SF themes tend to run in cycles: hard technology-based science fiction is replaced in popularity by social science fiction (or SF with a conscience), High Fantasy succumbs to Sword and Sorcery. However, one theme or sub-genre tends to be more or less a permanent fixture, and that is Humorous SF.

Humour in SF is like the humour in any other genre. It has two functions: to entertain and to criticise. Terry Pratchett entertains. His Discworld novels are very funny, and of late — most notably in Reaper Man — he has taken to incorporating some criticism of various institutions. Douglas Adams sent up Space Opera in his The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy (now running to five parts). He has also turned his considerable talent to pointing out some of the more curious activities of humans and their failings. SF provides fertile ground for parody; however, whether the author is targeting the human condition or society — or even reality itself as Phillip K. Dick does — the success of the work relies on one issue: Is it funny?

In his introduction to Laughing Space, an anthology of humorous SF, Isaac Asimov makes an important point about humour. He says that if someone writes a mystery story that doesn't quite hit the mark, then they have written an okay mystery story. If someone writes an adventure story that doesn't quite get there, then they have written a reasonable adventure story. However, if you write a humorous story that doesn't quite make it, then . . . well, you've failed. Ask any comedian. I imagine the only thing worse that "dying" on stage is "dying" in print . . . it also lasts longer.

Humour is a difficult thing to categorise. What is funny for me may bore someone else. Pythonesque humour is not universally regarded as funny, but it is admired for its cleverness and originality. Not everyone enjoys Ben Elton's brand of sermonising humour. Good humour in SF is not simply about funny names and chaotic circumstances — it must have a depth to it. And a talented writer does not necessarily make a successful humorist. Take Robert Heinlein's "The Cat Who Walks Through Walls" and "Job: A Comedy of Justice" . . . please! You either have the ability or you don't. Happily we've provided some excellent humorous SF in past issues of Aurealis — mainly through the agency of Michael Pryor. His story, "Long Live the King", came a creditable third in our Readers' Poll. Watch out for another one of his stories in issue ten. And, of course, the SF Hall of Fame continues to be the first thing many readers turn to.

The real star of our second Reader's Poll, though, must be Simon Brown. His story "All the Fires of Lebanon" from issue six was a clear winner. As if that wasn't enough, his issue eight story "The Dissections of Machaon" was equal second. Paul Merrick's virtual reality story "Scoring" in issue seven shared second place. A number of other stories polled well and just missed out on sharing third place with Michael Pryor: Ashlei Kelling's "Paradise Discarded", Aziz Salim's "The Box of Sorrows", Denis Knight's "The Boy Who Believed in Dragons", Keith Walter's "The Crack in the Pavement", Rick Kennett and A. F. Kidd's "The Steeple Monster", and Aaron Darrell's "Trapdoor".

Meanwhile stories from our first four issues have been gaining recognition on the international scene. Greg Egan's "The Moat", which appeared in issue three, is the first story from an Australian magazine to make it into the prestigious Year's Best SF collection edited by Gardner Dozois. Another Aurealis story "Twenty-First Century Dreamtime" by Grai Hughes made it into the anthology's Honorable Mentions list. A further two stories, Stephen Dedman's "But Smile No More" and E. R. van Helden's "The Tourist" made the equivalent list in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror anthology. A paperback collection of the first four issues of Aurealis, featuring all four stories, is now available from Chimaera Publications.

Most people have agreed that one of the main reasons for Aurealis' success has been its variety. Humorous SF is only one of the sub-genres that you will find in Aurealis nine. In her letter in this issue, Maureen Speller says she is attracted to Aurealis because of the "Catholic taste it exhibits". This is quite deliberate. In this issue we again run the gamut from hard science fiction to fantasy and from horror to humour. Even the Pope would have to admire that sort of Catholicism.

Stephen Higgins