| Editor | Andrew I. Porter for most of its run |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Monthly / bimonthly |
| Publisher | Algol Press(until 2000) DNA Publications |
| Founded | October 1979; 45 years ago (1979-10) |
| First issue | October 1979 (1979-10) |
| Final issue Number | June 2006; 18 years ago (2006-06) 267 |
| Country | United States |
| Based in | Radford, Virginia |
| Language | English |
| ISSN | 0195-5365 (print) 1930-3858 (web) |
| OCLC | 5509898 |
Science Fiction Chronicle (later, justChronicle) was an Americanscience fiction magazine (also calledsemiprozine) published from 1979 to 2006. It was namedScience Fiction Chronicle until 2002 and from then until 2006, justChronicle.
It had subtitles such asthe Monthly SF and Fantasy News Magazine andSF, Fantasy and Horror's Monthly Trade Journal.[1][2][3]
Science Fiction Chronicle was founded, and initially owned and published, byAndrew I. Porter.Science Fiction Chronicle began as a section of Porter's older magazine (fanzine),Algol, appearing there first in 1978. It became an independent publication with its issue #1 in October 1979.[4] The magazine was first published monthly, then bimonthly, then monthly again, though its publication became irregular for its final few issues. The magazine's circulation reached its highest point around 2001, with over 10,000 copies per issue.[4] Porter soldScience Fiction Chronicle toDNA Publications in May 2000[1] and was fired from it in 2002 (which led to "swirling rumors" in the science fiction circles[5]);[4] his final issue was #226, July 2002.[6]
From around the same time (issue #228, September 2002), until its final few issues (issue #265, December 2005/January 2006), the magazine was renamed as simplyChronicle, ostensibly to avoid confusion with theSan Francisco Chronicle.[4] Its last issue was #267 in June 2006.[4]
Porter was also the initial editor of the magazine for about two decades, until 2002.[4][1] According toISFDb, from 2001 to 2006 the editor ofChronicle wasWarren Lapine;[1] SFE instead lists later editors as (from #229, October 2002)John R. Douglas and (from #257, April 2005)Ian Randal Strock.[4]
Among its articles,Science Fiction Chronicle published literary criticism, news, information related to fandom, interviews related to the genre, information on the science fiction literary market, and fiction.[4][7] Its content included, among others, interviews withMichael Kandel,Michael Swanwick andGeorge Zebrowski.[8]
Its contributors includedVincent Di Fate,Jo Fletcher,Harris Lentz III [Wikidata],Frederik Pohl,Jeff Rovin andRobert Silverberg.[9]
From 1982 to 1998 theScience Fiction Chronicle presentedan award [de] for achievements in the field of science fiction, in a number of categories.[10][11][12] It was based on a reader's poll, similar to theLocus Award.[11] Sources discussing the award refer to it variously as: the SF Chronicle Award,[10][13] the Science Fiction Chronicle Readers Poll[11] or the Science Fiction Chronicle Reader Award.[12][14]
Some of the categories and awards given included:[11]
Porter received a Special Award at theWorldcon in 1991 for his "years of continuing excellence" in editingScience Fiction Chronicle.[4] The magazine was nominated for theHugo Award for Best Semiprozine numerous times, winning the award twice (consecutively in 1993 and 1994).[15][16]
Gardner Dozois described it as "not quite as vital asLocus" but "also full of interesting information".[17]Peter Nicholls andDavid Langford also remarked that its "coverage was not as broad" as that ofLocus; although it also covered some other topics. They noted that it was "something of anEast Coast institution" and that it "offered an alternative voice for the sf community".[4]