Tag Archives: birthday

Mundy and Davidson

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This is going to be a short post because I’ve been on the road most of the day, and it’s past my bedtime. But I wanted to acknowledge the birthdays of two writers whose work, although I’ve not read as much by either as I wish, I greatly admire. Those writers are Talbot Mundy (1879-1940) and Avram Davidson (1923-1993). They were both born on April 23.

Mundy wrote adventure. While some of his work had fantastic elements, he is best remembered as an adventure writer. I would classify him as being similar to Harold Lamb, although they were very different writers in some ways. But both wrote of advetures in exotic lands, so I would consider them to be similar in that regard.

Avram Davidson was a unique writer. He  didn’t write lean prose, or deal with cosmic horrors, or heroic fantasy as we tend to think of it in terms of Robert E. Howard or  Karl Edward Wagner. But his imaginataion was fertile. His stories may require a little work to read, but they are usually worth the effort. While he wrote novels, I’m primarily know him through his short  fiction. He was a unique voice, and I can’t think of anyone else like him. Who else could write a story about cigar store Indians and make it work?

Donald Wandrei

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Yes, this one is a bit late, and it’s already tommorrow where some of you are, but I didn’t want to let today (where I am at least) pass without mentioning Donald Wandrei (1908-1987), who was born on April 20.

Wandrei is probably best remembered as the cofounder of Arkham House, along with August Derleth.

He was also a writer in his own right. Fedogan and Bremer published collections of his science fiction and werid fiction in the late eighties and late nineties. He also wrote poetry. More recently, Haffner Press published his Ivy Frost stories.

So there’s a lot there to remember him for. I suspecdt Arkham House iwll be the thing that is most well-regarded in his legacy.

I came to Arkham House late. I was aware of the publisher and eventually ran across some Arkham House books at the Lone Star Science Fiction and Comics that used to be at Park and Preston in Plano back when I was in graduate school. I would have bought some except that I didn’t have any money. I was in gradute school.

Since then, I’ve tried to pick up affordable Arkham editions where I can find them.

It’s been a while since I read any of his fiction, although I do have the Fedogan and Bremer collections as well as the Ivy Frost book. Maybe if I get some time this week…

Biggle and Williamson

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April 17, today, marks the birthday of Lloyd Biggle, Jr. (1922-2002), and J. N. Williamson (1932-2005).

Lloyd Biggle, Jr. wrote science fiction beginning in the late 1950s through the early seventies, with a few stories published in later years. He wrote at novel and short fiction lengths. He was well-known and popular in his day. I doubt anyone who has begun reading science fiction in the Twenty-First Century has heard of him. Except for a Megapack and a Best of collection (both from Wildside Press), he is out of print. Those are actually different editions of the same book. The Megapack is the electronic edition, and the Best of is the print edition. Biggle also wrote mysteries, and he was a musician. Some of his fiction deals with music.

I’ve only read a couple of his short stories, and that was years ago. I have a favorable impression in my mind, but I don’t recall any details. I know older writers who have mentioned him have spoken favorably about  him.

J. N. Williamson  wrote horror. He also wrote both short fiction and novels. I’ve not read any of his novels, but I enjoyed his last collection, Frights of Fancy, It was published by Leisure Books. Again, that was years ago, and I don’t recall any specifics. I do remember that I enjoyed quite a bit.

I know a number of writers had issues with Leisure, but as a reader, I really liked them. They published a number of mass market paperback collections. I don’t know how often they published collections, since they mainly focused on novels, but it seemed like there would be a new horror short story collection from them every few months. I always picked them up when I saw them. Collections, in my opinion, are a great way to try out a new writer. A single novel might not be to a particular reader’s taste, but collections usually show at least a portion of an author’s range.

But I digress.

These are two writers whose work was well-received when they were active. It’s too bad they are both out of print now.

Kuttner

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Henry Kuttner (1915-1958) was born today, May 5. He’s been my favorite science fcition and fantasy writer ever since I read “Mimsy were the Borogoves” in The Best of Henry Kuttner the summer before I started high high school.

I was going to read and review Lands of the Earthquake (thanks for sending me a copy, Deuce), but I’ve been on the road with one of the dayjobs most of the past week. It took me all week to read “The Brood of Bubastis” for the Robert Bloch post, and I was falling asleep over the keyboard as I wrote it. So, obviously, I didn’t get to it. I’ll try to read it and post something in the next few months. Continue reading →

Brooding with Bubastis

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For Robert Bloch’s birthday, I’m going to spend a few minutes looking at one of his early short stories, “The Brood of Bubastis”. It was published in the March 1937 issue of Weird Tales. It’s one of Bloch’s early Lovecraftian telas. That’s the cover to the right. Another amazing Margaret Brundage cover.

Bloch was born on April 5, 1917 and passed away in 1994. We was a prolific author in the horror, fantasy, mystery, and science fiction fields.

“The Brood of Bubastis” is your typical Lovecraft plot, although it’s better executed than most. Here’s the setup. Continue reading →

Weinbaum

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One of the brightest stars of the pre-Campbell pulp era was Stanley G. Weinbaum (1902-1935). His aliens were truly alien, and his stories often had a sense of whimsey to them that is missing in much of today’s fiction. He helped to break the mold of stories that were gadget stories with cardboard characters.

In other words, reading him was fun.

He could be serious. “Pygmalion’s Spactacles” comes to mind as an example. He was just beginning to stretc h himself as a writer when he died of cancer. Much of what he was writing at the end of his career was romance.

Weinbaum’s style is a little dated now, but his work is still enjoyable.

H. Beam Piper

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Today, March 23, is the birthday of H. Beam Piper (1904-1964). Piper was one of  John W. Campbell’s stable of authors from the late 1940s until his death.

Piper wrote two major series. The first is the Paratime Police, consisting of a collection of shorter works (collected in Paratime!) and the novel Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen. As you can probably tell from the series title, it concerns an organization dedicated to preserving the timeline across multiple dimensions.

The seond series is sometimes called the Terro-Human Future History. This series contains much of Piper’s best known works, including the Fuzzy books and the novel Space Viking, as well as a few lesser-known novels and a number of shorter works. It was by reading Piper when I was in high school, that I really got interested in knowing more history.

Piper wasn’t the only author who ignited my interest in history. The other was Poul Anderson. Continue reading →

Blackwood

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March 14 (today as I write this) is the birthday of Algernon Blackwood (q869-1951), one of the greatest practitioners of the weird tale. H. P. Lovecraft considered him to be one of the four great living masters of the weird tale. The other three were Arthur Machen, M. R. James, and Lord Dunsay.

It’s been a while (years) since I read any of his work, and I don’t think I’ve read  more than two stories. Those stories are “The Willows” and “The Wendigo”.

My memroy is vauge on the details, but I really liked both of them. Of the two, I remember “The Willows” the best. It concerns a pair of men on a canoe trip who spend the night on an island in the middle of a river. I remember there was a lot of wind, and the willows on the island seemed to move.

My memory of “The Wendigo” is a little fuzzier. I think I read it a couple of years before I read “The Willows”. It’s about a some men who are either hunting for fishing in the wilds of Canada (I think) and experience some strange things.

I apologize for the vagueness of these descriptions. Like I said, it’s been a few years. If I’ve gotten any of those details wrong, I’m sure somone will  correct me in the comments, and that would be appreciated. I’d like to reread both of those stories if I can work them in. Finding time to write this week, much less read, has been a challenge, and it looks like the next few weeks are going to not be much better.

So what other stories by Blackwood should I read? His works are readily available in a variety of formats, from electronic editions to cheap (relatively speaking) paperbacks to high-end collectible volumes.