—Additional thanks to Gene Wolfe for thematic inspiration.
[Back to Table of Contents]
* * *
REFLECTIONS: THIRTY YEARS!
by Robert Silverberg
In my first rapturous years as a reader of science fiction magazines, more than half a century ago, I greeted the advent of any new title with immense excitement. What a thrill it was to see an unfamiliar cover looking back at me from the array of magazines at the corner newsstand, and discover that another newcomer had arrived! 1949 brought The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, 1950 delivered Galaxy and Imagination and Worlds Beyond, among others, 1952 produced If, Space Science Fiction, and half a dozen more, and the never-to-be-matched bumper crop of 1953 included Fantastic Universe, Future Science Fiction, Universe, Science Stories, Vortex, Beyond, Science Fiction Plus, and ever so many more. Most of them lasted just a few issues and all of them are ancient history, now, except for the perdurable Fantasy & Science Fiction. But for me the arrival of each in the candy store is still a well-remembered red-letter day, betokening who knew what fabulous fictional delights.
On the other hand, when the first issue of Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine made its appearance in the early weeks of 1977, I confess that I paid hardly any attention at all.
For one thing, I was no longer the starstruck teenager, gaga over all things science fictional, of the early 1950s. I was in my forties now, a veteran professional writer with decades of published work behind me, and I not only had virtually stopped reading science fiction, I had given up writing it. My life had grown very complicated in the mid-1970s, I felt terribly tired, and I told anyone who was willing to listen that I had retired from writing forever. So I dutifully bought the first issue of Asimov's, because it was still my age-old and unbreakable habit, going back to those rapturous teen days, to buy the first issue of any new SF magazine. But I glanced through it with what could best be termed indifference, and put it on the shelf, and that, I thought, was that. No longer did the coming of a new SF magazine open infinite vistas for me. Since I had given up writing the stuff, and wasn't much interested in reading it, I didn't see how Isaac's new magazine could be of any relevance to my life at all. Little did I know.
I have that first issue before me now, and from its pristine condition I suspect that I never did get around to reading it. In format Issue Number One isn't extraordinarily different from the magazine that's in your hands right now. The page size is about half an inch shorter, and it has 192 pages instead of today's 144, but the typeface was a little larger back then, so the overall word-count of the two magazines is probably about the same. The text runs right across the page from right to left, book-style, rather than being divided into columns according to the usual custom of magazines. Instead of today's simply styled straight-up-and-down cover heading that tells us that the magazine's name is Asimov's Science Fiction, the name of the magazine on that 1977 issue is splashed across half the cover in giant curving yellow letters against a startling red background, and took up even more space because the magazine, in those days, was called Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. Just to reinforce the point, the part of the cover that didn't blazon forth the name of the magazine contained a photograph of Isaac, a lovely picture of him in a dark jacket and light-blue necktie, looking formidably intelligent and quite handsome.
The price of that first issue was one dollar. (The price has quadrupled since then, but so has the price of almost everything else.) It was dated “Spring 1977,” because the cautious publisher, Joel Davis, was launching the newcomer as a quarterly. (It was such an immediate success—within a year and a half it was the best-selling magazine in the field—that it shifted to bimonthly publication in 1978, to monthly publication in 1979, and for a giddy time beginning in 1981 published thirteen issues a year before gradually subsiding back to today's ten-times-a-year schedule.)
In my one indifferent glance at the Spring 1977 Asimov's I concluded that it was probably a pretty good magazine, and that if I were interested in writing science fiction at all, I would probably want to write for it. Isaac's presence on the masthead as editorial director guaranteed a certain level of quality, after all. And the actual editor, the man who would be picking the stories, was the knowledgeable and sophisticated George Scithers, whom I knew to be well grounded in science fiction. (His associate editor at the outset was the young writer Gardner Dozois, who had already established himself as a storyteller of distinctive skills.) The first issue contained stories by such accomplished veterans of SF as Arthur C. Clarke, Gordon R. Dickson, and Fred Saberhagen, and a novelette by the brilliant new writer John Varley. (There were actually two Varley stories in the issue, one under a penname, but I didn't find that out until much later. The other one was “Air Raid,” published as by “Herb Boehm,” which has been much anthologized since and made into a film.)
But I wasn't writing science fiction in 1977, and, as I said, had no plans ever to do so again, so the new magazine receded to the back-burner part of my mind. I still maintained a social interest in the field, though. And over the next year or two I began to hear considerable buzz about the new magazine from my writer friends. It was, they said, the most exciting newcomer to emerge in the field in many years. They were all writing for it. George Scithers won the Hugo award in 1978 as Best Professional Editor, and won it again in 1980. Stories published in the magazine were being nominated regularly for both the Hugo and the Nebula, and some of them were winning them.
I ended my “retirement” from writing late in 1978 with a new novel, Lord Valentine's Castle, and began to think about writing a few new short stories, too. When I saw Scithers at the World Science Fiction Convention not long afterward he asked me whether I might care to write one for him, and I said I'd think about it if I ever did start doing them again.
Little did I know!
I did start writing stories again in January of 1980, and a few months later, after another gentle hint from George, I wrote my first for Asimov's, a very short piece called “The Regulars,” with which I made my debut in these pages in the issue of May 11, 1981. (That was how they were dated then.) Soon afterward I followed up Lord Valentine's Castle with a group of stories set on the same planet, Majipoor, and three of them appeared in consecutive Asimov's issues in December of 1981 and January and February of 1982, with others to follow. And so it went for me thereafter at Asimov's as the magazine came to occupy a central position in my short-story-writing life. When Shawna McCarthy became editor later in the 1980s I did the novella “Sailing to Byzantium” for her, the first of my award-winners for Asimov's, and for her successor Gardner Dozois I did a whole raft of stories and novellas, maybe two dozen of them, including two more award-winners ("Gilgamesh in the Outback” (1987), and “Enter a Soldier. Later: Enter Another” (1990). And so on and so on ever since, even unto this very issue. And a year and a half after Isaac's death in 1992 I took on the task of writing this quasi-editorial column, “Reflections,” which has appeared in all but one issue of Asimov's in the past thirteen years. (The one time I missed I was fighting a book deadline, and my wife Karen wrote a column in my place.)
Which amply demonstrates how important Asimov's Science Fiction has been to me across some twenty-seven of its thirty years of existence, and how foolish I feel about having paid so little attention to it in its first three years. How important the magazine has been to its readers over the thirty years of its life has been made amply clear by the astonishing string of Hugo and Nebula awards its stories have gained—I hope Sheila Williams runs the full list somewhere in this issue—and the many honors that have come to its editors as well.
Now, in the capable and experienced hands of Sheila, its current editor, Asimov's enters its fourth decade of publication. Only a few SF magazines have reached that milestone. The list is headed, of course, by our companion magazine Analog, the once and future champion, which goes back to 1930. (But Analog, then called Astounding Stories, went out of business for
six months in 1933.) The field's pioneer, Amazing Stories, ran from 1926 to 2005, but it too suffered interruptions of publication along the way, several of them, and seems to be undergoing permanent interruption now. Weird Tales, which published a great deal of SF, had a thirty-year-run from 1923 to 1954, and has been revived several times since, but there have been some very big gaps in its publication history. Only Fantasy & Science Fiction, of all the SF magazines we have had, has managed to continue without ever breaking continuity from its first issue to its current one, a span that now is approaching sixty years. But Asimov's hasn't been doing too badly in that area. It has sailed serenely along for three full decades, now, never missing a beat under three different corporate owners and five editors, and will, I trust, hang in there many decades more. I like to think that I'll be around in this column for at least some of that time. I hope you'll be here too.
Copyright © 2007 Robert Silverberg
[Back to Table of Contents]
* * *
Asimov's Science Fiction Hugo and Nebula Award Winners
* * * *
Hugo Award Winners
Novellas:
2000—The Winds of Marble Arch by Connie Willis
1998— ...Where Angels Fear to Tread by Allen Steele
1997—Blood of the Dragon by George R.R. Martin
1996—The Death of Captain Future by Allen M. Steele
1993—Barnacle Bill the Spacer by Lucius Shepard
1992—Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress
1991—The Hemingway Hoax by Joe Haldeman
1989—The Last of the Winnebagos by Connie Willis
1988—Eye for Eye by Orson Scott Card
1987—Gilgamesh in the Outback by Robert Silverberg
1986—24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai by Roger Zelazny
1985—Press Entern by John Varley
1983—Hardfought by Greg Bear
1980—Enemy Mine by Barry B. Longyear
* * * *
Novelettes:
2004—Legions in Time by Michael Swanwick
2001—Millenium Babies by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
2000—1016 to 1 by James Patrick Kelly
1998—We Will Drink a Fish Together ... by Bill Johnson
1997—Bicycle Repairman by Bruce Sterling
1996—Think Like a Dinosaur by James Patrick Kelly
1993—The Nutcracker Coup by Janet Kagan
1991—The Manamouki by Mike Resnick
1990—Enter a Soldier. Later: Enter Another by Robert Silverberg
1985—Bloodchild by Octavia Butler
1983—Fire Watch by Connie Willis
1982—Unicorn Variations by Roger Zelazny
* * * *
Short Stories:
2005—Travels with My Cats by Mike Resnick
2002—The Dog Said “Bow-Wow” by Michael Swanwick
2000—Scherzo with Tyrannosaur by Michael Swanwick
1998—The 43 Antarean Dynasties by Mike Resnick
1997—The Soul Selects Her own Society ... by Connie Willis
1995—None so Blind by Joe Haldeman
1994—Death on the Nile by Connie Willis
1993—Even the Queen by Connie Willis
1992—A Walk in the Sun by Geoffrey A. Landis
1991—Bears Discover Fire by Terry Bisson
1990—Boobs by Suzy Mckee Charnas
1988—Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers by Lawrence Watt-Evans
1984—Speech Sounds by Octavia Butler
* * * *
Nebula Award Winners
Novel:
1991—Stations of the Tide by Michael Swanwick
* * * *
Novellas:
2004—The Green Leopard Plague by Walter Jon Williams
1996—Da Vinci Rising by Jack Dann
1991—Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress
1990—The Hemingway Hoax by Joe Haldeman
1988—The Last of the Winnebagos by Connie Willis
1987—The Blind Geometer by Kim Stanley Robinson
1986—R&R by Lucius Shepard
1985—Sailing to Byzantium by Robert Silverberg
1984—Press Entern by John Varley
1983—Hardfought by Greg Bear
1979—Enemy Mine by Barry B. Longyear
* * * *
Novelettes:
1992—Danny Goes to Mars by Pamela Sargent
1987—Rachel in Love by Pat Murphy
1986—The Girl Who Fell Into the Sky by Kate Wilhelm
1985—Portraits of His Children by George R.R. Martin
1984—Bloodchild by Octavia Butler
1982—Fire Watch by Connie Willis
* * * *
Short Stories:
1995—Death and the Librarian by Esther M. Friesner
1992—Even the Queen by Connie Willis
1990—Bears Discover Fire by Terry Bisson
1989—Ripples in the Dirac Sea by Geoffrey A. Landis
1983—The Peacemaker by Gardner Dozois
1982—A Letter from the Clearys by Connie Willis
[Back to Table of Contents]
* * *
LETTERS
Dear Sheila—
I need to confess, when I first sold one of my stories to Asimov's—"The Utility Man,” November 1990—my reaction was euphoria mixed with the cocky sense that “It's about time, dammit.” After all, I'd been sending manuscripts to the correct address for several long years, testing the patience of two previous editors and then Gardner Dozois. But even with that first sale, nothing seemed easy. A lot of my work was sent back to me. Quite a few years had to pass before I could sell to the magazine on a halfway regular basis. And even now, when I send out a new story I have to brace myself for rejections, and if they don't come and I make the sale instead, then I feel that sweet old euphoria all over again.
Robert Reed
Lincoln, NE
* * * *
Dear Editor,
I was one of several first readers for Asimov's back in the year it was launched. George Scithers, the first editor, had a house in West Philadelphia and I was one of his tenants. Every so often he would visit the publisher's offices in New York and haul back heaps of manuscripts for us to help him review, comment on, and mail back.
It was an exhilarating experience. Not only did we see lots of stories by first-time authors and currently popular authors, but we also saw material ranging from stories from old authors no longer publishing in the field to stories from emerging authors just hitting their stride. It was a real thrill for me to be plowing through a pile of manuscripts in their original envelopes one afternoon and find two John Varley stories, one of them being “Air Raid.” No rejection slip for those!
We first readers had an interesting fringe benefit. Back in those days, when the features and departments of the magazine were still pretty fluid, one idea being considered was to have a story by Dr. Asimov in every issue. This didn't happen, but we all got to have an early look at several Asimov stories before publication even if some of them ended up getting published elsewhere.
So, my memories of early issues of Asimov's not only include all your published stories, but lots of stories you never published as well.
Sanford Meschkow
Wynnewood, PA
* * * *
Dear Asimov's:
Oh, my gosh! Asimov's can't be celebrating thirty years! Someone has done some kind of time warp. It was only last month that somebody at my writer's workshop told me Isaac Asimov was starting a new magazine that was going to redefine science fiction, only two weeks ago that I sent in “Fire Watch” and was blown away by Octavia Butler's “Blood Child,” only last week that Gardner Dozois told me I was never going to get a cover illustration for one of my stories unless I put some spaceships or dinosaurs in them (advice James Patrick Kelly listened to with fabulous results—"Think Like a Dinosaur"), only yesterday that Sheila Williams was bullying me to write another story for the Christmas issue. (Actually, that was
only yesterday. Some things never change.) But when I start thinking of all the terrific stories I've read in Asimov's, from Joe Haldeman's “The Hemingway Hoax” to Nancy Kress's “Beggars in Spain” to Terry Bisson's “Bears Discover Fire,” and of all the wonderful authors who've appeared in its pages—Robert Silverberg, Ursula K. Le Guin, Ted Chiang, Greg Bear, John Varley, Megan Lindholm, Mike Resnick, Paolo Bacigalupi, and, of course, Isaac—to say nothing of all the Hugo and Nebula and Best Editor Awards Asimov's has racked up, then it seems like it must have been around for at least a couple of hundred years! So, congrats! Thanks for being such a great magazine to work for—for indulging me and letting me write my Christmas stories and romantic comedies and those stories everybody else said weren't really science fiction; thanks for having such great editors and columns and editorials and art and poems—and stories! Most of all, thanks for creating a magazine at once innovative and old-fashioned, fun and literary, and thanks for letting me be a part of it! May you be around for another thirty—no, fifty—no, a thousand years!
Connie Willis
Greeley, CO
* * * *
Dear Sheila—
Forgive my familiarity, but I feel as if I actually know you, since I've seen your name every month since you first joined this wonderful magazine. I'll never forget when I first discovered Asimov's Science Fiction in 1980. I had just landed a job as clerk at a local bookstore and newsstand. As an employee, there were no sick days or health care benefits. The only benefit was that I could have three books or magazines free every week. This seemed like a goldmine to me! That first week, I discovered an issue of Asimov's, but was horrified to find that in order to have it for free, I would have to tear the cover off of it. Why, the cover was half of the intrigue for me. I paid for the issue rather than defile it. Inside, I discovered a collection of stories that I thought had been gathered just for me, a girl who loved real sciencey science fiction. I already loved the Good Doctor and here he was in my hand, practically speaking to me personally, in his editorials every month. I loved him all the more for them. I've since fallen in love with a raft of authors, some familiar and many new. Ever since that magic moment of discovery, no matter if I could afford it or not, I have subscribed to this dear magazine that has been so much a part of my daily life. Now, as a middle-school English teacher, I even use some the stories and poems to entice my students into the amazing world of science fiction. Thanks for being there for me throughout all of these years.
Asimov's SF, April-May 2007 Page 3
