Category Archives: birthday

William Hope Hodgson

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Today, November 15, is the birthday of William Hope Hodgson (1877-1918). Hodgson isn’t as well remembered today as he should be, but he isn’t forgotten, either.

Hodgson is best remembered for his tales of Carnacki the Ghost Finder and the novels The Night Land and The House on the Borderland.

He wrote a number of short stories, many of them with nautical themes.

Night Sahde Books did a five volume set of his collected fiction in the early 2000’s. Copies go for a pretty penny these days.

Hodgson came from a time when short fiction markets were much more abundant than they are today. Lately I’ve been finding myself drawn to works from that period. Not that I’ve had a lot of  time for reading or writing (Note to self: October Writing report). But the thought of sitting back for a few hours and reading well-written short fiction has been very appealing.

Anyway, if you’re so inclined, raise a glass to Hodgson’s memory tonight, and if you have the time, read something by him.

 

Ben Bova

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Ben Bova image courtesy ISFDB

I don’t normally do two separate birthday posts on  one day, but Bram Stoker and Ben Bova (1932-2020) were such different writers that I didn’t want to mix them.

Bova was a hard science practitioner. I read a juvenile version of The Winds of Altair in fifth or six grade.  Bova had the unenviable job of editing Analog after the death of John W. Campbell, Jr. He succeeded.

He also went on to become the editorial director of Omni if my memory isn’t failing me.

Bova’s greatest achievement, though, is probably The Grand Tour. This is a series of novels that takes place (mostly) within the solar system, with novels focusing on single planets. There were also other books that didn’t  focus on a single planet. The Asteroid Wars was a set of four books in this universe.

Version 1.0.0

He was working on a trilogy set in that unvierse called  the Outer Planets Trilogy. Uranus was publsihed before he died. Neptune was released after his death. The third volume concerns Pluto. Bova’s website, which has been maiintained after his death, has announced that Les Johonson has completed the novel.

Other series include Orion, Sam Gunn, Kinsmen, Voyagers, and Exiles.

Bova wrote short fiction all his life. He never left it to solely focus on novels the way some authors do. Baen published a three volume Best of Bova collection that is still available.

There aren’t many writers of pure science fiction, especially near future, solar system oriented science fiction writing anymore. At least, I’m not aware of many. Fortunately, Bova left a large body of work.

Bram Stoker

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One of the people who has cast the longest shadow over the genre of the dark fantastic is Bram Stoker (1847-1912). Today, November 8, is his birthday. He wrote this novel about a vampire, see, and it made a big splash. He also wrote soem short fiction and a handful of other novels.

But it’s Dracula he’s known for. Dracula the character has become such a cornerstone of popular culture that if Stoker had never written anything else, he wouls still be remembered. Writers of vampire lore are to Dracula what epic fantasy writers are to The Lord of the Rings. They tend to imiitate or be as different as possible.

It’s hard to overstate the impact Dracula has had on popular culture. I’m not even going to try and find out how many movies have been made where he is either  the central character or one of the other major players. And let’s not even get into comics or books.

It’s getting later in the year. The nights are coming sooner. The leaves are falling. Perhaps that’s them making the scittering sound as they blow along the sidewalk.

Or maybe not.

Perhaps its something else.

If you hear a tapping on  the window pane, feel free to check it out. It might only be that branch you forgot to trim the last time you did yard work.

Or it could be someone wanting in.

It if is, don’t open the window.

 

R. A. Lafferty

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Among the short fiction writers of the Twentieth Century, there were  few like R. A. Lafferty (1914-2002). He was born on this day, November 7. Centipede Press has been reprinting his collected short fiction. It’s been a while since I read his work, so there aren’t any stories that come to mind.

I read his Hugo Award winning novel Past Master when I was in (I think) the ninth grade. I enjoyed it at the time. I’m not sure I was old enough for it. Not that it had anything that would be considered adult content. It didn’t. But it concerns Thomas Moore, about whom I knew little. I would probably have a different opinion of the book today because I would understand a lot of the subtext that I missed as a teenager.

Like Avram Davidson and to a lesser degree Robert Sheckley, his reputation rests on his short fiction. He had a unique vision. I’m hoping I can take some time when the semester is over and do some reading. Lafferty will be on the list.

Gordon R. Dickson

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Today, November 1, is the birthday of Gordon R. Dickson (1923-2001). Dickson wrote both science fiction and fantasy. Sadly, his star, which was once prominent, has faded into near obscurity.

Dickson wrote adventure science ficetion, usually with military overtones. His best-known series was the Dorsai series. From what I can remember about them, these novels featured a future where humanity fractured into different groups. the Dorsai were the soldiers. Continue reading →

Remembering Edmond Hamilton

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Today, October 21, marks the birth of Edmond Hamilton (1904-1977). Hamilton isn’t well remembered outside of pulp aficionados, and we aren’t getting any younger, are we guys?

(I’m using the word “guys” in a gender neutral, nonsexist kind of way.)

Hamilton wrote for the pulps, beginning with “The Monster-God of Mamurth” in the August 1926 issue of Weird Tales. Much of Hamilton’s early fiction was published in Weird Tales. Continue reading →

Birkin, Wandrei, Brunner, and Drake: A Belated Birthday Post

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Today is September 25, but this post is for birthdays on September 24. It’s a day late.

My schedule this fall is psot office in t he morning and university afternoons and evenings. I’ve got a lecture every afternoon. On Mondays and Tuesdays, I’ve got two labs back to back as soon as I get out of class. Mondays, i get out at eight. Tuesdays, at nine. Then an hour and fifteen minuted drive home. So as far as any writing in the afternoon or evening goes: It. Ain’t. Gonna. Happen.

But there were enought birthdays yesterday, that I wanted to address them anyway. Continue reading →

Remembering Charles L. Grant

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Today, September 12, is the birthday of Charles L. Grant (1942-2006). He passed away on September 15, just three days after sixty-fourth birthday.

I never got the chance to meet him, but he is to my mind one of the central figures of the second half of the Twentieth Century.

Grant left a legacy to the fields of dark fantasy and suspense in two ways. With his writing and with his editing.

Let’s take a look at both, shall we? Continue reading →

Thoughts on Jack Vance

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Today, as I’m writiing this, is August 28. There are several notable birthdays today. Joseph Shridan Le Fanu (1814-1873) wrote some excellent ghost stories. Then there’s comic great Jack Kirby (1917-1994). Science fiction author Vonda N. McIntyre (1948-2019).

The the one I want to focus on is Jack Vance (1916-2013).

Vance was a master of both science fiction and fantasy, and much of his work was a blend of both. He also wrote a few mysteries, which Subterranean Press collected in an omnibus about a decade or so back.

Vance’s crowning achievement was The Dying Earth, a sequence of stories set in the far future, where the sun had become a red giant. The physical laws of the universe have changed, and magic works. Continue reading →