Future Science Fiction and Science Fiction Stories were two American science fiction magazines that were published under various names between 1939 and 1943 and again from 1950 to 1960. Both publications were edited by Charles Hornig for the first few issues; Robert W. Lowndes took over in late 1941 and remained editor until the end. The initial launch of the magazines came as part of a boom in science fiction pulp magazine publishing at the end of the 1930s. In 1941 the two magazines were combined into one, titled Future Fiction combined with Science Fiction, but in 1943 wartime paper shortages ended the magazine's run, as Louis Silberkleit, the publisher, decided to focus his resources on his mystery and western magazine titles. In 1950, with the market improving again, Silberkleit relaunched Future Fiction, still in the pulp format. In the mid-1950s he also relaunched Science Fiction, this time under the title Science Fiction Stories. Silberkleit kept both magazines on very slim budgets throughout the 1950s. In 1960 both titles ceased publication when their distributor suddenly dropped all of Silberkleit's titles.
The fiction was generally unremarkable, with few memorable stories being published, particularly in the earlier versions of the magazines. Lowndes spent much effort to set a friendly and engaging tone in both magazines, with letter columns and reader departments that interested fans. He was more successful than Hornig in obtaining good stories, partly because he had good relationships with several well-known and emerging writers. Among the better-known stories he published were "The Liberation of Earth" by William Tenn, and "If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth" by Arthur C. Clarke.
1939 | 1/1 | 1/2 | 1/3 | 1/4 | 1/5 | ||||||||
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1940 | 1/6 | 2/1 | 2/2 | ||||||||||
1941 | 2/3 | 2/4 | 2/5 | 2/6 | |||||||||
Issues of Science Fiction from 1939 to 1941, showing volume/issue number. Charles Hornig was editor throughout. |
1939 | 1/1 | ||||||||||||
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1940 | 1/2 | 1/3 | 1/4 | ||||||||||
1941 | 1/5 | 1/6 | 2/1 | 2/2 | |||||||||
1942 | 2/3 | 2/4 | 2/5 | 2/6 | 3/1 | 3/2 | |||||||
1943 | 3/3 | 3/4 | 3/5 | ||||||||||
Issues of Future Fiction from 1939 to 1943, showing volume/issue number, and indicating editors: Hornig (blue, 1939 – November 1940), and Lowndes (yellow, April 1941 – July 1943). Note that the last two issues were actually titled Science Fiction Stories. |
Science Fiction was not selling well, and later that year Silberkleit merged it with Future Fiction,[8] under the title Future Combined with Science Fiction. The last independent issue of Science Fiction was dated September 1941,[3] and the first merged issue was dated October 1941.[16] The final two issues of the combined magazine, dated April and June 1943, were, confusingly, titled Science Fiction Stories; this was an attempt to improve sales by reminding readers of Science Fiction, but before sales figures could be tallied to determine the impact of the title change, Silberkleit made the decision to cease publication.[17] The June 1943 issue was the last for some years: Silberkleit was forced to cut some of his titles because of wartime paper shortages, and he decided to retain his western and detective magazines instead.
Summer ! | Fall | Winter | |||||||||||
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Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | ||
1950 | 1/1 | 1/2 | 1/3 | 1/4 | |||||||||
1951 | 1/5 | 1/6 | 2/1 | 2/2 | 2/3 | 2/4 | |||||||
1952 | 2/5 | 2/6 | 3/1 | 3/2 | 3/3 | 3/4 | |||||||
1953 | 3/5 | 3/6 | 4/1 | 4/2 | 4/3 | 4/4 | |||||||
1954 | 4/5 | 4/6 | 5/1 | 5/2 | 5/3 | ||||||||
1955 | 28 | ||||||||||||
1956 | 29 | 30 | 31 | ||||||||||
1957 | 32 | 33 | 34 | ||||||||||
1958 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | |||||||
1959 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | |||||||
1960 | 47 | 48 | |||||||||||
Issues of Future Science Fiction from 1950 to 1960, showing volume/issue numbers. Lowndes was editor throughout. Underlining indicates that an issue was titled as a quarterly (e.g. "Fall 1957") rather than as a monthly. Note that issues 28, 29, and 30 were not dated on the masthead; the dates given are approximate. |
1955 | 5/4 | 5/5 | 5/6 | 6/1 | 6/2 | 6/3 | |||||||
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1956 | 6/4 | 6/5 | 6/6 | 7/1 | 7/2 | 7/3 | |||||||
1957 | 7/4 | 7/5 | 7/6 | 8/1 | 8/2 | 8/3 | |||||||
1958 | 8/4 | 8/5 | 8/6 | 8/7 | 9/1 | 9/2 | 9/3 | 9/4 | |||||
1959 | 9/5 | 9/6 | 10/1 | 10/2 | 10/3 | 10/4 | 10/5 | ||||||
1960 | 10/6 | 11/1 | 11/2 | ||||||||||
Issues of Science Fiction Stories, not including the two experimental issues from 1953 and 1954. Lowndes was editor throughout. |
In 1960 Silberkleit's distributor stopped carrying his magazines, and both titles ceased publication, with no notice given in their final issues that this was the end. The last issues were the April 1960 Future Science Fiction and the May 1960 Science Fiction Stories.[23] [24] James Taurasi acquired rights to the Science Fiction Stories title from Silberkleit and produced three semi-professional issues in 1961, 1962, and 1963,[25] [26] but the venture was not successful enough for Taurasi to continue.[27]
The first issue of Science Fiction showed the continuing influence of Hugo Gernsback in the American science fiction magazine field: in addition to an editor who had worked for him, the magazine featured a guest editorial by Gernsback, and the cover was painted by Frank R. Paul, a stalwart of the Gernsback days[28] —in fact, all 12 of Science Fiction
A letter from Ray Bradbury, who was a friend of Hornig's, was published in the second issue of Science Fiction, encouraging Hornig to publish sophisticated stories; in response, Hornig wrote "I'm trying to give the magazine an appeal to mature minds", but sf historian Mike Ashley comments that "this never became evident".[31] Hornig's comment was probably intended as a criticism of Raymond Palmer's editorial approach at Amazing Stories and Fantastic Adventures, but Ashley points out that the authors Hornig relied on, concealed behind pseudonyms, were generally the same authors that were selling to Palmer.[32] The first issue of Future included stories by M.M. Kaplan, J. Harvey Haggard, and Miles J. Breuer, all of whom had been more active some years earlier, and Ashley suggests that Hornig may have obtained some of the many stories that Palmer threw out when he became editor of Amazing Stories in 1938.[9]
When Future was relaunched in early 1950, the sf magazine field was not particularly crowded, and Lowndes was able to attract moderately good stories from writers who were either well-known or on their way up in the field. The first issue included stories by James Blish, Lester del Rey and Murray Leinster; other authors featured in the early issues included Fritz Leiber, Judith Merril, H. Beam Piper, and L. Sprague de Camp. Some of the better-known stories Lowndes published in the early 1950s were "And There Was Light" by del Rey, "If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth" by Arthur C. Clarke, and "The Liberation of Earth" by William Tenn, which Damon Knight described as "the funniest story [Tenn has] ever written".[33] He also bought work by some of the women writers active in the 1950s, including several early stories by Carol Emshwiller. Lowndes knew many successful writers in the field, and was able to call on them for stories, but the expanding sf magazine market of the mid-1950s meant that the best material was spread thinly.[34] To attract readers, Lowndes established a friendly and personal style for the magazine, with letter columns and departments aimed at science fiction fans. Blish, writing as William Atheling, Jr., commented in 1953 that Lowndes was doing a "surprisingly good job" with Future, despite the low rates and the slow payment to authors.[35]
The trial issues of Science Fiction Stories in 1953 and 1954 were competent but unremarkable, with stories by some popular writers, such as Poul Anderson, Algis Budrys, and Philip K. Dick. Once Science Fiction Stories became established in 1955, Future was relegated to the junior role, and Science Fiction Stories tended to publish the better stories of the two. During the period when Science Fiction Stories was monthly, it carried serialized novels, including de Camp's The Tower of Zanid and Ward Moore and Robert Bradford's Caduceus Wild. It also published "Genius Loci", described by Ashley as one of Thomas N. Scortia's best short stories. Some well-received stories did appear in Future towards the end of the decade, including "Vulcan's Hammer", an early novella version of Philip K. Dick's novel of the same name; Clifford D. Simak's "Worlds Without End"; and Judith Merril's "Homecalling", reprinted in the 1960s in SF Impulse, whose editor, Kyril Bonfiglioli, commented "I don't believe I have ever read a more successful attempt to imagine an utterly alien way of thought."[36] Lowndes did what he could to provide interesting non-fiction departments: a book review column was started in the early 1950s, and the end of the decade saw a series of science articles written by Isaac Asimov, and critical articles on science fiction history, written by Lowndes himself.[37] R.A. Lafferty's first story appeared in Science Fiction Stories in the January 1960 issue, shortly before the magazine was closed down. The budget for both magazines, never very great, shrank even further towards the end, so that Lowndes had to fill space with reprints and re-use old illustrations to avoid paying for new stories and artwork.
Charles Hornig was the editor of all 12 issues of the first incarnation of Science Fiction, and of the first five issues of Future Fiction. Robert W. Lowndes was the editor of all subsequent issues of both titles. Both Future and Science Fiction began as pulp magazines; the 1953 experimental issue of Science Fiction Stories saw a change to digest format for that title, and Future followed suit in late 1955 with issue 28. Both titles were initially priced at 15 cents. Future raised its price to 20 cents for the July 1943 issue, the last of its first run, but dropped to 15 cents again when it was relaunched in 1950. With the November 1950 issue the price went back to 20 cents, and it rose to 25 cents with the January 1953 issue and 35 cents in June 1954. When Science Fiction Stories reappeared in 1953, it was priced at 35 cents, and stayed at that price throughout the remainder of its run.[38]
Science Fiction began in March 1939 at 132 pages. Future Fiction was 112 pages when it was launched in November of that year, and shortly afterwards, March 1940, Science Fiction dropped to 116 pages. The combined magazine, Future Combined with Science Fiction, retained Futures page count of 112; when Future was relaunched, still as a pulp, in 1950, the page count had dropped again, to 96. Both Future and Science Fiction Stories were 128 pages long when they changed to digest format; Future remained at that length, but Science Fiction Stories switched to 144 pages for nine issues, from January 1956 to May 1957.
The sequence of title changes for the two magazines is summarized below. For Science Fiction:[39]
Start month | End month | Title | Number of issues | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mar-39 | Sep-41 | Science Fiction | 12 | |
1953 | May-60 | Science Fiction Stories | 38 |
Note that although the cover read "The Original Science Fiction Stories" for much of the second run, the title was always "Science Fiction Stories", though some reference books index the magazine under "O".[40] For Future:
Start month | End month | Title | Number of issues | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nov-39 | Aug-41 | Future Fiction | 6 | |
Oct-41 | Aug-42 | Future Combined with Science Fiction | 6 | |
Oct-42 | Feb-43 | Future Fantasy and Science Fiction | 3 | |
Apr-43 | Jul-43 | Science Fiction Stories | 2 | |
May-50 | Nov-51 | Future Combined with Science Fiction Stories | 10 | |
Jan-52 | May-52 | Future Science Fiction Stories | 3 | |
Jul-52 | Apr-60 | Future Science Fiction | 35 |
Louis Silberkleit was the publisher of both magazines throughout their existence, but he changed the imprint he used for them twice. Both were initially published by Blue Ribbon Magazines, Holyoke, Massachusetts. Starting with the March 1940 issue of Future, and the March 1940 issue of Science Fiction, the magazines were published by Double Action Magazines, with offices in Chicago. This changed to Columbia Publications, with offices in Springfield and Holyoke, Massachusetts, with the March 1941 issue of Science Fiction and the April 1941 issue of Future.
A Canadian edition of Science Fiction ran for 6 pulp-sized issues of 64 pages from October 1941 to June 1942, priced at 25 cents; it was intended to be monthly but there were no issues in December 1941, or in April or May 1942. The publisher was Superior Magazines of Toronto for the first two issues, and Duchess Printing of Toronto for the remaining four. A different editor, William Brown-Forbes, was listed, but the fiction was all reprinted from Silberkleit's U.S. magazines. The artwork was new, however, with covers by John Hilkert and Edwin Shaw, among others.[41] [42]
Two issues of Science Fiction were reprinted in the UK by Atlas Publications; these were abridged versions of the October and December 1939 issues. They were 96 pages, in pulp format. There were no British reprints of the first series of Future, but Thorpe & Porter reprinted 14 numbered and undated issues from November 1951 to June 1954, corresponding roughly to the U.S. issues from March 1951 to March 1954. They were 96 pages in pulp format, and were priced at 1/6 (7.5p). In 1957 Strato Publications reprinted another 11 issues, again undated, from November 1957 to February 1960, corresponding to the U.S. issues from Summer 1957 to August 1959, skipping the February 1958 issue. These were in digest format, and were 128 pages; they were priced at 2/- (10p). Strato Publications also produced a reprint series of Science Fiction; this ran from October 1957 to May 1960, for 12 undated issues, in digest format, 128 pages, priced at 2/-. The first 11 of these reprints were cut versions of the U.S. originals, corresponding to 11 of the U.S. issues between September 1957 and May 1959—the omitted issues were January, March, and September 1958. The final issue was the U.S. issue for May 1960, overprinted with the British price.
There are no anthologies of stories drawn solely from either Science Fiction or Future, but in the 1960s Ivan Howard edited several anthologies for Silberkleit's publishing imprint, Belmont Books, with contents drawn solely from Silberkleit's magazines. These included:[43]
In addition, Douglas Lindsay edited an anthology titled Blue Moon in 1970, published by Mayflower Books, which contains six stories from the August 1942 issue of Future, plus one story from the Winter 1942 issue of Science Fiction Quarterly.