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Unknown
Unknown (also known as Unknown Worlds) was an American pulp fantasy fiction magazine, published from 1939 to 1943 by Street & Smith, and edited by John W. Campbell. Unknown was a companion to Street & Smith's science fiction pulp, Astounding Science Fiction, which was also edited by Campbell at the time; many authors and illustrators contributed to both magazines. The leading fantasy magazine in the 1930s was Weird Tales, which focused on shock and horror. Campbell wanted to publish a fantasy magazine with more finesse and humor than Weird Tales, and put his plans into action when Eric Frank Russell sent him the manuscript of his novel Sinister Barrier, about aliens who own the human race. Unknown's first issue appeared in March 1939; in addition to Sinister Barrier, it included H. L. Gold's "Trouble With Water", a humorous fantasy about a New Yorker who meets a water gnome. Gold's story was the first of many in Unknown to combine commonplace reality with the fantastic.
Campbell required his authors to avoid simplistic horror fiction and insisted that the fantasy elements in a story be developed logically: for example, Jack Williamson's "Darker Than You Think" describes a world in which there is a scientific explanation for the existence of werewolves. Similarly, L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt's Harold Shea series, about a modern American who finds himself in the worlds of various mythologies, depicts a system of magic based on mathematical logic. Other notable stories included several well-received novels by L. Ron Hubbard and short stories such as Manly Wade Wellman's "When It Was Moonlight" and Fritz Leiber's "Two Sought Adventure", the first in his Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series.
Unknown was forced to a bimonthly schedule in 1941 by poor sales, and cancelled in 1943 when wartime paper shortages became so acute that Campbell had to choose between turning Astounding into a bimonthly or ending Unknown. The magazine is generally regarded as the finest fantasy fiction magazine ever published, despite the fact that it was not commercially successful, and in the opinion of science fiction historian Mike Ashley it was responsible for the creation of the modern fantasy publishing genre.
Campbell required his authors to avoid simplistic horror fiction and insisted that the fantasy elements in a story be developed logically: for example, Jack Williamson's "Darker Than You Think" describes a world in which there is a scientific explanation for the existence of werewolves. Similarly, L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt's Harold Shea series, about a modern American who finds himself in the worlds of various mythologies, depicts a system of magic based on mathematical logic. Other notable stories included several well-received novels by L. Ron Hubbard and short stories such as Manly Wade Wellman's "When It Was Moonlight" and Fritz Leiber's "Two Sought Adventure", the first in his Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series.
Unknown was forced to a bimonthly schedule in 1941 by poor sales, and cancelled in 1943 when wartime paper shortages became so acute that Campbell had to choose between turning Astounding into a bimonthly or ending Unknown. The magazine is generally regarded as the finest fantasy fiction magazine ever published, despite the fact that it was not commercially successful, and in the opinion of science fiction historian Mike Ashley it was responsible for the creation of the modern fantasy publishing genre.
426 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 5, 2017
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 24, 2019
I was determined to read an entire issue of Unknown because I had heard so many things about it. It has had a very high reputation among SF fans and I got the impression that during its heyday, it was better than Weird Tales as a source for fantasy fiction. Science fiction historian Mike Ashley claims it was responsible for creating the modern fantasy genre. I know that Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series got its start here, but I didn’t much care for those stories either. Campbell’s stated goal was to inject humour and make monsters into characters, instead of fantasy being all about "gloom and terror". I think of all the stories in this issue, only Trouble with Water was successful in this regard. So after the first seven stories, I can’t say that I can see what the hubbub was about. I don’t think it was any better (or worse) than an issue of Weird Tales. I can only suppose that it got better or at least funnier.
I really felt that there was more science fiction than fantasy in this magazine. There was really only one fantasy story (the aforementioned Trouble with Water) and one ghost story ("Where Angels Fear—") the rest were pretty typical SF for the time. While I consider psychic phenomenon (ESP etc.) to be debunked fantasy material, at the time it seemed to many in the SF community to be scientifically plausible. John Campbell was certainly pushing it forward and it certainly crops up in many of these tales.
Here is my breakdown of the issue. I have reviewed Sinister Barrier separately since I read the reprinted version that updated and changed the story somewhat from the original
Sinister Barrier by Eric Frank Russell — 3 stars
Who Wants Power? by Mona Farnsworth — 4 stars
Dark Vision by Frank Belknap Long — 2.5 stars
Trouble with Water by H. L. Gold — 3.5 stars
"Where Angels Fear—" by Manly Wade Wellman — 1.5 stars
Closed Doors by A. B. L. Macfadyen, Jr. — 3.5 stars
Death Sentence by Robert Moore Williams — 4 stars
**Spoiler** A special note about Death Sentence. This story predates Alfred Bester’s “The Demolished Man" by a number of years, but has the same surprise finish — in the future, criminals aren't imprisoned, or killed — they have their memories erased and are reeducated to become productive members of society. This was a primary concept even earlier in the Doc Savage novels, but seems much more drastic when pulled out as a last minute surprise for the reader. I'd be curious to know who came up with the concept first.
I really felt that there was more science fiction than fantasy in this magazine. There was really only one fantasy story (the aforementioned Trouble with Water) and one ghost story ("Where Angels Fear—") the rest were pretty typical SF for the time. While I consider psychic phenomenon (ESP etc.) to be debunked fantasy material, at the time it seemed to many in the SF community to be scientifically plausible. John Campbell was certainly pushing it forward and it certainly crops up in many of these tales.
Here is my breakdown of the issue. I have reviewed Sinister Barrier separately since I read the reprinted version that updated and changed the story somewhat from the original
Sinister Barrier by Eric Frank Russell — 3 stars
Who Wants Power? by Mona Farnsworth — 4 stars
Dark Vision by Frank Belknap Long — 2.5 stars
Trouble with Water by H. L. Gold — 3.5 stars
"Where Angels Fear—" by Manly Wade Wellman — 1.5 stars
Closed Doors by A. B. L. Macfadyen, Jr. — 3.5 stars
Death Sentence by Robert Moore Williams — 4 stars
**Spoiler** A special note about Death Sentence. This story predates Alfred Bester’s “The Demolished Man" by a number of years, but has the same surprise finish — in the future, criminals aren't imprisoned, or killed — they have their memories erased and are reeducated to become productive members of society. This was a primary concept even earlier in the Doc Savage novels, but seems much more drastic when pulled out as a last minute surprise for the reader. I'd be curious to know who came up with the concept first.
Displaying 1 of 1 review