Reviews

SF fans have long had a love-hate relationship with Hugo Gernsback (1884-1967), the immigrant from Luxembourg who founded the first true science fiction magazine in 1926 as a means of popularizing interest in science and for whom the Hugo Award is named. Many critics dismiss Gernsback while extolling editor John W. Campbell as the founder of modern SF. British scholar Ashley (Algernon Blackwood: An Extraordinary Life) and the late "Doc" Lowndes, himself a veteran pulp editor, set the record straight in this meticulously researched history, which shows how Gernsback's magazines avoided formulas and encouraged new ideas. The authors trace how "scientifiction" developed from "gadget" stories to embrace a wider sense of wonder, all the while promoting a humanist evangelism of science. Gernsback receives proper credit for his innovations-and ample criticism of his lavish lifestyle, which had such a deleterious impact on his businesses. Students of SF and popular culture will find this comprehensive study a necessity in examining this much misunderstood pioneer. (July) Forecast: More than 20 years in the making, as Ashley explains in his introduction, this tome will be snapped up by the SF cognoscenti despite minimal trade distribution. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.