Here we are, three months on. Issue #1 was a success by any measure and, with your help, we hope to keep improving with every issue. Let me assure you that Issue #2 will be a decisive step in that direction. If you have any doubt, you need only look as far as our lead story, “The Butcher Boy” by Jacques Barbéri (translated to English by Michael Shreve) for confirmation.
Jacques Barbéri is a French science fiction writer with more than fifteen novels under his belt. “The Butcher Boy” was first published (as “La promenade du garçon boucher”) in his collection Kosmokrim in 1985. This is the first time the story has been available in English translation. We’re proud to be able to be the ones to bring it to you.
And that’s the core of our mission at AE, as well as our philosophy regarding the role of magazines and publishers in general. There exists a vast legion of science fiction fans and there exists a wealth of great science fiction. But without publishers, the gap between the two looms large. Sometimes the barrier is, as in this case, one of language. In the past, too, writers often lacked the means to distribute their work, but in the age of the Internet the problem of mere distribution can be easily solved. Now that there is so much so-called content out there for the reading, the challenge becomes that of drawing attention to the work that is worthy of it. And there is always a need for someone to foster artists, encouraging them to produce the best work they are capable of, someone to ensure that their work reaches the audience in its most perfect form.
We founded AE to bridge that gap. We aren’t the only ones working towards that goal, of course, but it is a long and tortuous canyon and we hope that we have found a new and useful place to build a crossing. And in the quarter that we have been around, you have given us reason to believe that we have.
So, thank you. This issue is dedicated to all of you. And please, if you haven’t already, consider supporting AE. Our bridge has a strong foundation, but it needs care and maintenance if it is to endure.
Enjoy.
— D.F. McCourt