Authentic Science Fiction, No. 23 — page 3: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

EDITORIAL ‘fold growler’” back We know that a lot of readers have been looking forward to the Story in this issue. Stress of other work has kept Jon J. Dee- gan from our pages, but his long- awaited return is marked with a story that’s even better than his others—and fully a few thousand of you have told us that you think his stories are the best. we publish. Deegan, you say, has the knack of making his stories and charac- ters seem terribly real and cred- ible. And that, after all, is one of the highest points of attain- ment in fiction-writing. New readers—if there is any- body Jeft who hasn’t read us be- fore—can judge for themselves. But all of you let us know what you think of THE SINGING SPHERES. ae An innovation in this issue is the inclusion of poetry. Though a good many other sf mags regu- larly publish poems, we have al- ways considered that the space could be better spent on other things. This time, however, we have made an exception in the - case of a poem sent in by a reader in Hong Hong. It appears on page 4. We do not intend to make a habit of this — unless popular demand says yes—but should anything exceptional turn up occasionally, we will print it. Me AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FIC- TION is the one sf mag in Britain that takes an active, open interest in fandom. We want fandom to grow and flourish in this country as it does in the United States. There, according to the 1952 OPERATION FANTAST hand- book, 14 sf clubs and societies are actively at work airing views, exchanging magazines and letters, holding meetings. In Britain, the handbook says, there are 10—one of them devoted exclusively to fantasy art. We would like to see these clubs grow and further clubs formed. Any reader who wishes to start a club, or wishes to ap- peal for more members to join an existing club, should send us a letter with the details and we will endeavour to print it. There is no charge for these services, which are supplied as the contribution of ASFm towards the spreading of science fiction until it hecomes a recognised and respected literary form. We know that it is the fans and the clubs who are raising the stan- dards. Because of them, we have raised our own, so that now we are acclaimed as being at the top of British sf by people who know and love the field. The letters ASFm. stand for somethine more than our title: they stand for quality fiction and for the encouragement of fan- EDITOR. aom., Forrest J. Ackerman writes from America . . . One would almost get the im- pression from the publishers’ an- nouncements that there will soon be more science fiction BOOKS per year issued than magazines! Among the promised titles are SPACE PLATFORM by Murray Leinster, THE DEMOLISHED MAN by Alfred Bester, FUTURE TENSE and DANGER! CRIME AHEAD by Ken Crossen (antho- logies) MAROONED ON MARS by Lester del Ray, OUTPOST ‘MARS by Cyril Judd, FIVE AGAINST VENUS by Philip Latham, THE CRYSTAL HORDE by John Taine, MAN OF MANY MINDS by E. Everett Evans, and SON OF THE STARS by Raymond F. Jones. Ray Bradbury was Guest of Honour at the California-wide science fiction conference held on June 28-29 in the seaside city of San Diego. Bradbury recently sold a 1,500-word story at the rate of 3/6 per word—fantastic in it- self! A television contract has been finalised for van Vogt and Mayne Hull for the presentation of a weekly serial revolving around the Earth-Mars-Venus adventures of Moon-born man-plus in the years 1980 onwards. Yours sin- cerely is collaborating on the screen scripts, with 108 scenes completed at the present time. In Germany, Peter Lorre is starring in a film called “The Vol- cano People.” In France, trans- lated editions are scheduled of Philip Wylie’s WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE, van Vogt’s VOYAGE OF THE SPACE BEAGLE, Taine’s SEEDS OF LIFE. An editor of one of the newer Stateside magazines tells me that he’s risking coruscating criticism with his 4th issue, but if neces- sary he'll go out in a blaze of glory. The story is that he’s bought a yarn that was turned down as too mature by the vauntedly adult magazines. How frustrated can a writer get? I myself recently did a taboo- touching tale for the sf field, One editor told me he’d give a limb to be able to print it, but—! Another returned it as “too hot to handle.” But the third editor’s treason for rejecting it floored me: “Our readers would be merely bored,” he declared. “I don’t find the theme so daring. a my magazine it would he old at. Lighter note: ALIAS A WOO- WOO by Sherwood Springer and THE DEVIL, YOU SAY? by Chas. Beaumont are two yarns which have whetted Hollywood’s appetite as properties for the fan- tasy film cycle. “Ring Around Saturn” is a picture which will be produced in Technicolor! ! Cordially 4s}. Read Forrest J. Ackerman’s latest sf news from America, which will appear every month. comicbooks.co