Synopses & Reviews
< div=""> < div=""> In the 1970s science fiction exploded into the popular consciousness, appearing everywhere along the cultural spectrum& #8212; from David Bowie& #8217; s alien stage persona to the massively successful global juggernaut that was < i=""> Star Wars<> . With the American involvement in Vietnam reaching its bitter conclusion, the Apollo moon program ending, and awareness of humanity& #8217; s destructive impact on the environment increasing, our planet began to seem a smaller, lonelier, more fragile place& #8212; and the escapist appeal of science fiction grew.< br=""> Corresponding with these tumultuous events was a period of significant American economic decline, and, as Mike Ashley shows in < i=""> Gateways to Forever<> , the once-enormously-popular science fiction magazines struggled to survive. The third volume of this award-winning series chronicles the publications& #8217; most difficult period so far. The decade began with the death of John Campbell Jr., the man who launched the magazine < i=""> Astonishing<> , and with it science fiction& #8217; s prominence as a genre. The widespread popularization of sci-fi imagery reflected a newly diversified market& #8212; new anthologies, fanzines, role-playing games, comics, and blockbuster films all fought for the attention and money of sci-fi fans. Ashley shows how the traditional magazines coped with these setbacks but also how they, as always, looked to the future, as the decade closed and the earliest precursors to the Internet emerged.< br=""> & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; Mike Ashley& #8217; s groundbreakinghistory is a monument to science fiction& #8217; s evolution. As the genre continues to infiltrate mainstream literature, < i=""> Gateways to Forever<> is essential reading for anyone interested in seeing how it all began.< iv=""> < iv="">
Review
"This will undoubtedly form the definitive history of SF from the pulp to the paperback."--The Guardian
"It is an amazing book, both for the enormous amount of information it summarizes, and for the quiet authority with which it does it."--Science Fiction Studies
Synopsis
In the 1970s science fiction exploded into the popular consciousness, appearing everywhere along the cultural spectrum—from David Bowies alien stage persona to the massively successful global juggernaut that was
Star Wars. With the American involvement in Vietnam reaching its bitter conclusion, the Apollo moon program ending, and awareness of humanitys destructive impact on the environment increasing, our planet began to seem a smaller, lonelier, more fragile place—and the escapist appeal of science fiction grew.
Corresponding with these tumultuous events was a period of significant American economic decline, and, as Mike Ashley shows in Gateways to Forever, the once-enormously-popular science fiction magazines struggled to survive. The third volume of this award-winning series chronicles the publications most difficult period so far. The decade began with the death of John Campbell Jr., the man who launched the magazine Astonishing, and with it science fictions prominence as a genre. The widespread popularization of sci-fi imagery reflected a newly diversified market—new anthologies, fanzines, role-playing games, comics, and blockbuster films all fought for the attention and money of sci-fi fans. Ashley shows how the traditional magazines coped with these setbacks but also how they, as always, looked to the future, as the decade closed and the earliest precursors to the Internet emerged.
Mike Ashleys groundbreaking history is a monument to science fictions evolution. As the genre continues to infiltrate mainstream literature, Gateways to Forever is essential reading for anyone interested in seeing how it all began.
Synopsis
This third volume in Mike Ashley's four-volume study of the science-fiction magazines focuses on the turbulent years of the 1970s, when the United States emerged from the Vietnam War into an economic crisis. It saw the end of the Apollo moon programme and the start of the ecology movement. This proved to be one of the most complicated periods for the science-fiction magazines. Not only were they struggling to survive within the economic climate, they also had to cope with the death of the father of modern science fiction, John W. Campbell, Jr., while facing new and potentially threatening opposition. The market for science fiction diversified as never before, with the growth in new anthologies, the emergence of semi-professional magazines, the explosion of science fiction in college, the start of role-playing gaming magazines, underground and adult comics and, with the success of Star Wars, media magazines. This volume explores how the traditional science-fiction magazines coped with this, from the
About the Author
Mike Ashley is a renowned expert in the world of science fiction and fantasy literature. He received the Science Fiction Research Association’s Pilgrim Award in 2002 for lifetime achievement in science fiction research. He has written many books, including A Brief History of King Arthur (Robinson, 2010); Taking Liberties (British Library, 2008); Gateways to Forever (Liverpool University Press, 2007); The Age of Storytellers (British Library, 2006); Transformations (Liverpool University Press, 2005); and Starlight Man: The Extraordinary Story of Algernon Blackwood (Constable, 2001).
Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
List of Tables
Chronology
Chapter One: Goodbye to all That: The Old Gateways
One Step...Forwards?
The Gatherings at the Gate
The King is Dead...
...Long live the King
The Forgotten Editor
How the Mighty Fall
Sex and Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll
The Anchor Mag
New Blood, New Clothes
Chapter Two: All This and Elwood Too: The Rival Gateways
The Threat from Within
The British Dimension
Experiments in Orbit
The Depths of Infinity
From Nova to Quark
Universe and New Dimensions
The New Generations
Select Bibliography
Index
The Female Perspective
The Elwood Factor
Heroes and Villains
The Threat from Without
Chapter Three: Small but Dangerous: The Alternate Gateways
Little Wonders
The Fantastic Dimension
Graphic Developments
Rival Roles
Spawn of the Weird
Under Scrutiny
Chapter Four: Back to the Future: The Final Gateways
The Rise and Fall of Galileo
A Fate Worse than Death
The Cosmos Experience
Asimov Triumphs
Asimov Expansion
Amazing Days
Star Mags
Super Science
SF Destiny
Chapter Five: Looking Back: The Gateways in Perspective
Select Bibliography
Index