... The head of the Council, a gray-beard notoriously superstitious, cleared his threat and a silence fell over all present. "My friends," he gurgled happily, "My _dear_ friends and fellow citizens! This is an occasion of undoubted significance in the annals of our fair city, equalled only by that of, as you doubtless will realize, early in the reign of--rather; to continue; In other words, my dear friends," he began over, unable to sustain the sentence any longer, "To make it clear to all concerned, this is, I believe, and no one, I hope, would contradict me, I have occasion to think--" Here his voice lowered to a whisper and ended in a triumphant shout, "A _Messenger_ sent to guide us!" He leered cheerfully at the mob. "Therefore, let us convey it in state to the City Hall to rule us as it sees fit!" Which was forthwith done amid much celebration, and the chattering of the escaped parrot from that day guided the fortunes of the city of Ulathia, interpreted by the Ruler and his Council as they desired. * * * * * Another tale in this series will appear next month. OUR READERS SAY S. M. White, one of our New Zealand readers is not altogether satisfied with science fiction in general: "_The Fantasy Fan_ is of great interest to me. I hope that it keeps on going. I have two objections to scientifiction--1. There is too much 'blood and thunder.' 2. Not enough originality in plots. Thus too much spoils the flavor. But there are several themes on which few of your authors have touched. 1. A story with lots of science. 2. A story concerning that which comes after death (if anything). 3. A really humorous story. 4. None of the authors except H. G. Wells has tried to solve the problem of labor vs. capital. Stories often end up: "Workers of the world, you are free!" Free to what? Technocracy? NRA? Vanderbiltism? These four ought to keep writers busy." The hardest job of an editor is trying to please everyone. As this is an impossibility, all they can do is to please as many as they can. When a majority voice a suggestion, he must take it into serious consideration. We find that the underused plots you have mentioned have been used quite often, except that which is not for science fiction, but has been overdone in weird stories. "I keep forgetting that each month I am going to receive a copy of _The Fantasy Fan_ so that, when it does come, it is such a pleasant surprise. As a regular feature, I enjoy Bob Tucker's report on the English stf magazines best of all. 'How to Write a Stf Story' was _so_ funny."--Forrest J. Ackerman "The November TFF is decidedly improving and I look forward to future issues with much interest. I wonder how many collectors there are that can discriminate between the trash that seems popular and the best in Fantasy?"--R. H. Barlow