Destinies Vol. 3, No. 2

Destinies

by Jim Baen

1st edition paperback, vg++

Genres: Science Fiction

348 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 1981

About the author

Jim Baen was Editor-in-Chief and publisher of Baen Books, and renowned in the science fiction field for his taste and ability to select authors with strong storytelling ability and steer them to commercial success. Prior to founding of Baen Books, he was the editor of science fiction magazine Galaxy, science fiction editor of Ace Books, and an editor at Tor Books.

Reviews

[Craig]

This is the eleventh and final issue of Destinies, a science fiction magazine in mass-market paperback format that Baen established and edited for Ace Books until he left to direct his own eponymous science fiction/fantasy publishing company. The first four or five decades of the sf genre (from the first issue of Gernsback's Amazing Stories until around the time of Ellison's Dangerous Visions original anthology, give or take, more or less) were absolutely dominated by the magazines, first in pulp and then in digest-sized format. Destinies was an innovative concept that attempted to blend the best of both worlds, incorporating the less-ephemeral book format with the charm of original illustrations and columns that promoted a sense of community one found in the magazines. The authors were mostly from Baen's stable that he'd built at Ace (and his earlier stint as editor of Galaxy) and ran a little heavy with his odd mix of pro-science conservative libertarianism, but he published some very good stuff. The non-fiction in this final volume (labeled vol.3, no.2) came from Poul Anderson, Karl Pflock, Frederik Pohl, Dean Ing, Charles Sheffield & Yoji Kondo, and a farewell from Baen, who was no longer associated with Ace when the volume was published. There was nice interior art from Steven Fabian, Janet Aulisio, and Broek Steadman, but the cover painting was curiously uncredited. (There are several such errors and omissions in this issue, which was apparently quite rushed; for example, the Drake story lacks a title page, "Stephen" is spelled "Steven," etc.) The book contained a novelette by David Langford, short stories by Gregory Benford and Fred Saberhagen, and two very enjoyable novellas Summertide from Charles Sheffield and Time Safari by David Drake, both of which were later expanded by their authors into excellent novels, making it a high-water mark issue and a fond farewell.