Galaktika

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Issue #176 cover

Galaktika was the greatest Science Fiction anthology of Hungary between 1972 and 1995. The peak of 94,000 copies was very high (compared to the population of Hungary [10 million] while Analog magazine was printed in 120,000 copies in the USA [pop. well over 200 million]), it was regarded as the third most important sci-fi anthology of the world, and the quality of individual volumes was high.

The selections contained "thematic", "national" and "mixed" issues; the first type concentrated on a similar theme of stories and the second selected from the literature of a specific country. It was the only possibility for many Hungarian and Eastern-European authors to get their short stories printed.

Kuczka Péter was the editor from the beginning till the end, when it was no longer possible to print Galaktika and sell it for a price covering the printing and the royalties. Thousands have mourned its death, and there is a living market for its old, rare issues.

The numbering started with 1 in the summer of 1972 with 38,000 copies on 125 A5 pages. After issue #60 the format changed to the larger A4 format of 96 pages in 1985, then back to the A5 in a black bordered format in 1993 which persisted until Galaktika's death.

In its long and successful life 2,257 short novels and articles by more than 1,000 authors were published.