Misplaced Pages

#400599

95-658: The Kzinti were initially introduced in Niven's story "The Warriors" (originally in Worlds of If (1966), collected in Tales of Known Space (1975)) and " The Soft Weapon " (1967), collected in Neutron Star (1968). A Kzin character, Speaker-to-Animals (later known as Chmeee), subsequently played a significant role in Niven's Hugo and Nebula award-winning Ringworld (1970) and Ringworld Engineers (1980), giving considerably more background on

190-524: A Harsh Mistress and Harlan Ellison 's short story " I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream ". The most prominent writer to make his first sale to If was Larry Niven , whose story "The Coldest Place" appeared in the December 1964 issue. If was merged into Galaxy Science Fiction after the December 1974 issue, its 175th issue overall. Although science fiction had been published in the United States before

285-594: A Harsh Mistress , which ran in five parts from December 1965 to April 1966. Pohl's policy of publishing a story by a new writer in every issue led to a series called " If -firsts"; the first one, Joseph L. Green 's "Once Around Arcturus", about the courtship between a man and woman of different planets, appeared in the September 1962 issue. Several of the writers featured in the If -first series, which were published from 1962 through 1965, became well-known, including Alexei Panshin ;

380-1001: A UK edition appeared from Gold Star Publications; these were identical to the US edition dated ten months previously. Between 1972 and 1974, 15 of the UPD editions of If were imported, renumbered and repriced for UK distribution. The numbering, inexplicably, ran from 1 to 9, and then 11, 1, 13, 3, 4 and 5. The editorial succession at If is as follows: Eight selections of stories from If have been published. Two were edited by Quinn: The First World of If (1957) and The Second World of If (1958); four by Pohl: The Best Science Fiction from If (1964), The If Reader of Science Fiction (1966), The Second If Reader of Science Fiction (1968), and Worlds of If (1986); and two by Jakobsson, both published as by "The Editors of If": The Best from If (1973) and The Best from If Vol II (1974). In addition, two anthologies drew all their contents from If without mentioning

475-523: A claim both sides violently reject. The Kzinti are also represented in the lore of the Star Fleet Battles universe tabletop gaming system, with a number of scenarios and starship sheets devoted to them. The Star Trek Log series, written by Alan Dean Foster , hints that the Caitians are an offshoot race of archaic Kzinti (where both genders are intelligent) who have renounced conquest. According to

570-422: A competition for short fiction from new writers. The competition was only open to college students who had not sold a story before. The first prize was $ 1,000, the second prize $ 500, with five runner-up prizes of $ 100 each. Entries came in from writers who were later to become well known, including Harlan Ellison , Roger Zelazny , and Andrew J. Offutt , whose story "And Gone Tomorrow", about a man unexpectedly sent

665-490: A drug derived from the lymph of an animal called a sthondat . Sthondat lymph extract significantly increases telepathic ability, but it is addictive and toxic with long-term use, causing muscle atrophy and thinning fur. The black-fur gene and the telepath gene are exclusive; no completely black-furred Kzin is telepathic, and all such cubs are taken by the Black Priests and raised within their cult. Telepaths are tolerated by

760-463: A great deed will be granted a partial name by a superior; a further, greater deed earns a full name, the second of which is the family name. In rare instances, a sufficiently illustrious accomplishment will earn a nameless one a full name in one fell swoop. An example of this is the granting of a full name to Trainer-of-Slaves, who single-handedly delivered a fully working hyperdrive to the Patriarchy in

855-474: A heroic fashion. To Kzin society, "heroic" means being honorable and having integrity. Kzin honor, called strakh , is similar in many ways to the samurai code of Bushido . Strakh serves as almost a sort of currency or favor system, since they do not use money in their culture. For example, if the Patriarch gets meat from a seller's market stand, the seller gains considerable strakh , which will bring honor to

950-648: A hundred word/sounds and primarily instinct-driven behavior, and are treated as chattel by males ( s. Kzin tosh , pl. Kzin toshi ). This was not always the case: archaic Kzinrretti were sapient until the Kzin used Jotoki biotechnology to drive them to their current state while boosting the martial prowess of the males. Kzin society explains this by stating that the Fanged God removed the Kzinrretti souls as punishment for an attempted rebellion against him shortly after he created

1045-579: A hundred years into the future, won first prize and appeared in the December 1954 issue of If . The only other one of the seven announced winners who had a career as a science fiction writer was Leo P. Kelley . Quinn decided to move If to a monthly schedule with the March 1954 issue, perhaps because the competition had increased readership. It reverted to a bimonthly schedule with the June 1956 issue, as circulation dropped again. In 1957, American News Company , by far

SECTION 10

#1732858489401

1140-598: A large palace on the planet. At the end of the last Man-Kzin War, around 2618, Kzin was occupied and disarmed by human armies. The Kzinti Patriarch is the leader of the Kzin race. As with other facets of the Kzinti culture, natural selection is used to choose the Patriarch through combat. Throughout the range of the Known Space books, the patriarchy is held by the Riit family. The patriarch has

1235-505: A man possessed by an alien, in the September 1966 issue, and Gene Wolfe 's "Mountains Like Mice", about an abandoned group of colonists on Mars, appeared in the May 1966 issue. Technically this was not Wolfe's first sale, as he had already had "The Dead Man" published in the October 1965 issue of Sir! , but "Mountains Like Mice" had been written earlier. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction describes

1330-582: A memory of Lieutenant M'Ress , the secondary communications officer in Star Trek Logs , the Caitian and Kzinti languages are similar enough that M'Ress can pass as a Kzin just long enough for her to send off a distress call from a Kzinti raiding ship. The Kzinti reappear in the comic The Wristwatch Plantation , also by Niven (and which included the Bebebebeque from his Draco Tavern stories). Kzin appeared on

1425-405: A minor, if not tolerated, religion. Speaker-to-Animals , when confronted, tells Louis Wu that he was raised by Kdaptists but that it 'didn't take'. The Kzin homeworld is called "Kzin" by all other races save the Kzinti, who call it "Homeworld" or "Kzinhome". It orbits the star 61 Ursae Majoris and has stronger surface gravity and both a longer day and year than Earth. The Patriarch rules from

1520-574: A monthly schedule; both Worlds of Tomorrow and Galaxy were bimonthly at that time, while If was monthly. With the August 1967 issue Worlds of Tomorrow was merged with If , though it was another year before Galaxy actually switched to a monthly schedule. By this time, If had become monthly again, starting with the July 1964 issue (though the schedule had an initial hiccup, omitting September 1964). The circulation rose from 64,000 in 1965 to 67,000 in 1967;

1615-517: A more peaceful race, or at least one that was capable of coexisting with other species without instantly trying to kill and eat them. This shift in Kzin attitudes succeeded spectacularly, although the Kzinti themselves do not think very highly of the changes, nor of the price they paid to achieve them. In fact, a fringe faction of the Kzinti known as the Kdaptists , frustrated with the reversals their race had suffered against humanity, went so far as to adopt

1710-413: A new Skylark novel, Skylark DuQuesne , from E.E. Smith ; the series had been started in the 1920s and was still popular with readers. Pohl also bought A.E. van Vogt 's "The Expendables"; the story was van Vogt's first sale in 14 years and attracted long-time readers to the magazine. Another coup was the serialization of three novels by Robert A. Heinlein , including the award-winning The Moon Is

1805-474: A plains-hunting felid on a planet slightly colder and drier than Earth . The Kzin word for their home planet translates as Homeworld. The world is often known as Kzinhome by the Kzinti themselves. The Kzin home world is the third planet orbiting the star 61 Ursae Majoris . The Kzin civilization was at an iron-age technological level when an alien race called the Jotoki landed and made stealthy first contact with

1900-532: A pose similar in appearance to the Kzinti design seen in The Animated Series before straightening his back into a proper humanoid posture, which he explained as essential to maintaining a commanding presence. The Kzintis in the SFU, who have traits setting them apart (e.g., no bat ears, sentient females, Kzinti/Kzintis as singular/plural) from the Kzinti of Niven's works, have fought wars with all of their neighbors:

1995-835: A power base in the WYN Cluster , launched an attempted coup of the Hegemony itself in the WYN War of Return. In the fictional variant of the Star Fleet Universe as represented in the games Star Trek: Starfleet Command II: Empires at War and Star Trek: Starfleet Command: Orion Pirates from Taldren , the Kzintis were renamed as the Mirak . Worlds of If If was an American science fiction magazine launched in March 1952 by Quinn Publications, owned by James L. Quinn . The magazine

SECTION 20

#1732858489401

2090-637: A range of privileges, including a protected hunting reserve and the authority to assign full names to Kzin who have brought glory or honor to the Kzinti empire. There are in fact two Patriarchs as the smaller, lost colony of Kzinti on the Ringworld also has a patriarch in addition to the main Kzinti empire. The Kzinti appeared, along with allusions to slavers and stasis boxes , in " The Slaver Weapon ", an episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series adapted by Niven from his short story "The Soft Weapon". Star Trek: Enterprise producer Manny Coto wanted to include

2185-438: A single month with the June 1971 issue, though the contents page still used two months to identify the issue. The volume numbering began with six issues to a volume: there were three errors on the magazine contents page, with volume 8 number 1 incorrectly printed as volume 7 number 6; volume 9 number 3 printed as volume 8 number 6; and volume 10 number 1 printed as volume 10 number 6. Volume 14, which began in March 1964, ran through

2280-577: A star map seen in several episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation , and a triple-breasted feline stripper from Star Trek V: The Final Frontier was referred to backstage as a "Kzinrrett". The name of the Tzenkethi , mentioned in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , was rumored to be an almost- anagram of "Kzinti". The instruction manual for the PC game Star Trek: Starfleet Command clearly refers to

2375-492: A thick coat of long fur that comes in various combinations of orange, yellow, and black. Full black coats are rare. Kzinti tails are naked and are similar in appearance to a rat's tail, and their noses are black. Kzinti ears have fur only on the outside of the ear and only about halfway up the ear itself, usually appear pink, and are shaped like a segment of a Chinese parasol (or cocktail umbrella ; they are also sometimes described as "bat-winged"); they can fold back flat against

2470-454: A tribe of primitive hunter/gatherer Kzinti. The Jotok were interstellar merchants looking for a species they could use as mercenaries. Once the Jotok had taught the Kzinti how to use high-tech weapons and other devices (including spacecraft), the Kzin rebelled and made their former masters into slaves, as well as the occasional meal. The crest of the Riit (Royal) family appears to be a bite mark, but

2565-462: Is in fact a dentate leaf , with the words "From mercenary to master." written around it in Kzinti script. Kzin society is extremely male-dominated. The leader of the race is called the Patriarch , which is a hereditary title. The Kzinti call themselves "heroes" or the "Hero Race" and because they believe themselves to be "heroes", their society places a very high value on "acting Heroic" and behaving in

2660-401: Is one that stands or walks with its toes (phalanges) on the ground, and the rest of its foot lifted. Digitigrades include birds (what many see as bird's knees are actually ankles ), cats, dogs, and many other mammals , but not plantigrades (such as humans) or unguligrades (such as horses). Digitigrades generally move more quickly than other animals. There are structural differences between

2755-427: Is sometimes careless enough to leave human females to their own devices, usually with fatal results for that particular Kzin. It has been further described in the novels that a combat-trained human female is a hero's worst nightmare. The Kzinti term for any particularly competent human female soldier is "Manrret" (singular) or "Manrretti" (plural), so named out of a sense of gallows humor regarding lethal encounters with

2850-450: Is summed up by a retrospective comment from Beowulf Schaeffer in the short story "Grendel": "The Kzinti aren't really a threat." They'll always attack before they're ready", because the more certain one's victory is before a fight begins, the less honor is to be had from it. With decreasingly impressive logistical and technological advantages, each Man-Kzin War results in the confiscation or liberation of one or more Kzinti colony planets by

2945-841: The Federation , the Klingon Empire , and their perennial nemesis, the Lyran Star Empire, and are long-standing allies – or more accurately, co-belligerents – of the Hydran Kingdom . The Hegemony eventually formed a tentative accord with the Federation and allied with them in the General War , but they have been involved in major wars with the Klingons and Lyrans, such as the Four Powers War and

Kzin - Misplaced Pages Continue

3040-580: The Pierson's puppeteers , who lured the Outsiders to We Made It in the first place. This allowed the mayor of We Made It to purchase a faster-than-Light drive on credit from the Outsiders. Once the humans had FTL warships, the Kzinti couldn't defeat the humans in space combat. The puppeteers had hoped that the culling of a quarter to a third of the more aggressive members of the Kzinti with every war would result in

3135-421: The limb anatomy of plantigrades, unguligrades, and digitigrades. Digitigrade and unguligrade animals have relatively long carpals and tarsals , and the bones which correspond to the human ankle are thus set much higher in the limb than in a human. In a digitigrade animal, this effectively lengthens the foot, so much so that what are often thought of as a digitigrade animal's "hands" and "feet" correspond to only

3230-453: The "most major of the minors". Well-known writers who appeared in If in the 1950s include Harlan Ellison and Arthur C. Clarke : the original short story version of Clarke's novel The Songs of Distant Earth appeared in the June 1958 issue. Isaac Asimov's widely reprinted story " The Feeling of Power " appeared in February 1958. The period under Pohl is regarded as the magazine's heyday;

3325-424: The 1920s, it did not begin to coalesce into a separately marketed genre until the appearance in 1926 of Amazing Stories , a pulp magazine published by Hugo Gernsback . By the end of the 1930s, the field was undergoing its first boom, but World War II and its attendant paper shortages led to the demise of several titles. By the late 1940s, the market began to recover. From a low of eight active magazines in 1946,

3420-564: The August 1967 issue, and finally to 75 cents with the September–October 1970 issue. With the April 1972 issue, UPD began using card stock for the covers, rather than paper, and continued to do so until the magazine ceased publication. If was originally subtitled Worlds of Science Fiction , but in November 1961 the cover logo was changed to Worlds of If Science Fiction . UPD formally changed

3515-411: The February 1959 issue was followed by July 1959. After July 1964, If ran a monthly schedule until April 1970, with three omissions: there were no issues dated September 1964, June 1969, or August 1969. From May–June 1970, the issues were bimonthly and bore the names of two months. This bimonthly sequence ran through the last issue at the end of 1974. The date the magazine printed on the cover reverted to

3610-711: The Fleet of Worlds series (cowritten with Edward M. Lerner ). The Kzinti were also written by Niven into the Star Trek universe, appearing first in Star Trek: The Animated Series . Similar characters also appeared in Star Trek: Lower Decks and in Star Fleet Universe , as well as material for Star Trek: Enterprise that was never produced because of the series' cancellation. Kzinti evolved from

3705-564: The General War itself, in which a substantial region of their territory was occupied by their Coalition enemies and two full-scale assaults were made on the Kzinti homeworld of Kzintai. Eventually, with Federation assistance, they forced the Coalition forces from their territory, but after the war ended, they were involved in a civil war as a disgruntled faction, which had been opposed to the Hegemony's ruling Patriarch and sought refuge and developed

3800-410: The July 1959 issue, and to 164 pages with the September 1965 issue; it stayed at this length until the September–October 1970 issue. The page count was then increased to 180 with the June 1971 issue, and reduced to 164 for the last issue, December 1974. It was priced at 35 cents to begin with, and increased to 40 cents with the March 1963 issue, to 50 cents with the December 1964 issue, to 60 cents with

3895-582: The Kzinti and their interactions with human civilizations. Following Ringworld , Niven permitted several friends to write stories taking place in the time following "The Warriors" but before "The Soft Weapon"; These stories (including a handful by Niven) were collected in some volumes of The Man-Kzin Wars , which eventually reached fourteen volumes, the first published in June 1988. Kzinti also appears in Juggler of Worlds (2008) and Fate of Worlds (2012), novels within

Kzin - Misplaced Pages Continue

3990-788: The Kzinti by name in the background story for the rival race, the Lyrans. This race is introduced in Star Trek: Starfleet Command II: Empires at War by simply changing the Kzinti Hegemony to the Mirak Star League . On May 17, 2012, the MMORPG Star Trek Online introduced the Ferasans as a playable race for the in-game Klingon Empire faction. The Ferasans were based upon the Kzinti from "The Slaver Weapon", but

4085-436: The Kzinti in an episode called "Kilkenny Cats", had the series continued beyond its fourth season. The Kzinti are also mentioned in dialog in the seventh episode of Star Trek: Picard . The Kzinti were incorporated into the Star Fleet Universe where they control a powerful empire known as the Kzinti Hegemony, mortal enemies of that universe's Lyran Star Empire . It is alluded that the Kzinti and Lyrans share common ancestry,

4180-613: The Kzinti, whose own religion told them that they were the pinnacle of creation. During the first Man-Kzin War, a fighter pilot named Kdapt-Captain was captured by the Catskinner , an artificial intelligence sent by the Terrans to the Alpha Centauri system. Kdapt-Captain was kept in near-total sensory deprivation , except for the smell of his dead and rotting shipmates. He suffered from dehydration and starvation for several days, and when he

4275-568: The Kzinti. Even by the period of the novels, certain bloodlines still produce sentient females, as do some, if not most, primitive tribes. These tribes, long isolated from the patriarchy, avoided genetic modifications. At least two sentient females exist on Wunderland, and a population also exists on the Ringworld. The Kzinti are the first ongoing alien contact that humanity has met within the Known Space universe. The first contact with humanity ends

4370-463: The September 1953 issue, later to become the first part of Blish's Hugo Award-winning novel of the same name , about a Jesuit priest on a planet of aliens who have no religion but appear free of sin. The dominant science fiction magazines of the 1950s American market were Astounding , Galaxy , and Fantasy and Science Fiction , but If was in the next rank in terms of quality: SF historian Frank M. Robinson , for example, describes If as

4465-473: The alternate name "Ferasan" had to be chosen due to legal issues. On March 6, 2020, the Kzinti were mentioned in the seventh episode of Star Trek: Picard , where William Riker mentions that they have been causing problems on the planet Nepenthe. A Kzin crewman appears in Star Trek: Lower Decks as a minor character in several episodes starting in Season 2. In the episode "The Spy Humungous", he briefly assumes

4560-419: The car accident, is first listed as editor of If on the masthead of the November 1961 issue, and as editor of Galaxy for the December 1961 issue, but he had been acting as editor of both magazines since at least midyear. Pohl paid one cent per word for the stories he bought for If , whereas Galaxy paid three cents per word, and like Gold, he regarded Galaxy as the leading magazine of the two, whereas If

4655-465: The editorial by Fairman, it had a letter column, a profile of Wilson Tucker , a selection of science news, a guest editorial by Ken Slater, a well-known British fan, and an approving review of the TV show Tales of Tomorrow . After Quinn dismissed Fairman and engaged Larry Shaw, the magazine improved significantly, and published several well-received stories, including James Blish 's "A Case of Conscience" in

4750-410: The end of the year, with seven numbers; the remaining volumes had 12 numbers each except for volume 19 which had 10 and volume 22 which had 8. Several British editions of If were produced. In 1953 and 1954, Strato Publications reprinted 15 issues, numbering them from 1 to 15; another 18 were reprinted between 1959 and 1962, with the issue numbers started at 1 again. Between January and November 1967

4845-456: The field expanded to 20 in 1950, and a further 22 had commenced publication by 1954. If was launched in the middle of this second publishing boom. If' s origins can be traced to 1948 and 1949, when Raymond Palmer founded two magazines while working at Ziff-Davis in Chicago: Fate and Other Worlds . Fate published articles about occult and supernatural events, while Other Worlds

SECTION 50

#1732858489401

4940-469: The head for protection during a fight. Kzinti speak in a hissing language called the Hero's Tongue , which in its written form resembles commas and periods . Kzinti cubs are tested by the Black Priests. Females are tested for intelligence; those who fail their tests by revealing too much intelligence are killed. Males are tested for telepathy; the ones who exhibit telepathic ability are forced into addiction of

5035-458: The heir apparent to the Riit throne, "Pouncer", does not receive a name until it is earned by deed. (Under normal circumstances Pouncer would have received his Name automatically; however, in his position after the death of his father, earning his Name traditionally was essential to establishing his strakh as the heir to the Patriarchy.) Only those Heroes who have earned a full name are allowed to breed. There seem to be exceptions to this, such as

5130-593: The human golden era of peace, where even history has been rewritten in a non-violent whitewash; organized violence was virtually eliminated, being reduced to roughly 1 in 1000 people, and interpersonal violence was unknown, except for occasional outbursts in the asteroid belt , where both medical and psychological care were spread thinly. Kzintoshi are born without names, which they must earn through valorous deeds. They are originally known by their relation to their father when they are kittens. After maturity, they are known by their rank or occupation. A Kzin who has performed

5225-541: The human concept that God had created humanity (not the Kzinti) in His image, and that He favors and protects humans over other races. As the puppeteers expected, a form of "natural" selection occurred, with the more mindlessly aggressive Kzinti dying in the wars with humans and the more moderate, intelligent, and cautious Kzinti surviving, presumably to think long and hard about the consequences of starting yet another pointless war. By

5320-409: The human fingers or toes. Digitigrade locomotion is responsible for the distinctive hooked shape of dog legs. Plantigrade animals, such as humans, normally walk with the soles of their feet on the ground. Unguligrade animals, such as horses and cattle, walk only on the distal-most tips of their digits. Digitigrade animals walk on their distal and intermediate phalanges ; more than one segment of

5415-598: The humans. In this way, humanity contacts the Pierin and Kdatlyno , former slave species, and takes over worlds such as Canyon (formerly Warhead) and Fafnir (formerly Shasht). Several of the stories of the Man-Kzin Wars depict the nearest human colony at Alpha Centauri, called Wunderland, which was occupied by the Kzinti for over 50 years. Eventually (in Ringworld), we learn that the Kzin reverses were deliberately engineered by

5510-480: The increasing cost of paper (a consequence of the rising price of oil) led to a decision to combine If with Galaxy . Despite the fact that in 1974, If 's circulation had exceeded Galaxy 's for the first time, Galaxy was retained and If was merged with it beginning with the January 1975 issue. In 1986, an attempt was made to revive If as a semiprofessional magazine. The only issue, dated September–October 1986,

5605-427: The largest magazine distributor, was liquidated. Almost all the science fiction magazines had to find a new distributor, and the smaller independent companies remaining in the market often demanded monthly publication and a larger format from the magazines they took on. Many of the magazines did not have the advertising revenue required to support these changes, and within two or three years, many of them had disappeared:

5700-440: The late 1960s as If 's "heyday": Galaxy was considered the senior magazine for most of the fifteen years the two magazines were stablemates. If' s covers during the 1960s were typically action-oriented, showing monsters and aliens; and several of the stories Pohl published were directed at a younger audience. For example, Blish's Welcome to Mars , serialized under the title The Hour Before Earthrise in July to September 1966,

5795-407: The leader of Kzin has developed a bond with a human female that only they understand. The Kdaptists are a religious sect of the Kzin. Prior to contacting humans, the predatory Kzin had conquered every species they had encountered, but humans—who, at the time of first contact, were believed by the Kzin to be unarmed pacifists—have consistently defeated the Kzinti. This was baffling and humiliating to

SECTION 60

#1732858489401

5890-482: The magazine: The 6 Fingers of Time and 5 Other Science Fiction Novelets (1965) and The Frozen Planet and Other Stories (1966). Both were edited by Samuel H Post, who was not credited. Digitigrade In terrestrial vertebrates , digitigrade ( / ˈ d ɪ dʒ ɪ t ɪ ˌ ɡ r eɪ d / ) locomotion is walking or running on the toes (from the Latin digitus , 'finger', and gradior , 'walk'). A digitigrade animal

5985-773: The male-dominated Kzin society bred (most of) their own females into sub-sapience. Kzinti are often described as "anthropomorphic tigers," but there are significant and visible differences. Kzinti are larger than humans, standing around 8 feet (2.4 m) tall and weighing around 500 pounds (230 kg). These tiger-sized bipeds have large membranous ears, a barrel-chested torso with a flexible spine, and large fangs and claws. One human gave an apt description of Kzin as "eight feet of death." Unlike some popularly depicted anthropomorphic animals, Kzinti stand on two legs like humans do; they do not have digitigrade or "backward-bending" legs. Their hands have three fingers and an opposable thumb, all with retractable claws. Kzinti are covered with

6080-517: The modest 5% increase was exceeded only by Analog among the other science fiction magazines, and If won the Hugo Award for best professional SF magazine three years running during this period. However, in March 1969, Robert Guinn sold all four of his magazines, including Galaxy and If , to Arnold Abramson at Universal Publishing and Distribution Corporation (UPD). Pohl was in Rio de Janeiro when he heard

6175-440: The most prominent was Larry Niven , whose first story, "The Coldest Place", appeared in December 1964. Niven later remarked that the story was immediately outdated; the plot relied on the discovery that the dark side of Mercury was the coldest place in the universe, but space probes had recently discovered that Mercury did in fact rotate asynchronously. Gardner Dozois also made his first sale to If , with "The Empty Man", about

6270-460: The news, and decided to resign his position as editor rather than continue under the new management. He had been considering a return to a writing career for some time and the change in ownership precipitated his decision to leave. The new editor was Ejler Jakobsson , though Pohl continued to be listed as editor emeritus on the masthead until the July–August 1970 issue. Much of the editorial work

6365-495: The novella "The Heroic Myth of Lieutenant Nora Argamentine" by Donald Kingsbury (appearing in Man-Kzin Wars VI (1994)), thus earning the full name Graaf-Nig. An exception to this rule seems to accrue to the members of the Riit family, who have held the office of Kzinti Patriarch for uncounted generations. These appear to earn names upon reaching adulthood. However, in the 2006 novel Destiny's Forge by author Paul Chafe ,

6460-405: The number of science fiction magazines being published dropped from a high of 46 in 1953 to less than a dozen by the end of the decade. For a while If was hard to find on the news stands, but it survived. Quinn did try the slick format (using glossy paper, unlike the cheaper paper used for pulps and digests) for a companion magazine, Space Age , which he launched in November 1958; the experiment

6555-454: The other magazines, and between 1966 and 1968 a column by Lin Carter introduced readers to various aspects of science fiction fandom . These features are also likely to have appealed to a younger audience. If was a digest-sized magazine throughout its life. It began at 164 pages and with only the fifth issue, November 1952, dropped to 124 pages. The page count increased again to 134 pages with

6650-552: The page count and price were also adjusted more than once over the next year, again increasing profitability. Abramson also began a British distribution of If , reprinted with a separate cover, priced in British currency. Circulation figures of the time show an increase of about 6,000 copies, but if this includes sales in the UK is not clear. In May 1973, Judy-Lynn Benjamin (Judy-Lynn del Rey since her 1971 marriage to Lester del Rey) resigned. She

6745-459: The readers thought so, too; he was able to make If show a profit before Galaxy , adding, "What was fun for me seemed to be fun for them." In April 1963, Galaxy Publishing brought out the first issue of Worlds of Tomorrow , another science fiction magazine, also edited by Pohl. The magazine published some well-received material and was profitable, but Guinn, the publisher and owner, decided in 1967 that it would be better to have Galaxy resume

6840-458: The reference made to Kzaargh-Commodore's harem in the novella "Catspaws" by Hal Colebatch (appearing in Man-Kzin Wars XI, 2005 ) despite his not having yet earned a full name. An example of a Kzin's naming transition would be: In several different stories by other authors writing in the universe, we see references to a total of five Man-Kzin wars taking place. The net effect of these wars

6935-399: The same. From the Kzinti point of view a Manrret's stamina, speed, reflexes, pain tolerance, and reasoning capability (enhanced intuition by virtue of increased interconnectedness between the left and right halves of the human female brain ) are far superior to a man's. This gives some Kzin reason for considering each of the genders of humanity to be a separate alien species. On Wunderland,

7030-399: The seller, allowing him to get better customers, in turn leading to more strakh and giving the seller a higher status within the community. Once Kzinti gained access to genetic-manipulation technology, they started manipulating themselves in order to bring out the most "heroic" qualities and recede the undesired ones. To this end, because females are not valued except as bearers of children,

7125-407: The teeth being a Kzin challenge to battle), and the older Kzin responded "NO". Wu muses that the Kzin have learned that it would be safer for the young Kzin to eat arsenic than a human being. One of the reasons humanity is such a dangerous enemy is the psychological blind spot the Kzinti have toward human females. Since the Kzinti have bred intelligence out of their own females, an inexperienced Kzin

7220-562: The three consecutive Hugo Awards won from 1966 to 1968 broke a long period in which the award had been monopolized by Analog (the name to which Astounding changed in 1960) and Fantasy and Science Fiction . Frank Robinson commented that "Pohl was the only one who was surprised when he won three Hugos in a row for editing IF . It had been fun, and the fun had showed." Niven's " Neutron Star " appeared in October 1966, and Harlan Ellison's " I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream " appeared in March 1967; both won Hugo Awards. Pohl also managed to secure

7315-481: The time the Kzinti attained the level of sophistication and foresight needed to win against humans, they no longer had the numbers or the drive to do so. At one point, Louis Wu , while visiting the Kzin homeworld and given access to the Kzinti Patriarch's game preserve, was confronted by a young Kzin and his father. When the youngster asked, "Are they good to eat?", Louis Wu responded with a Kzin grin (baring of

7410-550: The title to Worlds of If in the January/February 1972 issue and in September 1974, officially registered the title of the magazine as Worlds of If with the USPTO . The magazine was bimonthly until the March 1954 issue, which was followed by April 1954, inaugurating a monthly period that ran until June 1955. This was followed by August 1955, resuming a bimonthly schedule that ran until July 1964, with only one irregularity, when

7505-402: The warrior class due to the specialized use of their skill otherwise, they endure a low- caste position in society, just above the status of slaves, with the occasional slave being considered of a higher social status. Telepaths rarely, if ever, earn a name, and breeding is legally forbidden. Most Kzin females ( s. Kzin rret , pl. Kzin rretti ) are sub-sapient, with a vocabulary of fewer than

7600-453: Was Howard Browne 's "Twelve Times Zero", a murder mystery with a science fictional resolution; other stories were from Ray Palmer , Richard Shaver , and Rog Phillips , all writers associated with the Ziff-Davis magazines. Browne was the editor of Ziff-Davis's Amazing Science Fiction , a leading magazine of the time, and had given Fairman his start in the field in the late 1940s. Fairman

7695-423: Was If . The first issue of If was dated March 1952, with Fairman as editor; it featured stories by Richard Shaver, Raymond Palmer, and Howard Browne, all writers who were regulars of the Ziff-Davis magazines. By the time the third issue reached the news stands, the disappointing sales figures for the first issue were in, and Quinn decided to let Fairman go. Quinn persevered with himself as editor. His first issue

7790-400: Was a science fiction magazine. The two were sufficiently successful to attract the notice of James L. Quinn , a New York publisher. When Ziff-Davis moved to New York City in late 1950, Paul W. Fairman , a prolific writer, went with them, and was soon in touch with Quinn, who decided to found a pair of magazines modelled after Palmer's. One was a nonfiction magazine entitled Strange ; the other

7885-491: Was able to engage Larry T. Shaw , an active science fiction fan who had sold a few stories. Shaw joined in May 1953 as associate editor and soon began writing editorials (beginning with the September 1953 issue) and assisting with story selection. The magazine's quality quickly improved and soon Quinn felt able to switch to a monthly schedule, instead of bimonthly. Shaw left after only a year, and Quinn resumed full editorial responsibilities. In late 1953, Quinn decided to run

7980-417: Was about a teenage genius whose antigravity device stranded him and his girlfriend on Mars. Ashley has suggested that If was attempting to acquire readership from the many new fans of science fiction who had been introduced to the genre through television, in particular via the popular 1960s shows Doctor Who and Star Trek . If also ran a friendly letter column, with more fan-oriented discussions than

8075-430: Was abrupt and led to a delay in publication, with the first issue under new editorship not appearing until July 1959. The editor was Horace Gold , who was also the editor of Galaxy Science Fiction ; Galaxy had gone from a monthly to a bimonthly schedule at the start of 1959, and If and Galaxy appeared in alternate months for the next few years. In a 1975 retrospective article, Gold commented that his policy with If

8170-411: Was actually done by Judy-Lynn Benjamin , who was hired by Pohl in 1969 as an editorial assistant. The new regime failed to impress readers, and circulation dropped from over 67,000 for the year ending October 1968 to under 45,000 the following year, a drop of over 30%. If went bimonthly in May 1970, as Abramson attempted to juggle the frequency of publication of several of his titles to maximize profits;

8265-404: Was briefly replaced by Albert Dytch, but within four months, Dytch in turn left, and in August 1973, James Baen joined UPD. He was made managing editor of If with effect from the January 1974 issue, and full editor one issue later; Jakobsson was listed as editor emeritus until the August 1974 issue. Baen had little opportunity to work with If , however, as financial problems at UPD combined with

8360-457: Was dated July 1952, and he continued as editor on the masthead for some years. Quinn brought in Ed Valigursky as the art editor; he designed striking covers, including some wraparound artwork—an unusual feature—which helped improve circulation. Quinn began searching for a replacement editor: writer Lester del Rey turned down the job (a decision he is reported to have later regretted), but Quinn

8455-523: Was edited by Clifford Hong. Worlds of IF was relaunched again in February 2024 by Starship Sloane Publishing, with Justin T. O'Conor Sloane as editor, Jean-Paul L. Garnier as deputy editor, Dr. Daniel Pomarède as science editor, and Robert Silverberg as a contributing editor. The first issue featured cover art by Bob Eggleton , with reprinted fiction by Silverberg and David Brin among other notables. The first issue of If , dated March 1952, went on sale on 7 January of that year. The lead story

8550-408: Was familiar with Ziff-Davis's stable of writers, and his preference for them was a reflection of his experience, though this did not necessarily serve the magazine well—he referred to the acquisition of Browne's story as "the scoop of the century" and spoke in glowing terms of him in an introductory note despite the fact that Browne was reputed to detest science fiction. In addition to the fiction and

8645-402: Was finally rescued (by humans), claimed to have seen God . Changing his name to Kdapt-Preacher, he settled on Wunderland and lived as a hermit , telling whomever he met that God made Man, not Kzin, in his own image. He began wearing a mask of human skin during his prayers, so that God might think he was one of His human children. By the time of the events in Ringworld , Kdaptism had become

8740-467: Was moderately successful, though for most of its run it was not considered to be in the first tier of American science fiction magazines. It achieved its greatest success under editor Frederik Pohl , winning the Hugo Award for best professional magazine three years running from 1966 to 1968. If published many award-winning stories over its 22 years, including Robert A. Heinlein 's novel The Moon Is

8835-483: Was somewhere he could work with new writers, and try experiments and whims. This developed into a selling point when a letter from a reader, Clayton Hamlin, prompted Pohl to declare that he would publish a new writer in every single issue of the magazine, though he was also able to attract well-known writers. When Pohl began his stint as editor, both magazines were operating at a loss; despite If' s lower budget, Pohl found it more fun to edit, and commented that apparently

8930-584: Was to experiment, using new writers who had not yet established themselves. In the judgement of science fiction historian Mike Ashley , the effect was that If became the weaker of the two magazines, printing stories that were of lower quality than those Gold selected for Galaxy . Frederik Pohl took over the editorship of both If and Galaxy in 1961. Gold had had a car accident with sufficiently severe health consequences to prevent him from being able to continue as editor. Pohl, who had been intermittently helping Gold with editorial duties for some time prior to

9025-440: Was unsuccessful, however. In an attempt to improve If' s circulation, Quinn hired writer Damon Knight , whose first issue was October 1958. Circulation failed to increase, though this was at least partly due to the problems with distribution, and by early 1959, Quinn decided to sell the magazine. Knight's last issue was his third, dated February 1959. If' s new owner was Robert Guinn, of Galaxy Publishing. The change of ownership

#400599