''Science-Fiction: The Gernsback Years'' is a 1998
reference work
A reference work is a document, such as a Academic publishing#Scholarly paper, paper, book or periodical literature, periodical (or their electronic publishing, electronic equivalents), to which one can refer for information. The information ...
covering the history of English-language
science fiction magazines
A science fiction magazine is a publication that offers primarily science fiction, either in a hard-copy periodical format or on the Internet. Science fiction magazines traditionally featured speculative fiction in short story, novelette, nov ...
from 1926 to 1936, comprising 1,835 individual stories by more than 500 different authors across a total of 345 issues from 14 magazines. It was written by
E. F. Bleiler
Everett Franklin Bleiler (April 30, 1920 – June 13, 2010) was an American editor, bibliographer, and scholar of science fiction, detective fiction, and fantasy literature. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he co-edited the first "year's best" s ...
with the assistance of his son
Richard Bleiler
Richard James Bleiler (born 1959) is an American bibliographer of science fiction, fantasy, horror, crime, and adventure fiction. He was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Best Non-Fiction in 2002 and for the Munsey Award in 2019–2022. H ...
, a follow-up to their previous ''
Science-Fiction: The Early Years'' (1990).
The book received positive reviews, with critics commending its comprehensiveness and level of detail. Reviewers found it to live up to the standards set by its predecessor. Several critics described it as indispensable;
science fiction scholar
''Science Fiction Studies'' (''SFS'') is an academic journal founded in 1973 by R. D. Mullen. The journal is published three times per year at DePauw University. As the name implies, the journal publishes articles and book reviews on science ...
s
James E. Gunn and
Gary Westfahl
Gary Wesley Westfahl (born May 7, 1951) is an American writer and scholar of science fiction. He has written reviews for the ''Los Angeles Times'', '' The Internet Review of Science Fiction'' and Locus Online. He worked at the University of Cal ...
both commented that their own previous research would have been greatly aided by the book, had it been available to them.
Creation
''Science-Fiction: The Gernsback Years'' was conceived of as a follow-up to
E. F. Bleiler
Everett Franklin Bleiler (April 30, 1920 – June 13, 2010) was an American editor, bibliographer, and scholar of science fiction, detective fiction, and fantasy literature. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he co-edited the first "year's best" s ...
's previous bibliographical
reference works
A reference work is a document, such as a paper, book or periodical (or their electronic equivalents), to which one can refer for information. The information is intended to be found quickly when needed. Such works are usually ''referred'' ...
, ''
The Guide to Supernatural Fiction
''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' ...
'' (1983) and ''
Science-Fiction: The Early Years'' (1990).
The title refers to
science fiction editor Hugo Gernsback
Hugo Gernsback (; born Hugo Gernsbacher, August 16, 1884 – August 19, 1967) was a Luxembourgish American editor and magazine publisher whose publications included the first science fiction magazine, ''Amazing Stories''. His contributions to ...
, who created the first
science fiction magazine
A science fiction magazine is a publication that offers primarily science fiction, either in a hard-copy periodical format or on the Internet. Science fiction magazines traditionally featured speculative fiction in short story, novelette, nov ...
—''
Amazing Stories
''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearance ...
''—in 1926, coined the term "
scientifiction", and for whom the science fiction literature
Hugo Award
The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) and chosen by its members. The award is administered by th ...
is named.
E. F. Bleiler researched and summarized the
primary literature
In the study of history as an academic discipline, a primary source (also called an original source) is an artifact, document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, recording, or any other source of information that was created at the time under ...
, while his son
Richard Bleiler
Richard James Bleiler (born 1959) is an American bibliographer of science fiction, fantasy, horror, crime, and adventure fiction. He was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Best Non-Fiction in 2002 and for the Munsey Award in 2019–2022. H ...
tracked down biographical and bibliographical details.
Contents
The book begins with a preface and introduction by Bleiler providing background information. This includes an outline of the approach taken and an overview of the magazines,
as well as two tables tracking the use of various motifs and story formulas across the time period.
Bleiler writes that
satire
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...
had by this time largely fallen out of favour, and that politically contentious topics such as
Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...
and
lynching in the United States
Lynching was the widespread occurrence of extrajudicial killings which began in the United States' Antebellum South, pre–Civil War South in the 1830s, slowed during the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s, and continued until L ...
and international conflicts such as the
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government, government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermitt ...
and
Italian invasion of Ethiopia were mostly avoided by science fiction authors. In Bleiler's view,
conservatism
Conservatism is a Philosophy of culture, cultural, Social philosophy, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, Convention (norm), customs, and Value (ethics and social science ...
and traditional
gender roles
A gender role, or sex role, is a social norm deemed appropriate or desirable for individuals based on their gender or sex.
Gender roles are usually centered on conceptions of masculinity and femininity. The specifics regarding these gende ...
characterized the science fiction of the time, and much of it reflected
xenophobic
Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...
and
colonialist
Colonialism is the control of another territory, natural resources and people by a foreign group. Colonizers control the political and tribal power of the colonised territory. While frequently an Imperialism, imperialist project, colonialism c ...
attitudes.
The main portion of the book consists of a complete catalogue of all stories published in English-language science fiction magazines between 1926 (when Gernsback founded ''Amazing'') and 1936 (the year Gernsback sold ''
Wonder Stories
''Wonder Stories'' was an early American science fiction magazine which was published under several titles from 1929 to 1955. It was founded by Hugo Gernsback in 1929 after he had lost control of his first science fiction magazine, ''Amazing Sto ...
'').
The magazines in question include the major publications ''Amazing'', ''Wonder'', and ''
Astounding Stories
''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William Cl ...
'', as well as their spinoffs such as ''
Amazing Stories Annual
''Amazing Stories Annual'' was a pulp magazine which published a single issue in July 1927. It was edited by Hugo Gernsback, and featured the first publication of '' The Master Mind of Mars'', by Edgar Rice Burroughs, which had been rejected b ...
'' and ''
Amazing Stories Quarterly'', and minor publications like ''
Flash Gordon Strange Adventure Magazine
''Flash Gordon Strange Adventure Magazine'' was a pulp magazine which was launched in December 1936. It was published by Harold Hersey, and was an attempt to cash in on the growing comics boom, and the popularity of the Flash Gordon comic stri ...
'' and ''
Miracle Science and Fantasy Stories
''Miracle Science and Fantasy Stories'' was an American pulp magazine, pulp science fiction magazine which published two issues in 1931. The fiction was unremarkable, but the cover art and illustrations, by Elliott Dold, were high quality, and ...
''.
A total of 345 issues
from 14 different magazines are covered, of which all but the British publication ''
Scoops'' are from the United States.
The stories are arranged alphabetically by author and then chronologically for each author.
Each story receives a summary of its plot spanning a few hundred words,
about 200 on average,
and additionally a single-sentence critical evaluation by Bleiler.
The total number of stories thus covered is 1,835
across 522 pages.
Each author also gets a brief biographical description, where such information is known.
The total number of authors represented exceeds 500.
The remainder of the book consists of multiple appendices and indices,
as well as a bibliography of
.
One of the appendices, entitled "Magazine Histories and Contents", spans 57 pages and covers various information about the magazines including an overview of each magazine's history, the complete contents of each individual issue (both the fiction itself and nonfiction content such as editorials, reviews, and letters), pricing, pagination, and the people involved—publishers, editors, authors, and artists alike.
The other appendices include a list of
anthologies
In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and ge ...
in which the stories have been reprinted,
a list of
science fiction poetry
Speculative poetry is a genre of poetry that focusses on fantastic, science fictional and mythological themes. It is also known as science fiction poetry or fantastic poetry. It is distinguished from other poetic genres by being categorized by it ...
,
a list of stories that were originally published outside of the magazines but reprinted in them,
and a section on magazine artists including
black-and-white
Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings.
Media
The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...
reproductions of a selection of 13
covers.
There are three indices: one for motifs and themes, containing entries like "High civilizations of the past, non-human" and "Mad scientist, motivations, purposes";
one for titles; and one for authors.
Reception
James E. Gunn reviewed the book for ''
Utopian Studies
''Utopian Studies'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes articles on utopia and utopianism. The journal is published three times a year by the Penn State University Press on behalf of the Society for Utopian Studies. The Editor is J ...
'' in 1999, writing of it and its two predecessors that "Bleiler's work is so sound and so thorough that every college library ought to have copies, and enterprising scholars may well wish to have the series as close to hand as ''
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (''SFE'') is an English language reference work on science fiction, first published in 1979. It has won the Hugo Award, Hugo, Locus Award, Locus and BSFA Award, British SF Awards. Two print editions appea ...
''". He particularly appreciated the "Magazine Histories and Contents" appendix, writing that "Data such as this is invaluable to the scholar and researcher, and I wish I had had the books when I was working on ''
Alternate Worlds
Alternative or alternate may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki''
* Alternative comics, or independent comics are an alternative to mainstream superh ...
'' and ''
The Road to Science Fiction
''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...
''". Gunn nevertheless identified several negatives. He found the
font
In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design.
For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...
and three-column layout of the magazine section unnecessarily difficult to read. He also stated that he would have preferred Bleiler to have elaborated on the reasons for his more critical assessments. Gunn further identified some factual errors and criticized a habit of speculating without presenting evidence. Finally, Gunn found the selection of secondary literature in the bibliography lacking, writing that "Bleiler's focus on the literature itself is salutory, but his acquaintance with secondary materials seems hit-and-miss".
Thomas Easton
Thomas A. Easton (born 17 July 1944) is a teacher and well-known science fiction critic and author. He retired as a professor from Thomas College of Maine in 2014 and now teaches part-time at Mount Ida College in Newton, MA.
Easton holds a Bachelo ...
, in a review originally published in the June 1999 issue of ''
Analog Science Fiction and Fact
''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William Cla ...
'' (later republished in Easton's 2006 collection ''Off the Main Sequence''), called the book "an invaluable reference". Besides the main contents of the book, Easton found the description of the science fiction magazine readership in the book's introduction particularly interesting—noting that while Bleiler describes the general readership in a fairly unflattering manner, he also lists a large number of people among the most devoted fans who would go on to be significant personages within the fields of science and literature (according to Easton, "the proportion is such as to leave a
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...
in the dust").
David Pringle
David Pringle (born 1 March 1950) is a Scottish science fiction editor and critic.
Pringle served as the editor of '' Foundation'', an academic journal, from 1980 to 1986, during which time he became one of the prime movers of the collective whi ...
, reviewing the book for ''
Science Fiction Studies
''Science Fiction Studies'' (''SFS'') is an academic journal founded in 1973 by R. D. Mullen. The journal is published three times per year at DePauw University. As Science fiction studies, the name implies, the journal publishes articles and ...
'' in July 2000, compared it favourably to its predecessor ''
Science-Fiction: The Early Years''—commenting that while it is somewhat shorter in length, it is in turn entirely comprehensive within its scope, and concluding that it is an equally indispensable resource for
science fiction scholar
''Science Fiction Studies'' (''SFS'') is an academic journal founded in 1973 by R. D. Mullen. The journal is published three times per year at DePauw University. As the name implies, the journal publishes articles and book reviews on science ...
s. In Pringle's view, Bleiler's reading of the primary material "in a sense, has relieved the rest of us from the necessity of ever having to do likewise", writing that the low availability of many of the magazines and the lack of reprinting of the majority of the stories (in anthologies or otherwise) means that "it is for the detailed second-hand knowledge of these that it provides that Bleiler's book will be particularly valuable". Pringle also commended the detailed knowledge on display, writing that the small number of errors he noted did not detract from the overall impression.
Gary Westfahl
Gary Wesley Westfahl (born May 7, 1951) is an American writer and scholar of science fiction. He has written reviews for the ''Los Angeles Times'', '' The Internet Review of Science Fiction'' and Locus Online. He worked at the University of Cal ...
, in a 2000 review for ''
Extrapolation
In mathematics
Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. ...
'', described it as "an indispensable, even wondrous reference book: meticulously researched, thorough in its coverage, usefully organized, and fascinating to read in its entirety". On the usefulness of the volume for scholars, Westfahl described the contents as "information that I would have died for ten or twenty years ago and information that will vastly improve any future research into this era of science fiction history", while at the same time cautioning against using the tome as a substitute for reading the primary literature itself when conducting research.
Michael Schoenecke, reviewing the book for the ''Journal of American and Comparative Cultures'' in 2000, praised the work's comprehensiveness within its scope. Schoenecke described the book as "a rich harvest, fascinating and informative".
In the 2002 edition of ''Reference Guide to Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror'' by Michael Burgess and Lisa R. Bartle, the book is described as "both authoritative and well-written", with its level of detail receiving specific praise. The ease of navigation is also highlighted as a positive.
Robert Silverberg
Robert Silverberg (born January 15, 1935) is a prolific American science fiction author and editor. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo Award, Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a SFWA Grand ...
described the book in ''
Asimov's Science Fiction
''Asimov's Science Fiction'' is an American science fiction magazine edited by Sheila Williams and published by Dell Magazines, which is owned by Penny Press. It was launched as a quarterly by Davis Publications in 1977, after obtaining Isaac ...
'' in May 2003 as "a monumental work of a grandeur and magnificence verging on lunacy
..a meticulous work of scholarship with an almost medieval intensity about it, the equivalent of what teams of monks might have spent decades producing in the thirteenth century". Silverberg praised in particular the devotion to reading all the included stories and providing critical commentary, expressing amusement at Bleiler's at times blunt dismissals of literary merit. He nevertheless found himself inspired by the book to revisit some of the more obscure works discussed and suggested readers look into two anthologies of works from this era to get an appreciation for the level of quality some of them reached:
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov ( ; – April 6, 1992) was an Russian-born American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. H ...
's ''
Before the Golden Age
''Before the Golden Age: A Science Fiction Anthology of the 1930s'' is an anthology of 25 science fiction stories from 1930s pulp magazines, edited by American science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. It also includes " Big Game", a short story writte ...
'' (1974) and
Damon Knight
Damon Francis Knight (September 19, 1922 – April 15, 2002) was an American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He is the author of " To Serve Man", a 1950 short story adapted for ''The Twilight Zone''.Stanyard, ''Dimensions Behind ...
's ''
Science Fiction of the Thirties
''Science Fiction of the Thirties'' is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Damon Knight. It was first published in hardcover by Bobbs-Merrill in January 1976; a book club edition was issued simultaneously by the same publisher ...
'' (1976).
Neil Barron
Richard Neil Barron (23 March 1934 - 5 September 2010) was a science fiction bibliographer and scholar. His training was as a librarian. He is perhaps best known for his book '' Anatomy of Wonder: A Critical Guide to Science Fiction''. He won the ...
, in the 2004 edition of his ''
Anatomy of Wonder: A Critical Guide to Science Fiction'', called the book "
essential companion to the author's equally authoritative ''Science-Fiction: The Early Years''".
Gary K. Wolfe
Gary K. Wolfe (born Gary Kent Wolfe in 1946) is an American science fiction editor, critic and biographer. He is an emeritus Professor of Humanities in Roosevelt University's Evelyn T. Stone College of Professional Studies.
Life
Wolfe was bo ...
, writing in the same volume, similarly described it as "one of the major indispensable works of SF scholarship".
John Clute
John Frederick Clute (born 12 September 1940) is a Canadian-born author and critic specializing in science fiction and fantasy literature who has lived in both England and the United States since 1969. He has been described as "an integral part ...
, writing in ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'', commented that Bleiler's suite of reference works culminating in ''The Gernsback Years'' "stands as a central resource for the study of sf books" alongside the works of authors such as Barron and
Donald H. Tuck (author of ''
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy'' (sometimes named ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy through 1968'') is a three volume reference work on science fiction and fantasy, edited by Donald H. Tuck and published by Advent: ...
''). Clute also wrote that all three works are characterized both by extraordinary scope and extraordinary thoroughness.
See also
*
History of US science fiction and fantasy magazines to 1950
Science-fiction and fantasy magazines began to be published in the United States in the 1920s. Stories with science-fiction themes had been appearing for decades in pulp magazines such as '' Argosy'', but there were no magazines that speciali ...
*
Pulp era of science fiction
In the history of science fiction, the pulp era (occasionally pulp age) is a period subject to various definitions. It is commonly held to have begun in 1926, the year the first science fiction magazine—Hugo Gernsback's ''Amazing Stories''—w ...
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
*
* {{Internet Archive, id=sciencefictionge0000blei, name=''Science-Fiction: The Gernsback Years''
1998 non-fiction books
20th-century encyclopedias
Encyclopedias of literature
Science fiction studies