Introduction to Battlefield Earth
(2 of 13)
Few professional writers, even those in science fiction, have written very much on the character of "sf." They are usually too busy turning out the work itself to expound on what they have written. But there are many experts on this subject among both critics and fans, and they have a lot of worthwhile things to say.
However, many false impressions exist, both of the genre and of
its writers. So when one states that he set out to write a work of pure
science fiction, he had better state what definition he is using.
It will probably be best to return to the day in 1938 when I
first entered this field, the day I met John W. Campbell, Jr., a day in the very
dawn of what has come to be known as The Golden Age of science fiction. I was
quite ignorant of the field and regarded it, in fact, a bit diffidently. 
I
was not there of my own choice. I had been summoned to the vast old building on
Seventh Avenue in dusty, dirty, old New York by the very top brass of Street and
Smith publishing company-an executive named Black and another, F. Orlin
Tremaine. Ordered there with me was another writer, Arthur J. Burks. In those
days, when the top brass of a publishing company-particularly one as old and
prestigious as Street and Smith-"invited" a writer to visit, it was
like being commanded to appear before the king or receiving a court summons. You
arrived, you sat there obediently, and you spoke when you were spoken to.
We were both, Arthur J. Burks and I, top-line professionals in other writing fields. By the actual tabulation of A. B. Dick, which set advertising rates for publishing firms, either of our names appearing on a magazine cover would send the circulation rate skyrocketing, something like modern TV ratings.
 |
 |
| © 2003 GALAXY PRESS, LLC. All rights reserved. |
| Please view our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. |
