{"id":13008,"date":"2024-01-22T10:00:27","date_gmt":"2024-01-22T15:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/?p=13008"},"modified":"2023-12-04T09:54:10","modified_gmt":"2023-12-04T14:54:10","slug":"the-time-machines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/2024\/01\/22\/the-time-machines\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;The Time Machines: The Story of the Science-Fiction Pulp Magazines From the Beginning to 1950&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/tag\/mike-ashley\/\">Mike Ashley<\/a><\/strong> is a writer and researcher who has been specializing in the history of science-fiction, fantasy, and popular fiction for over 30 years, having put out over 50 books and numerous articles.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/files\/2022\/09\/time-machines.jpg\" rel=\"lightbox[13008]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-large wp-image-17591\" src=\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/files\/2022\/09\/time-machines-774x1024.jpg\" alt=\"The Time Machines: The Story of the Science-Fiction Pulp Magazines From the Beginning to 1950\" width=\"350\" height=\"463\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/files\/2022\/09\/time-machines-774x1024.jpg 774w, https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/files\/2022\/09\/time-machines-227x300.jpg 227w, https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/files\/2022\/09\/time-machines-768x1016.jpg 768w, https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/files\/2022\/09\/time-machines.jpg 1125w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><\/a>One of his works is the four-volume <em>History of the Science-Fiction Magazine<\/em>, which consists of:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>The Time Machines: The Story of the Science-Fiction Pulp Magazines from the Beginning to 1950<\/em> (2000)<\/li>\n<li><em>Transformations: The Story of the Science Fiction Magazines from 1950 to 1970<\/em> (2005)<\/li>\n<li><em>Gateways to Forever: The Story of the Science-Fiction Magazines from 1970 to 1980<\/em> (2007)<\/li>\n<li><em>Science Fiction Rebels: The Story of the Science-Fiction Magazines from 1981 to 1990<\/em> (2016)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>While as a long-time science-fiction fan, I am interested in the whole series, as well as several of his anthologies.\u00a0 However, as this blog is focused on pulp-magazine fiction, I&#8217;ll only be reviewing the first volume. And that&#8217;s appropriate because for many it was science fiction emerging in the pulp magazines that brought this genre to where we know it.<\/p>\n<p>Ashley uses the appearance of <em class=\"pulp-magazine\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/tag\/amazing-stories\/\">Amazing Stories<\/a><\/em> in 1926 as his &#8220;starting point.&#8221; <em>The Time Machines<\/em> volume starts off by covering what happened before this starting point. And as the author is British, he covers things in both the U.K. and the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>This is important as there was science fiction being published in places and influencing each other. After all, there are the works of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/tag\/jules-verne\/\">Jules Verne<\/a><\/strong>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/tag\/h-g-wells\/\">H.G. Wells<\/a><\/strong>, and others before that. Science-fiction stories were appearing in various magazines. This is covered along with American dime novels, in particular <em>The Steam Man of the Prairies<\/em> and <em>Frank Reade<\/em> and the like.<\/p>\n<p>This leads into the pulp magazines, which will include science-fiction works, as genre-specific pulps would take a while to come about. There is a section on <strong>Hugo Gernsback<\/strong>, who incorporates science fiction into his science and technology magazines. And Ashley covers many of the early greats of pulp science-fiction writers, such as <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/tag\/edgar-rice-burroughs\/\">Edgar Rice Burroughs<\/a><\/strong>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulp-articles\/a-pulp-pioneer-returns-to-life\/\">Homer Eon Flint<\/a><\/strong>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/tag\/ray-cummings\/\">Ray Cummings<\/a><\/strong>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/tag\/a-merritt\">A. Merritt<\/a><\/strong>, and others. And covers the start of specialized pulps, giving us <em class=\"pulp-magazine\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/tag\/thrill-book\/\">The Thrill Book<\/a><\/em>, and later <em class=\"pulp-magazine\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/tag\/weird-tales\/\">Weird Tales<\/a><\/em>. And, of course, he covers the science-fiction pulps. We get a good history of the development of the various science-fiction pulps by different companies as they competed with each other in the early 1930s.<\/p>\n<p>The third chapter kicks off with 1936 when there were basically just two science-fiction pulps: <em class=\"pulp-magazine\">Amazing Stories<\/em> and <em class=\"pulp-magazine\">Astounding Stories<\/em>. But we would soon get the various science-fiction-tinged character pulps, not just <em class=\"pulp-magazine\">Doc Savage<\/em> but also <em class=\"pulp-magazine\">The Spider<\/em>, <em class=\"pulp-magazine\">Operator #5<\/em>, <em class=\"pulp-magazine\">G-8<\/em>, and others. We then get Thrilling getting into science fiction and the rise of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/tag\/john-w-campbell\/\">John W. Campbell<\/a><\/strong> and his longtime influence on sf pulps, for good or bad. U.K. sf magazines aren&#8217;t overlooked either.<\/p>\n<p>The fourth chapter is on the &#8220;golden age,&#8221; given here as starting in 1939. New magazines and publishers were emerging, such as <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/tag\/martin-goodman\/\">Martin Goodman<\/a><\/strong>&#8216;s Red Circle line. And new authors were coming to the fore as well. The fifth and final chapter covers the post-war period. We see the changes to sf after the war, how atomic power and the postwar views affected it. And he also covers topics like the <a href=\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulp-articles\/ray-palmer-and-the-shaver-mystery\/\">Shaver Mystery<\/a> and more.<\/p>\n<p>The volume ends with four appendices. One gives information on science-fiction magazines from different countries. The second gives a summary of science-fiction magazines. All the ones you&#8217;d expect are here, but also included are several, though not all, of the character pulps. While I accept some that are left out (<em class=\"pulp-magazine\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/tag\/phantom-detective\/\">The Phantom Detective<\/a><\/em>, etc), others I felt should have been included, like <em class=\"pulp-magazine\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/tag\/avenger\/\">The Avenger<\/a><\/em>, <em class=\"pulp-magazine\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/tag\/secret-agent-x\/\">Secret Agent X<\/a><\/em>, and a couple of others. The third is a directory of editors and publishers. And fourth is a directory of cover artists. However, having done some recent reviews of these, I think some were left out.<\/p>\n<p>Overall, this is a great work. Unlike too many sf fans (and I&#8217;ll include pulp fans), most don&#8217;t seem to bother learning more about the genre and its history. I&#8217;ve obtained and read many sf-history books, so a lot of what is covered here isn&#8217;t so much new, but Ashley brings it all together in a more cohesive narrative. If there is any criticism, it is that I like to get cover and interior artwork and photos of people and the like, and there is none. But you can get that elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>As yet, I haven&#8217;t gotten the other volumes. But as they don&#8217;t deal with pulp magazines, I won&#8217;t be reviewing them here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mike Ashley is a writer and researcher who has been specializing in the history of science-fiction, fantasy, and popular fiction for over 30 years, having put out over 50 books and numerous articles. One of his works is the four-volume History of the Science-Fiction Magazine, which consists of: The Time Machines: The Story of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":17590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_has_post_settings":[],"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"The Pulp Super-Fan looks at 'The Time Machines: The Story of the Science-Fiction Pulp Magazines From the Beginning to 1950.' #pulpmags #scifi","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[39,1,38],"tags":[577,426,1444,110,103,197,371,541,1443,957,341,902,662,55,609,94,221,226,213,229,1478,304],"hashtags":[],"class_list":["post-13008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-non-fiction","category-pulps","category-references","tag-a-merritt","tag-amazing-stories","tag-astounding-stories","tag-doc-savage","tag-edgar-rice-burroughs","tag-g-8","tag-h-g-wells","tag-homer-eon-flint","tag-hugo-gernsback","tag-john-w-campbell","tag-jules-verne","tag-martin-goodman","tag-mike-ashley","tag-operator-5","tag-ray-cummings","tag-science-fiction","tag-secret-agent-x","tag-the-avenger","tag-the-phantom-detective","tag-the-spider","tag-the-thrill-book","tag-weird-tales"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/files\/2022\/09\/time-machines-featured.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3eLo8-3nO","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13008"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13008\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17634,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13008\/revisions\/17634"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13008"},{"taxonomy":"hashtags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtags?post=13008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}