Today is April 23. It is the birthday of Talbot Mundy (1879-1940) and Avram Davidson (1923-1993). Both are writers who should not be forgotten. Continue reading
Mundy and Davidson
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RIP and Happy Birthday, Ian Watson
I was checking to see if there were any folks I wanted to do a birthday post on. There were three, Donald Wandrei (1908-1987), Peter S. Beagle (b. 1939), and Ian Watson (1943-2026).
Wait, Ian Watson? I hadn’t realized Watson had died.
He passed away a week ago, on April 13. I checked Locus Online to see if I had missed their obituary. They posted it today. Today, Appril 20, is his birthday.
Watson’s name may not be familiar to many of you. He was British, and he never seemed to catch on here in the States.
He wrote a number of novels, the most notable the Books of the Black Current series, as well as several in the Warhammer series. Watson was a prooific short story writer, as well as a poet. I first encountered his work in short form. It’s been a number of years since I read his work, but it was always entertaining.
If you’ve not read him, Watson’s work is worth checking out. He had over 20 collections of his short fiction published. A number of his novels and collections are in print, many in affordable electronic editions.
Two by Kuttner
Today, April 7, is the birthday of Henry Kuttner (1915-1958). I encountered his work in the Science Fiction Book Club edition of The Best of Henry Kuttner when I was fourteen. That was the perfect age for imprinting.
Kuttner has been my favorite writer ever since.
Some years ago, someway, somehow, I managed to score a copy of Kuttner’s first short story collection, A Gnome There Was, published under his pen name Lewis Padgett. These are stories he wrote in collaboration with his wife, C. L. Moore. I don’t remember now how I obtained it. Legally, of course. Probably I found a copy online through ABE or somesuch site.
(The one I wish I had been able to buy was the copy of Robots Have No Tails that he inscribed to John W. Campbell, Jr. But the prpice was a grand, and that was over a quarter of a century ago. If I had had the money, I would have bought it. Alas, I didn’t have a spare thousand dollars sitting around. No telling what that book would go for today.)
But I digress.
It has been years since I read A Gnome There Was. It contains some of Kuttner’s best known and most reprinted stories, such as “Mimsy Were teh Borogorves”, “A Gnome There Was”, “The Twonky”, “What You Need”, and two of the Hogben stories.
But it also contains some of the leasat reprinted stories, sotries that are just as good as the previously named. For this post, I’m going to look briefly at two of those stories, “The Cure” and “Rain Check”. Maybe I’ll look at some of the others in the future. Continue reading
The Cunning of Robert Bloch
First, Happy Easter to those who celebrate.
Today is April 5, which is the birthday of Robert Bloch (1917-1994). Bloch needs no introduction around these parts. Bloch will forever be known as the man who wrote Psycho. But his work encompassed so much more.
He was a member of the Lovecraft circle while he was still a teenager and much of his early work was pastiche. He would dabble in Mythos fiction off and on for most of his career. But Bloch was too talented a writer to lock himself into one genre.
He wrote science fiction humorous fantasy, and crime stories.
Today’s featured book is one of the latter, although the cover implies the book is supernatural horror.
It’s not, although there are ceertainly some horrific aspects to the book. Continue reading
Weinbaum and Gallun
One of hte most popular science fiction writers of the Pre-Campbell era was born today, April 4. I’m talking about Stanley G. Weinbaum (1902-1935).
Weinbaum’s career was short, not even two years before he died of cancer.
But in those two years he left an indelible mark on science fiction. During a time when aliens tended to fall intot he Bug eyed Monster trope more often than not, and when it was common for characters to consist of a scientist (mad or otherwise) , his beautiful daughter, and the square jawed hero who exists to protect and serve as what passed for a love interest to the beautiful daughter, Weinbaum broke the mold. Continue reading
Thinking of Anne McCaffery
Today, April 1, marks the centennial of of the birth of Anne McCaffery (1926-2011).
I’ve been thinking about her books lately. More on that below.
I first became aware of Anne McCaffery when I was either in sixth grade or going into seventh grade. I had just started reading adult science fiction, mostlly whata I found at Wladenbooks at the mall or the flea market. I’d pretty much burned through what little science fiction was in the elementary school library.
What caught my eye was a book entiitled Dinosaur Planet. A whole planet with dinsoaurs? I’m in. Continue reading
Oliver and Etchison
Today isi March 30. It is the birthday of Chad Oliver (1928-1993) and Dennis Etchison (1943-2019). Continue reading
Tennessee Williams
Just a short post today, which is March 26. It’s the birthday of Tennessee Williams (1911-1983). The playwright’s first story was “The Vengeance of Nitocris” in the August 1926 issue of Weird Tales.
It has been reprinted many times. The Internet Speculative Fiction Database lists over two dozen appearances since ti first appeared in The Unique Magazine, although some of those are different editions of the same volume, such as book club editions.
I’ve been buried under lawn work and grading exams today, so I haven’t had a chance to reread it. I read it years ago, and I don’t recall enough about the story to talk about it.
The August 1928 issue of Weird Tales had a number of well-known authors in its Table of Contents. In addition to the Solomon Kane story by Robert E. Howard featured on the cover, the issue also included stories by Frank Belknap Long, Everil Worrell, Edmund Hamilton, Donald Wandrei, and Robert W. Chambers.
Not bad company for your first published short story.
History as Inspiration
Today, March 23, is the birthday of H. Beam Piper (1904-1964). Piper was one of the first writers to try to write a future history.
And he drew on real hsitory to do it.
Heinlein’s, Asimov’s, Niven’s, and Anderson’s future histories are better known these days. But I would argue that Piper’s work can h old its own when compared to theirs.
Piper has the unfortunate distinction of being one of the few prominent writers of science fiction and fantasy to commit suicide. Others include Robert E. Howard and James Tiptree, Jr. (Alice Sheldon).
But let’s not dwell on that. I want to focus briefly on how Piper used history as an inspriation. Continue reading
Harry Harrison
Today is March 12, the birthday of Harry Harrison (1925-2012). Harrison was once a big name in the field, but he has like so many faded into obscurity.
Harrison is best remembered for his Stainless Steel Rat series, but he wrote much more than that. Many of his works were satires of popular tropes, often tropes of space opera.
But Harrison also wrote series stories at both short and novel lengths. “The Streets of Ashkelon” is probably his best known sderious story, although it’s not really to my taste.
His novel Make Room! Make Room!, about overpopulation, was the inspiration of the film Soylent Green.
It’s been years since I read much Harrison. I read the first two volumes of his To the Stars trilogy last year, but I’ve not worked the third volume into my schedule yet.
Harrison wrote solid science fiction, and it would be nice if someone woul d bring his works back into print.