The Year's Greatest Science Fiction & Fantasy

THE YEAR’S S-F

A Summation by the Editor

This was the year the house collapsed. The house of cards, I mean, otherwise known as the Science Fiction Boom. It’s been rough all over, and I don’t mean only since the pieces began to blow off the top, a couple-three years back; I mean almost from the beginning, since five years ago, when the structure first began to climb precariously higher than its foundations could support.

There were plenty of reasons for the collapse, but none that couldn’t have been predicted—none that weren’t inherent in the build-up. Part of what happened was that science-fantasy got caught in the post-war publishing mushroom (two kinds of mushroom: the kind that grows up overnight, and the kind that makes a big noise—”Boom!”— and blows away in the air). As it happened, just when paper-supplies were loosening up, and people were finding time to read again, the public was discovering some irritating complexities and confusions in the Wonderful Postwar World. Seeking both explanation and escape, readers bought a record number of “How To” books, and scientific popularizations; and at the same time sought the solace of an old companion of hard times and inner turmoil—fantasy. And the experiences of the war itself, five years full of Marvellous Inventions and Heroes of Science, had prepared the reading public to accept—or at least be introduced to—the bastard infant of the union of these forms: science-fiction. (Now that the wedding has been officially sanctioned, there is another, legitimate, offspring of popular science and literary mysticism, the “How To Have Happier Dreams,” school, regularly appearing on all bestseller lists.)

The Boom!, both in s-f and in publishing generally, was most noticeable in paperback books and in magazines. New companies blossomed like dandelions; new titles covered the news-stands and smothered the drugstores, until the quantity of sheer trash and the bewildering variety of choice, inevitably, made a weeding-out period necessary.

The s-f Boom! started later, and lasted longer, than was generally true for the industry. It was 1953 when the bottom fell out of publishing, but for some time after that, s-f continued (comparatively speaking) to flourish—not as it had in the peak year, but still holding better than its own.

There was a reason. In all the excitement, science-fantasy actually had grown from an esoteric specialty field to a small, but solid, “category,” of interest to a significant portion of the general reading public. It didn’t, as some of its prophets had loudly proclaimed, put mysteries and westerns out of the running; it did establish a small shelf for itself, beside them.

In the summer of 1955, the Saturday Review of Literature, which had been (as I recall it) the first of the serious critical journals to accord recognition to science-fantasy, apparently decided it had a corpse on its hands. Somewhat embarrassed, they engaged a pair of literary undertakers to dispose of the matter for them. These two gentlemen, Siegfried Mandel, an English instructor at Brooklyn Polytechnic, and Peter Fingesten, a sculptor and authority on “world symbolism,” produced an article entitled, “The Myth of Science Fiction.” In it, (as is frequent in funeral addresses), they chose to ignore the erratic behavior of the last few years of the subject’s life, and confined their comments largely to the period of infancy. (This extreme is less customary.)

In any event, the co-authors of this higher criticism managed to produce an admirable analysis of what-was-wrong with s-f twenty years ago, and explained adequately why it could never have become a popular fiction-form at that time, addressed as it was to a limited group of intellectual frustrates with technocratic political leanings, and no social leanings whatsoever.

They buried the wrong corpse; but perhaps we should thank them for doing it. Science-fantasy has long outgrown both its worship of machines and its fear of emotion. Where emphasis once was on the mechanical sciences, it has shifted now to the psychological; where Scientific Progress was once the unquestioned goal, the more usual objective now is to question just what sort of progress might offer the most satisfaction for human needs.

S-f, today, has found a valid and permanent place for itself on the contemporary literary scene. Just what that place may be has been the subject of considerable debate. For me, the location was pointed out most clearly in the introductory comments made by the editors of an eminently readable recent collection (no relation to science-fiction), “New Campus Writing,” (Bantam, 1955).

Messrs. Nolan Miller and Judson Jerome noted that the submissions they received for consideration were both plentiful and varied—with one exception: “There would seem to be little probing by campus writers into the relation of man to machine, man to society, man to the universe of the atom.” And a little later: “We are puzzled that the issues of our times—science, technology, politics, starvation of the mind and body—figure only slightly, if at all . . . we find people in twos and threes; we examine individuals in the process of discovering themselves—finding the terms by which they can live in the world without changing it.”

I believe this is true of a very large part of the best modern literature. And it is this gap that science-fantasy fills. This is precisely what the authors in this book have done. And that there is a place for it, readers looking for it, is clearly evidenced by the position of the field today—after the Boom!

Seven years ago, just before it all started, there were only two regular monthly magazines in this country, publishing original (not reprint) science-fiction: Astounding, which was then, as earlier, (and still) a first-rate magazine; and Amazing Stories, which was then a “pulp” devoted almost exclusively to exploring Lemuria under the guidance of one Richard Shaver. There were five other magazines then publishing original s-f, all bi-monthlies or quarterlies.

Today, there are thirteen s-f magazines appearing in this country: five regular monthlies, four each of quarterlies and bi-monthlies. Eight of these, at least, are good magazines, that may confidently be expected to remain in good health.

Amazing Stories, as of the beginning of 1956, has become a monthly again; this one is for fast action, plot, and pace —though not profundity.

Astounding, which has never faltered in schedule or quality, continues to be directed primarily to the engineer-reader and devotee of the true problem-story.

Fantastic Universe; also monthly. If the science-fiction in here is sometimes weak, the fantasy can almost always be relied upon to be first-rate.

Fantasy & Science Fiction; monthly. The unquestioned leader in the field for literary quality, for innovations in form, and for intelligent humor.

Galaxy is the s-f “slick” (as F&SF might be called the “little magazine” of the field). A number of first-rate authors who are too seldom seen elsewhere appear here regularly. Monthly.

If offers a very satisfying selection of solid well-written “genuine science-fiction.” Seldom spectacular; always good; no specialized emphasis. Bi-monthly.

Infinity is too new to have acquired a “personality” of its own—but it shows promise of becoming one of the better magazines. Bi-monthly—but only for the time being, I expect.

Science Fiction Stories, a bi-monthly, is published in conjunction with Science Fiction Quarterly; they are different in size and price; otherwise, they may be considered as one magazine, with ten issues the year. Notable primarily for the excellent feature material; quality of the fiction is erratic, but its content is often gratifyingly off-trail.

The bulk of the stories included in this collection, and in the Honorable Mentions list, were selected from these and other s-f specialty magazines. In addition, I had three main sources of material:—

1) Magazines outside the specialty field: In 1955, Blue-book, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Colliers, Playboy, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, and The Saturday Evening Post, (in approximate order of the quantity published) contained between them perhaps thirty or forty s-f stories (depending on where you draw the line between science-fantasy and just-plain fantasy). Half again that number were scattered among such an unlikely combination as The Reporter, PEN (The Public Employees’ News), The American Magazine, Cats, (for cat-lovers), and others.

2) Books: There is comparatively little original short-story material appearing in book-form, but this year there were two hard-cover collections of more-than-ordinary interest: J. B. Priestley’s “The Other Place,” (Harper’s), and Bertrand Russell’s “Nightmares of Eminent Persons” (Simon & Schuster). In paperbacks, there was the annual “Star” collection from Ballantine; one volume of regrettable originals published by Signet; and at least one new story per book in Ballantine’s collections of Chad Oliver, Kuttner-Moore, and Sturgeon.

3) British magazines. There are four of these now regularly appearing. I liked the bi-monthly Science-Fantasy the best, but all are surprisingly good, with a much higher average quality than is to be found in the American magazines. New Worlds and Authentic are both monthlies; Nebula is bi-monthly.

I have not attempted to cover any foreign-language magazines, but it is of interest to note that there are s-f publications now appearing in a good many other countries. Among them, to my limited knowledge, are Sweden, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan.

One further source of material, not represented in this book, but surveyed for it, were the “fan” magazines, published by readers and aspiring writers of s-f. Fiction and essays of unexpectedly high calibre are printed in several of these, most notably in one offset and rather arty item called Inside.

All stories under 20,000 words in length originally published for the first time in 1955 were eligible for consideration—that is, if either the copyright date or magazine issue-date was 1955. Ideally, we’d have preferred to be guided entirely by copyright date; but it is not always possible to obtain copies of forthcoming January and February issues early enough. As a result, this volume and the one for 1956 will overlap on certain issues. No story was excluded from consideration on account of previous condition of reprint —but I am afraid they were discriminated against.

Stories were selected for a combination of idea-content (and development) and literary virtue...but also with the awareness that, put together in a book, they had to provide some variety and contrast for the reader. Thus, some pieces had to be regretfully excluded, because there was a better example of the same type available. Others that might have been included were dropped if anything of similar quality and kind could be had that had not been previously reprinted. A very few that I might have liked to use were unavailable due to previous publishing commitments. For the most part, editors and publishers were marvellously kind about releasing rights, in view of the special nature of this collection.

This seems a good time to express my intense gratitude to the editors, in and out of the s-f field, who gave me assistance and cooperation beyond any reasonable expectation, helping me to procure stories and advance copies of future issues, and to locate and contact authors. Among these, my especial thanks are due to Mr. Anthony Boucher; Mr. John W. Campbell, Jr.; Mr. Robert W. Lowndes; Mr. Leo Margulies; and Mr. Robert P. Mills.

My warm appreciation, also, to agents Harry Altshuler, Larry Harris, and Forrest J. Ackerman, all of whom expressed interest and offered assistance quite beyond the call of profit... and to the great number of s-f enthusiasts, both “fans” and colleagues, who offered suggestions and encouragement. I wish I could name them all here, but it would need another book, I think, to complete the list.

Finally, I want to extend my personal thanks, for aid and assistance of many kinds, to Mr. Stephen L. Wood, Mr. and Mrs. Damon Knight, Mr. Milton Amgott, Miss Katherine MacLean, and to Mr. Knox Burger.

—Judith Merril