How a 1933 Serial Novel Reshaped Science Fiction

The answers to these and other questions lie within…
The Ultimate COSMOS.

“American science fiction is much less daunting to explore if you begin with a specific slice of it. For my book Astounding, I took the editor John W. Campbell as my starting point, but a new title from the First Fandom Experi­ence offers what may be an even better one. The Ultimate Cosmos is a delightful dissection of an elusive barnacle that clings, all but forgotten, to the sturdy hull of the genre’s history. It was born in 1933 in the fanzine Science Fiction Digest, which was run by ‘‘ambitious amateurs’’ Julius Schwartz, Mort Weisinger, and Raymond A. Palmer. Gifted, passionate, and young – Schwartz and Weisinger were 18, Palmer 23 – they hit on the far-fetched notion of asking 16 authors to collaborate on a se­rial novel that would run in monthly installments over the next year and a half.”
— Alec Nevala-Lee in Locus, October 29, 2025

Click here or scroll down to order.

“This illustrated history volume weaves together so many different elements – the histories of 17 storied authors from the golden age of the genre; the story of a handful of influential fans (who would go on the heavily influence the field in professional capacities); the business of fanzine publishing and history of two 0f the most influential fanzines, incidentally exploring the motivations of those early fans; the development of science fiction art; the changing nature of the field itself (Cosmos was shopped to and rejected by numerous professional magazines at the time) and a story contest to boot.
“This volume of the First Fandom Experience represents a maturation of their process and presentation – you’ve not seen SF History presented in this manner before – and is far more than science fiction’s version of a coffee table book.  I highly recommend it as both entertainment and education, if not revelation.”
— Steve Davidson, Publisher of Amazing Stories, March 19, 2025

The creators of The Visual History of Science Fiction Fandom bring you the story of Cosmos – a remarkable serial novel from 1933, with chapters by sixteen of the most prominent authors of the day.

A rousing space opera… sweeping galactic scope… epic battles in space!

Yet even more astonishing is the tale of how this extravagant novel came to be. Orchestrated by a scrappy, ambitious cadre of young fans – mostly teenagers – the creation of Cosmos is a seminal episode in the history of science fiction. The impact on the novel’s editors and authors echoed through the decades that followed.

This 350-page, profusely illustrated and documented volume presents the full text of Cosmos in the most accessible form yet published. More importantly, the book brings to life the history and impact of the novel through the words of its editors and authors.

Unique to this publication are thirty-seven original illustrations by Clay Ferguson, Jr., commissioned by the editors for private editions of the novel — and the personal inscriptions of the authors to Raymond A. Palmer, the primary force behind an event that reshaped the genre.

“The Ultimate COSMOS is great fun and makes a convincing argument that like an asteroid careening through the early science fiction world, the round-robin novel Cosmos had a powerful impact on the careers of all involved—whether authors, editors, illustrators, or the era’s dedicated science fiction fans.”
– Fred Nadis, author of The Man from Mars, Ray Palmer’s Amazing Pulp Journey

“Venturing into the history of American science fiction can seem like an impossibly daunting task, with unfamiliar writers, editors, fans, and stories fighting for space with some of the most famous names in the field. The Ultimate COSMOS offers a wonderful entry point into this world—a deep dive into a single fascinating episode that situates many of the genre’s key players in relation to one another at the same crucial moment in time. Whether you already know this territory well or want to orient yourself before exploring further, this book is a road map that leads straight to the heart of the pulps.”
– Alec Nevala-Lee, author of the Hugo Award finalist Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction

“This illustrated history volume weaves together so many different elements – the histories of 17 storied authors from the golden age of the genre; the story of a handful of influential fans (who would go on the heavily influence the field in professional capacities); the business of fanzine publishing and history of two of the most influential fanzines, incidentally exploring the motivations of those early fans; the development of science fiction art; the changing nature of the field itself and a story contest to boot... You’ve not seen SF History presented in this manner before – it’s far more than science fiction’s version of a coffee table book.  I highly recommend it as both entertainment and education, if not revelation.”
– Steve Davidson, Publisher of Amazing Stories

“When COSMOS commenced in 1933, it was ballyhooed as a landmark scientifiction yarn — the first “round robin” SF serial by writers prominent at the time. Yet the cultural history of its publication that David Ritter and the First Fandom Experience team have unearthed is even more exciting than the novel itself. Through contextual essays, illuminating footnotes, and contemporary illustrations (the unpublished art of Clay Ferguson, Jr. is alone worth the price of admission), COSMOS comes alive as pioneering Space Opera and as a crucible for the fan-pro distillation of Golden Age of Science Fiction.”
– Michael Saler, Professor of History, University of California, Davis

“While the novel itself could be charitably described as uneven, what gleams like the toenails of Thorth throughout this project is the sense of community which was already blooming around the genre of science fiction, still less than ten years old at this point. The Ultimate COSMOS is a truly fascinating book, and the ancillary material presented is full of unexpected or informative facts which place the story in context, and serve to make it far more interesting to read for modern eyes than it has any right to be.”
– Sandra Bond, author of Three Men in Orbit, The Psychopath Club and others

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