A bit OT: Help! Which SF magazine to get?

[Turbo]

I'm looking at starting a subscription to an SF magazine like Asimov's or Analog (or another), but I really have no idea what the difference between the two is, or if there's another one out there that people here think is better.

 

[Christopher]

Analog tends to be more hard-SF, its stories more driven by scientific ideas. Asimov's stories are often more character-driven, less technically oriented, even sometimes bordering on fantasy. There's also The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (F&SF), which tends to be more "literary" in its approach. I think those are the main print magazines still around.

This is probably more a General SF & Fantasy topic....

 

[Rosalind]

I'm guessing Turbo thinks the regulars in here know more about these magazines than the SFF crowd. I'll let it stay here for the mean time.

 

[Steve Roby]

I'm looking at starting a subscription to an SF magazine like Asimov's or Analog (or another), but I really have no idea what the difference between the two is, or if there's another one out there that people here think is better.

If you can, why not pick up an issue of each one and try it, then subscribe? I used to read Analog, Asimov's, and F&SF regularly in the '80s, and one issue was generally enough to give a sense of the kind of thing you could expect to find in that magazine. Two of the three are under different editors now, but I'd be surprised if they've changed the direction of their respective magazines significantly.

 

[William Leisner]

^ All three also have sample fiction of their sites if you want to check them out there. (Though picking up a full issue will give you a better idea of the range of what they print on a regular basis.)

www.asimovs.com
www.analogsf.com
www.sfsite.com/fsf

 

[Jim Johnson]

I"m currently a subscriber to all three, though I'm going to let my subscriptions to Analog and Asimov's lapse. F&SF is the only one of the three I've consistently enjoyed over the last two years. Asimov's is pretty good, though.

Reading Analog made me realize that I don't really like a lot of science in my science fiction.