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| Science Wonder Stories | |
|---|---|
| Title | Science Wonder Stories |
| Editor | Hugo Gernsback |
| Publisher | Experimenter Publishing |
| Firstdate | 1929 |
| Finaldate | 1936 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Science Wonder Stories
Science Wonder Stories was an American pulp magazine devoted to speculative fiction, founded in 1929 and associated with the early development of modern science fiction. The magazine appeared amid contemporaries such as Amazing Stories, Astounding Stories, Weird Tales, Wonder Stories Quarterly and competed for readers with titles from publishers like Street & Smith, Popular Publications, and Harmsworth. It published work by authors connected to movements and institutions including the Futurians, World Science Fiction Society, New York World–era networks, and contributors who later interacted with editors at Gnome Press, Shasta Publishers, and Fantasy Press.
Science Wonder Stories was launched by publisher Hugo Gernsback at Experimenter Publishing following his earlier ventures with Amazing Stories and contemporaneous to editorial shifts at Astounding Stories under Harry Bates and later F. Orlin Tremaine. Its run overlapped with economic and industrial events such as the Great Depression, the consolidation of pulp houses like Munsey Company, and distribution changes influenced by chains such as Woolworths and newsstand networks tied to American News Company. Printing and paper shortages of the 1930s affected frequency and page counts alongside competition from magazines owned by Street & Smith, Consolidated Press Association, and independent concerns like Popular Publications and Better Publications.
Editorial direction under Gernsback emphasized "scientifiction" stories that prioritized speculative devices and rational extrapolation, a stance debated in correspondence with writers represented by agents connected to Curtis Brown and advocated by groups such as the Futurians and critics at the Science Fiction Research Association. Contributors included early-career and established authors who later worked with publishers like Gnome Press and editors at Astounding Science Fiction; names appearing included H. P. Lovecraft, Edmond Hamilton, Jack Williamson, Raymond A. Palmer, C. L. Moore, A. Merritt, E. E. "Doc" Smith, Murray Leinster, Philip Francis Nowlan, Arthur C. Clarke, Gordon R. Dickson, L. Sprague de Camp, Henry Kuttner, Fritz Leiber, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, Theodore Sturgeon, James Blish, Frederik Pohl, Cyril M. Kornbluth, Poul Anderson, Alfred Bester, John W. Campbell, Jr., Donald Wandrei, August Derleth, Clark Ashton Smith, Anthony Boucher, William Hope Hodgson, S. Fowler Wright, John Varley, L. Ron Hubbard, Michael Moorcock, Sam Moskowitz, F. Scott Fitzgerald (in cultural commentary), and Hannes Bok (as artist). Letters pages and editorial essays featured correspondents tied to clubs like the Science Fiction League and publications such as Wonder Stories Quarterly.
The magazine serialized and ran notable tales and installments by writers later anthologized by presses like Gnome Press and Shasta Publishers, including early space operas and planetary romances in the tradition of E. E. "Doc" Smith and Edmond Hamilton, detective-tinged pieces influenced by S. S. Van Dine–era pulps, and experimental works comparable to pieces in Weird Tales and Amazing Stories. Serial writers whose sagas informed later media franchises published in its pages foreshadowing adaptations associated with studios such as RKO Pictures and broadcasters like NBC. Stories from its pages were later discussed in histories by scholars connected to the Science Fiction Research Association and bibliographers like Sam Moskowitz and William F. Temple.
Science Wonder Stories shaped genre terminology and influenced editorial practice at successor magazines including Astounding Science Fiction under John W. Campbell, Jr. and later imprints like Galaxy Science Fiction and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Its emphasis on technological plausibility and gadgetry informed writers who published with Gnome Press, Shasta Publishers, and later paperback houses such as Ballantine Books and Ace Books. The magazine's alumni contributed to professional organizations including the World Science Fiction Society and events like Worldcon, while its bibliographic legacy is preserved in collections assembled by Donald H. Tuck and chronicled in period histories by Mike Ashley and Sam Moskowitz.
The pulp format followed contemporaneous design conventions used by Weird Tales and Amazing Stories with cover art by illustrators who worked for studios linked to Conrad H. Roerich–era galleries and commercial houses that supplied art to Popular Publications and Street & Smith. Artists associated with the magazine later collaborated with art directors at Gnome Press and contributed to collections issued by Fantasy Press and paperback covers for Ballantine Books. Typography, story layout, and logo treatment reflected trends visible in issues of Astounding Science Fiction and Amazing Stories, and dust-jacket approaches influenced later hardcover treatments by Shasta Publishers.
Contemporaneous reviews and reader reactions appeared in fanzines and journals such as The Reader, Science Fiction Digest, and fanzines circulated at Worldcon and via the Science Fiction League, with critical appraisal varying between praise for imaginative scope and criticism for sensationalism akin to commentary about Weird Tales and early Amazing Stories. Later scholarly assessment by figures like Mike Ashley, Sam Moskowitz, E. F. Bleiler, Donald H. Tuck, and institutions such as the Science Fiction Research Association situates the magazine within the transitional era that led to the Golden Age associated with John W. Campbell, Jr. and the rise of writers who later joined Astounding Science Fiction and major paperback publishers.