_We"re Avoiding Reprints_
Dear Editor:
I am writing again about Astounding Stories. It seems more people are interested in science to-day than ever before, and an easy and interesting way to gain this knowledge is through reading an entertaining science story.
Regarding stories in your February issue, will list them according to my likes and dislikes. "Into s.p.a.ce" and "Mad Music" contained science maybe not impossible in the future.
"Sp.a.w.n of the Stars," "The Beetle Horde," "Creatures of the Light," "The Thief of Time" and "Old Compton"s Secret" were very interesting science, and good reading, but "The Corpse on the Grating" did not appeal to me.
I like interplanetary stories and stories of what might be on other planets.
I notice some familiar names among your authors. Why not print some (not too many) stories from H. G. Wells, E. R.
Burroughs and Jules Verne? Some of their stories which were considered just wild dreams of the author at the time of writing have actually become a reality, as, for instance, the submarine. If you keep on as you started or improve I can see only success--C. E. Anderson, 3504 Colfax Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minn.
_A Few Favorites_
Dear Editor:
I am an electrical engineer. I read the last two issues of your magazine. I liked it very much. It is thrilling and very well edited. I will buy it regularly.
I liked "Invisible Death" best. "The Beetle Horde" was good, "Phantoms of Reality," good. "Into s.p.a.ce" and "Mad Music,"
very good. "Creatures of the Light," "Old Crompton"s Secret"
and "Sp.a.w.n of the Stars," good.--Adolph Wa.s.serrogel, Gedden Terrace, Waterbury, Conn.
"_Going Some!_"
Dear Editor:
I purchased one of your magazines when I first saw them. I always had a liking for Super-science stories, but your magazine was the best I ever got hold of. Thought I could never wait until the next issue to finish "The Beetle Horde." I believe "The Cave of Horror" was the best story in that issue. It really seemed as if it could be true.
Due respect must be paid the author of "The Corpse on the Grating," for it was exciting and fantastic. "Phantoms of Reality" was good.
All the stories in the second magazine seemed as good as the best of the first number, and that"s going some.
May you succeed in getting the same good and better stories as you have in the first two issues of a magazine that I am sure will grow to fame.--Harold Rakestraw, Box 25, Winthop, Wash.
_We Intend To_
Dear Editor:
Having read the first two issues of your new magazine, I find it has a larger variety of stories than any of the other Science Fiction magazines now found on the newsstands.
Why not keep it that way? It will be unique.
Mr. Wessolowski, your artist, is great. He is one who can draw when it comes to a good scientific background.
I consider "Tanks" your best story as yet, with "Sp.a.w.n of the Stars" close second. "Invisible Death," "Creatures of the Light" and "Mad Music" were also good. Try to give us some stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs and A. Merritt. Did not think much of "The Beetle Horde"--too many like it--Ted Shatkowski, 812 Hoffman St., Hammond, Ind.
_Some Good Suggestions_
Dear Editor:
I received the pleasure of purchasing a copy of Astounding Stories the other day, the first copy I have seen. I have not yet read it, but I am unable to wait that long to inform you of my great joy in greeting a new magazine of this type.
I am a reader of other magazines similar to A. S., Stories of Harl Vincent, Capt. S. P. Meek, Murray Leinster, and others appear in these magazines, also, so I am familiar with your authors.
But you have asked me what sort of stories I"d like to see in A. S., so here goes. First of all, I would earnestly beg you not to print such stories as those that deal with ghosts, etc., because in my opinion there are far too many good stories available to cast them aside for trash.
The type of story I prefer is the kind that is fanciful, odd and interesting. Some tales deal with a new invention of some sort, but contain no action or plot. However, I fail to see any like that in the present A. S., unless it"s "Mad Music."
A few utterly impossible stories are so interestingly told that it is worth while to publish them. Some examples are stories by A. Merritt (whose stories are the most fascinating I have ever read). H. P. Lovecraft (master of the bizarre and the grotesque) and G. A. England.
My letter seems to be mostly composed of suggestions, but that is only because I am interested in anything pertaining to stories of imagination, or Science Fiction, as it is called. However, Astounding Stories seems to be very satisfying to me. I am glad that you have Wessolowski on your artist"s staff. I hope that you will have a story contest some time in the future, as they are very interesting, and often uncover hitherto unknown talent in the contestants.
I sincerely wish you the utmost of success in Astounding Stories and hope that it will live a long, enduring life.
I hope, as time goes on, you will favor us with more ill.u.s.trations, for this type of story needs a large amount of drawings so that the readers won"t overwork their imaginations.
Astounding Stories seems to be very shy, for I heard of it from a friend and got the February, 1930 issue only after an exhaustive search. The place where I got it appears to be about the only one in town selling it. I hope more stores will handle your great magazine. (I didn"t intend the words "great magazine" to be sarcastic. I really think it"s great!)
I hope you will have a department in which the readers may discuss the merits or lacks of stories published. Or at least print excerpts now and then.
Enclosed find twenty cents in stamps for which please send me the first issue.--A. W. Bernal, 1374 E. 32 Street, Oakland, Calif.
"_Stories I Like Best_--"
Dear Editor:
The stories I like best in your Astounding Stories of Super-science were "The Beetle Horde" by Victor Rousseau, "The Cave of Horror," by Capt. S. P. Meek, "Compensation,"
by C. V. Tench, "Invisible Death," by Anthony Pelcher. I have just bought your second copy of Astounding Stories. I like the book very much, and expect to buy it every month--Issac Dworkowits, 1262 Valentine Avenue, Bronx, N. Y.
"_Just What Is Needed_"
Dear Editor:
I have read the first two copies of your new magazine and I would like to make a few comments and criticisms. This magazine is very popular in my community and is just what is needed to instill scientific interest in the mind of the general public. Science Fiction will arouse more interest and will be read by more people than any amount of dry science and cold facts. Since you would like to have a reader"s opinion, I will say that "The Beetle Horde" is the best story that I have read in a long time and was based on the most excellent science; "The Thief of Time" was good; try to get some more stories by Capt. S. P. Meek; one in every copy would not be too many. I could not get all "het up" over "Sp.a.w.n of the Stars," it was a little vague; I do not think the author had a very distinct idea about the nature of the invaders.
The stories do not have to stick to cold science, but should not violate an established fact without a reasonable explanation, as this might cause a mistaken idea in the minds of the readers. A few good authors are: Dr. Keller, A Hyatt Verrill, Walter Kately and R. H. Romans.--Wayne Bray, Campbell, Missouri.
"_Literature That Typifies New Age_"
Dear Editor:
As a member of an organization whose existence was founded through the medium of Science Fiction, I have watched your magazine closely, and here are the results: