But spare its, please, the stories in which the hero, arriving on some other planet, is admitted to the court of the king of the White race, and leads their battles against the Reds, the Browns, the Greens, and so on, eventually marrying th king's daughter, who is always golden-haired, of milky white complexion, and has large blue eyes. Kindly reject stories of interplanetary travel in which a member of the party turns against the Earth party and allies himself with the wormlike Moon men, or what have you. Stories in which a great inventor gone crazy threatens to hurl the Earth into the Sun leave me cold and despondent, for the simple reason that crazy men are never great inventors. Name a great inventor who wasn't perfectly sane, if you can. The author makes the great inventor insane to make it plausible that he should want to destroy the World. Well, if he is a good author he can find some other motive.
One more thing. I like to smell, feel, hear and even taste the action of a story as well as see it. Some authors only let you see it, and then they don't tell you whether it's in bright or subdued light. The author of "Tanks" fulfills my requirements in this respect, at least partially.—Walter Boyle, c/o Mrs. Anna Treitz, 4751 North Artesian, Chicago, Ill.
A Permanent Reader
Dear Editor:
I want to thank you for the very entertaining hours I spent perusing your new magazine, Astounding Stories. I read one or two other Science Fiction magazines—it seems that tales of this sort intrigue me. However, I wish to say that the debut number of your magazine contained the beat stories I ever read. Again thanking you and assuring you that should the stones continue thus I will be a permanent reader—Irving B. Ettinger, The Seville, Detroit, Mich.
We're Avoiding Reprints
Dear Editor:
I am well pleased with your new magazine and wish to offer you my congratulations and best wishes. As 1 am well acquainted with most of the Science Fiction now being written, I am in a good position to criticise your magazine.
First: The cover illustration is good, but the inside drawings could be greatly improved.
Second: Holding the magazine together with two staples is a good idea.
Third: The paper could be improved.
Fourth: The price is right.
Here I classify the stories. Excellent: "The Beetle Horde," and "Tanks." Very Good: "Cave of Horror," "Invisible Death," and "Phantoms of Reality." Medium: "Compensation." Poor: "Stolen Mind."
Please don't reprint any of Poe's, Wells', or Verne's works. My prejudice to Verne, Wells and Poe is that I have read all their works in other magazines.
However, with all my criticizing, I think that your magazine is a good one.—James Nichols, 1509 19th Street, Bakersfield, California.
Thanks, Mr. Marks!
Dear Editor:
I purchased a copy of "our" new magazine to-day and I think it excellent. I am glad to see most of my old author friends contributing for it, but how about looking up E. R. Burroughs, David H. Keller, M. D., C. P. Wantenbacker and A. Merritt? They are marvelous writers. I see Wesso did your cover, and it's very good. I have been a reader of a four other Science Fiction monthly magazines and two quarterlies, but I gladly take this one into my fold and I think I speak for every other Science Fiction lover when I say this. Which means, if true, that "our publication will have everlasting success. Here's hoping!—R. O. Marks, Jr., 893 York Avenue, S. W., Atlanta, Ga.
A Fine Letter
Dear Editor:
Having read through the first number of Astounding Stories, my enthusiasm has reached such a pitch that I find it difficult to express myself adequately. A mere letter such as this can give scarcely an inkling of the unbounded enjoyment I derive from the pages of this unique magazine. To use a trite but appropriate phrase, "It fills a long-felt need." True, there are other magazines which specialize in Science Fiction; but, to my mind they are not in a class with Astounding Stories. In most of them the scientific element is so emphasised that it completely overshadows all else. In this magazine, happily, such is not the case. Here we find science subordinated to human interest, which is as it should be. The love element, too, it present, and by no means unwelcome.
As for the literary quality of the stories, it could not be improved on. Such craftsmen as Cummings, Leinster and Rousseau never fail to turn out a vivid, well-written tale. If the stories in the succeeding issues are on a par with those in the first, the success of the magazine is assured.
By the way, your editorial explanation of Astounding Stones was a gem. So many of us take our marvelous modern inventions for granted that we never consider how miraculous they would seem to our forebears. Aa you say, the only real difference between the Astounding and the Commonplace is Time. A magazine such as Astounding Stories enables us to anticipate the wonders of To-morrow. Through its pages we can peer into the vistas of the future and behold the world that is to be. Truly, you have given us a rare treat—Allen Glasser, 981 Forest Ave., New York,. N. Y.
The Science Correspondence Club Broadcasts
Dear Editor:
The other day I came upon Astounding Stories on our local newsstand. I immedi-
