Building Yesterday’s Future–For Everyone
Good ideas can persist in science fiction for generations. Take, for example, Judith Merril’s approach to anthologies of the best science fiction, which has inspired at least one modern descendant, anthologies by Rich Horton, and may have inspired two other anthology series as well, those by Lester del Rey and Gardner Dozois.
Frederik Pohl’s 1953 Star Science Fiction anthology was not just the first of a string of noteworthy anthologies. His series inspired other editors to assemble similar series. The latest such work was released close to half a century after Pohl’s first anthology was published.
Where is young adult science fiction? Is science fiction doomed to gradual extinction as its writers and readers age and die without replacement? Or is there a simple, easily implemented solution?
2024 is a golden age of science fiction in all media. In 1960, matters appeared very different, as Earl Kemp’s Hugo Award-winning study of the state of science fiction made clear.