Ahira's Hangar

This is a New Mexico based Sci-Fi/Fantasy board and for almost two years I haven't got around to making a topic of one of the Grandmasters of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, the great Jack Williamson. So shame on me--even though I, and many other, recognize his prodigious contributions to the genres I either haven't read that much or read his stuff so long ago I've forgotten exactly what I've read. I do remember, at least, reading the Starchild trilogy, Trapped in Space and Star Bridge. I know I've read a bunch of his Sci-Fi and Fantasy short stories and such pubications as The Magazine Fantasy and Science Fiction, Analog and Assimov. I've always found his stuff to be consistent and good and have no problem ranking him right up there with his buddy Fredrich Pohl, Bradbury and Heinlien. I'd like to get back into his Fantasy works, I remember them as innovative, weird, psychological and a cut way above Howard. I know that doesn't say much, but remember it was a long time ago, I just know that I liked them, alot.

I met him at Bubonicon in Albq. last summer with Stephen R. Donaldson, George R. R. Martin, Jane Lindskold and Walter John Williams who represent (along with the late Roger Zelazny) the cream of N.M. Sci-Fi and Fantasy talent. Mr Williamson is 91 years old, as of this post.

About the Author: (from fantasticfiction.com)

Jack Williamson has been in the forefront of science fiction since his first published story in 1928. Now in his ninth decade as a published author, Williamson is the acclaimed author of such trailblazing science fiction as The Humanoids and The Legion of Time. The Oxford English Dictionary credits Williamson with inventing the terms "genetic engineering" (in Dragon’s Island) and "terraforming" (in Seetee Ship). His seminal novel Darker Than You Think was a landmark speculation on the nature of shape-changing.
Williamson has also been active academically. He has taught since in the 1950s and is professor emeritus at Eastern New Mexico University. He live and works in Portales, New Mexico.

Series

Legion of Space
1. The Legion of Space (1934)
2. The Cometeers (1936)
3. One against the Legion (1939)
4. The Queen of the Legion (1982)

Legion of Time
1. The Legion of Time (1938)
2. After World's End (1939)

Humanoids
1. The Humanoids (1949)
2. The Humanoid Touch (1980)

Seetee
1. Seetee Shock (1950)
Seetee Ship (1951) (writing as Will Stewart)

Undersea Eden (with Frederik Pohl)
1. Undersea Quest (1954)
2. Undersea Fleet (1955)
3. Undersea City (1958)

Starchild (with Frederik Pohl)
1. The Reefs of Space (1964)
2. Starchild (1965)
3. Rogue Star (1969)

Cuckoo (with Frederik Pohl)
1. Farthest Star (1975)
2. Wall Around a Star (1975)

Novels

The Alien Intelligence (1929)
The Girl from Mars (1930) (with Miles J Breuer)
The Green Girl (1930)
The Stone from the Green Star (1931)
Golden Blood (1933)
Xandulu (1934)
The Blue Spot (1935)
Islands of the Sun (1935)
The Fortress of Utopia (1939)
Realm of Wizardry (1940)
With Folded Hands (1947)
Darker Than You Think (1948)
Dragon's Island (1951)
aka The Not-Men
The Dome Around America (1955)
aka Gateway to Paradise
Star Bridge (1955) (with James E Gunn)
Wolves of Darkness (1958)
The Trial of Terra (1962)
The Reign of Wizardry (1964)
Bright New Universe (1967)
Trapped in Space (1968)
Jamboree (1969)
The Moon Children (1972)
The Power of Blackness (1975)
Brother to Demons, Brother to Gods (1979)
Manseed (1982)
Lifeburst (1984)
Firechild (1986)
Land's End (1988) (with Frederik Pohl)
Narabedla, Ltd. (1988) (with Frederik Pohl)
But Not Warriors (1989)
Mazeway (1990)
The Singers of Time (1991) (with Frederik Pohl)
Beachhead (1992)
Demon Moon (1994)
The Black Sun (1997)
The Silicon Dagger (1999)
Terraforming Earth (2001)

Non fiction

H. G. Wells: Critic of Progress (1973) (see H G Wells)
Teaching Science Fiction: Education for Tomorrow (1980)
Wonder's Child: My Life in Science Fiction (1984)

Short stories

The Metal Man (1928)
The Cosmic Express (1930)
The Moon Era (1931)
Star Bright (1939)
Hindsight (1940)
Collision Orbit (1942) (writing as Will Stewart)
Minus Sign (1942) (writing as Will Stewart)
Opposites - React! (1943) (writing as Will Stewart)
With Folded Hands... (1947)
The Man from Outside (1951)
Beans (1958)
Rogue Star (part 2) (1968) (with Frederik Pohl)
Rogue Star (part 3) (1968) (with Frederik Pohl)
Jamboree (1969)
The Highest Dive (1976)
The Humanoid Universe (1980)
The Firefly Tree (1997)
The Pet Rocks Mystery (1998)
Eden Star (2000)
The Ultimate Earth (2000) Hugo

Awards

World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement winner (1994)
Hugo Best Novella winner (2001) : The Ultimate Earth

(now I'll have to start a bloody Fredrick Pohl topic! )



*****
Before, you are wise; after, you are wise. In between you are otherwise.
Fravashi saying (from the formularies of Osho the Fool) <i>Edited by: danlo60 at: 3/15/04 5:46 pm
</i>

Another author I must try someday. Where do you recommend a person start, Danlo? ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
<i></i>

Like I said, I'm no authority but you can't go wrong with the Starchild trilogy-The books get better and better: Rogue Star is a classic! *****
Before, you are wise; after, you are wise. In between you are otherwise.
Fravashi saying (from the formularies of Osho the Fool) <i></i>

Here a 5 star sample review of the trilogy from Amazon.com

Quote:A reader from San Francisco
If Heinlein had mixed "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" with the semantic subtheme of his short story "Gulf," and seasoned it with Clarke's "2001" and Disney's "The Black Hole," he could have cooked up this story. I would say the quality of the writing qua writing is competent but merely average, whereas the theories, especially regarding the nature of stars, are stellar. If you have read Harry Turtledove's historically-flavored science fiction, you have experienced this combination. An important thing the book did for me was to reduce the incomprehensible magnitude of space to a mentally graspable size. And--it was a real page-turner *****
Before, you are wise; after, you are wise. In between you are otherwise.
Fravashi saying (from the formularies of Osho the Fool) <i></i>