obrien@rand-unix@sri-unix.UUCP (09/01/83)
e evident that SF in Germany in 1970 was exactly like SF in America in 1935. Fans were mainly correspondence-oriented, and the publishers had no standards whatsoever. Of course no country will ever really look like we did. We had no backlog of foreign SF to keep the presses rolling, and to keep us from developing our own style (bar Jules Verne). It's sad but true that in many countries, local talent is regarded by the publishers as a supplement to the much cheaper, and often much better, mainline material available through translation. It's good to know that there are some very good authors out there in other countries in spite of the extra-cultural inundation they must overcome.