Space and Time—“the magazine of fantasy, horror and science fiction”—has just released issue #119, its Summer/Fall issue. An earlier issue of this wonderful magazine was discussed in a post last July, (“Small Press Offerings”). Space and Time publishes an eclectic mix of short stories, poetry and reviews. It has been in continuous publication since the 1960s. This is impressive given the challenges that print media face right now.
Hildy Silverman, the editor-in-chief at Space and Time, acknowledged some of
these challenges in her opening comments to this issue. In fact, not long ago the magazine acquired
the subscription lists from Realms of
Fantasy, a well regarded genre magazine that ended publication in the fall of
2011. Space and Time is providing the balance of issues of their magazine
to the readers of Realms of Fantasy
who still have outstanding subscriptions.
Regrettably, Space and Time is
reducing its publishing schedule to just 3 issues a year, with the next one due
in January.
The change is to accommodate the increasing costs of
paper and shipping costs for hard copy format—which apparently the magazine’s
readership has indicated it prefers. Being
somewhat retro myself, it is hard to imagine enjoying—as much—the fiction and
artwork of a magazine like Space and Time
on a computer screen or cell phone display.
Or graphic novels for that matter, like those put out by
SelfMadeHero.
However, there are some new apps designed to emulate the
experience of reading periodicals like these on a hand held device. There is the comiXology app, for example, (http://www.comixology.com), and there may
be others by now. Perhaps the publishers
of Space and Time will be exploring
options for electronic transmission of their magazine so that this nifty
periodical can continue into the 21st century.
The latest issue of Space
and Time opens with an interesting historical science fiction story, “Nikola Tesla and the Resonating
Frequency Transmitter”, by Kurt
Newton. The author imagines Tesla out west in Colorado, attempting to try out
his invention, an intercontinental wireless transmitter. Tesla was the
developer of alternating current, among other feats of electrical engineering
circa late 19th century. He
was also a disgruntled employee of Thomas Edison. Newton’s story may be based in part on a real
historical event.
Tesla’s plan is to receive a signal from his colleagues
in Paris, and he enlists the aid of a couple of local ruffians to set up his
gear near Pike’s Peak. His plan goes awry
after receiving a transmission—but not from Paris. The story generates considerable suspense
near the end, although the resolution of the problem Tesla inadvertently
created with his device seems a bit drastic.
I liked the novel character of Tesla as well as the nostalgic—for boomers
at least—feel of the story. It is reminiscent
of horror and science fiction themes inspired by Cold War paranoia.
The issue contains six other short stories and a generous
number of poems evenly divided among science fiction and fantasy subjects. There are also book reviews, (mostly positive
and encouraging in tone), and interesting commentary on the recent purchase of
LucasFilm by the Disney Company.
Small press publications like Space and Time have always been an important means of keeping the
horror, science fiction and fantasy fields alive and growing through their
support of emerging talent. Many well
known writers—H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, Francis
Stevens, A. Merrit, Ray Bradbury, Fritz Lieber, Robert Bloch, and many others
began their careers in such periodicals.
I can only add my voice to those of many others in urging folks to
support important publications such as Time
and Space through subscriptions, advertising, and off the stand purchases. www.spaceandtimemagazine.com
Here are some other print and online periodicals that may
also be of interest:
http://darkdiscoveries.com/ Dark Discoveries (online)
http://www.shroudmagazine.com/ Shroud Publishing (online and hard copy)
http://weirdtalesmagazine.com/ Weird Tales (recently revived)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your interest in The R'lyeh Tribune! Comments and suggestions are always welcome.