Today is May 23, and there are three birthdays I want to highlight. One author is still remembered today, but his work is fading from the public consciousness. The other two are pretty much forgotten. These men are James Blish, J. Brian Clarke, and Isidore Haiblum.

We’ll start with Blish.

James Blish (1921-1975) is probably best remembered for his Star Trek novelizations of the  original series. I checked these out from the public library in Wichita Falls when I was a kid and read them. He also wrote one of the first, if not the first, original Star Trek novel. Spock Must Die! His origianl fiction, which was highly regarded during his lifetime, has faded into obscurity.

Blish was a member of the Futurians, the sciencd fiction club that included such luminaries as Fred Pohl, C. M. Kornbluth, and Isaac Asimov. He wasn’t a founding member, but he did join later.

Blish won the Hugo in 1959 for Best Novel with A Case of Conscience. It concerns a priest on an alien planet who deals with the theologicial implications of there being a sentient species on this planet. I’ve not read it, so I can’t really summarize it beyond that.

This book was in print for years, both as a Ballantine/Del Rey paperback and a selection of the Science Fiction Book Club. Of course, those were the days when publishers kept their backlist in print.

I’ve got at least one copy somewhere (in a box). It’s on my list to eventually get around to reading.

Another Blish work on my list is Cities in Flight, which is composed of four novels: They Shall Have Stars; A Life for the Stars, Earthman, Come Home; and The Triumph of Time. The books were published independently, and it’s possible to  find copies, but the whole series was collected in an omnibus volume entitled Cities in Flight. It was available for years in both mass market paperback and hardcover. Combined in one volume, the series is pretty imposing.

The basic plot is that Earth is abandoned, and cities are launched into space under large domes. The series was higly regarded at one time. I’ve not seen a new edition of it in years, but then, I havne’t looked since I have both paperback and hardcover editions.

I realize I’m making it sound like I’ve not read any Blish beyond his Star Trek work, but that’s not the case. One of the first Ballantine Best of series I read was the James Blish volume. It’s the one from that series I’ve seen most often in second hand book shops. It’s a good sampling of his short fiction. I’ve also read some of his other collections, but they had a lot of overlap with the Best of volume. NESFA Press published a two volume set of his shorter works in 2008 and 2009.

Moving on to the other two writers born today, we come to J. Brain Clarke (1928-2022). Clarke was mostly a short story writer. He wasn’t prolific and only published one novel. I read the first one or two of his Expediter series when I was in high school. This series was published in Analog. I would characterize his work as hard science or at least straight science fiction without any fantasy elements.

Finally, I want to mention Isidore Haiblum (1935-2012). This is a writer I haven’t read. I don’t even have any copies of any of his books. He wrote a baker’s dozen of novels. I’ve seen his name for years, mostly in second hand shops, although there is one exception. That was the novel The Wilk Are Among Us. I saw a copy in junior high. It must have made an impression on me becasue the title has stuck with me. I’m sure the naked woman on the cover helped make the impression, although I had no memory of her until I found that image on the ISFDB.

The naked woman was probably why I didn’t buy it. My father did monitor my reading for age inappropriate material, and I doubt that would have passed muster when I was twelve or thirteen.

If anyone has read Haiblum, please let us know what you think of his work in the comments. I may try to track down a copy of Wilk. That title, and the naked woman, are intriguing.