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The Faces of Science Fiction
Portraits of eighty-two prominent American science fiction writers are accompanied by brief statements about their lives and work
176 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1984
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 17, 2023
From 1984, this book has 82 photos of American science fiction authors plus a statement from each. Some writers talk about their genre, writing in general or even life in general. A few do this in the form of a poem. As you might imagine, a lot of the statements are quite defensive.
It's from a point in time when A. E. Van Vogt, C. L. Moore, Alfred Bester and James Tiptree were still around to participate. Heinlein and Ellison aren't here but most of the writers you would expect are featured.
Oddly this book gave me some of the strongest nostalgia for pre-internet life and it must be seeing all the writers homes and imagining how peaceful it might have been.
Tiptree writes something really interesting about peoples uneasiness around being unable to confirm someone's gender. Alan Dean Foster looks very wealthy. The reflection of Thomas Disch is seen on his toaster. S. P. Somtow says something very strange about eastern and western ways of thinking. Larry Niven thinks it's a sin to waste a reader's time and I agree. Ian Wallace has a painting of himself as a muscular hero. Karl Edward Wagner has pictures of Diana Rigg on his wall.
This is a hugely charming book, most of the statements are very thoughtful and it got me curious about the few writers I didn't know. I also have the 1996 sequel The Faces Of Fantasy which has American, British and Irish writers, many returning faces and even more surprises. I strongly recommend both books.
It's from a point in time when A. E. Van Vogt, C. L. Moore, Alfred Bester and James Tiptree were still around to participate. Heinlein and Ellison aren't here but most of the writers you would expect are featured.
Oddly this book gave me some of the strongest nostalgia for pre-internet life and it must be seeing all the writers homes and imagining how peaceful it might have been.
Tiptree writes something really interesting about peoples uneasiness around being unable to confirm someone's gender. Alan Dean Foster looks very wealthy. The reflection of Thomas Disch is seen on his toaster. S. P. Somtow says something very strange about eastern and western ways of thinking. Larry Niven thinks it's a sin to waste a reader's time and I agree. Ian Wallace has a painting of himself as a muscular hero. Karl Edward Wagner has pictures of Diana Rigg on his wall.
This is a hugely charming book, most of the statements are very thoughtful and it got me curious about the few writers I didn't know. I also have the 1996 sequel The Faces Of Fantasy which has American, British and Irish writers, many returning faces and even more surprises. I strongly recommend both books.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews