 Cover of the April 1958 issue, byEd Emshwiller | |
| Editor | Larry Shaw |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Royal Publications |
| First issue | December 1956 |
Science Fiction Adventures was an American digest-sizescience fiction magazine, published from 1956 to 1958 by Irwin Stein's Royal Publications as a companion toInfinity Science Fiction, which had been launched in 1955.Larry Shaw was the editor for all 12 issues.Science Fiction Adventures focused on longer fiction than appeared inInfinity; these were often labeled as novels, though they were rarely longer than 20,000 words. Shaw declared in his first editorial that he wanted to bring back a "sense of wonder", and he printed straightforward action-adventure stories. Two other magazines of the period,Imagination andImaginative Tales, had similar editorial approaches, but science fiction historianMike Ashley considers thatScience Fiction Adventures contained the best fiction of the three.Robert Silverberg was a prolific contributor, under his own name and under the pseudonym "Calvin M. Knox", and he also collaborated withRandall Garrett on two stories in the first issue, under two different pseudonyms. Other well-known writers occasionally appeared, includingHarlan Ellison,Cyril M. Kornbluth,Algis Budrys, andHarry Harrison.Ed Emshwiller contributed cover art for nine of the twelve issues, and one of the other three was amongJohn Schoenherr's earliest sales.
The magazine was canceled because of disappointing sales; the final issue was dated June 1958, andInfinity only lasted a few months longer. ABritish reprint edition commenced in early 1958, edited byJohn Carnell; after the American original ceased publication, Carnell kept the magazine going for 32 issues by using reprints from other sources and by printing original material.
In 1955, Irwin Stein, the owner of Royal Publications, launched two magazines:Infinity Science Fiction andSuspect Detective Stories. Both were edited byLarry Shaw, and the first issue of each was dated November 1955. Shaw was knowledgeable about science fiction (sf), and put more of his efforts intoInfinity, which established itself sufficiently for Stein to continue publication for several years.[1]Suspect, which published action-adventure crime fiction, was less successful.[1][2] Sf historianMike Ashley describes it as having "no personality or individuality",[1] and crime fiction historian Michael Cook finds it "adequate but not outstanding ... these were not poor stories. Just more of the same".[2]Suspect's schedule was intended to be bimonthly, but this began to slip with the third issue, and after five issues Stein decided to scrapSuspect and start another science fiction title instead. To avoid applying for another second-class mailing permit, which would delay the launch of the new magazine, he simply retitledSuspect toScience Fiction Adventures and continued the volume numbering scheme, so that the first issue was volume 1, number 6.[1] This led some readers to believe that the magazine was a revival of theScience Fiction Adventures edited byLester del Rey andHarry Harrison for nine issues between 1952 and 1954, but there was no connection.[3] TheUS Post Office decided that this was a new magazine, and not just a title change, and forced Stein to obtain a new mailing permit forScience Fiction Adventures, so Stein abandoned the pretence that it was the same magazine asSuspect Detective Stories, and the second issue became volume 1, number 2.[1]
SF Adventures andInfinity both began on a bimonthly schedule, which meant that they stayed on newsstands for two months at a time, helping sales. Stein was unwilling to give up this benefit completely so, in 1957, when he decided to increase the magazines' frequency, he put them both on a six-week schedule, but kept the cover date showing a single month.[note 1] This led to some reader complaints: one wrote in toInfinity to say "My confusion is hopeless! Go monthly!" In 1958 Stein returned both magazines to a bimonthly schedule.[1]
At theWorld Science Fiction Convention in 1956, when Stein announced the launch ofSF Adventures,John Carnell, the British editor ofNew Worlds, approached Stein to ask if he could set up a British reprint edition of Stein's magazine. Stein agreed, but it took a year to make the arrangements, so the first issue ofthe BritishScience Fiction Adventures appeared in early 1958.[1] Towards the end of the USScience Fiction Adventure's run, Stein took two of the long stories that had been bought forSF Adventures and published them inInfinity instead, hoping to boost its sales, but Stein gave up on both magazines by the end of 1958.[3][4] He had decided instead to launch two magazines,Monster Parade andMonsters and Things, to take advantage of the new interest in horror and science fiction movies.[5] Carnell continued publication of the British version, using reprints from other titles as well as new stories, and eventually produced 32 issues.[6]
In Shaw's editorial in the first issue, he lamented that science fiction was losing asense of wonder, and "[was not] as much fun to read as it used to be". He claimed that by focusing on adventure fiction "carried by a good story",Science Fiction Adventures would "be an antidote for that situation".[7][1] Ashley considers that Shaw intended to attract younger readers thanInfinity was aimed at.[1] Shaw's policy of printing longer stories was highlighted on the first issue's cover by a banner proclaiming "3 Complete New Action Novels", though this was misleading as the stories rarely exceeded 20,000 words. The first issue's lead story, "Starcombers", byEdmond Hamilton, was only 15,000 words, and the other two stories, both pseudonymous collaborations byRobert Silverberg andRandall Garrett, were shorter still.[1][3] Ashley describes Shaw's editorial policy as "no different to that ofImagination orImaginative Tales", two sf magazines of the day that focused on action stories, but adds that "SF Adventures contained stronger material". Ashley considers Silverberg's contributions to be among the best work of his early career; it included the "Chalice of Death" series, three stories written as by Calvin M. Knox that appeared in book form asLest We Forget Thee, Earth in 1958.[1] Silverberg was by far the most prolific contributor, providing over a quarter of the magazine's contents,[1] often in collaboration with Garrett.[8] Six of Silverberg's early novels first saw print inSF Adventures.[8]Harlan Ellison appeared regularly, and Shaw also obtained stories fromAlgis Budrys,Cyril Kornbluth, Harry Harrison, andJohn Brunner.[1][8] Most of the cover art was supplied byEd Emshwiller; of the three covers he did not paint, one was an early effort byJohn Schoenherr.[9][10]
| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | 1/6 | |||||||||||
| 1957 | 1/2 | 1/3 | 1/4 | 1/5 | 1/6 | 2/1 | 2/2 | |||||
| 1958 | 2/3 | 2/4 | 2/5 | 2/6 | ||||||||
| Larry Shaw was editor throughout.[3] | ||||||||||||
The editor for all twelve issues was Larry Shaw, and the publisher was Royal Publications of New York. There were two volumes, each of six numbers; the first issue, dated December 1956, was numbered volume 1 number 6 because of Stein's attempt to make the magazine a continuation ofSuspect Detective Stories, but thereafter the numbering was completely regular. The last issue was dated June 1958. Each issue was 128 pages and was priced at 35 cents.[3]
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