R.I.P - Frederick Pohl

[IanBruntlett]

Hi,

See:-
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/09/02/science_fiction_titan_frederik_pohl_dies_aged_93/

Sadly,

Ian

 

[phavoc]

Another legend passes... pretty soon they'll all be dead and we'll having nothing to read!!!

Cause, yanno, there are no great authors any more.

Discuss! :lol:

 

[Wil Mireu]

hey, there's Iain M Ban- .... dammit.

Though there's also Alastair Reynolds, Stephen Baxter, Gregory Benford, Greg Bear, and others. They may not be "classic" as in those who remember the beginnings of SF, but they're still damn good.

 

[GypsyComet]

Cause, yanno, there are no great authors any more.

Discuss! :lol:

There are some good SF authors out there, but getting traction in the modern publishing biz is increasingly difficult. We just lost Andrew Offut and Richard Matheson, too.

 

[phavoc]

We've still got a few curmudgeons and otherwise that are around and have put out some great prose - Pournelle, Niven, Ursula Le Guin, CJ Cherryh,Vinge, and others I can't remember.

Plus we do have lots of newer ones who haven't quite gotten to be "legends". Writers like Weber, Card, Bear, Gibson, Drake, and lots more!

I'm assuming everyone is going to have their own list of their greats.

 

[High Orbit Drifter]

One of the first novels I read was Pohl's "Gateway". I will always hold him in special regard.

And really I thought some of the people mentioned were already legend: Certainly Le Guin, CJ Cherryh,Vinge, Gibson, Drake and Neal Stephenson (to name someone not yet named).

Most of the authors that shaped the Traveller Universe are gone. They aren't forgotten.

 

[GypsyComet]

I'm assuming everyone is going to have their own list of their greats.

There are greats and then there are simply "sources of inspiration". Mine from a decade ago:

-Poul Anderson's space books. All of them. This includes the Flandry / Imperium cycle, the van Rijn/Falkayn/Polesotechnic League books, and the "incomplete" (but actually rather extensive) Psychotechnic League books. Not to mention some stand-alones like The Avatar, Tau Zero and Orion Shall Rise.

-Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan cycle, still growing.

-Elizabeth Moon's Hunting Party trilogy (Hunting Party, Flying Colors, and Winner's Circle), and several others set in the same universe.

-David Drake's "Hammer's Slammers" series, though just the first book will give you a good idea... Much of Drake's other work is readable in a Traveller context.

-Robert Frezza's McLendon's Syndrome and its sequel The VMR Theory. He also has a series of books that are, like David Drake's Slammers, basically the Vietnam War in space.

-Melissa Scott's Roads of Heaven trilogy. Variant (uses magic in space) but very Traveller feel besides this. She has also done some other things I recommend but can't remember the names of...

-Anne McCaffrey's Dinosaur Planet cycle, including Death of Sleep, Sassinak, Dinosaur Planet, Dinosaur Planet Survivors, and Generation Warriors. Also read the Crystal Singer books and the Ship Who Sang cycle. (Yes, I know she's a bit preachy.)

-Andre Norton's space books. This includes many pairs, trilogies and series as well as singles. The Solar Queen stories are a big part of Traveller's Merchant vibe.

-H. Beam Piper. Space Viking for starters, but most everything is worth the read.

-Benford and Brin's Heart of the Comet.

-Greg Bear's Eon trilogy, Eon, Eternity, and Legacy. Legacy is the most Travelleresque of these, but they are all worth the read.

-David Brin's Earthclan books: Sundiver, Startide Rising, Uplift War, Brightness Reef, Infinity's Shore and Heaven's Reach.

-Brian Daley's Hobart Floyt trilogy: Requiem for a Ruler of Worlds, Jinx on a Terran Inheritance, and Fall of the White Ship Avatar. Sadly, Mr. Daley died in 1996, so we will never see more of this quintessentially Traveller series.
I did, however, find a pair of posthumously published books: Gammalaw-Smoke on the Water, and Gammalaw-A Screaming Across the Sky. They are apparently the only finished parts of what was to be a much larger series. Gritty combat, gritty politics, good reading so far...

-Robert Heinlein's too-numerous-to-mention library of books. Highlights include Starship Troopers, StarBeast, and Friday.

-Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination.

-Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy, though only the first three are really worth it IMHO.

-Joe Haldeman's Forever War. 'Nuf said.

-Frank Herbert's Dune series of books. While the later books pale before the original, all are worth reading. Well, maybe not the stuff written by his son...

-Joe Clifford Faust's Angel's Luck trilogy: Desperate Measures, Precious Cargo, and
The Essence of Evil. I'll admit that the first book is a bit rough, but the other two are very good writing and very good reading. They also read like a Traveller campaign...

-David Weber's Honor Harrington series, which is still growing. I stopped after two for various reasons, but I know it continues to appeal to others.

-Arthur C. Clarke's The Songs of Distant Earth as well as the 2001 tetralogy and the Rama trilogy. Also worth the listen if you like Mike Oldfield (of "Tubular Bells" fame), is his "soundtrack" to "The Songs of Distant Earth".

-C.J. Cherryh's Chanur books, as well as the Downbelow Station/Cyteen/Forty Thousand in Gehenna cycle.

-Alan Dean Foster's Humanx Commonwealth stuff. All of it. This includes the Flinx books.

-E.C.Tubb's Dumarest of Terra cycle, last seen at over 20 books, but finally finished after 30 years (it started in 1967). This series is the inspiration for much of the flavor of travel-by-starship in Traveller.

-Larry Niven's Known Space stories, including the Ringworld books and the tales of Beowulf. Also look for the Smoke Ring books (Smoke Ring and The Integral Trees) and his collaboration with Pournelle and Barnes in Legacy of Heorot and Beowulf's Children.

-James Alan Gardner's Expendable, Vigilant, and Hunted. Scary universe for playing in, but wonderful toys and races.

-Jeffery D.Kooistra's Dykstra's War. There may be things in the Oort Cloud you didn't want to disturb...

-Larry Segriff's Alien Dreams. Good space Navy stuff. I haven't read the prequel (Spacer Dreams) yet, but I intend to.

-John DeChancie's StarRigger trilogy: Starrigger, Paradox Alley,and Redlimit Freeway. Better than all of his Castle <blank> series put together.

-Roger Zelazny's Lord of Light, Doorways in the Sand, and frankly anything else. Traveller related? No. Worth reading? No doubt.

-Massimiliano Frezzato's Keepers of the Maser series of graphic stories, "The 2nd Moon," "The Isle of Dwarves," "Eye of the Sea," and "The Iron Tower." Originally from the pages of Heavy Metal magazine and later reprinted in hardcover by Heavy Metal Press. A lost colony, genetic manipulation of human and animal, neat hardware. Five "chapters" individually reprinted. "The Isle of Dwarves" also has a nice pictorial guide to the people, animals and hardware of Kolony.

-Phil Foglio's Buck Godot series. Actually a comic book series (of eight issues; published in collected form at some point) and a pair of graphic novels (both available again after a long absence). Very funny and worth the effort to find and read.

 

[Prime_Evil]

I'd agree with many of the authors on your list of recommended reading - I'd argue that the most important influences on Traveller were H. Beam Piper's Space Viking, Poul Anderson's Flandry and Polesotechnic League novels, and E.C. Tubb's Dumarest books. Other significant influences include the Demon Princes series by Jack Vance and the Commodore Grimes series by Bertram Chandler.

I'd also add a couple of other authors, including Harry Harrison's Deathworld and Stainless Steel Rat series (and possibly also the first Bill the Galactic Hero novel). The first few chapters of The Mote in God's Eye by Niven and Pournelle also have a strong Traveller vibe.

For Frederick Pohl, I'd echo the sentiment of an earlier poster that Gateway was his best novel. However, I'd also mention The Space Merchants as a brilliant novel about what it might be like to live on a world dominated by corporate interests. Published in 1952, this book prefigured the concerns of the cyberpunk movement by almost thirty years. For example, the idea that transnational corporations might use food additives to make people in developing countries dependent on their products is very cyberpunk...

(EDIT: Should we create a separate thread to discuss recommended inspirational reading for Traveller GMs. I reckon that the top two posts should be reserved - the first for a reading list of the older source material that inspired Traveller and the second for a list of more recent works that GMs might find valuable. I reckon a few people might find this interesting - especially if we add links to ebook editions where possible!)

 

[GypsyComet]

I'd agree with many of the authors on your list of recommended reading - I'd argue that the most important influences on Traveller were H. Beam Piper's Space Viking, Poul Anderson's Flandry and Polesotechnic League novels, and E.C. Tubb's Dumarest books. Other significant influences include the Demon Princes series by Jack Vance and the Commodore Grimes series by Bertram Chandler.

I'd also add a couple of other authors, including Harry Harrison's Deathworld and Stainless Steel Rat series (and possibly also the first Bill the Galactic Hero novel). The first few chapters of The Mote in God's Eye by Niven and Pournelle also have a strong Traveller vibe.

I would agree that Mote provides a good look at what would become the Imperial Navy, though you get bits from Poul Anderson as well. I generally can't stand Pournelle's writing, though, so I'm unlikely to recommend him unless Niven's name is also on the cover.

Not acknowledging Norton as a major source is an indication that you haven't read her. A big chunk of the Merchant vibe come from Andre Norton, as do bits of the Scouts, and a fair bit of the feel of psionics, Norton's psions were rarely easy or casual users, and the practice was exhausting. Norton also was writing about ship-borne mercenary companies long before Pournelle. Oh yes, and the Forerunners, without which Grandfather and the Ancients would be much less than they are.

Most of the rest of the Scouts come from the Grimes books, as do pirates.

Piper's direct influence on Traveller is minimal, Sword Worlds aside. Where he really inspired is in the general atmosphere of what would become the Third Imperium's "Men, Not Laws" attitude.

CT's Diplomats (Supp 4) are Keith Laumer's Retief.
CT's "Other" are basically the Stainless Steel Rat.

 

[IanBruntlett]

Hi Gypsy Comet,

I'm assuming everyone is going to have their own list of their greats.

There are greats and then there are simply "sources of inspiration". Mine from a decade ago:

Thanks for that list. I've printed with a view to reading some of them when I have time to read fiction

 

[Prime_Evil]

I would agree that Mote provides a good look at what would become the Imperial Navy, though you get bits from Poul Anderson as well. I generally can't stand Pournelle's writing, though, so I'm unlikely to recommend him unless Niven's name is also on the cover.

I agree with you about Pournelle - I find most of his work weak.

Not acknowledging Norton as a major source is an indication that you haven't read her. A big chunk of the Merchant vibe come from Andre Norton, as do bits of the Scouts, and a fair bit of the feel of psionics, Norton's psions were rarely easy or casual users, and the practice was exhausting. Norton also was writing about ship-borne mercenary companies long before Pournelle. Oh yes, and the Forerunners, without which Grandfather and the Ancients would be much less than they are.

I've read most of Norton's work and enjoyed a lot of it - not including her was an oversight on my part. I missed mentioning Norton and you missed mentioning Chandler - it's no big deal.

I did think that FGU's Space Opera RPG handled the Forerunners in a cool way though - conflating them with the Arisian's from the Lensmen books was a clever idea.

Most of the rest of the Scouts come from the Grimes books, as do pirates.

His works certainly had a big influence on how they are depicted in Traveller - although I suppose both were floating around in SF circles since E.E. Doc Smith.

Piper's direct influence on Traveller is minimal, Sword Worlds aside. Where he really inspired is in the general atmosphere of what would become the Third Imperium's "Men, Not Laws" attitude.

I'd agree with this - there is very little that you can point to and say that it was lifted directly from Piper's works, but some of the feel of the Third Imperium is derived from his work.

CT's Diplomats (Supp 4) are Keith Laumer's Retief.

Damn...another one I missed. I loved Retief when I stumbled across those stories, but haven't read and Laumer for ages. I should dig out my collection of Bolo books sometime

CT's "Other" are basically the Stainless Steel Rat.

True, although back in the day my personal ideas of what constituted CT's "Other" was also informed by Vila from Blake's 7 for some reason.

 

[dragoner]

Frederick Pohl will be missed, RIP.

Re Piper: The Imperium's whole Feudal Technocracy and system of Nobility was lifted directly from Space Viking.

Feudal Technocracy was the dominant government form in H. Beam Piper’s Space Viking. Organized in a system of
kingdoms, duchies, and other small states, ruled by (frequently-warring) noblemen. Despite (or perhaps because of) the
political instability, the government to achieves/retains a relatively high level of technology. Notice that it parallels
Balkanization, but acknowledges some form of central authority.
I would call the structure of the Imperium a Feudal Technocracy.
© 1982 Marc Miller – High Passage #5.

 

[GypsyComet]

Ah yes, the least understood government code in the game, and that is among people who *have* read Piper.

 

[dragoner]

Yeah, I have always made government 5 a "good" Imperial planet and 6 a "bad" one; but I have drifted away from Imperial space, though the Imperium has power projection on the frontier.

 

[phavoc]

Ah, Piper. Any Piper affaciando's like his Lord Kalvan series? Pequod Press has put out five sequels to the story, plus another Fuzzy book and two more Space Viking stories.

 

[Prime_Evil]

It's a shame Piper had such a short writing career - if he had survived longer, he might be more widely known. As it stands, his influence on other SF authors was very strong.