by Mx. Kris Vyas-Myall
“Are paperbacks the magazines of the future?”
This was apparently the subject of a panel at Balticon earlier this year. It is an interesting question. On the positive side we have noted the strong average quality of the new anthologies with New Writings being the “Best Magazine” in the Galactic Stars of 1965 and Orbit taking it for 1966.
At the same time, the amount of space for original fiction in the magazines is dropping. In May 1965, around 50 fiction pieces in total were published by SF magazines, in May this year it was down to around half of that.
On the flip side, there are still only a small number of original anthologies in the market, and they rarely get the big names in them. One of the reasons for this was highlighted in Australian Science Fiction Review:
Until carve outs are more regularly drawn, you are unlikely to get more people signed up.
Harlan Ellison has a new anthology coming out with some big names attached to it. Did he get carve outs? Was he able to give them bigger royalty cheques than usual? Or just his usual manner of badgering people until he gets what he wants?
But before then there are two that I want to address this month that may help answer this question. The first is the content of this item, Douglas Hill’s The Devil His Due:
In contrast to Ziff Davis magazines, most of the reprints are at the front. However, only one of these we have covered before:
This is a story by the famed author we have not covered before, due to it appearing in the thriller and mystery magazine Suspense in 1960.
In this silly take on the Faustus myth, Stephen is doing some tape editing when he accidentally summons the demon Batruel. Stephen doesn’t want to make a deal but, not knowing the words to dismiss his visitor, he is stuck with him in his house.
A very fun little tale with a touch of Oscar Wilde about it and a great sting at the end. Also, it is notable for never actually using demonic terms, only referring to this obliquely.
Four Stars
The Shrine of Temptation by Judith Merril
This is one we have covered twice before, in both Fantastic and Impulse, so I will not spend too long on it.
I will just say I agree with both my esteemed colleagues on this piece. Merril has written some brilliant works of SFF and this is one of them. It is literary without being confusing and liable to appeal to even those outside of the science fictional sphere.
Four Stars
Samuel F. Maynard and Anthropologic Demonography by Ramsey Wood
A brand-new writer making his debut here (take note Mr. Carnell).
In this vignette one Samuel F. Maynard is attempting to develop a classification system for demons. In an interview with a demon who is in possession of a human, he learns that they find his classification insulting. Should he worry about revenge?
The inexperience of the writer shows here. It is a very simple story with an attempt to raise it up through the form. However, it ends up feeling more heavy-handed and contrived than anything else. Still, there are definitely some signs of promise, I will look forward to Ramsey’s next piece.
Two Stars
The oldest of these tales comes from 1958’s Science Fantasy (long before we began covering it) and has not been reprinted since.
In another Fasutian tale, scientist Cris Neville summons a demon, determined to discover the science behind them and make a bargain. But are they really as powerful as the legends suggest?
E. C. Tubb is the king of competence. An incredibly prolific author who has probably managed to produce more three star stories than anyone else. Not that this is something to sniff at but, ask me to tell you what happened in any of them, and I would be hard pushed to recall.
This follows that trend. It is reasonable, well-told and has a solid beginning, middle and end. But it is stretched a bit too long and suffers in comparison to Wyndham’s opening piece.
Three Stars
The Eastern Windows by Keith Roberts
What would be a British publication be without a new Keith Roberts tale?
After a near miss with a bus, Alan goes to a party. There he meets Oliver, who was also nearly involved in a traffic accident, and Eileen, who has recently tried to kill herself. The party continues to fill up with people they do not know but who have all had close calls with death. Can you possibly guess what is going on?
I am on record as not being a particular fan of Mr. Roberts' writing, nor do I enjoy his apparent current obsession with cars (there is lots of mechanical talk on them in here). But even ignoring that I find it hard to find much of anything to like in this stretched out tale of one of the hoariest old scenarios of horror.
One Star
Devil of a Drummer by Hilary Bailey
Always good to see more from this all too infrequent contributor to the British SF scene. This piece starts off with our narrator witnessing a man who falls off his bicycle and then threatens the delivery driver for money, in spite of not being injured. After he returns home, he discovers (via his daughters’ copy of Melody Maker) the cyclist was successful pop musician and club owner, Red Kynaston.
The plot thickens when the narrator is called in to help at a murder scene. Within the ritual devastation Kynaston’s music is playing and “Kynaston” was one of the victim's last words. Before the inquest Kynaston threatens to curse our narrator. Afterwards the narrator finds himself unable to speak and his daughter begins acting strangely. So a battle begins between the two of them…
On the positive side, she does a great job of portraying contemporary London in its diversity and modern parenting, when so many writers still feel make you like it’s the 1930s and everyone is stuffed to the brim with tweed. It also remains engaging throughout, reminding me of the best examples of Hammer Horror films.
On the negative side, the attempts to include the West Indian community still fall into stereotypes about magic, superstition and cowardice that regularly pop up and really need to go away. It also, at times, felt like I was watching one of those silly teen rebellion films that are regularly released (and I will go see if I fancy a cheap laugh).
Overall I liked it, but there is room for improvement. Three Stars
The Atheist’s Bargain by John Sladek and Thomas M. Disch
Two of the leading lights of the New Wave have another go at collaboration, this one being more successful than their last effort.
Mr. Godwin’s wife Lottie has died and he is beside himself with grief. When a man comes to offer him a package of anything he wants in exchange for his immortal soul, in spite of being an atheist, he accepts. Lottie, on the other hand was a devout Christian and is not all too keen on being brought back in this manner.
A simple story but well written in the lyrical but accessible style I have come to accept from Disch and with a wonderfully haunting ending.
A High Three Stars
The Singing Citadel by Michael Moorcock
Whilst this has a 1963 copyright date, I do not believe it was published until a couple of months ago, in de Camp’s anthology The Fantastic Swordsmen (all the other stories within are old tales so we elected not to cover it at the Journey).
This continues the tales of albino Swordsman Elric, whose last new adventure was back in 1964. After a brief reintroduction to the character and the setting we join him and his companion Moonglum in the midst of a sea-battle. After they quickly dispatch their opponents, a message comes to Elric for help from Queen Yishana. In her kingdom Chaos has arrived and they discover the citadel of a disgraced servant of the Lords of Chaos, Balo the Jester.
I had thought Elric’s adventures had ended and Mr. Moorcock would be too busy putting together the new versions of New Worlds to put out any more of these tales, but I am very glad to have them. This represents among the better works of the series.
Firstly, it spends a lot of time with the characters, carefully considering their different motivations and the consequences of their choices. As such it feels real and understandable. This then nicely contrasts with the strange imaginative worlds we get within the titular citadel and the bizarre battles among these supernatural entities beyond our understanding.
This appears to be earlier than many of his tales, surprised by the presence of Chaos on Earth and loath to do war against them. It seems to make real considerations for this with Elric feeling guilt and conflict over past events and despairing of the choices to come. A stark contrast to many sword and sorcery adventures where each part feels more like a discreet thrilling adventure.
I loved it and hope Moorcock has time for more.
Five Stars
Give The Hill His Due
Speak of the devil…
Douglas Hill has put together an impressive collection here. The best works are predominantly the reprints but there was only one piece in the entire anthology not to my tastes. He also manages to include a new writer and two women in here, when most magazines seem to struggle to publish even one an issue.
If this quality can continue, maybe the future is here instead of in magazines after all?
Come back later in the month for my thoughts on the second Orbit anthology.
Thanks for this review, Kris: I'll have to look this one up. I do like me a bit of Elric, even if it's a reprint!
As much as I like it, though, it makes me think a little that Elric is where Mike Moorcock was, but Disch & Sladek are where he is now – certainly when you look at the recent New Worlds.
And then there's Keith Roberts, of course – hopefully he's resting up after his last few months at SF Impulse. But this sounds like a collection with variety – not everyone will like everything, but there will be *something* a reader will like.
Thank you for your comments!
The Elric was at least new to me, and that is nice to see. I was assuming that the contents of the two collections was going to be all we would get from him.
And yes it is definitely one full of variety, more than I had expected around the theme. I had wondered how much you could do new takes on The Devil a worried that it was going to just be 8 Faustian bargain tales. But a really nice selection with none of them feeling like a manuscript sitting in a drawer they just replaced an alien with "demon" so it would fit.