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45-517: Minicon has had many guests of honor over the years, including Gordon R. Dickson , Poul Anderson , Clifford D. Simak , Lester del Rey , Frederik Pohl , Octavia E. Butler , Harlan Ellison , Larry Niven , and Terry Pratchett . Minicon should not be confused with MinnCon , a dark fantasy/horror convention founded in 1971 by fans living in St. Paul, Minnesota . MinnCon changed its name to Arcana in 1988 to avoid confusion but many area fans still refer to

90-530: A "gregarious, engaging, genial, successful man of letters" who had not been an introvert. Clute considers Dickson a "science fiction romantic". Nevertheless, Clute stresses in connection to Dickson that science fiction welcomes "images of heightened solitude, romantically vague, limitless landscapes, and an anguished submission to afflatus", due to its origin in Gothic fiction . Clute has pointed out that Dickson, like Poul Anderson , with whom he collaborated in

135-473: A letter in the Summer 1950 issue that Ray Bradbury "certainly gets some original ideas, if not good ones". The editors put a good deal of effort into keeping the letter column friendly and lively; contemporary writer and editor Robert Lowndes recalls that "Reiss was sincere and urbane; Wilbur [Peacock] enjoyed taking his coat off and being one of the crowd". Despite the focus on melodramatic space adventure,

180-406: A quarterly. A brief attempt was made to switch to a bimonthly schedule in 1943; a March and May issue appeared, but the next issue was titled Fall 1943, inaugurating another quarterly period. The Fall 1950 issue was followed by November 1950, and this began a bimonthly period that lasted until May 1954, which was followed by a Summer 1954 issue. A quarterly schedule resumed until the end; unusually,

225-450: A scantily clad damsel in distress or alien princess on almost every cover. Although science fiction (sf) had been published before 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. Fiction House, a major pulp publisher, had run into difficulties during

270-446: A series of conventions that drew over 3000 people and used as many as 4 hotels. However, in 1999, Minicon downscaled dramatically due to a feeling among some organizers that it had strayed too far from its roots and had become unmanageable. Recent Minicons have had between 400 and 700 attendees. Around the time that Minicon reduced its size, some other conventions sprang up in the area, including CONvergence and MarsCon . Minicon 50

315-647: A well-received series of stories featuring adventurer Eric John Stark , which began in the Summer 1949 Planet Stories with "Queen of the Martian Catacombs". Her work had a strong influence on other writers, in particular Gardner F. Fox , Lin Carter and Marion Zimmer Bradley , Brackett later argued that "the so-called space opera is the folk-tale, the hero-tale of our particular niche in history". Also arguing in support of Planet Stories , science fiction critic John Clute has commented that "the content

360-461: A young readership; the result was a mixture of what became known as space opera and planetary romances — melodramatic tales of action and adventure on alien planets and in interplanetary space. Planet Stories relied on a few authors to provide the bulk of its fiction in the early years, with Nelson Bond providing eight lead stories, some of them novels. Fourteen more were written by Ray Cummings and Ross Rocklynne ; and Leigh Brackett

405-413: Is more likely that Planet Stories attracted experienced readers of the genre who "still yearned for the early days of sf". Critic and sf historian Thomas Clareson has commented that " Planet seemed to look backward towards the 1930s and earlier", an impression that was strengthened by the extensive use of interior artwork by Frank Paul , who had been the cover artist for the early Gernsback magazines in

450-502: The Depression , but after a relaunch in 1934 found success with detective and romance pulp titles. Fiction House's first title with sf interest was Jungle Stories , which was launched in early 1939; it was not primarily a science fiction magazine, but often featured storylines with marginally science fictional themes, such as survivors from Atlantis . At the end of 1939, Fiction House decided to add an sf magazine to its lineup; it

495-469: The Hoka series , "[tends] to infuse an austere Nordic pathos into wooded, rural midwestern American settings." His works often have mercenaries as their protagonists and deal with aliens that are "less deracinated and more lovable than humans". They "are inclined to take on a heightened, sagalike complexion", particularly by the insertion of lyric poetry that is sometimes inferior. In 1974 Dickson donated to

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540-534: The 1920s. Paul's distinctive style was strongly associated with the early years of the field. The cover art was also melodramatic, with beautiful women—sometimes human, sometimes princesses from other planets—and threatening aliens. The subheading on the cover read "Strange Adventures on Other Worlds – The Universe of Future Centuries" until the end of 1946. Although almost every story that appeared in Planet could be described as space opera, there

585-624: The 1940s", though his cover artwork was less impressive than his black-and-white interior illustrations. Artist and sf historian David Hardy has described Leydenfrost's black and white illustrations as "almost Rembrandtian in his use of light and shade".       Malcolm Reiss       Wilbur S. Peacock       Chester Whitehorn       Paul L. Payne       Jerome Bixby        Jack O'Sullivan The editorial succession at Planet was: Planet Stories

630-656: The Hoka series with "The Sheriff of Canyon Gulch" ( Other Worlds Science Stories , May 1951). Dickson's series of novels include the Childe Cycle (sometimes called the Dorsai series) and the Dragon Knight . He won three Hugo Awards and one Nebula Award . For a great part of his life, he suffered from the effects of asthma . He died of complications from severe asthma. John Clute has characterized Dickson as

675-613: The Manuscripts Division of the University of Minnesota Libraries notes, outlines, and drafts for more than 240 short stories and 36 novels and novelettes. These included materials for Alien Art , The Outposter , The Pritcher Mass , None But Man , and Soldier Ask Not . They were made available to researchers without restriction. Dickson received the 1977 Skylark — Edward E. Smith Memorial Award for Imaginative Fiction from NESFA — for his contribution to SF and he

720-753: The University of Minnesota for graduate work. His first published speculative fiction was the short story "Trespass!", written jointly with Poul Anderson , in the Spring 1950 issue of Fantastic Stories Quarterly (ed. Sam Merwin ), the inaugural number of Fantastic Story Magazine as it came to be titled. Next year three of his solo efforts were published by John W. Campbell in Astounding Science Fiction and one appeared in Planet Stories . Anderson and Dickson also inaugurated

765-765: The advance of technology, in particular "The Golden Apples of the Sun" (November 1953), and "A Sound of Thunder" (January 1954, reprinted from the June 28, 1952 issue of Collier's Weekly ). Bradbury's work in Planet Stories is regarded by one pulp historian, Tim de Forest, as "the magazine's most important contribution to the genre". Several other well-known writers appeared in Planet Stories , including Isaac Asimov , Clifford Simak , James Blish , Fredric Brown and Damon Knight. Asimov's story, originally titled "Pilgrimage", appeared in 1942; Asimov had been unable to sell

810-411: The bitchy side—warm-blooded, hot-tempered, but gutty and intelligent" (with "bitchy" intended as a compliment). During World War II , it was in Planet Stories that a reader was most likely to come across a female character who could fight, instead of merely being fought over. Sex itself had long been taboo in the pulp magazines, but some stories in Planet depicted sexuality more directly than

855-542: The competing magazines would. The readers were not always accepting; one reader in a letter in 1949 supported "jettisoning the taboos", but a letter writer in 1946 objected to "Lorelei of the Red Mist", saying that he needed "a pint of Listerine to wash the dirty taste out of my mouth". The cover artwork generally emphasized sex as well, with what sf author and critic Harry Harrison sardonically referred to as "sexual dimorphism in space": heavy, functional spacesuits for

900-477: The convention by its older name. The term "minicon" is often used informally in science fiction circles for any small convention. Staples of modern Minicons are: The first Minicon was held on 6 January 1968 in Coffman Union at the University of Minnesota and had approximately 60 attendees. In all subsequent years it was held in area hotels. Attendance grew fairly steadily for many years, culminating in

945-475: The early issues of the pulps. Malcolm Reiss edited Planet Stories from the beginning, and retained editorial oversight and control throughout its run, though he was not always the named editor on the masthead ; when other editors were involved, his title was "managing editor". The first of these sub-editors was Wilbur S. Peacock, who took over with the Fall 1942 issue and remained until Fall 1945, after which he

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990-494: The fiction in Planet Stories improved over the next few years, largely due to the work of Brackett and Bradbury. Both writers set many of their stories on a romanticized version of Mars that owed much to the Barsoom of Edgar Rice Burroughs . Brackett's writing improved during the 1940s from formulaic pulp adventure to a more mature style, and she became the most accomplished writer of planetary romances of her day. She wrote

1035-470: The first issue. Issues 7 and 8 of the British edition also contained nonfiction material reprinted from Startling Stories and Thrilling Wonder . A Canadian edition was published by American News Co. , from Fall 1948 to March 1951 (a total of twelve issues); these were identical to the corresponding U.S. editions. In the summer of 1950 Fiction House launched a companion magazine to Planet . It

1080-411: The first issue. The results were unremarkable, but Reiss was energetic, and was able to improve the quality of fiction in succeeding issues, though he occasionally apologized to the readers for printing weak material. The magazine was exclusively focused on interplanetary adventures, often taking place in primitive societies that would now be regarded as " sword and sorcery " settings, and was aimed at

1125-616: The genre was the discovery of Philip K. Dick , whose first sale, " Beyond Lies the Wub ", appeared in the July 1952 issue. Dick went on to sell another four stories to Planet Stories over the next two years, including "James P. Crow", in which a human suffers discrimination in a world of robots. Planet Stories clearly targeted a young readership, and the simultaneous launch in 1939 of Planet Comics may have been instrumental in attracting young readers to science fiction, but Ashley suggests that it

1170-423: The magazine was a series of adventures featuring Eric John Stark , which began in the summer of 1949. Brackett and Bradbury collaborated on one story, "Lorelei of the Red Mist", which appeared in 1946; it was generally well-received, although one letter to the magazine complained that the story's treatment of sex , though mild by modern standards, was too explicit. The artwork also emphasized attractive women, with

1215-469: The magazine, persuading the established writers to produce better material and finding unusual variations on the interplanetary adventure theme such as Poul Anderson 's "Duel on Syrtis" in March 1951, about an Earthman tracking an alien on Mars, and Theodore Sturgeon 's "The Incubi on Planet X", about aliens who kidnap Earth women. After Bixby's departure in 1952, Planet Stories ' major contribution to

1260-442: The men, and transparent suits through which bikinis or swimsuits could be seen for the women. Hannes Bok contributed much of the interior artwork, and the covers were often by Allen Anderson during the early years. Later, Kelly Freas became a frequent cover artist. One of the best artists to work on Planet was Alexander Leydenfrost , whose work, according to Clareson, "epitomized much of what Planet Stories represented in

1305-404: The next three years. The two writers most identified with Planet Stories are Leigh Brackett and Ray Bradbury , both of whom set many of their stories on a romanticized version of Mars that owed much to the depiction of Barsoom in the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs . Bradbury's work for Planet included an early story in his Martian Chronicles sequence. Brackett's best-known work for

1350-520: The piece elsewhere, and rewrote it numerous times for different editors, adding a religious element at John Campbell 's request, and removing it again when Malcolm Reiss asked for further changes. Reiss bought it but changed the name to "Black Friar of the Flame". Jerome Bixby, who took over as editor in 1950, was a published writer and was knowledgeable about sf, though he had primarily written western fiction . In his short tenure he did much to improve

1395-420: The winter issue that year was dated Winter 1954/55, rather than with a single year. The volume numbering was consistent throughout the magazine's publication, with five volumes of 12 issues and a final volume of 11, but there were three errors in the volume numbering printed on the spine (though not on the masthead): issue 5/10 was given as 5/8 on the spine; issue 5/11 was given as 6/3 on the spine; and issue 6/11

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1440-468: Was a pulp-sized magazine for all of its 71 issues. It was 128 pages for most of its existence, and was priced at 20 cents. With the November 1950 issue the page count was cut to 112, and the price went up to 25 cents. The page count was reduced to 96 for one issue in March 1952, but then returned to 112 until Summer 1954, when it was again reduced to 96 pages for the last five issues. Planet began as

1485-484: Was also a regular contributor, with seventeen stories in total published over the lifetime of the magazine. The letter column in Planet Stories was titled "The Vizigraph"; it was very active, with long letters from an engaged readership. It often printed letters from established writers, and from fans who would go on to become well known professionally: Damon Knight 's letters are described by sf historian Mike Ashley as "legendary"; and Robert Silverberg commented in

1530-610: Was an American science fiction writer. He was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2000. Dickson was born in Edmonton, Alberta, in 1923. After the death of his father, he moved with his mother to Minneapolis in 1937. He served in the United States Army, from 1943 to 1946, and received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Minnesota , in 1948. From 1948 through 1950 he attended

1575-536: Was editor or editor-in-chief for all of its 71 issues. Planet Stories was launched at the same time as Planet Comics , the success of which probably helped to fund the early issues of Planet Stories . Planet Stories did not pay well enough to regularly attract the leading science fiction writers of the day, but occasionally obtained work from well-known authors, including Isaac Asimov and Clifford D. Simak . In 1952 Planet Stories published Philip K. Dick 's first sale , and printed four more of his stories over

1620-474: Was far more sophisticated than the covers". Bradbury's work for Planet Stories included two of the stories that he later incorporated into The Martian Chronicles , including "The Million Year Picnic"; only one other story in the series had appeared before this. He also collaborated on a story with Brackett, "Lorelei of the Red Mist", based on an idea of hers, which appeared in the Summer of 1946. His stories for Planet demonstrate his reservations about

1665-415: Was given as 6/12 on the spine. A British reprint edition appeared between March 1950 and September 1954; the issues were numbered but not dated, and were heavily cut, with only 64 to 68 pages. There are twelve issues known; a thirteenth has been rumored but not seen by any sf bibliographers . The publisher was Pembertons , though some sources indicate that Streamline Publications was the publisher of

1710-567: Was held April 2–5, 2015 at the DoubleTree Bloomington Hotel in Bloomington, Minnesota . The guests of honor scheduled were authors Jane Yolen , Larry Niven and Brandon Sanderson ; publisher Tom Doherty ; musician Adam Stemple and artist Michael Whelan . Minicon 51 was held on Easter Weekend 2016 (March 25–27), and featured guests of honor author Seanan McGuire and artist Sara Butcher Burrier . Minicon 52

1755-560: Was held on Easter Weekend 2017 (April 14–16), and featured guests of honor Jim C. Hines , Brother Guy Consolmagno , Mark Oshiro, and Jeff Lee Johnson Minicon 53 was held on Easter Weekend 2018 (March 30 – April 1) and feature guests of honor Lyda Morehouse and Rachel Swirsky and feature the art of Jon Arfstrom . Minicon 56 was held on Easter Weekend 2023 (April 7–9); it featured guests of honor Martha Wells , Sara Felix and Greg Ketter . Gordon R. Dickson Gordon Rupert Dickson (November 1, 1923 – January 31, 2001)

1800-433: Was inducted by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2000. He won several annual literary awards for particular works. Planet Stories Planet Stories was an American pulp science fiction magazine , published by Fiction House between 1939 and 1955. It featured interplanetary adventures, both in space and on some other planets , and was initially focused on a young readership. Malcolm Reiss

1845-626: Was replaced by Chester Whitehorn for three issues, and then by Paul L. Payne, from Fall 1946 to Spring 1950. With the Summer 1950 issue the editorship passed to Jerome Bixby , who was already editing Jungle Stories . Soon thereafter Planet Stories switched from a quarterly to bimonthly schedule. Bixby lasted a little over a year; Malcolm Reiss took over again in September 1951, and three issues later, in March 1952, Jack O'Sullivan became editor. A contemporary market survey records that in 1953, payment rates were only one to two cents per word; this

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1890-399: Was some variety of approach to the basic themes. Earth was sometimes threatened, but more often the action took place on other worlds, bringing Earthmen into local conflicts. This often involved beautiful native princesses, though the romantic storylines were stereotyped. Some respite from these depictions of women was provided by Leigh Brackett, who described her own heroines as "usually on

1935-448: Was substantially less than the leading magazines of the day. Planet Stories returned to a quarterly schedule beginning with the Summer 1954 issue, but the pulp market was collapsing, and the Summer 1955 issue was the final one. Fiction House apparently made the decision to launch Planet Stories so quickly that there was little time for Reiss to obtain new stories, so he worked with Julius Schwartz and other authors' agents to fill

1980-689: Was titled Two Complete Science-Adventure Books ; the policy was to print two novels in a single magazine. It appeared three times a year and lasted until the spring of 1954. In 1953 Fiction House launched a reprint magazine, Tops in Science Fiction , selecting the contents from the backfile of stories that had appeared in Planet . It only lasted for two issues, the second of which received almost no distribution. A derivative anthology, The Best of Planet Stories #1, appeared in 1975 from Ballantine Books, edited by Leigh Brackett, containing seven stories reprinted from between 1942 and 1952. It

2025-403: Was titled Planet Stories , and was published by Love Romances, a subsidiary company that had been created to publish Fiction House's romance titles. The first issue was dated Winter 1939. Two comics were launched at the same time: Jungle Comics and Planet Comics ; both were published monthly, whereas Planet Stories was quarterly, and it is quite likely that the success of the comics funded

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