&sq=&lang=&file=File:Talesofwonder.jpg) The first issue of Tales of Wonder | |
| Editor | Walter Gillings |
|---|---|
| Publisher | The World's Work |
| First issue | June 1937 |
| Final issue | 1942 |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
Tales of Wonder was a British science fiction magazine published from 1937 to 1942, with Walter Gillings as editor. It was published by The World's Work, a subsidiary of William Heinemann, as part of a series of genre titles that included Tales of Mystery and Detection and Tales of the Uncanny. Gillings was able to attract some good material, despite the low payment rates he was able to offer; he also included many reprints from U.S. science fiction magazines. The magazine was apparently more successful than the other genre titles issued by The World's Work, since Tales of Wonder was the only one to publish more than a single issue.
Arthur C. Clarke made his first professional sale to Tales of Wonder, with two science articles. Gillings also published William F. Temple's first story, some early material by John Wyndham, and "The Prr-r-eet" by Eric Frank Russell. American writers who appeared in the magazine included Murray Leinster and Jack Williamson; these were both reprints, but some new material from the U.S. did appear, including Lloyd A. Eshbach's "Out of the Past", and S.P. Meek's "The Mentality Machine". With the advent of World War II, paper shortages and Gillings' call up into the army made it increasingly difficult to continue, and the sixteenth issue, dated Spring 1942, was the last. Tales of Wonder was not the first British science fiction magazine, but it was the first one aimed at an adult market, and its success made it apparent that a science fiction magazine could survive in the UK.