If

Entry updated 4 March 2024. Tagged: Publication.

USDigest-size magazine. 175 issues March 1952 to November/December 1974. It was founded by James LQuinn's Quinn Publishing Co. with Paul WFairman as editor, but Fairman, who had been writing profusely for the Ziff-DavisAmazing Stories andFantastic Adventures developedIf as a copy of those magazines. Sales were poor and Quinn sacked Fairman and took over the editorial chair himself, in November 1952. Apart from the period May 1953 to March 1954 when LarryShaw served as editor, Quinn remained editor until DamonKnight took over from October 1958 to February 1959. There were no issues February to July 1959 because the title was sold during that year to Digest Productions and became a companion toGalaxy Science Fiction underGalaxy's editor H LGold. FrederikPohl assumed the editorship November 1961. From July 1963 the publisher operated as Galaxy Publishing Corporation.Galaxy andIf were both sold in 1969 to the Universal Publishing and Distributing Co, and EjlerJakobsson took over as editor of both in July 1969. JamesBaen became editor with the March/April issue in 1974, shortly before the magazine folded. For most of its life it was bimonthly, but March 1954 to June 1955, and again July 1964 to May 1970, it was monthly. The latter period was its heyday; it wonHugos for Best Magazine in 1966, 1967 and 1968.If was at first merely subtitledWorlds of Science Fiction, but in November 1961 the cover logo – though not the spine – was altered toWorlds of If Science Fiction.If absorbed its bimonthly companion,Worlds of Tomorrow, in 1967.

The most notable story appearing inIf during the Quinn period, when Shaw was associate editor, was JamesBlish's classicA Case of Conscience (September 1953; exp1958). Also of interest in this period was a bleak portrayal of a drug-culture future, "Malice in Wonderland" (January 1954) by EvanHunter, later expanded asTomorrow's World (exp1956; vtTomorrow and Tomorrow1956) as by Hunt Collins. During DamonKnight's brief term as editor he developed the writer RichardMcKenna starting with "The Fishdollar Affair" (October 1958).

Artwork was quite good from early on. EdValigursky was the first art editor – replaced by MelHunter in 1955 – and introduced KellyFreas's and Kenneth Fagg's work to the magazine. Later artists included JackGaughan, GrayMorrow and WallyWood. During the 1960s, though, despite decent cover artwork, bothIf andGalaxy looked cheap. They were poorly printed, scruffily illustrated and often badly cut and bound. So, despite the quality of the fiction, the magazines were never a joy to behold.

Under PohlIf took on its own identity. Initially it had played second fiddle toGalaxy, but whereas Pohl kept the more select sf for that magazine, he turnedIf into a magazine for more adventurous and exciting sf: before long it wasIf that proved the more popular. This may have been becauseIf serialized three novels by Robert AHeinlein,Podkayne of Mars (November 1962-March 1963;1963),Farnham's Freehold (July-October 1964;1964) and theHugo-award-winningThe Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (December 1965-April 1966;1966). It may have been becauseIf ran a number of popular series including the humorousRetief stories by KeithLaumer, theGree stories of alien domination by C CMacApp and most memorably theBerserker series by FredSaberhagen, all of which appeared regularly in its magazine. Again, it may have been because it was inIf that A Evan Vogt made his return to sf with "The Expendables" (September 1963). E ESmith also returned to the sf scene with the first of hisFamily d'Alembert series (May 1964) and then with the latest in theSkylark series,Skylark DuQuesne (June-October 1965;1966) These stories gave readers a strong emotional attachment to the magazine because of the familiarity with the stories and authors.

Pohl also drew in new blood establishing a feature which became known simply as the "If first", developing new writers. The most famousIf first is almost certainly LarryNiven who debuted with "The Coldest Place" (December 1964), but others include JosephGreen, BruceMcAllister and AlexeiPanshin. Larry Niven would soon win a Hugo Award with "Neutron Star" (October 1966), and it wasIf that ran HarlanEllison's famous, award-winning "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" (March 1967). Other stories of interest included GeneWolfe's "Mountains Like Mice" (May 1966), Samuel RDelany's "Driftglass" (June 1967), and JacquelineLichtenberg's "Operation High Time" (January 1969), her first story and the first of theSime/Gen series.

Under Jakobsson's editorship the magazine resumed playing second fiddle toGalaxy and gradually declined. Of the few stories that stand out during his tenure, the most remarkable is MichaelBishop's "Death and Designation Among the Asadi" (February 1973) a disturbing but genuinely original attempt to study an alien society. Baen, as final editor ofIf's first incarnation, had little chance to redevelop the magazine before it was merged withGalaxy as of January 1975. It was a sad end to what had been one of the more distinguished and certainly more exciting sf magazines.

The titleWorlds of If was revived for one digest-sized issue, September/November 1986, edited and published by Clifford R Hong (1959- ), publishing as The STF Corporation, Hicksville, New York, issue #176, volume 23, no 1. This included "Samurai Fugue" by Jessica Amanda Salmonson (1950- ), interior art by VincentDi Fate, and a book review column by Orson ScottCard.

The history ofIf's UK editions is inordinately complex. Strato Publications reprinted fifteen numbered issues from the 1953-1954 period, and a further eighteen (beginning again at #1) in 1959-1962. Gold Star Publications marketed a UK edition January-November 1967 whose issues were dated 10 months later than the otherwise identical US editions. Copies of the UPD version were imported 1972-1974 and renumbered for UK release, the numbers running #1-#9 and then, astonishingly, #11, #1, #13, #3, #4 and #5. The last issue ofIf was never distributed in the UK.

TwoAnthologies of stories fromIf, in magazine format, were released asThe First World of If (anth1957) andThe Second World of If (anth1958), both edited by James LQuinn. The first issue of the short-lived magazineTheBest Science Fiction (1964), edited by FrederikPohl, likewise comprised reprints fromIf. Also drawn exclusively fromIf though not billed as such wereThe 6 Fingers of Time and 5 Other Science Fiction Novelets (anth1965; vtThe 6 Fingers of Time and Other Stories1969) andThe Frozen Planet and Other Stories (anth1966), both edited anonymously by Samuel HPost. There followedThe If Reader of Science Fiction (anth1966) andThe Second If Reader of Science Fiction (anth1968), both edited by FrederikPohl. More recent collections have beenThe Best from If (anth1973) edited anonymously,The Best from If Vol II (anth1974) edited by The Editors of If Magazine,The Best from If Vol III (anth1976) edited by JamesBaen, andWorlds of If: A Retrospective Anthology (anth1986) edited by Martin HGreenberg, FrederikPohl and Joseph DOlander.

In October 2023 a relaunch ofWorlds of IF was announced, with Justin Sloane of Starship Sloane Publishing (the great-great-grandson of T O'ConorSloane ofAmazing Stories) as editor-in-chief and publisher. The magazine duly relaunched in February 2024, with RobertSilverberg listed as a contributing editor (of reprints). [BS/MA/PN/DRL]

Editors

Paul WFairman, March-September 1952
James LQuinn, November 1952-August 1958, with Larry TShaw associate editor, May 1953-March 1954
DamonKnight, October 1958-February 1959
H LGold, July 1959-September 1961
FrederikPohl, November 1961-May 1969
EjlerJakobsson, July 1969-January/February 1974
JamesBaen, March/April 1974-November/December 1974
Clifford R Hong, September/November 1986
Justin Sloane, from February 2024

Awards for fiction

December 1965-April 1966: Robert AHeinlein,The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (1966) – novelHugo
October 1966: LarryNiven, "Neutron Star" – short story Hugo
March 1967: HarlanEllison, "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" – short story Hugo
March/April 1972: IsaacAsimov,The Gods Themselves (1972) (central instalment only, other two inGalaxy) – novel Hugo,Nebula andLocus Award