Book Review: 'Amazing Stories: Giant 35th Anniversary Issue (April 1961)'

Originally released in April 1961 and now re-released as the first in a series of collections from classic pulp Sci-fi magazine 'Amazing Stories', I enjoyed reading this anthology of "7 of the greatest SF stories ever written" as the blurb on the cover says.

From the first story; Ray Bradbury penned 'I, Rocket', to the last; the first Buck Rogers story 'Armageddon 2419 AD', it is a throwback to the days of the pulp Sci-fi magazines, and stories of visions of futures past.

I have read 'John Carter And The Giant Of Mars' by Edgar Rice Burroughs and 'Armageddon 2419 AD' by Philip F Nowlan before, so I knew what to expect from those. But with the others in this collection, I particularly enjoyed 'I, Rocket' by Ray Bradbury, about a rocket ship as told from the perspective of the rocket, 'Devolution' by Edmond Hamilton, with a kind of Lovecraftian tale of beings from another world. Eando Binder's 'I, Robot' is also a good read, a robotic take on the Frankenstein story.

If you like stories of fantastical Sci-fi, from the early works of classic Sci-fi authors, then you would do well to pick up and read this reissued anthology. Recommended.

****/5

Happy Birthday, Hugo Gernsback - Founder Of 'Amazing Stories'

Today marks the 129th anniversary of the birth of Hugo Gernsback (August 16, 1884 – August 19, 1967), one of the most influential figures in the history of science fiction.

He's best known, in April 1926, for launching the first magazine fully-dedicated to science fiction, Amazing Stories, the debut issue featured works by HG Wells, Jules Verne and Edgar Allen Poe and although Gernsback lost control of the publishing rights in 1929, the magazine was in publication up until 2005, and has been resurrected online since 2012.

Gernsback was noted for his sharp (and sometimes dodgy) business practices, and for paying his writers extremely low fees or not paying them at all. HP Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith referred to him as 'Hugo the Rat'.

He is also credited as first coining the phrase ‘scientifiction‘, which would later become the term we know and love. His definition of the term being - "a charming romance interwoven with scientific fact and prophetic vision."

The Hugo Awards or 'Hugos', the annual achievement awards presented at the World Science Fiction Convention, were named after him, Gernsback himself received a special Hugo Award in 1960 as 'The Father of Magazine Science Fiction'.

In honour of the birth of one of the most influential figures in the history of science fiction, and as I totally love the artwork, here are a few of my favourite covers from 'Amazing Stories', starting with the very first issue.

Amazing Stories Is Back!

'Amazing Stories', the world’s first science fiction magazine - originally published in 1926 by the father of science fiction Hugo Gernsback (after which the Hugo Awards are named after) - is back and opened for Beta Testing of Phase 1 on Wednesday, January 2nd, 2013.

Set to relaunch with a new Social Magazine Platform, 'Amazing Stories' will feature content from 50+ bloggers, covering an enormous array of subjects of interest to genre fans.

According to their press release on their blog: “We’ve got authors and agents, bloggers and editors, pod casters and broadcasters; we’ve got gamers and game designers; artists and art collectors; pulpsters and indie authors; we’ve got Hugo winners, John W. Campbell Memorial Award winners, John W. Campbell Best New Writer winners, Nebula and Hugo Award winners and nominees and winners and nominees of many other awards; people who review films, people who make films; we’ve got fanboys and fangirls; we’ve got former editors of Amazing Stories, writers who’ve become synonymous with the field and writers who are just getting started; comic artists, book reviewers; traditionally published authors, self-pubbed authors and authors who’ve done it all. The response to my request for participation was phenomenal – it couldn’t be more perfect if I had set out with a list of must-haves!” said Steve Davidson, publisher."

The Amazing Stories’ Social Magazine platform is designed to create an interactive environment that will be familiar to fans with blog content designed to encourage discussion and take things beyond the usual user-generated content model for social networks.

The Amazing Stories Blog Team aim to cover popular topics such as – Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror, (lit), Film, Television, Gaming, Comics and Graphic Works, the Visual Arts, the Pulps, Audio Works, Anime, the Business of Publishing, Science and Fandom itself.

Follow their blog and like their page on Facebook.

Check out some of the classic covers from the original 'Amazing Stories' from the 1920's through to the 1960's below.

1926-04 Amazing Stories V1 #1, Cover Art by Frank R Paul