#chrisanvil

John Campbell's science fiction magazine continues to defy my efforts to chart a trend. Following on the heels of last month's rather dismal issue, the February 1961 Analog is an enjoyable read. Let's take a look, shall we? It took me a little while to get into Everett Cole's lead novella, The Weakling, but once ...

What makes a story worth reading? As a writer, and as a reader who has plowed through thousands of stories over the past decade, I've developed a fair idea of what works and what doesn't. Some writers cast a spell on you from the first words and maintain that trance until the very end. Others ...

Astounding, the venerable science fiction digest, has often been my monthly whipping boy. Today's article is going to be a bit different because, apart from one noteworthy, execrable exception, the June 1960 Astounding was actually quite good. Much of the magazine is taken up by Part 3 of the enjoyable "Mark Phillips" effort, Out Like ...