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The Galaxy Science Fiction $6,500 Novel-Writing Sham

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In the March, 1953 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction, H. L. Gold announed a novel contest. Simon and Schuster and Galaxy partnered together to offer a $6,500 prize, “guaranteed to the author of the best original science fiction novel submitted.” The $6,500 was only a minimum for the first world serial and TV rights. It was the largest cash prize offered to date for a science fiction novel. Other details were that the contest closed October 15, 1953, and the…

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Galaxy, October 1967: A Retro-Review

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A bit of a change of pace here, a late ’60s issue of Galaxy. Frederik Pohl was the editor. It is billed as the “Seventeenth Anniversary Issue, and the conceit is that the contributors are all celebrating an anniversary in the field. For example, Pohl himself published a poem in an SF magazine in 1937, making this his 30th anniversary. George O. Smith’s first story was published in 1942, so his 25th anniversary. H. L. Gold is here as the…

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Galaxy Science Fiction, February 1953: A Retro-Review

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Galaxy Science Fiction continued its momentum into the February, 1953 issue. Boldy asserting it only published original stories (no reprints), it drew the finest science fiction authors of the time. “Four in One” by Damon Knight — George Meister and his team establish a base on an alien planet and begin to explore the surroundings. The four of them fall down a ridge and are consumed by a strange, slug-like organism. The only thing remaining of the humans are their…

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Galaxy Science Fiction, January 1953: A Retro-Review

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Galaxy rolled along into a new calendar year. Elsewhere in the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower was about to begin his first term in office, succeeding Harry S. Truman. It’s amazing to sit back for a moment and realize how long ago all of this great fiction was published. “The Defenders” by Philip K. Dick – Humanity has been underground for years while the United States and Russia fight a nuclear war. On the surface, robots called leadys fight for…

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Galaxy Science Fiction, December 1952: A Retro-Review

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The cover of the December, 1952 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction was creating using a technique called “Camerage.” Editor H. L. Gold describes it as A three-dimensional montage effect — but it’s not a montage… All the objects in the picture are assembled at one time, illuminated by projected colored lights… and are shot by a number of cameras placed on different planes. To me, it looks a little odd — or at least this particular use of the technique…

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Galaxy Science Fiction, November 1952: A Retro-Review

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The November 1952 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction features cover art by Jack Coggins of an Earth satellite. This satellite is more like a space station than satellites I typically think of. But considering that the first artificial satellite (Sputnik 1) wasn’t launched until about five years after this issue hit newsstands, everything was still left to the imagination at this point. Before I jump to the fiction, I want to comment on Willy Ley’s “For Your Information.” In part…

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Conquer a Dark and Dangerous Galaxy in Warhammer 40K: Forbidden Stars

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Last year I bought Warhammer 40,000: Conquest, Fantasy Flight’s two-player card game of interplanetary warfare in the Warhammer 40K universe, and enjoyed it quite a bit. But as much fun as it was, it wasn’t what I really wanted — a multi-player game of large scale strategic conflict in the stars. So I was excited to discover today that Fantasy Flight has recently released Forbidden Stars, a competitive board game of interplanetary war set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, and it…

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Galaxy Science Fiction, October 1952: A Retro-Review

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Galaxy celebrated its second birthday (and start of its third year) with a cover depicting some of its staff and contributors (illustrated by E. A. Emshwiller). The artwork wrapped around the back (interrupted by the spine) and included a “key” on the inside cover to identify each person, including the robot and alien. Editor H. L. Gold is on the left on the front cover, halfway down the picture, shown in a blue suit and holding a cup. (Click on…

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Galaxy Science Fiction, September 1952: A Retro-Review

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With this issue, Galaxy completed its second year of publication. That’s 24 issues of top-notch science fiction. It’s tough to match that stamina, and I applaud H.L. Gold, his staff, the authors, and the artists for staying the course. “Delay in Transit” by F. L. Wallace — Denton Cassal is a sales engineer, traveling toward the center of the galaxy to solicit a top scientist to work for his company on an instant communication device. His journey takes him through…

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Galaxy, April 1961: A Retro-Review

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Here’s an issue from Galaxy late in H. L. Gold’s editorial tenure, which probably means that Frederik Pohl was doing most of the editorial work. (Pohl officially took over with the December 1961 issue, but I have read that he was editor in all but name from the late ’50s.) It’s got a pretty impressive Table of Contents, though it’s a bit disappointing in that the best known writers (Sturgeon and Leiber) are not at their best, and a couple…

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