’”] · Ray Bradbury · ss Imagination Apr ’51
  • 48 · The Marching Morons · C. M. Kornbluth · nv Galaxy Apr ’51
  • 83 · The Weapon · Fredric Brown · ss Astounding Apr ’51
  • 88 · Angel’s Egg · Edgar Pangborn · nv Galaxy Jun ’51
  • 130 · Breeds There a Man...? · Isaac Asimov · nv Astounding Jun ’51
  • 171 · Pictures Don’t Lie · Katherine MacLean · ss Galaxy Aug ’51
  • 193 · Superiority · Arthur C. Clarke · ss F&SF Aug ’51
  • 206 · I’m Scared · Jack Finney · ss Colliers Sep 15 ’51
  • 222 · The Quest for Saint Aquin · Anthony Boucher · ss New Tales of Space and Time, ed. Raymond J. Healy, Holt, 1951; F&SF Jan ’59
  • 244 · Tiger by the Tail · Alan E. Nourse · ss Galaxy Nov ’51
  • 253 · With These Hands · C. M. Kornbluth · nv Galaxy Dec ’51
  • 274 · A Pail of Air · Fritz Leiber · ss Galaxy Dec ’51
  • 291 · Dune Roller · Julian May · nv Astounding Dec ’51
Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories: 14 (1952) ed. Isaac Asimov & Martin H. Greenberg (DAW 0-88677-106-4, Jan ’86 [Dec ’85], $3.50, 352pp, pb) Anthology of stories from 1952. Recommended. (CNB)

Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories: 15 (1953) ed. Isaac Asimov & Martin H. Greenberg (DAW 0-88677-171-4, Dec ’86 [Nov ’86], $3.50, 352pp, pb) Anthology of 17 stories first published in 1953 plus a summary of the year in and out of sf plus remarks on the various writers. Recommended (CNB).
  • 9 · Introduction · Martin H. Greenberg · in
  • 13 · The Big Holiday · Fritz Leiber · ss F&SF Jan ’53
  • 24 · Crucifixus Etiam · Walter M. Miller, Jr. · ss Astounding Feb ’53
  • 48 · Four in One · Damon Knight · nv Galaxy Feb ’53
  • 86 · Saucer of Loneliness · Theodore Sturgeon · ss Galaxy Feb ’53
  • 102 · The Liberation of Earth · William Tenn · ss Future May ’53
  • 123 · Lot [David Jimmon] · Ward Moore · nv F&SF May ’53
  • 155 · The Nine Billion Names of God · Arthur C. Clarke · ss Star Science Fiction Stories #1, ed. Frederik Pohl, Ballantine, 1953
  • 164 · Warm · Robert Sheckley · ss Galaxy Jun ’53
  • 176 · Impostor · Philip K. Dick · ss Astounding Jun ’53
  • 194 · The World Well Lost · Theodore Sturgeon · ss Universe Jun ’53
  • 216 · A Bad Day for Sales · Fritz Leiber · ss Galaxy Jul ’53
  • 224 · Common Time · James Blish · ss Science Fiction Quarterly Aug ’53
  • 250 · Time Is the Traitor · Alfred Bester · nv F&SF Sep ’53
  • 277 · The Wall Around the World · Theodore R. Cogswell · nv Beyond Fantasy Fiction Sep ’53
  • 308 · The Model of a Judge · William Morrison · ss Galaxy Oct ’53
  • 322 · Hall of Mirrors · Fredric Brown · ss Galaxy Dec ’53
  • 331 · It’s a Good Life · Jerome Bixby · ss Star Science Fiction Stories #2, ed. Frederik Pohl, Ballantine, 1953

Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories: 16 (1954) ed. Isaac Asimov & Martin H. Greenberg (DAW 0-88677-200-1, May ’87, $3.50, 350pp, pb) Anthology of 17 stories from 1954.
  • 9 · 1954 Introduction · Martin H. Greenberg · in
  • 13 · The Test · Richard Matheson · ss F&SF Nov ’54
  • 34 · Anachron · Damon Knight · ss If Jan ’54
  • 54 · Black Charlie · Gordon R. Dickson · ss Galaxy Apr ’54
  • 72 · Down Among the Dead Men · William Tenn · nv Galaxy Jun ’54
  • 100 · The Hunting Lodge · Randall Garrett · nv Astounding Jul ’54
  • 138 · The Lysenko Maze · Donald A. Wollheim · ss F&SF Jul ’54
  • 151 · Fondly Fahrenheit · Alfred Bester · nv F&SF Aug ’54
  • 174 · The Cold Equations · Tom Godwin · nv Astounding Aug ’54
  • 203 · Letters from Laura · Mildred Clingerman · ss F&SF Oct ’54
  • 211 · Transformer · Chad Oliver · ss F&SF Nov ’54
  • 227 · The Music Master of Babylon · Edgar Pangborn · nv Galaxy Nov ’54
  • 258 · The End of Summer · Algis Budrys · nv Astounding Nov ’54
  • 289 · The Father-Thing · Philip K. Dick · ss F&SF Dec ’54
  • 304 · The Deep Range · Arthur C. Clarke · ss Star Science Fiction Stories #3, ed. Frederik Pohl, Ballantine, 1954
  • 315 · Balaam · Anthony Boucher · ss 9 Tales of Space and Time, ed. Raymond J. Healey, Holt, 1954
  • 332 · Man of Parts · Horace L. Gold · ss 9 Tales of Space and Time, ed. Raymond J. Healey, Holt, 1954
  • 349 · Answer · Fredric Brown · vi Angels and Spaceships, Dutton, 1954
Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories: 17 (1955) ed. Isaac Asimov & Martin H. Greenberg (DAW 0-88677-256-7, Jan ’88 [Dec ’87], $3.95, 349pp, pb) Anthology of 14 sf stories.
  • 333 · Dreaming Is a Private Thing · Isaac Asimov · ss F&SF Dec ’55
Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories: 18 (1956) ed. Isaac Asimov & Martin H. Greenberg (DAW 0-88677-289-3, Aug ’88 [Jul ’88], $4.50, 366pp, pb) Anthology of 15 sf stories from 1956.
  • 9 · Introduction · Martin H. Greenberg · in
  • 13 · Brightside Crossing · Alan E. Nourse · nv Galaxy Jan ’56
  • 35 · Clerical Error · Mark Clifton · nv Astounding Feb ’56
  • 75 · Silent Brother · Algis Budrys · ss Astounding Feb ’56
  • 96 · The Country of the Kind · Damon Knight · ss F&SF Feb ’56
  • 111 · Exploration Team [Colonial Survey] · Murray Leinster · nv Astounding Mar ’56
  • 161 · Rite of Passage · Henry Kuttner & C. L. Moore · nv F&SF May ’56
  • 203 · The Man Who Came Early · Poul Anderson · nv F&SF Jun ’56
  • 230 · A Work of Art [“Art-Work”] · James Blish · nv Science Fiction Stories Jul ’56
  • 248 · Horrer Howce · Margaret St. Clair · ss Galaxy Jul ’56
  • 261 · Compounded Interest · Mack Reynolds · ss F&SF Aug ’56
  • 276 · The Doorstop · Reginald Bretnor · ss Astounding Nov ’56
  • 286 · The Last Question · Isaac Asimov · ss Science Fiction Quarterly Nov ’56
  • 300 · Stranger Station · Damon Knight · nv F&SF Dec ’56
  • 327 · 2066: Election Day · Michael Shaara · ss Astounding Dec ’56
  • 344 · And Now the News... · Theodore Sturgeon · ss F&SF Dec ’56
Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories: 19 (1957) ed. Isaac Asimov & Martin H. Greenberg (DAW 0-88677-326-1, Feb ’89, $4.50, 350pp, pb) Anthology of 15 stories from 1957 plus commentary. This long-running anthology series is an excellent way to look at the sf field year by year. Recommended. (CNB)
  • 9 · Introduction · Martin H. Greenberg · in
  • 15 · Strikebreaker [“Male Strikebreaker”] · Isaac Asimov · ss Science Fiction Stories Jan ’57
  • 33 · Omnilingual · H. Beam Piper · nv Astounding Feb ’57
  • 89 · The Mile-Long Spaceship · Kate Wilhelm · ss Astounding Apr ’57
  • 103 · Call Me Joe · Poul Anderson · nv Astounding Apr ’57
  • 149 · You Know Willie · Theodore R. Cogswell · ss F&SF May ’57
  • 157 · Hunting Machine · Carol Emshwiller · ss Science Fiction Stories May ’57
  • 167 · World of a Thousand Colors · Robert Silverberg · ss Super Science Fiction Jun ’57
  • 187 · Let’s Be Frank · Brian W. Aldiss · ss Science-Fantasy #23 ’57
  • 199 · The Cage · A. Bertram Chandler · ss F&SF Jun ’57
  • 215 · The Education of Tigress McCardle · C. M. Kornbluth · ss Venture Jul ’57
  • 229 · The Tunesmith · Lloyd Biggle, Jr. · nv If Aug ’57
  • 281 · A Loint of Paw · Isaac Asimov · vi F&SF Aug ’57
  • 285 · Game Preserve · Rog Phillips · ss If Oct ’57
  • 305 · Soldier [“Soldier from Tomorrow”] · Harlan Ellison · nv Fantastic Universe Oct ’57
  • 335 · The Last Man Left in the Bar · C. M. Kornbluth · ss Infinity Science Fiction Oct ’57
Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories: 20 (1958) ed. Isaac Asimov & Martin H. Greenberg (DAW 0-88677-405-5, Feb ’90 [Jan ’90], $4.95, 351pp, pb, cover by Robin Hidden) Anthology of 12 stories from 1958 plus commentary. This series is one of the best surveys of the modern sf short story. Recommended (CNB).
  • 9 · Introduction · Martin H. Greenberg · in
  • 13 · The Last of the Deliverers · Poul Anderson · ss F&SF Feb ’58
  • 29 · The Feeling of Power · Isaac Asimov · ss If Feb ’58
  • 41 · Poor Little Warrior! · Brian W. Aldiss · ss F&SF Apr ’58
  • 49 · The Iron Chancellor · Robert Silverberg · nv Galaxy May ’58
  • 77 · The Prize of Peril · Robert Sheckley · ss F&SF May ’58
  • 99 · Or All the Seas with Oysters · Avram Davidson · ss Galaxy May ’58
  • 111 · Two Dooms · C. M. Kornbluth · na Venture Jul ’58
  • 167 · The Big Front Yard · Clifford D. Simak · na Astounding Oct ’58
  • 229 · The Burning of the Brain · Cordwainer Smith · ss If Oct ’58
  • 243 · The Yellow Pill · Rog Phillips · ss Astounding Oct ’58
  • 259 · Unhuman Sacrifice · Katherine MacLean · nv Astounding Nov ’58
  • 297 · The Immortals [Dr. Russell Pearce] · James E. Gunn · nv Star Science Fiction Stories #4, ed. Frederik Pohl, Ballantine, 1958
Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories: 21 (1959) ed. Isaac Asimov & Martin H. Greenberg (DAW 0-88677-428-4, Jun ’90 [May ’90], $4.95, 347pp, pb, cover by Robin Hidden) Anthology of 14 stories from 1959.
...and one sees how relatively restricted the markets for good fiction were by the end of the decade...and even Asimov could find no first-rate short fiction from 1959 in Astounding, which was about to become Analog...Sturgeon's "The Man Who Lost the Sea" was in Foley's Best American Short Stories for its year.

Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories #22 (1960) ed. Isaac Asimov & Martin H. Greenberg (DAW 0-88677-465-9, Feb ’91 [Jan ’91], $4.50, 351pp, pb, cover by Angus McKie) Anthology of 11 stories from 1960 plus commentary.

--Meanwhile Everett Bleiler and Ted Ditky, eventually with ever greater input from Earl Kemp, produced the first best-of annual in sf:
    The Best Science-Fiction Stories: 1952 ed. Everett F. Bleiler & T. E. Dikty (Fredrick Fell, Aug ’52, $2.95, 284pp, hc)
    In England as The Best Science Fiction Stories: Third Series.
    Best Science Fiction Stories and Novels: 9th Series ed. T. E. Dikty (Advent:Publishers, 1958, hc)
And here's Judith Merril's annual, which from the start promised to offer both sf and fantasy:
    SF:’57: The Year’s Greatest Science Fiction and Fantasy ed. Judith Merril (Gnome Press LCC# 56-8938, 1957, $3.95, 320pp, hc)
    • 9 · The Man Who Liked Lions · John Bernard Daley · ss Infinity Science Fiction Oct 1956
    • 25 · The Cosmic Expense Account · C. M. Kornbluth · nv F&SF Jan 1956, as “The Cosmic Charge Account”
    • 51 · The Far Look · Theodore L. Thomas · nv Astounding Aug 1956
    • 81 · When Grandfather Flew to the Moon · E. L. Malpass · ss The Observer Jan 2 1955, as “Return of the Moon Man” by Samson Darley
    • 88 · The Doorstop · Reginald Bretnor · ss Astounding Nov 1956
    • 98 · Silent Brother · Algis Budrys · ss Astounding Feb 1956
    • 119 · Stranger Station · Damon Knight · nv F&SF Dec 1956
    • 146 · Each an Explorer · Isaac Asimov · ss Future #30 1956
    • 161 · All About “The Thing” · Randall Garrett · pm Science Fiction Stories May 1956, as “Parodies Tossed”
    • 164 · Put Them All Together, They Spell Monster · Ray Russell · ss Playboy Oct 1956
    • 173 · Digging the Weans · Robert Nathan · ss Harper’s Nov 1956
    • 181 · Take a Deep Breath · Roger Thorne · ss Tiger 1956
    • 187 · Grandma’s Lie Soap · Robert Abernathy · ss Fantastic Universe Feb 1956
    • 206 · Compounded Interest · Mack Reynolds · ss F&SF Aug 1956
    • 220 · Prima Belladonna [Vermilion Sands] · J. G. Ballard · ss Science-Fantasy #20 1956
    • 235 · The Other Man · Theodore Sturgeon · na Galaxy Sep 1956
    • 290 · The Damnedest Thing · Garson Kanin · ss Esquire Feb 1956
    • 298 · Anything Box · Zenna Henderson · ss F&SF Oct 1956
    • 313 · The Year’s S-F, Summation and Honorable Mentions · Judith Merril · ms
--and here's Barry Malzberg and Bill Pronzini's 1979 take on some of the then-overlooked work from the 1950s:
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Saturday, April 4, 2015

Saturday Music Club: SFnal Jazz

Gil Mellé Band: "Weird Valley" (1956)


 Sun Ra and His Myth Science Arkestra: "Plutonian Nights" (1959)


 George Russell Orchestra featuring Bill Evans: "Waltz from Outer Space" (1960)


Dinah Washington with the Fred Norman Orchestra: "Destination Moon" (1962)


The Dave Brubeck Quartet: "Unisphere" (1964)


The Modern Jazz Quartet: "A Visitor from Mars"; "A Visitor from Venus" (1970)


Ornette Coleman Band: "Science Fiction" (1971)


Weather Report: "Mysterious Traveller" (1974)



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Friday, April 3, 2015

FFB: WHO KILLED SCIENCE FICTION? (SAFARI ANNUAL #1, 1960) edited by Earl Kemp

Cover illustration by Ed Emshwiller
In 2006,  Earl Kemp decided to post the assorted contents of his original SaFari Annual amateur press association (APA) publication, essentially subtitled Who Killed Science Fiction?, under which title it won the 1961 Hugo award for best fanzine, despite most of the membership of even the relatively small 1961 WorldCon not having much of an opportunity to read the publication. Like most APA magazines (APAzines), it had been mostly distributed to fellow members of its APA, the Spectator Amateur Press Society or SAPS, one of the more impressive of the APAs in the sf/fantasy fan/convention/fanzine community.  Since this first anniversary issue of SaFari was also a report on answers to a brief survey to writers and fans, of essentially How and If SF Was Killed and, if so, how might that be rectified, copies were distributed to those who had answered the survey, as well. And, as Earl Kemp notes in his annotations from an aborted 1980 reprint and expansion, and presentation of the 1980, 1960 and more content (including comments from elsewhere about the publication) as part of Kemp's online fanzine eI, he wanted to win a Hugo for something. And so he did.

 From Kemp's 1960 introduction:
For well over two years I had heard far too many people decrying the death of magazine science fiction, and like Bob Leman [later a notable writer of horror fiction], mourning the lack of critical soul-searching from within the field.

How shall I go about it? I determined first that I would restrict this critical colossus to the magazine field only and decided on five specific points of enquiry, which were:
 1) Do you feel that magazine science fiction is dead?
 2) Do you feel that any single person, action, incident, etc., is responsible for the present situation? If not, what is responsible?
 3) What can we do to correct it?
 4) Should we look to the original paperback as a point of salvation?
 5) What additional remarks, pertinent to the study, would you like to contribute?

The responses to these questions, discretely and collectively depending on the answerer, were the heart of the eventual issue. 

 Why was there such a sense of a murdered science fiction in the air, that as many agreed with the premise behind the questions, even if only partially...and that so many editors in the magazine field responded? Well...relatively briefly: In the late 1940s, in the relatively flush years in the US after WW2 and increasingly flush years in science
Along with the brilliant Knight and MacLean,
features PJ Farmer's "Mother" and Evan Hunter.
fiction circles particularly, the fiction magazines at the core of the fandom-engaged field were on an uptick in sales and quality, even as more and more sf was being published in book form and in the general-interest magazines of the era, such as The Saturday Evening Post and Collier's. The war and its aftermath didn't force a new sobriety nor maturity on popular culture as a whole, but certainly greater sophistication was suddenly likely to be appreciated, and the new technology sweeping into the culture and its implications for the future meshed with the desire in the sf magazines generally to achieve at least the kind of sophistication demonstrated by the crime-fiction magazines or the better western titles...and so they did. Thrilling Wonder Stories and particularly its younger stablemate Startling Stories moved away from the more juvenile aspects of pulp sf throughout the latter 1940s and began publishing such challenging work as "The Lovers" by Philip Jose Farmer and "What's It Like Out There?" by Edmond Hamilton; Astounding Science Fiction, though unfortunately allowing L. Ron Hubbard to gain his first wide exposure for Dianetics (among other "fringe science"--though Amazing also was a booster of UFOria and similar crackpottery), also continued to feature sophisticated, often engineer-friendly writing; Ziff-Davis's Amazing Stories and Fantastic Adventures, consistently the most juvenile of the more prominent pulps under editor Ray Palmer, were turned over to Howard Browne, who fitfully upgraded them with genuinely good stories mixed in with the usual pseudonymous notional adventure tales, while Palmer went on to found Other Worlds and Imagination, both also somewhat better than his work at ZD; founded in 1952, Browne's Fantastic was both more sophisticated than the other ZD fiction magazines and initially hugely successful. Planet Stories, the first great home of Ray Bradbury's sf as well as the space opera of the brilliant Leigh Brackett and many others, upgraded with the efforts of assistant editor Jerome Bixby and company; the legendary Weird Tales continued to offer good work, up till folding in 1954, and Donald Wollheim finally had a budget and publisher support with the Avon Fantasy Reader, founded 1947 and arguably a periodical book rather than a magazine per se, but still very much like a magazine, and a good one (the similar Avon Science Fiction Reader soon followed, and the two titles would be merged briefly after Wollheim left Avon for Ace). The Magazine of Fantasy, after several years of planning, finally launched as a similar companion to Ellery Queen's
the second issue, 1950
Mystery Magazine and American Mercury in 1949, and added "and Science Fiction" to its title with the second issue. Even as F&SF mixed in a number of reprinted stories in each issue, as did EQMM, the reprint magazines Famous Fantastic Mysteries and Fantastic Novels continued offering a few notable original stories, such as Robert Bloch's "The Man Who Collected Poe." Other new magazines started to pop up, some as impressive as Damon Knight's Worlds Beyond Science-Fantasy, featuring Jack Vance's The Dying Earth, and some as minor as the semi-professional Fantasy Book...which nonetheless managed to publish, in an issue with a short ghost story collaboration by Isaac Asimov and Frederik Pohl and a story from fellow future bestselling novelist Alfred Coppel, an item called "Scanners Live in Vain" by someone calling himself "Cordwainer Smith." A few pulp sf titles that had been suspended in the face of WW2 paper restrictions, such Super Science Stories and Future Fiction, were revived (and Future and its stablemates would feature some impressively innovative work on a tiny budget throughout the decade)...and an Italian publisher of romance comics, doing well in most of the rest of Europe, tried breaking into the US market, and to round out their portfolio let their advisor H. L. Gold try, among other things, an sf magazine called Galaxy...not exclusively devoted to satirical sf, but that was the way to play it, and an instant success, suddenly passing Amazing, Astounding and Startling to become the best-selling sf magazine, and one of the best-selling fiction magazines of any stripe. That simply, of course, accelerated the flood of imitations from other publishers, some not bad (Fantastic Universe, or the first magazine called Science Fiction Adventures--all of three of which have been not bad!), some terrible (Vortex Science Fiction, and the first issues of If, edited by Paul Fairman and resembling nothing so much as the dullest issues of the Ray Palmer Amazing, despite even a very minor Theodore Sturgeon story in the mix).

 And all these magazines were paying, some very well for the time indeed. And even the low-paying "salvage markets" both needed copy and were there to offer extra income to sf writers who would have to simply toss multiply-rejected stories into a drawer or fireplace previously. It had been noted by several writers who worked in that period that one could, for the first time, make a career from writing sf (without being the author of a bestselling novel or several, such as Aldous Huxley, Philip Wylie or C. S. Lewis).

 Meanwhile, as noted above, a number of publishers were starting or vastly expanding their sf book lines as the 1950s began; Ballantine Books particularly was willing to pay well for original work, and for serials and collections of shorter work from the magazines, and others (including Lion Books and Fawcett) would to one degree or another follow suit.

And while most of the sf films being made in the 1950s were pretty dire, a few weren't, and a few of those were even loosely or closely based on fiction from the magazines, including The Day the Earth Stood Still and The Thing (from Another World).  Television was even more unlikely to feature too much of adult interest, at least in the US, but there were odd exceptions (Richard Matheson had at least one story adapted for Studio 57 by the end of the decade, and, early on, several sf writers made some decent money scripting the kids' show Captain Video). More sophisticated was some of the dramatic anthology work on network radio in the early '50s, most notably Dimension X and its continuation X Minus 1, which mostly adapted sf stories from the magazines rather well and with professionalism.

 And some writers and other creative people would look to sf, as Alfred Bester and others have noted, as a means for making coded statements about current events in the most repressed years of Sen. Joseph McCarthy's ranting and the clumsy inquests of the House Un-American Activities Committee. All this, and at least some critical attention being paid to sf from "outside" as well as "inside" the writers/fandom community all contributed to a sense of great optimism and some considerable artistic achievement by the mid 1950s...but also a contraction of the market, for various reasons, by the end of the 1950s, and the reasons are certainly discussed directly and indirectly in the Kemp compendium. Amusingly, some of the prime movers of the renaissance, to the degree that there has been (at least several partial ones over the decades) are among the contributors, or are multiply cited...Cele Goldsmith/Lalli at Ziff-Davis's Fantastic and Amazing, Avram Davidson, soon to become editor of F&SF, and Frederik Pohl at the Galaxy magazine group among the prime movers in the US, and Ted Carnell helping overcome the slump through his work in his UK magazines Science Fantasy and New Worlds (and, briefly, one of the Science Fiction Adventures mentioned above).

 For more of today's books, please see Patti Abbott's blog.
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