Monthly Archives: June 2026

Cleve Cartmill

Today is June 21, the birthday of CleveCartmill (1908-1964).

Cartmill wrote science fiction in the forties and fifties. His first story, “Oscar”, was published in Unknown in 1941. His last was published in the mid-fifties. His most productive years were during teh Second World War. He didin’t have anything published from 1945 to 1949.

Cartmill would probably be completely forgotten these days if it weren’t for one particular story, “Deadline”, which was published in March 1944 issue of Astounding.

The story concerns the building of an atomic bomb.

One year before the first bomb was detonated. The Mahattan Project was going full swing at this time and was a very top secret project.

Legend has it that the FBI paid John Campbell a visit. Supposedly Campbell used a high school physics textbook to show them that everything in the story could be deduced logically from readily available information.

I don’t remember where I read it, but I saw something a number of years ago where a woman working for the ARmy at the time tried to check out that particular issue of Astounding from the base library and wasn’t allowed to because she didn’t have a high enough security clearance.

So, she went across the street from the base and bought a copy at a drug store or newstand or something.

That may not be a true story, but it’s a good story.

Sadly, Cartmill’s work isn’t easily available. There are a couple of ebooks, and that’s all I found. Darkside Press was going to publish all his short fiction about twenety years or so ago, but they only published one volume.

Ruminations on Subterranean Press Closing

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This isn’t exactly breaking news. Subterranean Press will be closing sometime in the next couple of years. They are going to wrap things up slowly. There will be new titles appearing through the end of next year and maybe into 2028.

I am NOT happy about this, although I can understand why Bill Schafer would want to hang things up. He’s been publishing high quality books for decades and probably would like a break.

Of all the small presses out there past and present, and there have been many, Subterranean was probably my favorite. The variety and diverstiy of what Subterranean published was and still is truly impressive.

I had a subscription to Subterranean magazine, which was short-lived but one of the best fiction magazines at the time.

I appreciate that Subterranean was willing to publish novellas. Novellas are more common now t han they were a decade or two ago. A big part of the reason for that is the rise of indie publishing. But Subterranean showed that there was a market for novellas.

I’m going to miss Subteranean Press. They’ve been a part of my life for the last couple of decades. I have no idea how many of their books I own. I always took advantage of their grab bags sales. I never lost money, and always came out ahead, getting more books that I wanted with cover prices that totaled more than the cost of the grab bag, plus a number I was neutral on. Many of those were novellas. Plus once I got a copy of robert E. Howard’s Crimson Shadows.

The loss of a publisher is a loss to the field. Too many publishing companies pop up like mushrooms after a rain and then vanish like mushrooms when the sun comes out and the hot winds blow. Subterranean had staying power and will be missed.

Clarification and Revision of my Review Policy

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I haven’t been reviewing any recent books or magzines lately.

There are several reasons for that. For starters, I’ve not had a lot of time to read. It takes me far to long to finish a book because of, well, reasons. Add to that there hasn’t been a lot of newer stuff I want to read.

That being said, I’ve backed off on reviewing because I see it as something of a conflict of interest. I’m working on becoming a better writer. And while some of the top markets are not places I want to submit to because of their contract terms, there are still some I would be willing to submit to. I don’t want to alienate those editors. I also don’t want to appear to be building myself up by tearing another writer down.

That’s why I’ve only reviewed older works for the last couple of years.

This was the topic of at least one conversation last weekend at Robert E. Howard Days. Someone I won’t name (*waves at Jason*) has wanted me to review some of his anthologies for quite a while.

I’ve had a policy of not writing bad reviews (as a general rule). So I’m going to make recommendations for things I like.

There may not be a lot of reviews, excuse me, recommendations, anytime soon. My reading time is still pretty tight.

But I’ll try to work some recommendations in. There are some independent writers whose work I enjoy that you may not be aware of.

RIP, Jane Yolen (1939-2026)

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Fantasy auathor Jane Yolen passed away on June 11. She was a prolific author of fantasy. She wrote novels, short stories, and poetry. much of it written for children. Yolen was highly involved in children’s literature all her life and started her career in children’s literature. Yolen was the recipeint of many awards throughout her life.

Much of her work contained humorous or whimsical elements, especially her work for children. I used to read her How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? to my son when he was little.

Her son Adam Stemple is also a writer and they collaborated on several books and stories.

Adventures Fantastic would like to express our condolences to Jane Yolen’s family.

Remembering Kage Baker

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Today, as I write this, it is June 10. That makes it the birthday of Kage Baker (1952-2010). She had a short career. Her first story was published in 1997.

It’s been said that some people’s careers are so short because they are so bright. That was certianly the case with Kage Baker. Most of her work is set in a future called the Company future. The main part of the series involved immortal time-traveling cyborgs.

Can it get much better than that? Maybe, but there are many contenders. The series involves cyborgs working in the shadows of history. Things believed lost for years, manuscripts, paintings, artifacts, stuff like that, are suddenly found. Because a cyborg agent hid the item. They can do this because the item has vanished from the historical record. They don’t try to change the past.

The series has amultiple characters that interact throughout novels, movellas, and short stories. There is an overaching storyline. The cyborgs know that something is going to happen several hundred years from our present, but they don’t know what. The finale of the series is sthe big reveal.

She was beginning to write in other series than the Company and in spin-offs in the Company future after she brought the Company series to its conclusion. (I was disappointed with the finale.)

Kage Baker is one of my favorites. I had the pleasure of meeting her at Armadillocon 25 a few years before her death from a brain tumor.

Her work has mostly fallen out of print but should be available in electronic editions and on the secondary market. Kage Baker had a unique voice, and I’ve not read anyone like her before or since. She is one of the writers whose work I tend to buy when I come across even though I have most of her books in the original hardcovers. Reading copies are always welcome.

Remembering Keith Laumer

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Today, June 9, is the birthday of Keith Laumer (1925-1993). Laumer was a prolific science fiction writer back in the latter half of the Twentieth Century. Laumer is best known for the Retief series about a two-fisted diplomat and the Bolo series about sentient tanks.

He is pretty much out of print these days. That’s a shame, because I think his nonseries work is some of his best, especially at shorter lengths.

One of Laumer’s favorite subgenres was time travel, and he wrote a number of time travel stories. Preeminent among them was Dinosaur Beach.

Laumer also tended to write military sceince fiction, which is a Duh! since he created the Bolos. He was friends with Gordon R. Dickson, and they collaborated on the novel Planet Run.

About twenty or so years ago, Baen reprinted many of Laumer’s works in omnibus editions edited by Eric Flint. Those are worth picking up if you can find them. That shouldn’t be hard. I jsut checked and found out I missed one. Picked it up for just under ten bucks.

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