Search Results for: Astounding

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

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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…

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

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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…

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

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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…

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Infinity, June 1956: A Retro Review

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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…

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If, December 1957, A Retro-Review

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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…

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

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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:…

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Future Treasures: High Noon on Proxima B edited by David Boop

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High Noon on Proxima B (Baen, February 7, 2023). Cover by Dominic Harman Nobody out there is doing anthologies like David Boop. He started in 2017 with the Weird Western Straight Outta Tombstone (2017), which proved popular enough that he followed up with two more, Straight Outta Deadwood (2019) and Straight Outta Dodge City (2020). Last year he packed up his six-shooters and headed into outer space with Gunfight on Europa Station, the first…. uh… Weird Science Fiction Western anthology?…

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Colony Ships, Cowboy Ghosts, and Jeeves and Wooster in Space: January-February Print SF Magazines

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January/February 2023 issues of Asimov’s Science Fiction, Analog Science Fiction & Fact, and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Cover art by Shutterstock, Tomislav Tikulin, and Kent Bash The big news for print SF mags over the past few months has been price increases. Asimov’s SF and Analog, both published by Dell Magazines, increased prices by a buck in July of last year, from $7.99 to $8.99 per issue. Subscriptions increased from $35.97 to $47.94 for six issues/one year….

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Vintage Treasures: Isaac Asimov’s Wonderful Worlds of Science Fiction: Invasions, edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, Charles G. Waugh

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Isaac Asimov’s Wonderful Worlds of Science Fiction #10: Invasions (Roc, August 1990). Cover by J.K. Potter This week we’re looking at Invasions, the tenth and final volume in Isaac Asimov’s Wonderful Worlds of Science Fiction, a paperback original anthology series edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, and Charles G. Waugh between 1983 and 1990. Asimov, Greenberg, and Waugh were an industry unto themselves in the 80s and early 90s. Together they produced some 80 SF anthologies, over half a…

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Exploring the Dark Corners of the Universe: The Science Fiction Anthologies of August Derleth

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Strange Ports of Call (Berkley Books, June 1958). Cover artist tragically unknown August Derleth is remembered these days primarily for his stewardship of the works of H.P. Lovecraft. He founded Arkham House (with Donald Wandrei) in 1939 to bring Lovecraft into print in hardcover, and over the next 30 years he contributed steadily to Lovecraft’s foundational Cthulhu Mythos, both in his own writing, and by publishing numerous books in the cycle from other horror notables. He was also (as Bob…

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