Science Fiction Monthly
Entry updated 13 October 2025. Tagged: Publication.
1. Name used by Authentic Science Fiction in an early manifestation, May-August 1951.
2. As Science-Fiction Monthly, Australian Digest-size magazine, published by Atlas Publications, Melbourne; edited anonymously by Michael Cannon. 18 numbered undated issues, August 1955-February 1957.
The fiction, mostly reprinted from various US magazines, was fairly routine, but included some good work by Ray Bradbury and others. The covers were reprinted from the same sources. There was minimal original Australian material. A nonfiction feature from #12 onward was Graham B Stone's column of commentary, Science Fiction Scene.
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3. UK magazine, tabloid-size (11 x 16 in; 280 x 405 mm); 28 monthly issues January 1974 to April 1976, undated, published by New English Library. Edited by Patricia Hornsey, January 1974 to December 1974, and Julie Davis, January 1975 to April 1976.
Born after the demise of New Worlds, Science Fiction Monthly was the only UK sf magazine at the time. The magazine began when the publisher recognized the degree of interest in science fiction art and, as New English Library had a large sf list and used excellent artwork on the covers, they decided to take advantage of this with a poster-size magazine. This was initially announced in 1973 via ads in NEL sf books, as a quarterly publication to be called Sci Fi or Sci-Fi; but apparently the publisher accepted the advice of UK sf community members that this might not be the best of titles (see Sci Fi).
Science Fiction Monthly featured much full-page colour artwork, often in the form of pull-out posters, in hope of finding a large readership amongst a younger market who might in turn be attracted to NEL books. Neither editor had previous experience of sf, and at first the quality of fiction was low, though it improved under Davis's editorship. A strong feature from the beginning was the number of well researched factual articles, review pages, news pages, and Interviews with Jack Arnold, J G Ballard, D G Compton, Edmund Cooper, Samuel R Delany, Harry Harrison, Christopher Priest and Bob Shaw. The nonfiction contributors included Mike Ashley, John Brosnan, Malcolm Edwards, Walter Gillings and later Peter R Weston. Among the featured UK authors were Robert P Holdstock, Bob Shaw, Christopher Priest, Brian M Stableford and Ian Watson; reprints of well-known US stories also appeared. The policy succeeded at first, but circulation dropped from above 100,000 to below 20,000.
A plan to replace the magazine with the smaller-format SF Digest (which see) was aborted. A spin-off book is The Best of Science Fiction Monthly (anth 1975) edited by Janet Sacks. [FHP/MA/DRL]
further reading
- Janet Sacks, editor. The Best of Science Fiction Monthly (London: New English Library, 1975) [anth: hb/Gareth Colman]
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