Destinies Vol. 2, No. 3

Destinies

by Jim Baen (Editor)

Contents include: "Rah, Rah, R.A.H.!"essay by Spider Robinson; Ol' Man Heinlein, poem by Spider Robinson; Expanded Universe, Part I (excerpts), essays by Robert A. Heinlein: Foreword, How to Be a Survivor, Pandora's Box, Where To?, The Pragmatics of Patriotism; Vital Signs, by Dean Ing; Nuclear Survival, Part 1: Gimme Shelter!, essay by Dean Ing; Retrospective, by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes; About Those Brass Brassieres, essay by Jerry Pournelle; On Books, essay by Norman Spinrad; The Man Who Stole the Moon, by Charles Sheffield; The L-5 Review (#5), essay by The Editors of L-5 News; Shaking Up Space, essay by Frederik Pohl; Frankie the Rat Man and Baron von Ronk, by G. E. Coggshall.

Genres: Science Fiction

351 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 1980

About the author

Jim Baen was Editor-in-Chief and publisher of Baen Books, and renowned in the science fiction field for his taste and ability to select authors with strong storytelling ability and steer them to commercial success. Prior to founding of Baen Books, he was the editor of science fiction magazine Galaxy, science fiction editor of Ace Books, and an editor at Tor Books.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the eighth issue of Destinies, a science fiction magazine in mass-market paperback format that Baen established and edited for Ace Books until he left to direct his own eponymous science fiction/fantasy publishing company. The first four or five decades of the sf genre (from the first issue of Gernsback's Amazing Stories until around the time of Ellison's Dangerous Visions original anthology, give or take, more or less) were absolutely dominated by the magazines, first in pulp and then in digest-sized format. Destinies was an innovative concept that attempted to blend the best of both worlds, incorporating the less-ephemeral book format with the charm of original illustrations and columns that promoted a sense of community one found in the magazines. The authors were mostly from Baen's stable that he'd built at Ace (and his earlier stint as editor of Galaxy magazine) and ran a little heavy with his odd mix of pro-science conservative libertarianism, but he published some very good stuff. The focus of this issue was Heinlein, primarily excerpts from his then-forthcoming Expanded Universe title, which is cool but also kind of redundant since virtually everyone reading Destinies was looking forward to the new Heinlein anyway. The non-fiction in this volume (listed as third issue of volume two) came from Jerry Pournelle, an uncredited piece from the L-5 society, Frederik Pohl, Norman Spinrad, a survivalist piece from Dean Ing, a long essay praising RAH by Spider Robinson, and the Robert A. Heinlein excerpt. There is good interior art from Stephen E. Fabian and Janet Aulisio and an okay cover by David Meltzer. It contained short stories by G.E. Coggshall and Larry Niven Steven Barnes, a novelette by Charles Sheffield (The Man Who Stole the Moon; RAH special, remember!), and an interesting Dean Ing novella. It's another of their weaker issues for fiction, but interesting overall, especially Heinlein completists.

[Edward Brock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Working my way through this series will be a joy. Great stories all around.