- RUSSELL, Eric Frank
- (1905-1978)UK writer. He used the pseudonyms Webster Craig and Duncan H. Munro on a few short stories and borrowed Maurice G. Hugi's (Brad KENT) name for one other. His first story was "The Saga of Pelican West" for ASTOUNDING SCIENCE-FICTION in 1937, and he was the first UK writer tobecome a regular contributor to that magazine; he used a slick pastiche-US style in most of his stories. EFR was interested in the works and theories of Charles FORT, and based his first novel, Sinister Barrier (1939 Unknown; 1943; rev 1948 US), on Fort's suggestion that the human racemight be "property", the owners here being invisible parasites which feed on human pain and anguish; it was featured in \#1 of UNKNOWN, although it is straightforward sf and quite atypical of that magazine. His STAR TREK-like Jay Score series, about a crew of interplanetary explorersincluding a heroic ROBOT, appeared in ASF from 1941, and was collected in Men, Martians and Machines (coll of linked stories 1955).Some of EFR'sbest work was done in the years after WWII, including "Metamorphosite" (1946), "Hobbyist" (1947) and "Dear Devil" (1950). A series of bitteranti- WAR stories, including "Late Night Final" (1948) and "I am Nothing" (1952), culminated in the fine pacifist SATIRE ". . . And Then There WereNone" (1951), subsequently incorporated into The Great Explosion (fixup 1962). EFR went on to write other stories in which militaristic humans are confronted by frustrating cultures, including "The Waitabits" (1955), although he pandered to John W. CAMPBELL Jr's human chauvinism in stories which confronted unimaginative humanoid ALIENS with awkwardly inventive humans, as in "Diabologic" (1955), The Space Willies (1956 ASF as "Plus X"; exp 1958 dos; rev vt Next of Kin 1959 UK), "Nuisance Value" (1957) andWasp (1957 US; exp 1958 UK). The HUGO-winning anti-bureaucratic satire "Allamagoosa" (1955) is in much the same vein. EFR's stories of this quirky kind made a significant contribution to sf HUMOUR; and their continuing influence is reflected in Design for Great Day (1953 Planet Stories by EFR alone; exp 1995) with Alan Dean FOSTER, which works as anhomage on Foster's part to EFR's contagious vision.EFR's remaining novels were more earnest than his ironic short fiction, and rather lacklustre by comparison. Dreadful Sanctuary (1948 ASF; rev 1951 US; rev 1963 US; further rev 1967 UK) is an improbable quasi-Fortean sf tale whose various versions include two markedly different endings. In Sentinels from Space (1951 Startling Stories as "The Star Watchers"; exp 1953 US) benevolentmature souls, who have emerged from the chrysalis of corporeality, keep watch over our immature species. Three to Conquer (1956 US) is about an INVASION of Earth by parasitic aliens who turn out to be more easilydetectable - the protagonist being telepathic (ESP) - than they had anticipated. With a Strange Device (1964; vt The Mindwarpers 1965 US) is a convoluted psychological melodrama cast as a crime story. His short fiction appears in various collections: Deep Space (coll 1954 US; cut vt Selections from Deep Space 1955 US), Six Worlds Yonder (coll 1958 dos),Far Stars (coll 1961), Dark Tides (coll 1962), Somewhere a Voice (coll 1965), Like Nothing on Earth (coll 1975) and The Best of Eric Frank Russell (coll 1978) ed Alan Dean FOSTER. He also wrote a series of essays on Great World Mysteries (coll 1957).MJE/BSAbout the author: Eric Frank Russell, Our Sentinel in Space: A Working Bibliography (last rev 1988 chap) by Phil STEPHENSEN-PAYNE.
Science Fiction and Fantasy Encyclopedia. Academic. 2011.
