Science Fantasy was a British science fiction and fantasy magazine of the
1950s and
1960s.
Originally launched in
1950 as a digest sized companion to the science fiction magazine
New Worlds, its first three issues were edited by Walter Gillings. John Carnell took over from
1951 until
1964 when both titles were sold, the format was changed to paperback size as an economy measure, and Kyril Bonfiglioli took over as editor. The magazine published a total of 81 numbered issues under its original name until its February
1966 issue.
It was then renamed
Impulse and the numeration began again at 1. The change of title and numeration confused retailers and was bad for sales. Initially edited by Bonfiglioli, then by Harry Harrison and finally Keith Roberts,
Impulse ran for 12 monthly issues before it was finally cancelled in
1967.
As its original name suggested, the magazine published a mixture of science fiction and fantasy stories (see science fantasy), with fantasy predominating under Carnell's editorship. Notable authors who contributed over the years included:
* John Brunner
* Kenneth Bulmer
* John Rackham
* Michael Moorcock (
Elric stories)
* Thomas Burnett Swann ("Where is the Bird of Fire?" and other notable early works)
* Keith Roberts (Stories later incorporated into the novel
Pavane; Roberts also contributed cover artwork 1964 - 1967 as well as editing the last few issues of
Impulse)
* Chris Boyce
* J. G. Ballard
Science Fantasy is also notable for having published the first story by Terry Pratchett.
Some of the information in this article is derived from The Encyclopedia of Fantasy
(1997), ed. John Clute and John Grant.Category:fantasy fiction magazines
Category:British magazines
Category:Science fiction magazines
Category:Defunct magazines