appreciation to you for the tremendously
interesting magazine you put out. I have only read the last three
issues, but those are enough to convince me that Astounding Stories
fills a long-felt want. I read all the others too, but from now on I'm
going to look over their offerings at the stand before I buy. They have
to go some to come up to the standard set by you, especially in the
August copy.

That story, "The Planet of Dread," was the most weird, exciting,
thrilling, satisfying--in short, the most "astounding" story I have ever
read. Nothing has seemed so real since I first read Wells' stories. I
liked the characters. Poor Gunga. I could just see him, trying to
sacrifice the man he obviously worshipped to stop that horrible noise.
The picture of Gunga on the cover was just exactly what I would expect
the Martian to look like. You have a good artist. I liked Mark
Forepaugh, too. He didn't lose his nerve for one minute--not Mark. Who
says civilization is going down, when the future holds men like that?

Next to "The Planet of Dread" I liked "The Lord of Space." That was a
vivid and well-drawn story, too. Those two, I think, were the
outstanding stories for August. But I must not forget "Murder Madness,"
the serial; it was thrilling and convincing. That's the only kick I
have: so many stories sound thin. I don't believe them when I read them.
I also want to mention "The Forgotten Planet" and "From An Amber Block."
Good, exciting, and you can believe them without too much strain.

Oh, by the way, the author of "The Planet of Dread" made a mistake when
he chose a mythical planet for his terrific adventures. Why not Venus or
Mercury? If they have water the conditions on them would be similar to
what he described for Inra. There ain't no such planet. But why expect
perfection! I'm satisfied.

I wish you success. That's a late wish. You're a success already.--Tom
P. Fitzgerald, Newcastle, Nebraska.

Thus Ended the Quest

Dear Editor:

This is my first letter to your magazine, and right away I'm asking for
a pair of sequels. One of these is to "The Moon Master," by Charles W.
Diffin. These sad endings depress me greatly, but if I looked at the
ending first to see whether or not it was sad it would ruin the story;
and besides sad endings usually have good stories in front of them. The
other sequel I want is to "From The Ocean's Depths," by Sewell P.
Wright, and its sequel "Into The Ocean's Depths."

In looking ove