History of the Science-Fiction Magazine Vol 03 - Gateways to Forever by Mike Ashley

Review
"The repercussions of Campbell''s death provide merely one context for Ashley''s study, which addresses all the major influences on the genre. As such, it is both extraordinary in scope and meticulous in detail, given the range of magazines and stories described. Despite Ashley''s own occasionally subjective assertions and the sometimes partisan opinions of cited writers and critics, Gateways is relentlessly informative. . . . Ashley should be congratulated for his achievement. He has rendered material that might have read like a list into a rich and vibrant history. Indeed, his engaging style reawakens the very essence of science fiction: the sense of wonder."–Times Higher Education Supplement (Times Higher Education Supplement ) –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
In the 1970s science fiction exploded into the popular consciousness, appearing everywhere along the cultural spectrum—from David Bowie’s 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 humanity’s 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 fiction’s 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 Ashley’s groundbreaking history is a monument to science fiction’s evolution. As the genre continues to infiltrate mainstream literature, Gateways to Forever is essential reading for anyone interested in seeing how it all began.



2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Clear Look at a Complex Decade, September 1, 2007
By Michael Samerdyke (Big Stone Gap, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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Mike Ashley's history of science fiction magazines continues its high standard with "Gateways to Forever." This is the first volume Ashley has devoted to a single decade, but the Seventies were complex enough that he needed to. Topics covered include the decline and fall of If, Galaxy and Fantastic and the emergence of Asimov's and Omni, as well as the challenge posed to the magazines by the original anthologies and the impact of "Star Wars."

Ashley keeps things clear and is remarkably even-handed in his treatment of controversial issues, such as the impact of editor Roger Elwood on the field. He makes the case that Seventies science fiction, often viewed as a dull time between the New Wave and Cyberpunk, was actually quite good and showed how the field was maturing. Strongly recommended to anyone with an interest in how science fiction developed.


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