Today is November 7, and it is the birth day of Raphael Aloysius Lafferty (1914-2002). Lafferty was one of the most unique voices in the field of science fiction. Centipede Press is slowly releasing his collected short fiction in nice, matching hardcover editions. Wildside Press has published some of his work in their Megapack series, the ebook collections they do.

I managed to read “The Six Fingers of Time” today in The R. A. Lafferty Fantastic Megapack.

Despite the title, it is not a time travel story. Rather it is the tale of a man who discovers he has the ability to shift himself so thata his sense of time stay normal but he is really moving much faster than everyone around him. They seem frozen, as though they were statures.

Then he meets another man, one whose face he can never see. Lafferty implies this man might be a demon. They are going to make him an offer once he learns to control his abiity and use it to learn anumber of other things.

Unlike a typical deal with the devil story, he doesn’t take the deal.

Things still don’t work out well for him.

It’s been a number of years since I read Lafferty. He was primarily a short story writer. He did write novels. Past Master won the Hugo Award. I read it in high school. It was…different. I think I woujld have a greater appreciation for the book if I read it today.  I’ve dipped into a few of his collections over the years. I’ve found him to be unpredictable. Lafferty is going to be one of those writers I think will always have a small following. He had a unique voice and  is worth reading.

Among the short fiction writers of the Twentieth Century, there were  few like R. A. Lafferty (1914-2002). He was born on this day, November 7. Centipede Press has been reprinting his collected short fiction. It’s been a while since I read his work, so there aren’t any stories that come to mind.

I read his Hugo Award winning novel Past Master when I was in (I think) the ninth grade. I enjoyed it at the time. I’m not sure I was old enough for it. Not that it had anything that would be considered adult content. It didn’t. But it concerns Thomas Moore, about whom I knew little. I would probably have a different opinion of the book today because I would understand a lot of the subtext that I missed as a teenager.

Like Avram Davidson and to a lesser degree Robert Sheckley, his reputation rests on his short fiction. He had a unique vision. I’m hoping I can take some time when the semester is over and do some reading. Lafferty will be on the list.