Two science fiction writers were born on this date, November 1. Zenna Henderson (1917-1983) and Gordon R. Dickson (1923-2001) aren’t as well known as they once were, but they both made significant contributions to the field.
Zenna Henderson wrote sf back in the 1950s and 1960s, you know, back when women didn’t write science fiction. Although she wrote a number of stand alone stories, her best known works was a series about The People, aliens who pass as human and live in a community on Earth. There was even a pilot for a television series based on the stories that starred William Shatner in the early 1970s, but the series wasn’t picked up.
I remember reading one of the People stories in a school textbook when I was a kid. NESFA Press has collected them in a single volume.
You would think that being a successful and critically lauded woman writing sf in the 50s would have garnered Henderson some acclaim these days, but no, that’s not the case. Even though her work often features women protagonists, and women who are middle aged or older, she’s often criticized because her work reflects traditional gender roles (horrors). Can’t have that! Even worse, she shows religious faith in a positive light. Her work must be judged by enlightened contemporary standards, never mind what the standards were when she was writing.
The other author born today was Gordon R. Dickson. Dickson is best remembered for the Dorsai series, although if I’m being honest, and I always try to be, that series has never really done anything for me. The last one in that sequence I read was The Final Encyclopedia. We were in Kazakhstan, and I had plenty of time on my hands in the afternoons. I found the book to be, not really a slog, but not something to make me read more in the series. (I had read the SFBC omnibus of the first few volumes in high school. They didn’t knock my socks off.)
But Dickson wrote a lot more than just the Dorsai books. He was prolific in fantasy and science fiction, and he tended to write things in a vein of adventure. Baen was supposed to be publishing a series of collections containing his best short fiction. One volume has appeared, but the project appears to have been put on hold. There are plenty of his books available through other venues.
Both writers are worth checking out, even though their approaches and philosophies are quite different.
The think the Childe series (AKA the Dorsai series) was another of those creations whose popularity caused the authors to continue to write beyond their own interest. Other examples include the later Holmes, Tarzan, and Amber books.
I personally shall always remember Gordie as half of the writer team who gave us the Hokas.
I haven’t read the Hokas yet. *Looks at the TBR pile and weeps.*
I do agree with you about series running too long and authors writing beyond their own interests.
Out of all the Childe books, TACTICS OF MISTAKE is the only one I would go back to. I’ve only read the first book in his “Dragon” series, but it was excellent, far better than I thought it would be. It had a very Howardian wolf. I thought JAMIE THE RED was a very solid S&S effort. WOLF AND IRON is one of the best post-apocalyptic novels I’ve read.
Of the ones you’ve listed, I’ve only read Tactics of Mistake. I read it high school along with the other two novels that were in the SFBC omnibus I didn’t remember much years later when I read The Final Encyclopedia. We were in Kazakhstan, and I had taken it because I knew there would be some extended down time. It was a slog.
I’ve heard mixed things about the dragon series, but I think the issues people had were with the later books.