I’ve not posted much here recently, but then I’ve not been posting much at Adventures Fantastic, my main blog, either. Work and other concerns, such as fiction writing, but mostly work, have been eating into my time. But I want to acknowledge three birthdays today, October 15. Two of the writers I want to acknowledge are pretty pulpy, while the third is less pulpy but no less enjoyable.

James H. Schmitz

The first is James H. Schmitz (1911-1981).  Schmitz tended to write space opera, although he did have a number of more “serious” stories. Most of his work as at shorter lengths, but he did have on novel that has been popular over the years, The Witches of Karres. He had two series, The Agent of Vega and The Hub. The Hub had what can be loosely described as two cross-over subseries, featuring Telzey Amberdon and Trigger Argee. Baen published most, if not all of Schmitz’s short fiction in the early 2000’s.

The thing that stands out about Schmitz’s stories is that he tended to have female protagonists back when that wasn’t supposed to be a thing. Both Telzey and Trigger are women. Trigger is an agent. Telzey is an older teenager/young woman. Another thing about Telzey is that, unlike many science fiction heroines, she has a family that she is very attached to.

Schmitz is one of my favorite writers, and I need to revisit his work. It’s been a long time since I read any. It was always a lot of fun, and Schmitz was one of the most creative when it came to alien ecologies and the monsters that inhabit them. His stories are upbeat, fast-moving, and have a wide cast of characters, especially the Hub stories. Telzey and Trigger aren’t the only characters who cross-over to stories featuring still more characters. And his aliens are always cleverly designed.

The writer I want to feature is one I’ve not read much by, but is definitely on my list of writers to read. That’s E. C. Tubb (1919-2010).

Tubb also wrote in the space opera subgenre. He’s best remembered for his series character Dumarest of Terra. Dumarest spends the series searching for the planet on which he believes he was born, an mythical world called Earth.I read the first book in the series a number of years ago and liked it. I’ve since managed to get most of them (there are 33).  All but the last two were published by Ace (1-8) and DAW (9-31). The final two volumes weren’t published in the US for a number of years. I’m not sure why.

This looks like a fun space opera series, and I’m hoping to reread the first volume, The Winds of Gath, sometime soon and start working my way through the series.

Walter John Williams

The final author I want to feature is thankfully still with us and hopefully will be for some time. Walter John Williams (b. 1953) has written cyberpunk, space opera, and is currently writing fantasy.

I’ve  had the pleasure of meeting Walter a number of times over the years, mostly at Armadillocon, once at Conestoga, and the last two times at the Williamson Lectureship. He’s a great guy and a fantastic writer. I recently read his most recent collection, The Green Leopard Plague, and I highly recommend it.  Subterranean Press will be  publishing a large retrospective of his work early next year.