Building New Worlds, 1946-1959. Damien Broderick
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the Charles Willis pseudonym, for no apparent reason) is a considerable relief. An experimental rocket pilot is confident he will survive because he has dreamed of the future—except it’s not his future he’s dreaming of. It’s a piece of modest ingenuity, modestly presented, and is the best thing in these three issues.
“Inheritance” prompts a question and an observation. The story subsequently appeared in the September 1948 Astounding—the only previously published story ever to appear in Astounding—and I wonder how and why that happened, and whether it has anything to do with the fact that Clarke, after one more story in the September 1949 issue, did not appear in Astounding again until “Death and the Senator” in 1961. It is also worth noting that Clarke published almost no original fiction in New Worlds after this, the only exceptions being “The Forgotten Enemy” in 5 (1949) and “Who’s There” in 77 (1958), with “Guardian Angel” in 8 (1950) being half an exception, since New Worlds published Clarke’s original version and not the one revised by James Blish that appeared in Famous Fantastic Mysteries.
Clarke’s other fictional appearances in New Worlds were all reprints: “The Sentinel” in 22 (1954), reprinted from Ten Story Fantasy; “?” in 55 (1957), reprinted from Fantasy & Science Fiction (as “Royal Prerogative”); and, believe it or not, “Sunjammer” in 148, into the Moorcock era, reprinted from Boys’ Life. It’s striking that the leading UK SF writer of the 1950s appeared so seldom in the leading UK SF magazine, especially since Clarke for some reason was not appearing in the highest-paying US magazines either. As noted, he was out of Astounding from late 1949 to 1961; he didn’t hit Galaxy until 1958; he had only half a dozen stories in Fantasy & Science Fiction through 1970; instead he tended to show up in Thrilling Wonder, If, Infinity, Satellite, etc.
In summary: the beginning of New Worlds appears inauspicious from this distance—although it surely seemed momentous back in the day, and back at the place.
8. One shilling was 1/20th of a Pound, and 6d or sixpence was half a shilling. In 2012 inflated currency, two shillings in 1946 were worth roughly US $4.50.
9. Bibliographic and historical information not from the magazine itself, and not otherwise attributed, is from The Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Weird Fiction Magazine Index by Stephen T. Miller and William G. Contento and Contento’s Index to Science Fiction Anthologies and Collections (both on CD-ROM from Locus Publications); from Mike Ashley’s article on New Worlds in Science Fiction, Fantasy and Weird Fiction Magazines, edited by Marshall B. Tymn and Ashley (Greenwood Press 1985); from Ashley’s recent histories of the SF magazines, The Time Machines and Transformations (Liverpool University Press, 2000 and 2005); from John Carnell’s brief memoir, “The Birth of New Worlds,” Vision of Tomorrow, September 1970, pp. 61-63; and from Rob Hansen’s web site, available on-line. http://www.fiawol.org.uk/FanStuff/THEN%20Archive/NewWorlds/NewWo.htm (visited 9/8/11). Occasional references to the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction are to the Second Edition by John Clute and Peter Nicholls (St. Martins, 1995), the latest available at time of writing.
Also notable is Philip Harbottle’s Vultures of the Void: The Legacy (Cosmos Books, 2011), published as we were completing our work. This book, very much expanded from an earlier, long out-of-print version, is a survey of UK SF publishing which emphasizes book publishing (especially paperbacks) but also includes useful information on the Nova magazines, some of which we have referred to.
10. See these covers at http://www.sfcovers.net/mainnav.htm. That URL takes you to the main page and you’ll have to navigate from there, but how to do so is self-explanatory. Among this site’s virtues is an artist index. Another handy source—and probably easier to use—is http://www.philsp.com/mags/newworlds.html (both sites visited 9/8/11).
11. Carnell, “The Birth of New Worlds,” p. 62.
12. Slack was a pseudonym for Kenneth Passingham, son of Bill Passingham, who played a key role in the aborted effort to start New Worlds in 1940. Id. at 63.
13. Carnell later recounted: “Fearn responded to my urgent request for material by sending over one quarter of a million words and in all those first few months produced over half a million, all of which had to be read and from which a selection had to be chosen for that first vital issue.” John Carnell, “The Birth of New Worlds,” p. 61.
14. Wait a minute! How did an expanding circle become a swinging pendulum? Isn’t that what the Dean Drive was about? At least it didn’t turn into a seesaw—that had been done, by A. E. van Vogt.
15. In fact, as Philip Harbottle reports, Fearn in 1950 signed a contract with Scion Books to write SF exclusively for that publisher for five years. Vultures of the Void: The Legacy, p. 123.
16. This recurrent phrase reflects the view of members of the listserv on which this material was first aired that Attention Must Be Paid to the obscure and forgotten producers of decades-old magazine fiction, a preoccupation in which I enthusiastically joined.
17. http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/SF Archives/Then/then_1 2.html (visited 9/8/11).
18. “Camouflage,” Astounding Science Fiction, April 1943. The Probability Zero items were essentially tall tales, brief vignettes that stretched credulity and often amounted to parodies of SF method and logic, some written by Astounding’s regular contributors, others by readers and fans who had few or no other credits in the field, or only obtained them later, like Ray Bradbury. Even New Worlds editor Ted Carnell published one, “Time Marches On,” in the August 1942 issue of Astounding.
2: RESURRECTION (1949-50)
Sunk by the bankruptcy of Pendulum Publications19 after issue 3 in October 1947, New Worlds was famously resurrected when attendees of the White Horse Tavern gatherings of SF enthusiasts decided to form their own company to publish it. Nova Publications Ltd. was formed, shares were offered, almost 50 people put up £5 each, and Nova was in business, led by unpaid working directors John B. Harris (John Wyndham), Ken Chapman, Frank Cooper, Walter Gillings, Eric Williams, and Carnell.20
The first Nova Publications New Worlds, issue 4, appeared in April 1949, followed by 5 in September, though only the year actually appears on the magazine. The next issue bravely announced itself as Spring 1950, and was followed by Summer and Winter; what happened to Fall is not explained either in the magazine or by Tymn/Ashley. In 1951 things firmed up and the magazine managed four quarterly issues, then went bimonthly in January 1952 and stayed that way until early 1953, when things got flaky again. Carnell is listed as editor and there is no other editorial staff listed. The magazine is published by Nova Publications, Ltd., 25 Stoke Newington Road, London N.16, and throughout the period is printed by G.F. Tompkin, Ltd., Grove Green Road, London, E.11.
These five 1949-50 New Worlds represent a sharp improvement in presentation—that is, the amateurs of Nova put out a better-looking magazine than the professionals at Pendulum. The magazine has gone from more or less pulp size to a large digest size, 5½ x 8½ inches, at first 88 pages plus covers, then 96 pages plus covers starting with 5. The paper is a reasonably thick stock (getting thinner with 8), a little coarser than typical book paper, but it holds up well. There’s less browning in my copies than in most SF