New Book from SF Heritage Reveals the 'Missing Link' in the Evolution of Science Fiction

Checklist for Tracking Down Vintage SF Allows Readers to Discover Early Classics
For many readers of science fiction, a fascination with the genre has led them to the earlier classics.

They have found the works of Isaac Asimov (Foundation, I, Robot), Robert A. Heinlein (Starship Troopers, Stranger in a Strange Land, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress), and Arthur C. Clarke (2001: A Space Odyssey, Childhood's End).

But there is a vast gulf between the famous writers of the Golden Age (1938-42) and after, and the pioneers of the 19th Century: Jules Verne, Edgar Allen Poe, H. G. Wells and their few peers. This is the era of the "Missing Link" of science fiction.

Literary gems of science fiction published in the general fiction magazines of the early 20th Century deserve a new audience. In this era, science fiction grew and matured with the input of such writers as Ray Cummings, Jack London, Edgar Rice Burroughs and A. Merritt.

"Has the science fiction genre lost its way?" asks author Igor Spajic. "To better understand the present, we must examine the past. This new book will enable science fiction readers and scholars alike to track down the missing links in the journey of science fiction and see for themselves."

"SF as published in the SF-only pulp magazines is easy to find, by definition," says Igor Spajic. "But SF published in the general fiction pulps is hard to locate. When it's cheek-by-jowl with adventure stories, romances, westerns and detective fiction, how do you track down the science fiction?

"That's why I compiled 'Vintage S.F. in the Popular Magazines: A Checklist 1874-1936'. I did it for the SF reader who wants to delve deeper into the 'Missing Link' era of the genre," explains Igor Spajic. "I believe it's as significant as any stage in the evolution of sci-fi. It's a place worth visiting."

To give the Checklist something of the flavour of the period, a series of magazine covers illustrating science fiction stories are reproduced in full colour.

The book gives advice on where to find the stories catalogued, as well as a bonus guide to the fiction magazines that published the most SF during the "Missing Link" period after the Victorian era and before the "Golden Age" of SF.

'Vintage S.F. in the Popular Magazines: A Checklist 1874-1936' has been launched as an e-book on Amazon's Kindle publishing platform. A print-on-demand hard copy version will become available shortly through CreateSpace.

About Igor Spajic
Igor Spajic has read science fiction all his life, with an increasing interest in the earlier years of the genre. Apart from the pulp magazine era of the 1920s through the 1940s, Igor has discovered a rich vein of works written before even the term "science fiction" was coined. Igor is available for interviews and can be contacted at:
igorspajic at optusnet dot com dot au

Author Profile Page Link:
amazon.com/author/igorspajic

"Vintage S.F. in the Popular Magazines: A Checklist 1874-1936" Amazon Kindle Link:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0776DS6QJ