#3: Bester/Blish/C. Smith/Miller/Keyes/Stewart/Frank/Wyndham

[Coír Draoi Ceítien]

Science Fiction Visionaries: #3

By the 1950's, science fiction was becoming a viable market, having moved from mere technological presentations to character studies. These authors rank among the best of them, having penned some of the most perennial works in the genre. So let's take a look at them.



ALFRED BESTER (1913-1987)

Alfred Bester's career began in 1939 with short fiction in the pulps Thrilling Wonder Stories and Startling Stories, later following his editors to DC Comics where he wrote for Superman and Green Lantern; he also wrote for several prominent radio programs before returning to prose fiction in 1950. His new phase would be highlighted by two novels of outstanding caliber: The Demolished Man, a taut detective story involving telepaths which won the inaugural Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1951, and The Stars My Destination, a sweeping revenge tale in the vein of Dumas that would precursor the late century's cyberpunk movement. His work earned him posthumous honors as both the ninth Grand Master of the SFWA and an inductee into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.

Offsite resources:

Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Bester)
Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (http://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/bester_alfred)
Encyclopedia Britannica (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alfred-Bester)
TV Tropes (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/AlfredBester)
Editor Eric's Greatest Literature of All Time – Alfred Bester (http://www.editoreric.com/greatlit/authors/Bester.html)
Factor Daily – Bester's Best: The Stars My Destination, the Big Daddy of Cyberpunk Novels (https://factordaily.com/alfred-bester-stars-my-destination-cyberpunk/)
Tor.com – Telepaths, Murder and Typographical Tricks: Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man (https://www.tor.com/2010/10/22/telepaths-murder-and-typographical-tricks-alfred-besters-the-demolished-man/)
Tor.com – Keeping Telepaths in Mind: The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester (https://www.tor.com/2016/08/29/keeping-telepaths-in-mind-the-demolished-man-by-alfred-bester/)



JAMES BLISH (1921-1975)

Throughout the 1940's, James Blish was a practical writer, constantly revising and expanding his stories for publication under different names, and by the 1950's, his true talent began to shine through with the fix-up sequence called Cities in Flight (They Shall Have Stars, A Life for the Stars, Earthman, Come Home, and The Triumph of Time), based on the Oklahoma Dust Bowl migrations of the 1930's. His other major sequence, After Such Knowledge, explored religious themes and theological implications, the best known being the Hugo-winning A Case of Conscience, in which a Jesuit priest must contend with an alien race endowed with perfect morality in the absence of holy institutions; three more novels followed, being Doctor Mirabilis, Black Easter, and The Day After Judgment. Blish was also among the first literary critics of science fiction, applying the standards by which conventional literature was traditionally judged by.

Offsite resources:

Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Blish)
Encyclopedia of Fantasy (http://sf-encyclopedia.uk/fe.php?nm=blish_james)
Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (http://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/blish_james)
Encyclopedia Britannica (https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-Blish)
TV Tropes (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/JamesBlish)
Tor.com – Cities in Flight: James Blish's Overlooked Classic (https://www.tor.com/2018/02/08/cities-in-flight-james-blishs-overlooked-classic/)
Tor.com – Aliens and Jesuits: James Blish's A Case of Conscience (https://www.tor.com/2010/11/29/aliens-and-jesuits-james-blishs-a-case-of-conscience/)



CORDWAINER SMITH (1913-1966)

Dr. Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger, godson of Chinese nationalist hero Sun Yat-sen and increasingly devout Anglican, gained a significant reputation in both nonfiction and politics as an expert on propaganda and psychological warfare, having written an eponymous text that remains essential reading for anyone in the field. Secretly, he published a set of unique science fiction stories under the pen name "Cordwainer Smith", constructed in the manner of traditional Chinese stories an detailing a future history of the galaxy in which the Instrumentality of Mankind oversees the revival of old cultures and languages in a process called the Rediscovery of Man. A total of 32 stories were published, among them such classics as "Scanners Live in Vain", "The Game of Rat and Dragon", "No, No, Not Rogov!", "The Ballad of Lost C'Mell", and "War No. 81-Q"; one novel, Norstrilia, was also posthumously published in its completed form in 1975. Today, an award in his name is given to rediscovered and underappreciated authors in the field of speculative fiction.

Offsite resources:

Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordwainer_Smith)
Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (http://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/smith_cordwainer)
TV Tropes (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/CordwainerSmith)
Official Website: The Remarkable Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith (http://www.cordwainer-smith.com/)
Arlington National Cemetery: Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger (http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/linebarg.htm)
Tor.com – The What-He-Did: The Poetic Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith (https://www.tor.com/2016/10/07/the-what-he-did-the-poetic-science-fiction-of-cordwainer-smith/)
Factor Daily – The (Re)Discovery of Cordwainer Smith, the Shaper of Myths (https://factordaily.com/cordwainer-smith-myths/)



WALTER M. MILLER JR. (1923-1996)

Walter M. Miller Jr. serves as an Army Air Corps radioman and tail gunner during World War II, during which the bombing of the Benedictine Abbey at Monte Cassino, Italy, would prove to be a traumatic experience for him. After the war, he converted to Catholicism and began writing science fiction stories, turning out over three dozen between 1951 and 1957. In 1959, he arranged three previously published novellas into the novel A Canticle for Leibowitz, set in a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by nuclear war where the monks of a lone American monastery preserve scientific achievements for future generations; the book was an instant classic, winning the 1961 Hugo Award and having never been out of print since publication. Miller became increasingly reclusive afterwards, finally committing suicide by firearm in 1996 after his wife's death, leaving behind a nearly complete manuscript of a sequel to his original novel, which was finished by his friend Terry Bisson and published as Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman.

Offsite resources:

Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_M._Miller_Jr.)
Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (http://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/miller_walter_m)
Science Fiction Studies – David N. Samuelson: The Lost Canticles of Walter M. Miller Jr. (https://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/8/samuelson8art.htm)
Tor.com – Dark Ages and Doubt: Walter M. Miller's A Canticle for Leibowitz (https://www.tor.com/2010/12/07/dark-ages-and-doubt-walter-m-millers-a-canticle-for-leibowitz/)
Tor.com – The One Book That Changed My Life Three Different Times (https://www.tor.com/2016/11/10/the-one-book-that-changed-my-life-three-different-times/)



DANIEL KEYES (1927-2014)

It was while working under Atlas Comics, which would later become the famous Marvel Comics, that Daniel Keyes got the idea of a story in which a mentally challenged man would undergo a process that would raise his intellect to genius level, only to slowly lose it and regress back to his original estate. He would publish his story in 1959 and later expand it into a full-length novel in 1966, both under the name Flowers for Algernon; the book would become a classic and a school curriculum title, though frequently challenged for removal from libraries in both the U.S. and Canada. He made his later living as a creative writing professor at Wayne State University and Ohio University.

Offsite resources:

Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Keyes)
Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (http://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/keyes_daniel)
Encyclopedia Britannica (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Daniel-Keyes)
The New York Times – Obituary of Daniel Keyes (https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/18/books/daniel-keyes-a-novelist-of-the-mind-dies-at-86.html)
Tor.com – Daniel Keyes: In Remembrance (https://www.tor.com/2014/06/17/daniel-keyes-in-remembrance/)



GEORGE R. STEWART (1895-1980)

George R. Stewart was better known for his social nonfiction regarding topics such as Pickett's Charge, the Donner party, and the history of U.S. place names, all of which have been relatively forgotten today, unfortunately; what fiction he did write was of little genre interest. He did write one science fiction novel, though: Earth Abides, one of the earliest modern post-apocalyptic novels, in which a mysterious plague decimates most of humanity and the question is raised of whether civilization is worth continuing. Winner of the inaugural International Fantasy Award of 1951, it is considered Stewart's crowning achievement in fiction and one of the finest novels of its kind, serving as an inspiration to later works such as Stephen King's The Stand.

Offsite resources:

Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_R._Stewart)
Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (http://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/stewart_george_r)
Tribute website (http://georgerstewart.com/)
Black Gate – Embers to Ashes: Earth Abides by George R. Stewart (https://www.blackgate.com/2019/01/27/embers-to-ashes-earth-abides-by-george-r-stewart/)



PAT FRANK (1908-1964)

Harry Hart Frank, who wrote under the name Pat Frank, was professionally a journalist and information handler who served the Office of War Information and worked as a foreign correspondent. His few novels expressed the dread of the Cold War's impending nuclear escalation, his best known being the perennial classic Alas, Babylon, which follows a family in a secluded Florida town which provides refuge as national tensions deteriorate into nuclear war and the world recovers; it has remained extremely popular even to this day, expressing a hopefulness amidst the terrors of man-made carnage.

Offsite resources:

Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Frank)
Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (http://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/frank_pat)
TV Tropes: Alas, Babylon (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/AlasBabylon)
Jacksonville.com – Pat Frank's "Alas, Babylon", 50 Years Later (https://www.jacksonville.com/article/20090615/LIFESTYLE/801232885)



JOHN WYNDHAM (1903-1969)

After several failed career starts, John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris turned to writing for money in 1925, turning out space operas and detective stories under several pseudonyms. However, after serving as both a censor and a cipher during World War II, he altered his writing style and took the pen name John Wyndham, finding greater success in 1951 by writing the post-apocalyptic novel The Day of the Triffids, in which the people of the world, recently blinded by a strange meteor shower, suddenly find themselves under attack by mutant carnivorous plants; it would prove to be his best known work, establishing him as a popular writer. Three more enduring classics would follow – The Kraken Wakes, The Chrysalids, and The Midwich Cuckoos; another three (The Outward Urge, Trouble with Lichen, and Chocky) would be published in his lifetime, followed by two posthumous releases (Web and Plan for Chaos). Despite his works being sometimes disparaged as "cozy catastrophes", he remains a well-respected figure still read by his fellow Englishmen.

Offsite resources:

Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wyndham)
Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (http://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/wyndham_john)
Encyclopedia Britannica (https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Wyndham)
The Guardian – Profile of John Wyndham (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/jun/10/johnwyndham)
TV Tropes (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/JohnWyndham)
We Need to Talk About Books – Review of The Day of the Triffids (https://weneedtotalkaboutbooks.com/2019/05/09/the-day-of-the-triffids-by-john-wyndham-a-review/)
Fantasies of Possibility – Falling Off the Tightrope: The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham (https://fantasiesofpossibility.wordpress.com/2016/02/25/falling-off-the-tightrope-the-day-of-the-triffids-by-john-wyndham/)
Fantasies of Possibility – Terror from the Deeps: The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham (https://fantasiesofpossibility.wordpress.com/2016/05/28/terror-from-the-deeps-the-kraken-wakes-by-john-wyndham-1953/)
Fantasies of Possibility – "Watch Thou for the Mutant": The Chrysalids by John Wyndham (https://fantasiesofpossibility.wordpress.com/2016/10/14/watch-thou-for-the-mutant-the-chrysalids-by-john-wyndham-1955/)
Fantasies of Possibility – The Golden-Eyed Children: The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham (https://fantasiesofpossibility.wordpress.com/2016/11/04/the-golden-eyed-children-the-midwich-cuckoos-by-john-wyndham-1957/)
Tor.com – Telepathy and Tribulation: The Chrysalids by John Wyndham (https://www.tor.com/2008/10/27/the-chrysalids/)
Tor.com – A Way the World Ends: The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham (https://www.tor.com/2009/10/13/the-way-the-world-ends-john-wyndhams-lemgthe-kraken-wakeslemg/)



Another batch is done, but more is on the way. Next time will find us looking as the transition from the end of the Golden Age to the rise of the New Wave. So if you want to talk about any of these people, leave a comment below and follow the forum post: http://www.lostpathway.com/index.php/topic,221.0.html#forum