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chris_gerribHerewith are some thoughts on the 1939 Retro-Hugos.
Novels
The Sword in the Stone was not in the Hugo packet, and I've not read it, so it's not getting a vote. Carson of Venus and Galactic Patrol are two peas in a pod. They are both Strong-Jawed Manly Men (tm) going forth to Fix The Wog's Problems (tm). In Carson's case, he gets some nookie too. No nookie for the Lensman, at least not yet. Now, there's nothing wrong with a Boy's Own Adventure, but that's a pretty common trope, and to get an award (in my view) you need to do something unique with it. Carson gets 4th on my ballot, only because Galactic Patrol was more influential on the genre.
Out of the Silent Planet has to be #1 on my ballot, mostly because it's the only novel on the list that's stood the test of time enough to be actually published and read nowadays. This leaves my #2 slot, and I have to say that The Legion of Time was a pleasant surprise to put there. (Perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised, considering Jack Willamson wrote it.) The version in the packet has to be a post WWII rewrite, because they allude to mysterious doings at Los Alamos (in 1939, Los Alamos was a dude ranch nobody had heard of.) ETA: Wikipedia tells me this novel and another one were republished in the early 1950s. Since the version I read didn't have the breaks for serialization, that must have been the version included.
But what I like about Legion of Time was Williamson's approach to time travel. His world is that the future isn't determined but rather a probability. Legion also had two strong women characters, a rarity for works in this age.
Pro Artist
Geez Louise, some (most) of the cover art from 1939 was damn near pornographic! I think I know why a lot of boys bought the magazines, and why their parents were down on science fiction. I'm giving Margaret Brundage my top vote.
Novels
The Sword in the Stone was not in the Hugo packet, and I've not read it, so it's not getting a vote. Carson of Venus and Galactic Patrol are two peas in a pod. They are both Strong-Jawed Manly Men (tm) going forth to Fix The Wog's Problems (tm). In Carson's case, he gets some nookie too. No nookie for the Lensman, at least not yet. Now, there's nothing wrong with a Boy's Own Adventure, but that's a pretty common trope, and to get an award (in my view) you need to do something unique with it. Carson gets 4th on my ballot, only because Galactic Patrol was more influential on the genre.
Out of the Silent Planet has to be #1 on my ballot, mostly because it's the only novel on the list that's stood the test of time enough to be actually published and read nowadays. This leaves my #2 slot, and I have to say that The Legion of Time was a pleasant surprise to put there. (Perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised, considering Jack Willamson wrote it.) The version in the packet has to be a post WWII rewrite, because they allude to mysterious doings at Los Alamos (in 1939, Los Alamos was a dude ranch nobody had heard of.) ETA: Wikipedia tells me this novel and another one were republished in the early 1950s. Since the version I read didn't have the breaks for serialization, that must have been the version included.
But what I like about Legion of Time was Williamson's approach to time travel. His world is that the future isn't determined but rather a probability. Legion also had two strong women characters, a rarity for works in this age.
Pro Artist
Geez Louise, some (most) of the cover art from 1939 was damn near pornographic! I think I know why a lot of boys bought the magazines, and why their parents were down on science fiction. I'm giving Margaret Brundage my top vote.
