by Gideon Marcus What if the South had won at Antietam? Or the Mongols had not been so savaged by the Hungarians at Mohi? If Hitler had grown up an artist? Time travel has been a staple of science fiction since the genre was formalized. One of the newer flavors of the time travel oeuvre … Continue reading [January 30, 1962] Heads or Tails? (Ace Double F-127)
Gideon Marcus by Ron Church Summer is here! It's that lazy, hot stretch of time when the wisest thing to do is lie in the shade with a glass of lemonade and a good book. Perhaps if Khruschev did the same thing, he wouldn't be making things so miserable for the folks of West Berlin. … Continue reading [August 5, 1961] In the good old Summertime! (September 1961 IF science fiction)
Analog (formerly Astounding) has tended to be the weak sister of the Big Three science fiction digests. This can be attributed largely to Editor John Campbell's rather outdated and quirky preferences when it comes to story selection. There seem to be about five or six authors in Analog's stable, and they are not the most … Continue reading [August 1, 1960] Saving the Day (Poul Anderson's The High Crusade)
With December's Galaxy and F&SF done and reviewed, I now turn to the last of the Big Three: Astounding. The elephant in this magazine is, of course, the second half of Poul Anderson's dreary short novel, “Bicycle Built for Brew.” It lurks at the end of the magazine like an oncoming train at the end … Continue reading December 1958: Astounding (1st half) 11-08-1958