Building New Worlds, 1946-1959. Damien Broderick

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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.

      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.

      2: RESURRECTION (1949-50)

      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


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