Customer Reviews

Transformations: The Story of the Science Fiction Magazines from 1950 to 1970 (Liverpool University Press - Liverpool Science Fiction Texts & Studies)

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I really can't add much to Michael Samerdyke's fine review. This book is a fascinating read for anyone interested in the history of science fiction.
One semi-complaint: Since cover art played a large part in the story of these magazines (and is often mentioned in this book), I was disappointed that there were no illustrations. But I suppose including color images would have increased the cost of book a lot. My solution was to read Transformations with SciFiList --a website gallery of SF magazine covers--open on my computer. This is a massive online collection of SF magazine covers. Whenever a cover was mentioned in the book, I would look it up on SciFiList and it was usually there.

I'm eagerly waiting for volume 3 of this history, "Gateways to Forever."

Transformations, the second volume in Ashley's three volume history of the science fiction magazine, is even better than the first volume, The Time Machines. He makes a very convincing case that this era (1950-70) was the most vibrant and creative in the history of the magazines.

What I appreciated most about this book was that Ashley brought new facts and interpretations to light. I never knew that the controversy over horror comics hurt the science fiction magazines, nor was I aware of a similar flap over UFO stories in the late 50s. Also, Galaxy Magazine and Worlds of If, which went out of business in the '70s, were only names to me, but Ashley shows how important they were in earlier decades.

Ashley is not the world's most elegant writer, but he knows his material and brings an enthusiasm that sweeps the reader along. Anyone interested in the history of science fiction would learn much by reading this book.