interplanetary n.

a story about interplanetary travel

Now rare.

SF Criticism

  • 1927 Weird Tales Mar. 432 (advt.) page image

    This is without doubt the most original interplanetary story ever written.

  • 1927 H. P. Lovecraft Letter 5 July in A. Derleth & D. Wandrei Selected Letters II (1968) 150 page image H. P. Lovecraft

    Commonplace readers…would not deem an ‘interplanetary’ tale in the least interesting if it did not have its Martian (or Jovian or Venerian or Saturnian) heroine fall in love with the young voyager from Earth.

  • 1932 L. C. Pitfield Letter in Amazing Stories July 378/1 page image

    I have enjoyed A. S. from the start—I came in at No. 6 but was able to get all back numbres [sic] by prompt action. My favorites are ‘interplanetaries’—especially both ‘Skylarks’ and ‘Spacehounds of I.P.C.’

  • 1933 J. Schwartz & M. Weisinger Harry Bates Interview in Science Fiction Digest Feb. 16/2 page image Mort Weisinger Julius Schwartz bibliography

    Thought the UFA film, ‘The Rocket to the Moon,’ had a stupid plot, but think that the first real good interplanetary movie will be a ‘beauty and a huge success.’

  • 1939 C. Hornig Fantasy Fan in Science Fiction Oct. 119/1 page image Charles D. Hornig

    So if you like a variety of good stories, I don’t think you'll ever get tired of reading SCIENCE FICTION—because I try to get as much variety into one issue as possible, without passing out of the realm of fantasy. Not all interplanetaries—not all laboratory yarns—not all world dooms, but a generous sprinkling of all types.

  • 1947 Story Behind the Story in Thrilling Wonder Stories June 112/2 page image

    The inside dope on THE BIG NIGHT is that I suddenly realized I hadn’t written an interplanetary story for years. Okay, I said—and sat down at the typewriter and looked blankly into space. There wasn’t any story. The trouble with doing an interplanetary yarn, as far as I'm concerned, is that it’s apt to be just that and nothing more. And the fact that a vessel can travel between planets or stars isn’t intrinsically interesting. The first few stories involving such traffic were, just as the Nautilus was one of the first and therefore one of the most interesting submarines. ‘Look,’ I said to myself, ‘maybe you better write a story about a giant amoeba, kid.’ ‘I won’t,’ I said stubbornly. ‘I hate giant amoebas. I'm going to write an interplanetary. I want to.’

  • 1953 L. S. de Camp Science Fiction Handbook 69 L. Sprague de Camp

    Some of these had imaginative themes, such as William Wallace Cook’s Adrift in the Unknown, an interplanetary, in Street and Smith’s Adventure Library.

  • 1967 D. Lupoff Bikey the Skicycle and Other Tales of Jimmieboy (review) in Algol (#12) 18 Mar. 49 page image Richard A. Lupoff

    The title story is of of JKB’s [sc. John Kendrick Bangs’s] few interplanetaries (Olympian Nights is another); Jimmieboy and an intelligent bicycle go to Jupiter, with amusing and sometimes stfish results.

  • 1988 D. Schweitzer Tommyknockers (review) in Aboriginal Science Fiction Mar.–Apr. 16/1 page image Darrell Schweitzer bibliography

    His science fiction includes a variety of stories about ESPers, including Carrie, The Dead Zone, and Firestarter; two future dystopias, The Running Man and The Long Walk (the latter also partaking of the SF convention of the alternate history); a couple of interplanetaries (‘The Jaunt‘ and ‘Beachworld’) and a variety of stories about scientifically produced monstrosities invading the here and now, most notably ‘The Mist.’


Research requirements

antedating 1927

Research History
Fred Galvin submitted a 1953 cite from L. Sprague de Camp's "Science-Fiction Handbook".
Fred Galvin submitted a 1947 cite from "Hudson Hastings" (Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore) in Thrilling Wonder Stories.
Fred Galvin submitted a 1947 cite from Michael Wigodsky in Thrilling Wonder Stories.
Fred Galvin submitted a 1939 cite from editorial material by Charles Hornig in the magazine Science Fiction.
Fred Galvin submitted a 1953 cite from L. Sprague de Camp's "Science Fiction Handbook".
Fred Galvin submitted a 1940 cite from a letter in Astonishing Stories.
Bee Ostrowsky submitted a 1933 cite from Science Fiction Digest.
Bee Ostrowsky submitted a 1988 cite from Darryl Schweitzer.

Last modified 2024-11-17 00:09:25
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.