UKC

RIP Brian Aldiss

New Topic
This topic has been archived, and won't accept reply postings.
 Big Ger 22 Aug 2017
"Brian Aldiss, the “grand old man” of science fiction whose writing has shaped the genre since he was first published in the 1950s, has died at the age of 92.

Aldiss’s agent, Curtis Brown, and his son, Tim Aldiss, have announced that the author, artist, poet and memoirist died at home in Oxford in the early hours of 19 August. “Brian had celebrated his birthday with close friends and family and spoken to many close to him,” wrote Tim on Twitter as he announced the death of “our beloved father and grandfather”.

Aldiss was the author of science fiction classics including Non-Stop, Hothouse and Greybeard, as well as the Helliconia trilogy, which his agent said bridged “the gap between classic science fiction and contemporary literature”. His numerous short stories include Super-Toys Last All Summer Long, which was adapted into the Steven Spielberg film AI, while his Horatio Stubbs saga was based on his time during the war in Burma and the far east.

Aldiss was the recipient of numerous awards, including the Hugo and Nebula prizes for science fiction and fantasy, an honorary doctorate from the University of Reading, the title of grand master from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and an OBE for services to literature. In a 2013 profile of Aldiss for the Guardian, Stuart Kelly described him as “the grand old man of British science fiction”, saying that “few writers have contributed more” to speculative fiction."


https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/aug/21/science-fiction-author-brian-...
 Offwidth 22 Aug 2017
In reply to Big Ger:

Oh dear, all he gets is cut and paste!? The man was a major influence on my reading; as well as being one of those who dragged me out of mainstream SciFi, with his own amazing novels and short stories, he seemed to be the editor of endless sets of anthologies of the best other authors out there. His non fiction, especially as a 'historian' of Sci Fi was really important and his straight fiction was pretty good as well. So many good books with so much fun in sadness. You have to be confident and able to try a Sci-Fi take on Finnegan's wake

Anyone who has missed out on him completely might want to listen to this:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0093tnd


RIP? I hope he continues to shake things up in death as he did in life.
 hokkyokusei 22 Aug 2017
In reply to Offwidth:

Oh. That's very sad news. I've not read any Brian Aldiss for quite a few years, though I have a few of his books in my 'to read' pile. But, I read loads of his stuff when I first graduated to 'adult' SF in the 70s, particularly his short fiction.

The novels that stick in my mind are 'Greybeard' and one of my all-time favourites 'Hothouse'.

He'll be missed.
 toad 22 Aug 2017
In reply to hokkyokusei: radio4extra periodically repeats an adaptation of Hothouse which is worth a listen. I suspect it may get another airing soon

 nufkin 22 Aug 2017
In reply to Big Ger:

I misheard it as Brian Aldridge yesterday
 hokkyokusei 22 Aug 2017
In reply to toad:

Thank you. I've not heard that and will look out for it.
 RX-78 22 Aug 2017
In reply to Big Ger:

ah, I loved the Helliconia series and also Hothouse, haven't read greybeard, must give it a try.
 PCD 23 Aug 2017
In reply to RX-78:

what routes did he do? did he have a favourite climbing area?
 PCD 23 Aug 2017
In reply to Big Ger:

what routes did he do? did he have a favourite climbing area?
 iskra2000 23 Aug 2017

> what routes did he do? did he have a favourite climbing area?

Barefoot In The Head (21)

The Eighty Minute Hour (18)
 Offwidth 23 Aug 2017
In reply to iskra2000:

Greybeard (E1 5b)
Helliconia Spring (HVS 5a)
Hothouse (6b+)

Route names are a good measure of the importance of an author to climbers.
 Simon Caldwell 23 Aug 2017
In reply to iskra2000:

Has anyone actually read to the end of Barefoot in the Head? I think it was the first book that I ever failed to finish. It would probably have helped if I'd taken lots of drugs before reading it.
 Rob Davies 30 Aug 2017
In reply to Big Ger:

While none of his books are ones that I re-read a lot, they are mostly enjoyable, covering a wide range. The best for me is "Trillion Year Spree", a very well-informed survey of SF.

Worth it for the title alone: "Bury My Heart at W H Smith's", an autobiographical book.

"Drowning the Ocelot", an article about an encounter with Salvador Dali, also sticks in my mind.
 Rob Davies 30 Aug 2017
In reply to Offwidth:

Am I the only person on UKC pedantic enough to point out that it should be "Finnegans Wake"?

Yes.

New Topic
This topic has been archived, and won't accept reply postings.
Loading Notifications...