he original print magazine Tomorrow Speculative Fiction was co-founded five years ago by author and editor Algis Budrys (best known for his novels Who? and Hard Landing). The bimonthly was published with clockwork dependability, always full of quality short stories by established authors and many newcomers. Since its focus was fiction, the magazine wasn't enormously flashy, and although its circulation grew steadily, it never gained much recognition with the bulk of science fiction readers. Recently Tomorrow's pulp incarnation ended, only to be reborn on the Net as tomorrowsf.
In addition to the usual array of illustrated fiction -- eight stories are currently available -- and an editorial column by Budrys, tomorrowsf has a wealth of new features. Now readers will find a series of science/science fiction cartoons by Terry Geeves, as well as a science column by Tom Easton, and a book review column. The reviews focus on books that are "Off the Beaten Path" -- books of interest to science fiction readers that they might not have heard about. Additionally, the site has two songs by Budrys (just the lyrics, no sound files unfortunately), and some poetry. Budrys plans to add an art gallery, a letters column and live chats with tomorrowsf authors, and he asks his readers for input on what they would like to see on the site.
Building a better Tomorrow
Under the guidance of author and artist Kandis Elliot, the Web site's design is clean and unobtrusive, although the title bar and navigation frames are rather large, reducing the window that holds the actual content to about a third of the screen on an average monitor. The excellent background and margin graphics give the pages style without disrupting readability. In its new medium, tomorrowsf's stories are illustrated in color, a bonus for those familiar with the print magazine.
What hasn't changed is Algis Budrys's dedication to quality fiction. Many Hugo and Nebula Award winners made appearances in the old Tomorrow, and doubtless they will continue to publish in the Web version. Budrys has decades of experience as an editor and reviewer, and his talent for ferreting out good stories, especially from newer authors, is matched by very few. Now his selections are available for free on the Web. Short fiction lovers should rejoice at this opportunity.
The site claims that it will be updated every Thursday, but there have been some gaps. Most likely the site is in its shakedown period, and assuming Budrys is as religious about updating the Web site as he was about putting out the print magazine, there's bound to be plenty of good content on the way.
