EKLUND, Gordon

(1945-)

   US writer, born in Seattle, where he now lives. He published his first sf, "Dear Aunt Annie", a NEBULA nominee, with Fantastic in 1970. In the early and productive years of his career he published dozens of stories in sf magazines (none have been collected), writing as Wendell Stewart once; until his work as E.E. SMITH (see below), he published all his books under his own name. His work was initially various though uneven. Both his first novel, The Eclipse of Dawn (1971), and his fourth and best solo effort, All Times Possible (1974), anatomize with pessimistic force the US political landscape and share an interest in the psychology and tactics of leadership. The sf elements in the first - mainly some intrusive ALIENS - tend to jar, but the PARALLEL-WORLDS structure of All Times Possible intensifies and darkens the picture of political realities at work through the second quarter of the 20th century. Although a sometimes careless writing style and a tendency to prolixity mar these books, they are still significant contributions to the theme of POLITICS in sf. A Trace of Dreams (1972) is also a novel of some weight, but some other modestly exploratory works are comparatively commonplace: Inheritors of Earth (1951 Future Combined with Science Fiction Stories as "Incomplete Superman"; exp 1974), with Poul ANDERSON, stumblingly expands the latter's original story; Beyond the Resurrection (1973) and The Grayspace Beast (1976) lack the eloquence necessary to give full life to the concepts they present.GE collaborated with Gregory BENFORD (whom see for details) on the series of stories which eventually became If the Stars Are Gods (fixup 1977), the title story of which, in its original form, won a 1974 Nebula for Best Novelette; it is GE's most sustained work (and one of Benford's finest as well). Find the Changeling (1980), also with Benford, less impressively recounts the hunt on a colony-world for a shape-changing alien. Subsequent novels show a lessening of energy. The Lord Tedric series of SPACE OPERAS is not remarkably successful. The first volume, Lord Tedric (1954 Universe Science Fiction; exp 1978) - was expanded from an original story by E.E. "Doc" Smith and was published as a collaboration, though GE was not credited in the UK edition; Space Pirates (1979) and Black Knight of the Iron Sphere (1979; vt The Black Knight of the Iron Sphere 1979 UK), both entirely by GE, were published as collaborations in the USA and as by Smith alone in the UK; the final volume, Alien Realms (1980), appeared under the Smith name in both countries. After The Garden of Winter (1980) GE fell silent for some years, returning to the scene with a juvenile, A Thunder on Neptune (1989).

   JC

   Other works: Serving in Time (1975 Canada); Falling toward Forever (1975 Canada); Dance of the Apocalypse (1976 Canada); two Star Trek ties, The Starless World * (1978) and Devil World * (1979); The Twilight River (1979 dos).

   See also: ALTERNATE WORLDS; GODS AND DEMONS; HITLER WINS; JUPITER; LIVING WORLDS; OUTER PLANETS; RELIGION; ROBOTS; STARS; SUN.