The Williamson Effect - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312857489 ISBN 13: 9780312857486

Publisher: Tor Books, 1996

Synopsis

Jack Williamson has been writing groundbreaking science fiction since 1929, on topics as diverse as time travel (The Legion of Time), anti-matter (Seetee Shock), genetic engineering (Dragon's Island), and cybernetics (The Humanoids), earning him the title of Grand Master from the Science Fiction Writers of America. He's also produced seminal fantasies like Darker Than You Think and Golden Blood, a part of his oeuvre that won him the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement.
Roger Zelazny, one of the most acclaimed writers of fantasy and science fiction, has brought together some of today's greatest SF writers to honor Williamson with terrific original stories either about Williamson himself or inspired by his works, coupled with original afterwords from the authors sharing their own fond remembrances of Williamson.

About this title

From Publishers Weekly

The Williamson of the title is Jack ("With Folded Hands," etc.), who began his SF career before the advent of the Golden Age and is still at it as he nears 90. It's no surprise, then, that this all-original fictional Festschrift is bylined by some other giants of the field, including Frederick Pohl, Poul Anderson, Ben Bova, Fred Saberhagen, John Brunner, Andre Norton and editor Zelazny. The 14 stories and two poems here riff on Williamson's work, play off his best known character, Giles Habibula and his "bad" robots, the humanoids, and also fictionalize Williamson himself. The best use Williamson's ideas as jumping off points: Brunner's "Thinkertoy," a short, sharp and nasty piece concerning a father and his damaged children, brings the idea of a bad robot all too close to home; Pati Nagle's "Emancipation" is reminiscent of Golden Age SF but adds several modern touches as it tells a tale of star travel and spirituality. Jane Lindskold's chilling "Child of the Night" adds a dimension by acknowledging that Williamson also writes fantasy. The collection is bleak, however, despite the injection of humor that is Jeff Bredenberg's "The Human Ingredient," and too many of its entries disappoint, like "Nonstop to Portales," which isn't up to Connie Willis's usual snuff. Ultimately, this work is nobler in aim than in execution-and reading it serves as a poor substitute for another run through the best work of its legendary subject.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Before his death in 1995, Zelazny, a legend in his own fashion, completed most of the work on this homage to one of the most influential sf writers, Jack Williamson. Still very active in sf circles, Williamson, now 87, recently had an asteroid christened with his name and will certainly relish these appreciative short stories from such other prominent sf figures as Ben Bova, Connie Willis, and Fred Saberhagen. Frederik Pohl's volume-opener charts an alternative career path for Williamson, on which he wins fame as a moon explorer rather than as a writer. Poul Anderson offers a grisly tale of otherworldly beings in Alaska that resemble Williamson's famous were-creatures. Under the influence of Williamson's robotic humanoids, John Brunner's "Thinkertoy" recounts the woeful fate of a parent who buys chip-driven minirobots for his motherless children. After each story, its author respectfully outlines "the Williamson effect" on his or her own writing and career. A feast of entertainment, even for those who aren't Williamson fans, and a welcome tribute to Williamson's impact on sf. Carl Hays

About this edition

• Publisher: Tor Books
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0312857489
• ISBN 13: 9780312857486
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 349
• Editor: Roger Zelazny
• Illustrator: Nicholas Jainschigg