years proves. That Hamilton's stature today is not greater presents an apparent paradox—until the facts are analyzed.
There are two reasons basically. First, only a minority of the regular readers of amazing stories and, later, the other science-fiction magazines, ever read weird tales at all. amazing stories claimed a readership of about 100,000. It is doubtful if weird tales had more than 50,000 readers at any time during its 30 years of publication. Of that, probably 25 percent, at a generous estimate, represented readership of both magazines. Most of the readers of amazing stories were unaware of Hamilton's fine contributions elsewhere and the truth is that the majority of ideas innovated by Hamilton were not directly copied from him at all but were rediscov-ered at a later date by other authors. Issues of the early weird tales containing his stories are so few and so rare that only a handful of people own them. As a result, even if someone deliberately adapted an old Hamilton idea, extreme-ly few would suspect the origin. As substantiation: when Hamilton submitted his first story to amazing stories, The Comet Doom, the editor bragged about discovering a great new talent, although when the story appeared in the January, 1928, issue, Hamilton stories had been appearing and had been exceptionally well received in weird tales for more than a year. A story of a race of aliens who have transferred their brains to metal bodies and do the same for an earthman, offering to take him around the universe (probably the genesis of the famed Prof. Jameson series by Neil R. Jones as well as H. P. Lovecraft's The Whisperer in Darkness), The Comet Doom was thought by the editors to be good enough for a scene from it to be used on the cover, but they did not think Hamilton's name suffi-ciently well known to be mentioned on that cover.
The second reason for Hamilton's comparative lack of stature lies in the repetitious plot structure of his early stories. The framework of each story was very nearly the same. A menace threatens to conquer, enslave, or wipe out the world (or the universe) and is thwarted by a single man. To this must be added a sprinkling of major scientific faults, frequently so glaring as to all but negate believability. Typi-cal of these scientific sins of omission was the questionable premise in Across Space that Mars could be pulled to the very edge of the Earth's atmospheric envelope and left dan-gling there while Martians flew down to the surface. Even worse is the complete disregard for distances and time fac-tors in the Interstellar Patrol series, in which ships zip past star systems thousands of light years apart in days or some-times only hours, with no explanation from the author.
In addition, characterization was virtually nonexistent and dialogue was frequently on the Frank Merriwell level.
Despite these considerable faults, Hamilton had imagina-tive vitality and narrative ability of considerable power. A Stapeldonian thoroughness in delineating the history, culture and philosophy of his aliens was not completely appreciated by the reader distracted by the vividness and swiftness of unfolding events. It was the extraordinary variety of his locales and the striking originality of his secondary themes that gave Hamilton popularity, even while some readers injected a note of criticism by bestowing on him the appella-tion "World Saver."
When he began writing novels for amazing stories quar-terly and amazing stories, he did not vary the formula that had enjoyed such success in weird tales. In Locked Worlds (amazing stories quarterly, Spring, 1929) he saves Earth from the menace of the spider men, inhabitants of a simul-taneous world whose electrons move in the opposite direction from Earth's; The Other Side of the Moon (amazing stories quarterly, Fall, 1929) finds the turtle men of the moon thwarted in their evil design to conquer the earth; in The Universe Wreckers, a three-part novel beginning in amazing
There are two reasons basically. First, only a minority of the regular readers of amazing stories and, later, the other science-fiction magazines, ever read weird tales at all. amazing stories claimed a readership of about 100,000. It is doubtful if weird tales had more than 50,000 readers at any time during its 30 years of publication. Of that, probably 25 percent, at a generous estimate, represented readership of both magazines. Most of the readers of amazing stories were unaware of Hamilton's fine contributions elsewhere and the truth is that the majority of ideas innovated by Hamilton were not directly copied from him at all but were rediscov-ered at a later date by other authors. Issues of the early weird tales containing his stories are so few and so rare that only a handful of people own them. As a result, even if someone deliberately adapted an old Hamilton idea, extreme-ly few would suspect the origin. As substantiation: when Hamilton submitted his first story to amazing stories, The Comet Doom, the editor bragged about discovering a great new talent, although when the story appeared in the January, 1928, issue, Hamilton stories had been appearing and had been exceptionally well received in weird tales for more than a year. A story of a race of aliens who have transferred their brains to metal bodies and do the same for an earthman, offering to take him around the universe (probably the genesis of the famed Prof. Jameson series by Neil R. Jones as well as H. P. Lovecraft's The Whisperer in Darkness), The Comet Doom was thought by the editors to be good enough for a scene from it to be used on the cover, but they did not think Hamilton's name suffi-ciently well known to be mentioned on that cover.
The second reason for Hamilton's comparative lack of stature lies in the repetitious plot structure of his early stories. The framework of each story was very nearly the same. A menace threatens to conquer, enslave, or wipe out the world (or the universe) and is thwarted by a single man. To this must be added a sprinkling of major scientific faults, frequently so glaring as to all but negate believability. Typi-cal of these scientific sins of omission was the questionable premise in Across Space that Mars could be pulled to the very edge of the Earth's atmospheric envelope and left dan-gling there while Martians flew down to the surface. Even worse is the complete disregard for distances and time fac-tors in the Interstellar Patrol series, in which ships zip past star systems thousands of light years apart in days or some-times only hours, with no explanation from the author.
In addition, characterization was virtually nonexistent and dialogue was frequently on the Frank Merriwell level.
Despite these considerable faults, Hamilton had imagina-tive vitality and narrative ability of considerable power. A Stapeldonian thoroughness in delineating the history, culture and philosophy of his aliens was not completely appreciated by the reader distracted by the vividness and swiftness of unfolding events. It was the extraordinary variety of his locales and the striking originality of his secondary themes that gave Hamilton popularity, even while some readers injected a note of criticism by bestowing on him the appella-tion "World Saver."
When he began writing novels for amazing stories quar-terly and amazing stories, he did not vary the formula that had enjoyed such success in weird tales. In Locked Worlds (amazing stories quarterly, Spring, 1929) he saves Earth from the menace of the spider men, inhabitants of a simul-taneous world whose electrons move in the opposite direction from Earth's; The Other Side of the Moon (amazing stories quarterly, Fall, 1929) finds the turtle men of the moon thwarted in their evil design to conquer the earth; in The Universe Wreckers, a three-part novel beginning in amazing
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