Jad Smith
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252037337
- eISBN:
- 9780252094514
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252037337.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
This chapter focuses on John Brunner's works from 1967 to 1975. These include Quicksand (1967), which garnered testy and argumentative reviews; Zanzibar (1968), which went on to garner Nebula and ...
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This chapter focuses on John Brunner's works from 1967 to 1975. These include Quicksand (1967), which garnered testy and argumentative reviews; Zanzibar (1968), which went on to garner Nebula and Hugo nominations; The Sheep Look Up (1972), his darkest novel set in the United States as it enters its “third century” as a nation; and The Shockwave Rider (1975), which Brunner described as convenient “shorthand” for dealing with the vicissitudes of the human mind. Brunner also contributed five columns on assorted topics to Science Fiction Review between December 1969 and March 1971. By the mid-1970s, Brunner largely dropped out of view and stopped writing science fiction.Less
This chapter focuses on John Brunner's works from 1967 to 1975. These include Quicksand (1967), which garnered testy and argumentative reviews; Zanzibar (1968), which went on to garner Nebula and Hugo nominations; The Sheep Look Up (1972), his darkest novel set in the United States as it enters its “third century” as a nation; and The Shockwave Rider (1975), which Brunner described as convenient “shorthand” for dealing with the vicissitudes of the human mind. Brunner also contributed five columns on assorted topics to Science Fiction Review between December 1969 and March 1971. By the mid-1970s, Brunner largely dropped out of view and stopped writing science fiction.
Edward James
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252039324
- eISBN:
- 9780252097379
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252039324.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
This chapter sketches the life and career of Lois McMaster Bujold. Lois McMaster was born in Columbus, Ohio, on November 2, 1949, the third child and only daughter of Robert Charles McMaster and ...
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This chapter sketches the life and career of Lois McMaster Bujold. Lois McMaster was born in Columbus, Ohio, on November 2, 1949, the third child and only daughter of Robert Charles McMaster and Laura Gerould McMaster. She began reading science fiction when she was nine years old. Her favorite writers in the field included Poul Anderson and James H. Schmitz. In 1971, she married John Bujold, whom she had met at a science fiction convention two years earlier. Bujold's first professional sale was a short story, “Barter,” which was published in Twilight Zone Magazine in spring 1985. It was later bought, adapted, and mutilated almost beyond recognition for the TV series Tales from the Darkside. She sold her first three books, Shards of Honor, The Warrior's Apprentice, and Ethan of Athos to Baen Books, which were released in paperback, in 1986, at three-month intervals, in June, August, and December.Less
This chapter sketches the life and career of Lois McMaster Bujold. Lois McMaster was born in Columbus, Ohio, on November 2, 1949, the third child and only daughter of Robert Charles McMaster and Laura Gerould McMaster. She began reading science fiction when she was nine years old. Her favorite writers in the field included Poul Anderson and James H. Schmitz. In 1971, she married John Bujold, whom she had met at a science fiction convention two years earlier. Bujold's first professional sale was a short story, “Barter,” which was published in Twilight Zone Magazine in spring 1985. It was later bought, adapted, and mutilated almost beyond recognition for the TV series Tales from the Darkside. She sold her first three books, Shards of Honor, The Warrior's Apprentice, and Ethan of Athos to Baen Books, which were released in paperback, in 1986, at three-month intervals, in June, August, and December.
Karen Burnham
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252038419
- eISBN:
- 9780252096297
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252038419.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
This chapter begins with an overview of Greg Egan's fiction. It centers his work in the context of the “radical hard SF” promoted by the magazine Interzone in the mid-to-late 1980s and provides an ...
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This chapter begins with an overview of Greg Egan's fiction. It centers his work in the context of the “radical hard SF” promoted by the magazine Interzone in the mid-to-late 1980s and provides an overview of his work to date, including his rise to prominence (and subsequent diminishment). It traces a loose “future history” that his stories follow, moving from biomedical advances in the near future to digital immortality in the far future. It also gives a summary of some of his reception by critics to date, including the focus on his perceived lack of characterization and the various attacks and defenses that have been mounted over his work. In discussing his approach to character, the chapter also covers the diverse range of characters that he portrays in his fiction.Less
This chapter begins with an overview of Greg Egan's fiction. It centers his work in the context of the “radical hard SF” promoted by the magazine Interzone in the mid-to-late 1980s and provides an overview of his work to date, including his rise to prominence (and subsequent diminishment). It traces a loose “future history” that his stories follow, moving from biomedical advances in the near future to digital immortality in the far future. It also gives a summary of some of his reception by critics to date, including the focus on his perceived lack of characterization and the various attacks and defenses that have been mounted over his work. In discussing his approach to character, the chapter also covers the diverse range of characters that he portrays in his fiction.
Michael R. Page
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252039652
- eISBN:
- 9780252097744
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252039652.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
One of science fiction's undisputed grandmasters, Frederik Pohl built an astonishing career that spanned more than seven decades. In publishing novels, short stories, and essays, Pohl won millions of ...
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One of science fiction's undisputed grandmasters, Frederik Pohl built an astonishing career that spanned more than seven decades. In publishing novels, short stories, and essays, Pohl won millions of readers and seemingly as many awards while leaving a lasting mark on the genre. This book traces Pohl's extraordinary journey from discovering books as a boy at the Brooklyn Public Library to publishing the novel All the Lives He Led at age 91. A first-of-its-kind study, the book delves into the iconic works of fiction like The Space Merchants, Jem, and the tales of the Gateway universe, as well as Pohl's creative alliances with the likes of C. M. Kornbluth, Arthur C. Clarke, and Isaac Asimov. But the book also examines Pohl's as-essential contributions in other areas. He represented many of the major science fiction writers as a literary agent in the 1940s and 1950s. He helped professionalize the field by midwifing science fiction publishing at Ballantine and Ace Books. Finally, while working at Galaxy and If, he aided countless careers as, in Gardner Dozois' words, “quite probably the best SF magazine editor who ever lived.”Less
One of science fiction's undisputed grandmasters, Frederik Pohl built an astonishing career that spanned more than seven decades. In publishing novels, short stories, and essays, Pohl won millions of readers and seemingly as many awards while leaving a lasting mark on the genre. This book traces Pohl's extraordinary journey from discovering books as a boy at the Brooklyn Public Library to publishing the novel All the Lives He Led at age 91. A first-of-its-kind study, the book delves into the iconic works of fiction like The Space Merchants, Jem, and the tales of the Gateway universe, as well as Pohl's creative alliances with the likes of C. M. Kornbluth, Arthur C. Clarke, and Isaac Asimov. But the book also examines Pohl's as-essential contributions in other areas. He represented many of the major science fiction writers as a literary agent in the 1940s and 1950s. He helped professionalize the field by midwifing science fiction publishing at Ballantine and Ace Books. Finally, while working at Galaxy and If, he aided countless careers as, in Gardner Dozois' words, “quite probably the best SF magazine editor who ever lived.”
Jad Smith
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252037337
- eISBN:
- 9780252094514
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252037337.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
This chapter details the early life of John Brunner. Brunner had first meaningful encounter with science fiction (SF) when grandfather's rare 1898 Heinemann edition of H. G. Wells' The War of the ...
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This chapter details the early life of John Brunner. Brunner had first meaningful encounter with science fiction (SF) when grandfather's rare 1898 Heinemann edition of H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds (1898) ended up misshelved in his playroom. At six and a half years old, Brunner read it, adorned its endpapers with Martian fighting-machines, and that was that. By nine, Brunner was a full-fledged SF addict. During his final term at Cheltenham College in the fall of 1951, Brunner's first printed story appeared alongside fiction by A. Bertram Chandler, Kenneth Bulmer, and Manly Banister in Walt Willis' celebrated fanzine Slant. Though only a page long, “The Watchers” (1951) leaves little doubt that the seventeen-year-old Brunner began his career as a devoted idealist. In April 1966, Brunner became the first recipient of the British Science Fiction Association's Fantasy Award.Less
This chapter details the early life of John Brunner. Brunner had first meaningful encounter with science fiction (SF) when grandfather's rare 1898 Heinemann edition of H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds (1898) ended up misshelved in his playroom. At six and a half years old, Brunner read it, adorned its endpapers with Martian fighting-machines, and that was that. By nine, Brunner was a full-fledged SF addict. During his final term at Cheltenham College in the fall of 1951, Brunner's first printed story appeared alongside fiction by A. Bertram Chandler, Kenneth Bulmer, and Manly Banister in Walt Willis' celebrated fanzine Slant. Though only a page long, “The Watchers” (1951) leaves little doubt that the seventeen-year-old Brunner began his career as a devoted idealist. In April 1966, Brunner became the first recipient of the British Science Fiction Association's Fantasy Award.
Jad Smith
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252037337
- eISBN:
- 9780252094514
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252037337.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
Under his own name and numerous pseudonyms, John Brunner (1934–1995) was one of the most prolific and influential science fiction authors of the late twentieth century. During his exemplary career, ...
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Under his own name and numerous pseudonyms, John Brunner (1934–1995) was one of the most prolific and influential science fiction authors of the late twentieth century. During his exemplary career, the British author wrote with a stamina matched by only a few other great science fiction writers and with a literary quality of even fewer, importing modernist techniques into his novels and stories and probing every major theme of his generation: robotics, racism, drugs, space exploration, technological warfare, and ecology. This book, an intensive review of Brunner's life and works, demonstrates how Brunner's much-neglected early fiction laid the foundation for his classic Stand on Zanzibar and other major works such as The Jagged Orbit, The Sheep Look Up, and The Shockwave Rider. Making extensive use of Brunner's letters, columns, speeches, and interviews published in fanzines, the book approaches Brunner in the context of markets and trends that affected many writers of the time, including his uneasy association with the “New Wave” of science fiction in the 1960s and 1970s. This book shows how Brunner's attempts to cross-fertilize the American pulp tradition with British scientific romance complicated the distinctions between genre and mainstream fiction, and between hard and soft science fiction, and helped carve out space for emerging modes such as cyberpunk, slipstream, and biopunk.Less
Under his own name and numerous pseudonyms, John Brunner (1934–1995) was one of the most prolific and influential science fiction authors of the late twentieth century. During his exemplary career, the British author wrote with a stamina matched by only a few other great science fiction writers and with a literary quality of even fewer, importing modernist techniques into his novels and stories and probing every major theme of his generation: robotics, racism, drugs, space exploration, technological warfare, and ecology. This book, an intensive review of Brunner's life and works, demonstrates how Brunner's much-neglected early fiction laid the foundation for his classic Stand on Zanzibar and other major works such as The Jagged Orbit, The Sheep Look Up, and The Shockwave Rider. Making extensive use of Brunner's letters, columns, speeches, and interviews published in fanzines, the book approaches Brunner in the context of markets and trends that affected many writers of the time, including his uneasy association with the “New Wave” of science fiction in the 1960s and 1970s. This book shows how Brunner's attempts to cross-fertilize the American pulp tradition with British scientific romance complicated the distinctions between genre and mainstream fiction, and between hard and soft science fiction, and helped carve out space for emerging modes such as cyberpunk, slipstream, and biopunk.
Gerry Canavan
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252040665
- eISBN:
- 9780252099106
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252040665.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
“I began writing about power because I had so little,” Octavia E. Butler once said. Butler's life as an African American woman—an alien in American society and among science fiction writers—informed ...
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“I began writing about power because I had so little,” Octavia E. Butler once said. Butler's life as an African American woman—an alien in American society and among science fiction writers—informed the powerful works that earned her an ardent readership and acclaim both inside and outside science fiction. This book offers a critical and holistic consideration of Butler's career. Drawing on Butler's personal papers, the book tracks the false starts, abandoned drafts, tireless rewrites, and real-life obstacles that fed Butler's frustrations and launched her triumphs. The book departs from other studies to approach Butler first and foremost as a science fiction writer working within, responding to, and reacting against the genre's particular canon. The result is an illuminating study of how an essential SF figure shaped themes, unconventional ideas, and an unflagging creative urge into brilliant works of fiction that include novels and short stories, including the early Patternist series, Kindred, Blindsight, Clay's Ark, the Xenogenesis and Parables series, and Fledgling.Less
“I began writing about power because I had so little,” Octavia E. Butler once said. Butler's life as an African American woman—an alien in American society and among science fiction writers—informed the powerful works that earned her an ardent readership and acclaim both inside and outside science fiction. This book offers a critical and holistic consideration of Butler's career. Drawing on Butler's personal papers, the book tracks the false starts, abandoned drafts, tireless rewrites, and real-life obstacles that fed Butler's frustrations and launched her triumphs. The book departs from other studies to approach Butler first and foremost as a science fiction writer working within, responding to, and reacting against the genre's particular canon. The result is an illuminating study of how an essential SF figure shaped themes, unconventional ideas, and an unflagging creative urge into brilliant works of fiction that include novels and short stories, including the early Patternist series, Kindred, Blindsight, Clay's Ark, the Xenogenesis and Parables series, and Fledgling.
Edward James
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252039324
- eISBN:
- 9780252097379
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252039324.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
This chapter discusses the science fiction of Lois McMaster Bujold. Bujold has written about fourteen science fiction books and a number of short stories: approximately six thousand pages of text. ...
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This chapter discusses the science fiction of Lois McMaster Bujold. Bujold has written about fourteen science fiction books and a number of short stories: approximately six thousand pages of text. Almost all of her science fiction stories have been set in the universe sometimes known by her fans as the Vorkosiverse after its central character, Miles Vorkosigan. Although her writing as a whole has expanded beyond that universe, her science-fictional universe has remained unusually restricted. One explanation for her decision to restrict herself in this way is that Bujold is interested above all in character. While some science fiction writers are interested in developing different “what-if” scenarios and focusing on how that “what-if” changes a society, Bujold has shown herself to be concerned primarily in how her characters and the society they live in develop over time. She has built up a large and devoted fan base not because they want to see her develop numerous new universes and explore all the boundaries of her genre, but because they share the author's own fascination with her characters and want to see how they change and grow.Less
This chapter discusses the science fiction of Lois McMaster Bujold. Bujold has written about fourteen science fiction books and a number of short stories: approximately six thousand pages of text. Almost all of her science fiction stories have been set in the universe sometimes known by her fans as the Vorkosiverse after its central character, Miles Vorkosigan. Although her writing as a whole has expanded beyond that universe, her science-fictional universe has remained unusually restricted. One explanation for her decision to restrict herself in this way is that Bujold is interested above all in character. While some science fiction writers are interested in developing different “what-if” scenarios and focusing on how that “what-if” changes a society, Bujold has shown herself to be concerned primarily in how her characters and the society they live in develop over time. She has built up a large and devoted fan base not because they want to see her develop numerous new universes and explore all the boundaries of her genre, but because they share the author's own fascination with her characters and want to see how they change and grow.
Jad Smith
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252037337
- eISBN:
- 9780252094514
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252037337.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
This introductory chapter discusses the metaphor of parallel worlds as it relates to the work of John Brunner. Brunner once observed that while we all inhabit the same world, we live in and among ...
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This introductory chapter discusses the metaphor of parallel worlds as it relates to the work of John Brunner. Brunner once observed that while we all inhabit the same world, we live in and among parallel worlds. He believed that a good science-fiction writer should cultivate awareness of parallel forms of experience and open up vistas onto the future that make readers more mindful of them. In keeping with this view, he developed plots with an eye toward the possible interplay of parallel worlds, imagining zones of contact as native to human experience as the tense friendship of the WASP and “Afram” roomies Donald Hogan and Norman House in Stand on Zanzibar (1968), and as foreign to it as the alternate ecology and symbiotic biotechnologies of The Crucible of Time (1983). Throughout his career, he made a practice of conducting idiosyncratic “thought experiments” in his fiction. These ranged from mirroring the moves of a famous 1892 Steinitz-Chigorin chess game in the plot of The Squares of the City (1965) to exploring the ethical quandaries of artificial intelligence through the grafted consciousness of a sentient spaceship in A Maze of Stars (1991). Time and again, Brunner proved himself an idea merchant of the first and best order. His narrative ventures often brought together parallel genres just as dynamically as parallel worlds, and he enjoyed a lasting reputation for handling even conventional storylines and concepts with an alluring difference that made them distinct—and distinctly his.Less
This introductory chapter discusses the metaphor of parallel worlds as it relates to the work of John Brunner. Brunner once observed that while we all inhabit the same world, we live in and among parallel worlds. He believed that a good science-fiction writer should cultivate awareness of parallel forms of experience and open up vistas onto the future that make readers more mindful of them. In keeping with this view, he developed plots with an eye toward the possible interplay of parallel worlds, imagining zones of contact as native to human experience as the tense friendship of the WASP and “Afram” roomies Donald Hogan and Norman House in Stand on Zanzibar (1968), and as foreign to it as the alternate ecology and symbiotic biotechnologies of The Crucible of Time (1983). Throughout his career, he made a practice of conducting idiosyncratic “thought experiments” in his fiction. These ranged from mirroring the moves of a famous 1892 Steinitz-Chigorin chess game in the plot of The Squares of the City (1965) to exploring the ethical quandaries of artificial intelligence through the grafted consciousness of a sentient spaceship in A Maze of Stars (1991). Time and again, Brunner proved himself an idea merchant of the first and best order. His narrative ventures often brought together parallel genres just as dynamically as parallel worlds, and he enjoyed a lasting reputation for handling even conventional storylines and concepts with an alluring difference that made them distinct—and distinctly his.
Nancy Johnston
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9781846311352
- eISBN:
- 9781846313882
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/UPO9781846313882.011
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This chapter introduces the readers to Nalo Hopkinson who is a critically-acclaimed Caribbean-Canadian science fiction writer. The chapter also provides the script of their conversations regarding ...
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This chapter introduces the readers to Nalo Hopkinson who is a critically-acclaimed Caribbean-Canadian science fiction writer. The chapter also provides the script of their conversations regarding the queer theory, representation of sexuality, and the use of technologies in creating alternative worlds in science fiction. In the latter part of the interview, Hopkinson stated that the science fiction community is a reflection of larger communities struggling with discrimination.Less
This chapter introduces the readers to Nalo Hopkinson who is a critically-acclaimed Caribbean-Canadian science fiction writer. The chapter also provides the script of their conversations regarding the queer theory, representation of sexuality, and the use of technologies in creating alternative worlds in science fiction. In the latter part of the interview, Hopkinson stated that the science fiction community is a reflection of larger communities struggling with discrimination.
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226454122
- eISBN:
- 9780226454146
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226454146.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This chapter discusses the theme of this volume which is about Russian physician and science fiction writer Alexander Bogdanov. This volume shows that the three different vocations of Bogdanov which ...
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This chapter discusses the theme of this volume which is about Russian physician and science fiction writer Alexander Bogdanov. This volume shows that the three different vocations of Bogdanov which include Marxism, science and literature are intertwined and mutually reinforced one another. It also explores his work in blood transfusion and his science fiction novels and highlights the interrelations between the life sciences and Marxism in Soviet Russia during Bogdanov's time.Less
This chapter discusses the theme of this volume which is about Russian physician and science fiction writer Alexander Bogdanov. This volume shows that the three different vocations of Bogdanov which include Marxism, science and literature are intertwined and mutually reinforced one another. It also explores his work in blood transfusion and his science fiction novels and highlights the interrelations between the life sciences and Marxism in Soviet Russia during Bogdanov's time.
Jad Smith
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252037337
- eISBN:
- 9780252094514
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252037337.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
This chapter presents the transcript of an interview with John Brunner conducted by Steven L. Goldstein. The interview covered topics such as where Brunner gets his ideas; how he goes about putting ...
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This chapter presents the transcript of an interview with John Brunner conducted by Steven L. Goldstein. The interview covered topics such as where Brunner gets his ideas; how he goes about putting his ideas on paper; whether he believes that the future will be as bleak as he made it appear in The Sheep Look Up; whether he follows a set, daily pattern in his work; if he knew that his experimental novels such as Stand on Zanzibar and The Jagged Orbit would turn out the way they did; advice that he can give to aspiring writers; his views on the influence of mainstream writers on science fiction; and how he felt when he won the Hugo Award for Stand on Zanzibar.Less
This chapter presents the transcript of an interview with John Brunner conducted by Steven L. Goldstein. The interview covered topics such as where Brunner gets his ideas; how he goes about putting his ideas on paper; whether he believes that the future will be as bleak as he made it appear in The Sheep Look Up; whether he follows a set, daily pattern in his work; if he knew that his experimental novels such as Stand on Zanzibar and The Jagged Orbit would turn out the way they did; advice that he can give to aspiring writers; his views on the influence of mainstream writers on science fiction; and how he felt when he won the Hugo Award for Stand on Zanzibar.
Jad Smith
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252037337
- eISBN:
- 9780252094514
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252037337.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
This chapter details events in the life of John Brunner from 1976 to 1995. At the height of his career, Brunner retreated from the science fiction (SF) world partly because of his health. Not long ...
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This chapter details events in the life of John Brunner from 1976 to 1995. At the height of his career, Brunner retreated from the science fiction (SF) world partly because of his health. Not long after finishing The Shockwave Rider, he began to have excruciating headaches due to acute hypertension. He started taking a drug known in the UK as Aldomet, from which he suffered serious side effects, including the loss of his creativity. Brunner also experienced a mid-career crisis. On the one hand, he felt ambivalent about the direction of the field, especially as the market swung back toward space opera, and Hollywood followed suit. On the other hand, with many of his original ambitions as a SF author now realized, he felt uncertain about his own goals. It was not until 1981 that Brunner began working on his next major SF project, The Crucible of Time (1983). On August 25, 1995, a month shy of his sixty-first birthday, Brunner died of a massive stroke at the Intersection WorldCon in Glasgow.Less
This chapter details events in the life of John Brunner from 1976 to 1995. At the height of his career, Brunner retreated from the science fiction (SF) world partly because of his health. Not long after finishing The Shockwave Rider, he began to have excruciating headaches due to acute hypertension. He started taking a drug known in the UK as Aldomet, from which he suffered serious side effects, including the loss of his creativity. Brunner also experienced a mid-career crisis. On the one hand, he felt ambivalent about the direction of the field, especially as the market swung back toward space opera, and Hollywood followed suit. On the other hand, with many of his original ambitions as a SF author now realized, he felt uncertain about his own goals. It was not until 1981 that Brunner began working on his next major SF project, The Crucible of Time (1983). On August 25, 1995, a month shy of his sixty-first birthday, Brunner died of a massive stroke at the Intersection WorldCon in Glasgow.
Gwyneth Jones
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- May 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780853238348
- eISBN:
- 9781781380741
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9780853238348.003.0017
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This chapter examines the theme of communication as reworked in the chapter's author's ‘Aleutian’ trilogy. In so doing, it offers a fascinating interrogation of her own creation: how a science ...
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This chapter examines the theme of communication as reworked in the chapter's author's ‘Aleutian’ trilogy. In so doing, it offers a fascinating interrogation of her own creation: how a science fiction writer speaks to and for the complex web of spoken and unspoken dialogues which surround her, and in the process does peculiar things like reinventing poststructuralist psychology.Less
This chapter examines the theme of communication as reworked in the chapter's author's ‘Aleutian’ trilogy. In so doing, it offers a fascinating interrogation of her own creation: how a science fiction writer speaks to and for the complex web of spoken and unspoken dialogues which surround her, and in the process does peculiar things like reinventing poststructuralist psychology.
Karen Burnham
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252038419
- eISBN:
- 9780252096297
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252038419.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
The vast majority of Greg Egan's writings concern science and the scientific process. Even when pointing out all the ways things can be unfair or go wrong, his fiction reflects a shining optimism ...
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The vast majority of Greg Egan's writings concern science and the scientific process. Even when pointing out all the ways things can be unfair or go wrong, his fiction reflects a shining optimism that through the advancement of science the human race can achieve wonders. This chapter sets Egan's work in the context of some broader clashes between science and society at large. Several of his stories address the conflict between science and religion, and others look at the conflict between the humanities and scientific fields in academia. The chapter applies some criticisms of pure science to various Egan stories and then ends with a defense of science and science fiction as meaningful elements of human experience.Less
The vast majority of Greg Egan's writings concern science and the scientific process. Even when pointing out all the ways things can be unfair or go wrong, his fiction reflects a shining optimism that through the advancement of science the human race can achieve wonders. This chapter sets Egan's work in the context of some broader clashes between science and society at large. Several of his stories address the conflict between science and religion, and others look at the conflict between the humanities and scientific fields in academia. The chapter applies some criticisms of pure science to various Egan stories and then ends with a defense of science and science fiction as meaningful elements of human experience.
Candas Jane Dorsey
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- May 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780853238348
- eISBN:
- 9781781380741
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9780853238348.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This chapter discusses how the work of science fiction writers speaks of, if not ‘homeplace’ then ‘someplace’, even when they write the most speculative of fictions. It argues that writers locate ...
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This chapter discusses how the work of science fiction writers speaks of, if not ‘homeplace’ then ‘someplace’, even when they write the most speculative of fictions. It argues that writers locate their stories by landscape — it is where they are, where they were, and where they are going. It is an outlook, a state of being as well as a place. The challenge for writers is transforming paradigms of landscape as they try to transform their ideas and speculate in fiction.Less
This chapter discusses how the work of science fiction writers speaks of, if not ‘homeplace’ then ‘someplace’, even when they write the most speculative of fictions. It argues that writers locate their stories by landscape — it is where they are, where they were, and where they are going. It is an outlook, a state of being as well as a place. The challenge for writers is transforming paradigms of landscape as they try to transform their ideas and speculate in fiction.
Edward James
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252039324
- eISBN:
- 9780252097379
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252039324.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
This chapter focuses on Bujold's fantasy novels. Since the turn of the millennium Bujold has produced seven fantasy novels and just three science fiction novels. Her first fantasy novel was The ...
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This chapter focuses on Bujold's fantasy novels. Since the turn of the millennium Bujold has produced seven fantasy novels and just three science fiction novels. Her first fantasy novel was The Spirit Ring (1992), inspired by Agricola's treatise on metallurgy and the autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini, both written in the mid-sixteenth century. Her next fantasy venture was the Chalion trilogy (2001–2005), modeled on fifteenth-century Europe. Chalion is a disorienting version of Castile, in the generation before a queen of Castille set about the unification of Spain through a marriage alliance. With many fantasy novels, the way the author has developed a unique magical system is often the major point of interest; with Chalion, however, it is Bujold's imaginative theological system that sets it apart from its rivals: Chalion and its neighbors worship five gods who form a family.Less
This chapter focuses on Bujold's fantasy novels. Since the turn of the millennium Bujold has produced seven fantasy novels and just three science fiction novels. Her first fantasy novel was The Spirit Ring (1992), inspired by Agricola's treatise on metallurgy and the autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini, both written in the mid-sixteenth century. Her next fantasy venture was the Chalion trilogy (2001–2005), modeled on fifteenth-century Europe. Chalion is a disorienting version of Castile, in the generation before a queen of Castille set about the unification of Spain through a marriage alliance. With many fantasy novels, the way the author has developed a unique magical system is often the major point of interest; with Chalion, however, it is Bujold's imaginative theological system that sets it apart from its rivals: Chalion and its neighbors worship five gods who form a family.
Edward James
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252039324
- eISBN:
- 9780252097379
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252039324.003.0007
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
This chapter examines the feminist themes explored in Bujold's fictional work. For Bujold, feminism involves far more than writing about women. Bujold herself wondered if, in her writing, disability ...
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This chapter examines the feminist themes explored in Bujold's fictional work. For Bujold, feminism involves far more than writing about women. Bujold herself wondered if, in her writing, disability works as “a personal metaphor for being born female.” But what makes her works stand out in the context of contemporary science fiction and fantasy is not the number of women or their strength of personality; it is the importance of pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood in her narratives. Bujold is unusual, too, within the world of space opera and indeed in the wider world of science fiction, in creating a number of very plausible and engaging child characters.Less
This chapter examines the feminist themes explored in Bujold's fictional work. For Bujold, feminism involves far more than writing about women. Bujold herself wondered if, in her writing, disability works as “a personal metaphor for being born female.” But what makes her works stand out in the context of contemporary science fiction and fantasy is not the number of women or their strength of personality; it is the importance of pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood in her narratives. Bujold is unusual, too, within the world of space opera and indeed in the wider world of science fiction, in creating a number of very plausible and engaging child characters.
Jad Smith
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252037337
- eISBN:
- 9780252094514
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252037337.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
This chapter focuses on the legacy of John Brunner. A wave of memorials followed in the wake of his sudden death. His novel Stand on Zanzibar was classed as his greatest achievement and, along with ...
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This chapter focuses on the legacy of John Brunner. A wave of memorials followed in the wake of his sudden death. His novel Stand on Zanzibar was classed as his greatest achievement and, along with The Jagged Orbit, The Sheep Look Up, and The Shockwave Rider, were portrayed as the foundation of his reputation. However, speculation about when and why his career faltered was rife. Attention was also focused on his complex personality, relegating important aspects of his literary legacy to the background. Perhaps this outcome was inevitable, given Brunner's lack of commercial success and reputation as a crusty defeatist toward the end of his career.Less
This chapter focuses on the legacy of John Brunner. A wave of memorials followed in the wake of his sudden death. His novel Stand on Zanzibar was classed as his greatest achievement and, along with The Jagged Orbit, The Sheep Look Up, and The Shockwave Rider, were portrayed as the foundation of his reputation. However, speculation about when and why his career faltered was rife. Attention was also focused on his complex personality, relegating important aspects of his literary legacy to the background. Perhaps this outcome was inevitable, given Brunner's lack of commercial success and reputation as a crusty defeatist toward the end of his career.
Karen Burnham
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252038419
- eISBN:
- 9780252096297
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252038419.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
This chapter examines Greg Egan's view of ethics, which can be seen from his earliest breakout story, “The Cutie” (1989). It looks at several facets of ethical concerns, including medical ethics as ...
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This chapter examines Greg Egan's view of ethics, which can be seen from his earliest breakout story, “The Cutie” (1989). It looks at several facets of ethical concerns, including medical ethics as seen in “Blood Sisters” (1991) and “Cocoon” (1994). It also covers the uneven distribution of technological benefits, best illustrated by “Yeyuka” (1997) and the genetic engineering piracy shown in Distress (1995). Finally, it focuses on our ethical responsibilities to life that we create and to alien life that we may find out in the universe.Less
This chapter examines Greg Egan's view of ethics, which can be seen from his earliest breakout story, “The Cutie” (1989). It looks at several facets of ethical concerns, including medical ethics as seen in “Blood Sisters” (1991) and “Cocoon” (1994). It also covers the uneven distribution of technological benefits, best illustrated by “Yeyuka” (1997) and the genetic engineering piracy shown in Distress (1995). Finally, it focuses on our ethical responsibilities to life that we create and to alien life that we may find out in the universe.
