Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 71 — page 160: what you’re looking at

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

ABV RM Ah ‘ yy \ ; x HN Pi RV LES bas hee Pore SEMAN TRA er be kd Payee Payee 4 MAY be Ne MPa E eS ) Discussions LITERARY LINE-UP Have just read No. 67. Ten short stories! That’s about the most you have ever had. Anyway, it should please those who have been grumbling about too many articles. In my opinion Man in Between was this issue’s top story, with The Earth Never Sets a close second. Alan Innes’ The Long _ Journey merited third place, and for the fourth place it was a tie between Lonely Immortal and Dr. _ Blaise. Coincidentally, it was also a tie between Grant in Aid and Waif Astray for fifth place. Both stories had points of similarity. Tailor Made, 1 think, deserves sixth place, with A Woman’s Work taking seventh and Post Mortem eighth. P,. Buckle, 9 Landseer View, Bramley, Leeds 13. All in agreement? ARTICLES UNWANTED May I say how much I agree with the sentiments expressed by W. M. Bealie and Roberta Wild in issue 67 about the superfluity of the articles. A short while ago Authentic gave every impression of turning into a technical journal, and quite frankly I only continued to buy it because of the paucity of science fiction magazines now published. The odd one or two articles do not come amiss, but when a magazine starts getting swamped with them, it’s too much! I have no real complaint about the stories, as they are a good mixture. I liked Man in Between, but Waif Astray seems unfinished. F. Clare, 48 Wendover Drive, Bedford. As you can see, the article content has been reduced with a correspond- ing increase in fiction; a change of policy which I hope will appeal to the majority. PROGRESS REPORT I have before me some of the earlier issues of Authentic and cannot help noticing a very great difference, not only in format, but in the covers themselves. Referring to No. 55, one sees the usual stereotype cover, with very little imaginative or artistic creation involved, but No. 64 seems to be the beginning of something dif- ferent and has continued along these lines until we arrive at issues 66 and 67. As regards No. 68, the cover, although striking enough, fails in that the lines on the gentleman’s face are so very artificial to say the least. The only part of the cover which merits comment is the glass —always a difficult subject to paint, and the artist is to be congratulated on his very fine touch. What I admire most on the covers of issues 66 and 67 is the clear line and almost photographic quality of the Planetarium scene and the Self-Portrait—by Mortimer. I do hope that you will continue to produce such attractive covers. 149 conmiclsoOoks. conn