''Absolute Magnitude'' is an American discontinued, semi-professional

science fiction magazine A science fiction magazine is a publication that offers primarily science fiction, either in a hard-copy periodical format or on the Internet. Science fiction magazines traditionally featured speculative fiction in short story, novelette, nov ...

started in Spring/Summer 1993 issue under the name ''Harsh Mistress''. However, in 1994 after only two issues the name was changed to ''Absolute Magnitude''. In 2002 the name was changed again to ''Absolute Magnitude & Aboriginal Science Fiction'' when the publishers acquired the rights to ''

Aboriginal Science Fiction ''Aboriginal Science Fiction'' was a high-circulation semi-professional science fiction magazine started in October 1986 by editor Charles Ryan. After releasing 49 issues it ceased publication in the spring of 2001. In 2002 the rights to ''Abor ...

''. ''Absolute Magnitude'' was published by DNA Publications and edited by

Warren Lapine Warren Lapine (born 2 June 1964) is a speculative fiction writer and publisher. Publishing career Lapine is best known for his publishing business, particularly with his first company, DNA Publications, which published a range of magazines includ ...

. During this period it was headquartered in

Radford, Virginia Radford (formerly Lovely Mount, Central City, English Ferry and Ingle's Ferry) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of 2020, the population was 16,070 by the United States Census Bureau. For statistical purposes, the Bureau ...

. Although it was supposed to be a quarterly magazine its actual releases were irregular. After releasing twenty-one issues under the ''Absolute Magnitude'' title (plus two as ''Harsh Mistress''), Spring 2005 issue was the final issue of the magazine. Absolute Magnitude was nominated for the 2002

Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine The Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine is given each year to a periodical publication related to science fiction or fantasy that meets several criteria having to do with the number of issues published and who, if anyone, receives payment. The awar ...

with Lapine noted as the editor.

Anthology

''Absolute Magnitude'' is also a collection of sixteen stories taken from the magazine between 1993 and 1997. The

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

was published by

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles, and is the largest publisher of Chinese scien ...

and was released on April 15, 1997. It has been issued in both hardcover and paperback editions.

Contributors

Authors who worked for the magazine included: *

Ben Bova Benjamin William Bova (November 8, 1932November 29, 2020) was an American writer and editor. During a writing career of 60 years, he was the author of more than 120 works of science fact and fiction, an editor of '' Analog Science Fiction and F ...

Terry Bisson Terry is a unisex given name, derived from French Thierry and Theodoric. It can also be used as a diminutive nickname for the names Teresa or Theresa (feminine) or Terence or Terrier (masculine). People Male * Terry Albritton (1955–2005), Am ...

Hal Clement Harry Clement Stubbs (May 30, 1922 – October 29, 2003), better known by the pen name Hal Clement, was an American science fiction writer and a leader of the hard science fiction subgenre. He also painted astronomically oriented artworks under ...

Alan Dean Foster Alan Dean Foster (born November 18, 1946) is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction. He has written several book series, more than 20 standalone novels, and many novelizations of film scripts. Career ''Star Wars'' Foster was the ghos ...

* Barry B. Longyear *

Allen Steele Allen Mulherin Steele, Jr. (born January 19, 1958) is an American journalist and science fiction author. Background Steele was born in Nashville, Tennessee on January 19, 1958. He was introduced to science fiction fandom attending meetings o ...

, columnist: Primary Ignition *

William F. Wu William F. Wu (born March 13, 1951) is a Chinese-American science fiction, fantasy, and crime author. Literary career Born March 13, 1951, in Kansas City, Missouri, Wu had his first professional fiction publication, a short story, published in 1 ...

References

1993 establishments in the United States 2005 disestablishments in the United States Defunct science fiction magazines published in the United States Irregularly published magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1993 Magazines disestablished in 2005 Magazines published in Virginia Science fiction magazines established in the 1990s {{fiction-mag-stub

Anthology

Contributors

See also

References