Customer Reviews

The Gernsback Days

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4 star:		(2)
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...is knowing its modern history. Which wasn't born in Amazing Stories but amateur radio magazines run by, you guessed it, Gernsback. This massive tome about the early days of science fiction (as a genre as we come to think of it now; of course there was Wells and Verne etc) explains a lot about the creative tensions and genre distinctions that are with us to this present day in science fiction. Gernsback is certainly still a polarizing figure in the genre (think of William Gibson's story "The Gernsback Continuum"); BUT he certainly is more complicated a figure than his detractors would give him credit for. The author, while certainly "pro-Gernsback", is not fawning either, and you get a good sense of the nascent fan community too.

This book lost a star because the typeface was small and very grainy--it was readable, but barely. Which is too bad. Anyone looking to write, or write about, science fiction should read this book.

I've read and have several of Ashley's SF history volumes (The SF magazine...Transformations...) and yet I was a little disappointed in this volume. First, as the earlier viewer noted, text is small and difficult to read. But chapters are short and very well-written (easy to understand).
And I think anyone -with a little previous knowledge of that period and authors involved --could read a chapter here and chapter there, no need to read them all in sequence. (Bet the authors think otherwise!)

I thought they'd include some cover illlustrations or even some black and white internal drawings from the magazine. Sorry. It's 100% text only.
Probably only for the hard-core SF history fan, but if my eyes don't fail me, it looks to be another stimulating read.