Search Results for: Astounding

Vintage Treasures: Time to Come edited by August Derleth

Comments 4 comments

Time to Come (Berkley Books, December 1958). Cover by Robert E. Schulz Back in December I kicked off a survey of the Science Fiction Anthologies of August Derleth, starting with his 1948 reprint anthology Strange Ports of Call. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction calls Derleth “one of the pioneering anthologists in the genre.” He began his editing career with horror collection Sleep No More in 1944. Strange Ports of Call, which drew heavily from pulps such as Astounding, Wonder Stories, Amazing, The…

Read More Read More

Mummies, Sexy Robots, and an ancient Greek Labyrinth: May-June 2023 Print SF Magazines

Comments 4 comments

May/June 2023 issues of Analog Science Fiction & Fact, Asimov’s Science Fiction, and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Cover art by Eldar Zakirov (for “Aleyara’s Descent”), 123RF, and Maurizio Manzieri (for “The Dire Delusion”) There’s a lot of great reading in store for us in this month’s print magazines. Including a classic mummy horror tale, stories of fox-gods and conjure houses, and a new tale of Cascor the Discriminator by Matthew Hughes (in F&SF); a sexy apocalypse robot,…

Read More Read More

Total Pulp Victory: Windy City Pulp & Paper Convention 2023, Part II

Comments 5 comments

David C. Smith and Steven H Silver find priceless treasures in the Dealers Room at Windy City Pulp & Paper A month ago I wrote a short convention report on the 2023 Windy City Pulp & Paper Show, which took place Friday April 21st to Sunday, April 23rd in Lombard, Illinois. In that article I mostly rubber-necked at the gorgeous Weird Tales pulps and other rare magazines sold during the evening auctions, and took covetous pictures of the pre-auction displays….

Read More Read More

The Legacy of a Legendary Collector: Denny Lien, September 26, 1945 – April 15, 2023

Comments 22 comments

A handful of items from Denny Lien’s incredible collection I was able to save from the dumpster On Wednesday May 3, I drove 379 miles from St. Charles to Minneapolis, to help clean out the last of the legendary collection of the late Denny Lien. I’d been reliably informed that it was the final week his estate would have access to the house; the following Monday, Habitat for Humanity would take possession, and everything left would go in the dumpster….

Read More Read More

Total Pulp Victory: Windy City Pulp & Paper Convention 2023, Part I

Comments 12 comments

Some of the eye-popping pulps from the Bob Weinberg collection auctioned at Windy City This weekend was the Windy City Pulp & Paper show, an annual gathering of about 600-800 pulp and vintage paperback enthusiasts in Lombard, Illinois. Founded by Doug Ellis and run by a dedicated and talented team, Windy City has gradually become my favorite convention. Back when Black Gate was a print magazine I used to get a table and sell back issues, but these days I…

Read More Read More

A Salute to a Science Fiction Reader: R.K. Robinson, 1945 – June 30, 2022

Comments 14 comments

I never met Rick Robinson. I knew him, as many of you did, as R.K. Robinson, one of Black Gate‘s most enthusiastic readers. He began by subscribing to our print version two decades ago, and became a regular supporter of the blog when we switched to electronic publication in 2011. He left over 500 comments here over the years, and that’s how I came to know him, as a knowledgeable and friendly reader whom we could always count on to…

Read More Read More

Vintage Treasures: What If?, Volumes 1-3, edited by Richard A. Lupoff

Comments 22 comments

What If, Volumes 1-2 (Pocket Books, 1980 and 1981) and Volume 3 (Surinam Turtle Press, 2013). Covers by Richard Powers and Gavin L. O’Keefe Richard Lupoff was a True Believer. By which I mean he gave his career to science fiction, and both cared about it deeply and wrote about it fairly extensively — like Isaac Asimov, Brian Aldiss, Harry Harrison, Terry Carr, Sam Moskowitz, Donald A. Wollheim, Barry N. Malzberg, Gardner Dozois, and a handful of other crusty old…

Read More Read More

Infinity, June 1956: A Retro Review

Comments 5 comments

Infinity Science Fiction, June 1956. Cover by Ed Emsh In my previous Retro Review I covered If, which I called a “classic digest magazine of what might be called the “second tier” of SF magazines.” Infinity was another, though it lasted for a much shorter time — 19 issues from 1955 through 1958. (I note for the record that the magazines of the so-called “first tier” – that is, the Big Three of Astounding/Analog, Galaxy, and F&SF – all went…

Read More Read More

If, December 1957, A Retro-Review

Comments 8 comments

IF, December 1957. Cover by Mel Hunter If was a classic digest magazine of what might be called the “second tier” of SF magazines. (The term second tier might be a bit dismissive — there were a number of quality magazines that for a time surpassed one or more of the so-called “Big Three” (Astounding/Analog, Galaxy, and F&SF.) That said, those three magazines, via comparative longevity, consistent quality, and simply tradition were considered “the big three” by the SF community…

Read More Read More

Vintage Treasures: Space Opera and Space Odysseys edited by Brian Aldiss

Comments 12 comments

Space Opera and Space Odysseys (Futura, July and December 1974). Covers by Eddie Jones Brian Aldiss had a long and enviable career at the top of the science fiction field, with dozens of novels to his credit, and nearly three dozen collections. But in his long career he also produced some excellent anthologies. In partnership with Harry Harrison he released nine annual volumes of Best SF (1967-1975), three retrospective titles looking at SF of the 1940s to the 1960s (Decade:…

Read More Read More