Today, November 23, marks the birth of two writers whose work I have enjoyed and intend to read more.
First is Nelson S. Bond (1908-2006). Bond wrote mostly short fiction in the 1940s and 1950s, although he had a few novels serialized. Arkham House published several collections of his work in the mid-2000s. He is best remembered for the Lancelot Biggs, Spaceman series.
The other is Wilson Tucker (1914-2006). Tucker wrote both novels and short fiction. His best known novel was The Year of the Quiet Sun. He wrote a short story about a man on death row who claimed he would escape by walking through the wall. I loved the twist on the end of that one.
Both of these men wrote entertaining science fiction and fantasy and deserve to be rediscovered.
Tucker is now best remembered as the original exponent of “Tuckerization “, (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuckerization) the practice of using the names of real people as (usually) minor characters in a work of fiction.
True. I should have mentioned that. Thanks for reminding me.
Good to see you back to blogging!
I’ve never, ever been that big on humorous SFF. I know Bond wrote a lot of that. However, I’ve seen some cover stories from his early days in the pulps that look like straight-up SFF adventure. Have you read any of those?
Thanks. It’s good to be back. Hopefully next semester will go more smoothly, and I write and blog on a regular basis.
It’s been a long time, but I have read some of Bond’s more serious work. I liked it, although I’m not sure I can recall many details. It was a number of years ago. I’ll try to read some over the Christmas break and report back.
deuce, I haven’t read any of Bond’s official novels but they are probably more serious. His stories about “Meg” are definitely more serious fantasy, and most of them have been reprinted. Check out Bond’s entry in Internet Speculative Fiction Database and happy reading! https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?456