Книга: Roger Zelazny, Robert Sheckley «A Farce to Be Reckoned With»

Roger Zelazny

Infobox Science Fiction Writer
name = Roger Zelazny


imagesize =
caption =
pseudonym =
birth_date = birth date|1937|5|13|mf=y
birth_place = Euclid, Ohio
death_date = death date and age|1995|6|14|1937|5|13|mf=y
death_place = Santa Fe, New Mexico
occupation = Author
nationality = American
period =
genre = Fantasy, science fiction
subject =
movement = New Wave
debut_works = "This Immortal" (1966) (serialized in 1965 as "...And Call Me Conrad")
magnum_opus = The Chronicles of Amber series
influences =
influenced = Steven Brust, Neil Gaiman, David A. Hargrave, George R.R. Martin, Steven Erikson
website =
footnotes =

Roger Joseph Zelazny (May 13, 1937 – June 14, 1995) was an American writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels. He won the Nebula award three times (out of 14 nominations) and the Hugo award six times (out of 14 nominations), including two Hugos for novels: the serialized novel "...And Call Me Conrad" (1965; subsequently published under the title "This Immortal", 1966) and the novel "Lord of Light" (1967).

The ostracod "Sclerocypris zelaznyi" was named after him.

Biography

Zelazny was born in Euclid, Ohio, the only child of Polish immigrant Joseph Frank Zelazny ("Żelazny", Polish for "iron" or "cast-iron" -"adjective") and Irish-American Josephine Flora Sweet. In high school, Roger Zelazny was the editor of the school newspaper and joined the Creative Writing Club. In the fall of 1955, he began attending Western Reserve University and graduated with a B.A. in English in 1959. He was accepted to Columbia University in New York and specialized in Elizabethan and Jacobean drama, graduating with an M.A. in 1962. Between 1962 and 1969 he worked for the Social Security Administration in Cleveland and then in Baltimore, spending his evenings writing science fiction. He deliberately progressed from short-shorts to novelettes to novellas and finally to novel-length works by 1965. On May 1st, 1969, he quit to become a full-time writer, and thereafter concentrated on writing novels in order to maintain his income.

His first fanzine appearance was part one of the story "Conditional Benefit" (Thurban 1 #3, 1953) whereas his first professional publication and sale was the fantasy short story "Mr. Fuller's Revolt" (Literary Calvalcade, 1954). As a professional writer, his debut works were the simultaneous publication of "Passion Play" (Amazing, August 1962) and "Horseman!" (Fantastic, August 1962). "Passion Play" was written and sold first.

Zelazny portrayed worlds with plausible magic systems, powers, and supernatural beings. His descriptions of the nuts and bolts of magical workings set his fantasy writing apart from otherwise similar authors. His science fiction was highly influenced by mythology, poetry, including the French, British, and American classics of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and by wisecracking detective fiction. His novels and short stories often involved characters from myth, depicted in the modern world. He was also apt to include modern elements, such as cigarettes and references to Marxism, in his fantasy worlds. Novels such as Jack of Shadows and Changeling revolve around a tension between two worlds, one based on magic and the other on technology.Fact|date=April 2008

Zelazny was considered one of the leading lights of the "New Wave" movement in science fiction, which changed the face of the genre in the 1960s.Fact|date=April 2008 He incorporated elements from literary novels of the mainstream into his fiction, and experimented with allusion, lyricism, and mythic imagery. The mythological traditions his fiction borrowed from include:
* Classical Greek mythology, in "This Immortal"
* Native American mythology, in "Eye of Cat"
* Hindu mythology, in "Lord of Light"
* Egyptian mythology and some Greek mythology, in "Creatures of Light and Darkness"
* and even (on a more humorous note) Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos in "A Night in the Lonesome October"Additionally, elements from Norse mythology, Japanese mythology and history, and numerous other traditions appear in works such as "The Chronicles of Amber" (a popular ten novel series) and Zelazny's "24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai." That novella was inspired in part by "Hokusai’s Views of Mt. Fuji" (Charles Tuttle, 1965), a book that contains precisely 24 prints by Hokusai and in the exact sequence indicated by Zelazny's story; also, the character Mari consults that very book during the story. (Hokusai painted more than 100 images of Mt. Fuji but he is best known for another selection of them: "36 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai").

A frequent theme is gods or people who become gods. Another recurrent theme is the "absent father" (or father-figure). This occurs most notably in the Amber novels: in the first Amber series, Corwin searches for his absent, god-like father Oberon; in the second series, it is Corwin himself who is the absent father. This theme recurs in "Roadmarks" and "Doorways in the Sand" (in the latter, the main character's parents are dead but his uncle fills the role of the "absent father").

He was a member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America (SAGA), a loose-knit group of Heroic Fantasy authors founded in the 1960s, some of whose works were anthologized in Lin Carter's "Flashing Swords!" anthologies.

Zelazny died in 1995, aged 58, of kidney failure secondary to colorectal cancer. Other sources have incorrectly indicated lung cancer. [ IMDB Biography [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0954467/bio] ]

Bibliographies

* Levack, Daniel H. C. "Amber Dreams: A Roger Zelazny Bibliography." San Francisco: Underwood-Miller, 1983.
* Lindskold, Jane M. "Roger Zelazny." New York: Twayne Publishers, 1993.
* Sanders, Joseph. "Roger Zelazny: A Primary and Secondary Bibliography." Boston: G. K. Hall and Co., 1980.
* Stephensen-Payne, Phil. "Roger Zelazny, Master of Amber: A Working Bibliography." San Bernardo: Borgo Press, 1991. [ Source of bibliographical information. Jane Lindskold via "Roger Zelazny." 1993. ]

Experimental novels and unpublished sketches

Zelazny often experimented with form in his novels. The novel "Doorways in the Sand" practices a flashback technique in which most chapters open with a scene, typically involving peril, not implied by the end of the previous chapter. Once the scene is established, the narrator backtracks to the events leading up to it, then follows through to the end of the chapter, whereupon the next chapter jumps ahead to another dramatic "non-sequitur".

In "Roadmarks", a novel about a highway that links all times and possible histories, the chapters that feature the main character are all titled "One". Other chapters, titled "Two", feature secondary characters, including original characters, pulp heroes, and real people. The "One" storyline is fairly linear, but the "Two" storyline jumps around in time and sequence.

"Creatures of Light and Darkness", featuring characters in the personae of Egyptian gods, uses a narrative voice entirely in the present tense; the final chapter is structured as a play, and several chapters take the form of long poems.

He also tended to write a short fragment, not intended for publication, as a kind of backstory for a major character, as a way of giving that character a life independent of the particular novel being worked on. At least one "fragment" was published, the short story "Dismal Light", originally a backstory for "Isle of the Dead"'s Francis Sandow. Sandow himself figures little in "Dismal Light", the main character being his son, who is delaying his escape from an unstable star system in order to force his distant father to come in and ask him personally. While "Isle of the Dead" has Sandow living a life of irresponsible luxury as an escape from his personal demons, "Dismal Light" anchors his character as one who will face up to his responsibilities, however reluctantly.

Bibliography

Amber novels

While his earlier works won greater critical acclaim, Zelazny is probably best known for the Amber novels. These fall into two distinct series of novels, together with a set of short stories.

The first five books describe the adventures of Prince Corwin of Amber:
*1970 "Nine Princes in Amber"
*1972 "The Guns of Avalon"
*1975 "Sign of the Unicorn"
*1976 "The Hand of Oberon"
*1978 "The Courts of Chaos"

The second series tells the story of Corwin's son Merlin (Merle), a wizard and computer expert. These volumes are:
*1985 "Trumps of Doom"
*1986 "Blood of Amber"
*1987 "Sign of Chaos"
*1989 "Knight of Shadows"
*1991 "Prince of Chaos"

Zelazny also wrote several short stories set in the Amber multiverse. These include:
*1993 "Prologue to Trumps of Doom"
*1994 "The Salesman's Tale"
*1994 "The Shroudling and The Guisel"
*1995 "Coming to a Cord"
*1995 "Blue Horse, Dancing Mountains"
*1996 "Hall of Mirrors"
*2005 "A Secret of Amber" [story fragment co-written with Ed Greenwood, published in Amberzine #12-15]

The middle five of these seven short stories form one tale, taking place after "Prince of Chaos".

All 10 novels have been published in a single omnibus form as "The Great Book of Amber" and six of the seven short stories have been collected in Manna from Heaven.

Zelazny also contributed to a spin-off work, "The Visual Guide to Castle Amber" (1988) which was a reference work detailing biographies of the Amber characters and a detailed guide to Castle Amber itself. This was written by Neil Randall and illustrated by Todd Cameron Hamilton and James Clouse.

John Betancourt has written a series of novels set in the Amber multiverse. Betancourt's series tells the story of Corwin's father Oberon, a wizard and shapeshifter. It is set several centuries before "Nine Princes in Amber". That the Zelazny estate authorized the series has caused some controversy; see The Chronicles of Amber for more details.

An interactive fiction computer game based on "Nine Princes in Amber" was released by Telarium in 1987. The Amber novels also inspired a unique role-playing game, lacking any random element: "Amber Diceless Roleplaying", published by Phage Press.

Other novels

* "This Immortal" (1966) (Hugo Award winner, 1966, initially serialized in abridged form in 1965 under Zelazny's preferred title "...And Call Me Conrad")
* "The Dream Master" (1966) (an expansion of the novella "He Who Shapes" (1965) which was reprinted in "Science Fiction Origins" (1980), ISBN 0-445-04626-0)
* "Lord of Light" (1967) (Hugo Award winner, 1968)
* "Creatures of Light and Darkness" (1969)
* "Isle of the Dead" (1969)
* "Damnation Alley" (1969) (on which a film of the same name was based)
* "Jack of Shadows" (1971)
* "Today We Choose Faces" (1973)
* "To Die in Italbar" (1973) (cameo appearance by Francis Sandow from "Isle of the Dead")
* "Doorways in the Sand" (1976)
* "Bridge of Ashes" (1976)
* "My Name is Legion" (1976) (considered a fix-up novel in three parts, or a collection of 3 stories)
* "Roadmarks" (1979)
* "Changeling" (1980)
* "Madwand" (1981) (a sequel to "Changeling")
* "The Changing Land" (1981)
* "Dilvish, the Damned" (1982) (a "fix-up" novel or short story collection that precedes events in "The Changing Land")
* "Eye of Cat" (1982)
* "A Dark Traveling" (1987)
* "Wizard World" (1989) (omnibus containing "Changeling" and "Madwand")
* "Here There Be Dragons" (1992) (written 1968/69 and illustrated by Vaughn Bodé; delayed publication until 1992)
* "Way Up High" (1992) (written 1968/69 and illustrated by Vaughn Bodé; delayed publication until 1992)
* "A Night in the Lonesome October" (1993) (illustrated by Gahan Wilson)
* "The Dead Man's Brother" (2009) [mystery/thriller novel (not sf) completed in 1971, finally published in 2009]

Collaborations

* "Deus Irae" (1976) (with Philip K. Dick)
* "Coils" (1982) (with Fred Saberhagen):
* "The Black Throne" (1990) (with Fred Saberhagen):
* "The Mask of Loki" (1990) (with Thomas T. Thomas)
* "The Millennial Contest series" (with Robert Sheckley):
** "Bring Me the Head of Prince Charming" (1991)
** "If at Faust You Don't Succeed" (1993)
** "A Farce to Be Reckoned With" (1995)
* "Flare" (1992) (with Thomas T. Thomas)
* "Wilderness" (1994) (with Gerald Hausman)
* "Psychoshop" (1998) with Alfred Bester (This novel was completed in 1995 by Zelazny. Bester's manuscript "The Psycho Hockshop" stopped mid-sentence on manuscript page 92 (approximately 30-40 pages of the final book), and several pages of manuscript prior to page 92 were also missing.)

Posthumous collaborations

Two books begun by Zelazny were completed by companion and novelist Jane Lindskold after Zelazny's death:
* "Donnerjack" (1997)
* "Lord Demon" (1999)

Also, the adventure game "Chronomaster" (developed by DreamForge Intertainment, published by IntraCorp in 1996) was designed by Zelazny and Jane Lindskold (who also finished it after his death).

Collections

* "Four for Tomorrow" (1967)
* "A Rose For Ecclesiastes" (1969) (the UK hardcover title of "Four for Tomorrow")
* "The Doors of His Face, The Lamps of His Mouth, and Other Stories" (1971)
* "My Name is Legion" (1976)
* "The Illustrated Roger Zelazny" (1978) (contents of hardcover and paperback differ)
* "The Last Defender of Camelot" (1980, Pocket Books and SFBC)
* "The Last Defender of Camelot" (1981, Underwood-Miller) (contains 4 stories not in the Pocket Books version)
* "Alternities" #6 (1981) (Special issue devoted entirely to Zelazny, contains rare stories and poems)
* "Dilvish, the Damned" (1982)
* "Unicorn Variations" (1983)
* "Frost & Fire" (1989)
* "The Graveyard Heart/Elegy for Angels and Dogs" (1992) (with Walter Jon Williams, featuring a sequel to Zelazny's story by Williams
* "Gone to Earth" / Author's Choice Monthly #27 (Pulphouse, 1992)
* "The Last Defender of Camelot" (ibooks, 2002) (Collection has the same name as earlier collection, but different contents.)
* "Manna from Heaven" (2003)
* "The Doors of His Face, The Lamps of His Mouth, and Other Stories" (ibooks, 2005) (adds two stories from "Four for Tomorrow")
* "The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny" (NESFA Press, 2009) ( [http://www.nesfa.org/press/Books/Zelazny-Project.html The Zelazny Project] is a 6-volume retrospective collection that will include all of his short stories, novelettes, novellas and poems, including previously unpublished and uncollected works. A biography, story notes and annotations complement the text.)
** "Volume 1: Threshold"
** "Volume 2: Power & Light"
** "Volume 3: This Mortal Mountain"
** "Volume 4: Last Exit to Babylon"
** "Volume 5: Nine Black Doves"
** "Volume 6: The Road to Amber"

Poetry collections

* "Poems" (1974)
* "When Pussywillows Last in the Catyard Bloomed" (1980)
* "To Spin is Miracle Cat" (1981)
* "" (1996)

Chapbooks

* "Poems" (1974)
* "The Bells of Shoredan" (Underwood-Miller, 1979)
* "For a Breath I Tarry" (Underwood-Miller, 1980)
* "A Rhapsody in Amber" (Cheap Street, 1981)
* "The Last Defender of Camelot" (Underwood-Miller, 1981) (just the story)
* "The Bands of Titan / A Freas Sampler / A Dream of Passion" (Ad Astra, 1986)
* "The Doors of His Face, The Lamps of His Mouth" (Pulphouse, 1991) (just the story; paperback and hardcover editions)
* "And the Darkness is Harsh" (Pretentious Press, 1994)
* "The Last Defender of Camelot" (Subterranean, 2003) (Zelazny's story plus George R. R. Martin's teleplay for Twilight Zone)

Anthologies

* "Thurban 1", issue #3, 1953 (Zelazny was assistant editor; part one of Zelazny's short story "Conditional Benefit" appeared here)
* "Nebula Award Stories Three" (Doubleday, 1968)
* "Nozdrovia" #1, 1968 (co-edited with Richard Patt)
* "Forever After" (Baen, 1995)
* "Warriors of Blood and Dream" (AvoNova, 1995)
* "Wheel of Fortune" (AvoNova, 1995)
* "The Williamson Effect" (Tor, 1996)

Zelazny was also a contributor to the Wild Cards shared world anthology series, following the exploits of his character Croyd Crenson, the Sleeper.

Zelazny created the Alien Speedway series of novels (Clypsis by Jeffrey A. Carver, Pitfall and The Web by Thomas Wylde) which appeared between 1986-87. His own story "Deadboy Donner and the Filstone Cup" appears to have been inspired by the outline that he wrote for Alien Speedway.

Zelazny created and edited a shared world anthology called "Forever After". The frame story uses preludes, written by Roger, to connect the stories. This shared world involved stories by Robert Asprin, David Drake, Jane Lindskold, and Michael A. Stackpole. "Forever After" was published by Baen Books posthumously.

Following Zelazny's death, a tribute anthology entitled "Lord of the Fantastic" was released. This featured stories inspired by Zelazny, and personal recollections by contributors such as Robert Silverberg, Fred Saberhagen, Jennifer Roberson, Walter Jon Williams, Gregory Benford and many others.

Awards

Winner of 6 Hugo Awards, 3 Nebula Awards, 2 Locus Awards, 1 Prix Tour-Apollo Award, 2 Seiun Awards, and 2 Balrog Awards - very often Zelazny's works competed with each other for the same award. [ SF Awards Index [http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/NomLit102.html#5465] ]

* "...And Call Me Conrad" won the 1966 Hugo Award; it tied for novel with "Dune", by Frank Herbert.

* "The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth" won the 1966 Nebula Award (novelette).

* "He Who Shapes" tied for the 1966 Nebula Award (novella)

* "Lord of Light" won the 1968 Hugo Award (novel).

* "Isle of the Dead" won the 1972 Prix Tour-Apollo Award (novel).

* "This Immortal" won the 1976 Seiun Award (foreign novel).

* "Home Is the Hangman" won both the 1976 Hugo Award and the 1976 Nebula Award (for novella).

* "The Last Defender of Camelot" won the 1980 Balrog Award (short fiction).

* "Unicorn Variation" won the 1982 Hugo Award (novelette) and the 1984 Seiun Award (foreign short fiction).

* "Unicorn Variations" won the 1984 Locus Award (collection) and the 1984 Balrog Award (collection/anthology).

* "24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai" won the 1986 Hugo Award (novella).

* "Trumps of Doom" won the 1986 Locus Award (fantasy novel).

* "Permafrost" won the 1987 Hugo Award (novelette).

* "Of note:" His books were a major inspiration for the classic computer game "" developed by Black Isle Studios. [ Interview with Planescape: Torment lead designer Chris Avellone [http://gamebanshee.com/interviews/pstrevisitedavellone1.php] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.phagepress.com/ Phage Press]
* [http://www.roger-zelazny.com Zelazny & Amber]
* [http://www.iblist.com/author59.htm Author profile] at Internet Book List
*
* [http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/p/h/phulman/roger.html Bibliography including his poetry etc.]
* [http://www.locusmag.com/index/s837.html First bibliographical page] and [http://www.locusmag.com/index/s838.html Second bibliographical page] at The Locus Index to Science Fiction
* [http://www.z-amber.com/annotated.html The Annotated Amber]

Источник: Roger Zelazny

Robert Sheckley

Infobox Writer
name = Robert Sheckley


imagesize =
caption =
pseudonym =
birthdate = birth date|1928|7|16|mf=y
birthplace = New York City
deathdate = Death date and age|2005|12|9|1928|07|16
deathplace = Poughkeepsie, New York
occupation = Author
nationality = American
period =
genre = Science fiction
subject =
movement =
notableworks =
influences =
influenced =
website = http://www.sheckley.com

Robert Sheckley (July 16, 1928 – December 9, 2005) was a Hugo and Nebula nominated American author. First published in the science fiction magazines of the 1950s, his numerous quick-witted stories and novels were famously unpredictable, absurdist and broadly comical.

Sheckley was given the Author Emeritus honor by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2001.

Biography

Robert Sheckley was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Maplewood, New Jersey. He was in the U.S. Army from 1946 to 1948 and served in Korea. He then attended New York University. [Jonas, Gerald. [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/10/books/10sheckley.html "Robert Sheckley, 77, Writer of Satirical Science Fiction, Is Dead"] , "The New York Times", December 10, 2005. Accessed November 20, 2007. "Born in Brooklyn and raised in Maplewood, N.J., Robert Sheckley joined the Army in 1946 after graduating from high school, and served in Korea."] In 1951 he began to sell stories to science-fiction magazines, eventually producing several hundred short stories and novels. He also wrote episodes of the TV series "Captain Video".

In the 1970s he lived on the Spanish island of Ibiza. He then returned to New York City as fiction editor of "OMNI Magazine". After leaving OMNI in 1981 he lived and wrote in the Florida Everglades, Manhattan again, Paris, France, Ibiza again, Connecticut, Portland, Oregon and Red Hook, New York.

Until his death in 2005, Robert Sheckley continued to write at his home in Red Hook, New York. His early pen names included Phillips Barbee and Finn O'Donnevan. Sheckley's first four marriages (to Barbara Scadron, Ziva Kwitney, Abby Schulman and writer Jay Rothbell Sheckley) ended in divorce. At the time of his death, he was separated from his fifth wife, Gail Dana. He has four children. His son Jason is from his first marriage. His daughter, novelist Alisa Kwitney is from his second. His daughter Anya and his son Jed are from his third marriage.

In mid-2004 he participated as Guest of Honour in Eurocon 2004, in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

During a 2005 visit to Ukraine for the Ukrainian Sci-Fi Computer Week, an international event for science fiction writers, Sheckley fell ill and had to be hospitalized in Kiev on April 27, 2005. [ [http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/05/05/sheckleyhospital.shtml Mosnews.com ] ] His condition was very serious for one week, but he appeared to be slowly recovering. Russian news sources referred to him as "The unkillable Robert Sheckley". Sheckley's official website ran a fundraising campaign to help cover Sheckley's treatment and his return to the United States. However, only a large donation from a Ukrainian businessman allowed him to pay the hospital bill and return home. In New York he also underwent open heart surgery.

Robert Sheckley had vowed he would write fiction until slumped dead over the typewriter. Indeed, he was still writing the last day he was conscious.

On November 20 he had surgery for a brain aneurysm. He died in a Poughkeepsie hospital on December 9 2005.

Works and influence

Typical Sheckley stories include [http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/classics/classics_archive/sheckley2/ "Bad Medicine"] (in which a man is mistakenly treated by a psychotherapy machine intended for Martians), [http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/classics/classics_archive/sheckley4/ "Protection"] (whose protagonist is warned of deadly danger unless he avoids an act that is never explained to him), and "The Accountant" (in which a family of wizards learns that their son has been taken from them by a more sinister trade). In many stories Sheckley speculates about alternative (and usually sinister) social orders, of which a good example is the story "A Ticket to Tranai" (that tells of a sort of Utopia adapted for the human nature as it is, rather than the human nature as some idealists believe it should be).

One of his early works, the 1953 "Galaxy" short story "Seventh Victim", was the basis for the film "The 10th Victim", also known by the original Italian title "La decima vittima". The film starred Marcello Mastroianni and Ursula Andress. A novelization of the film, also written by Sheckley, was published in 1966. The story is an inspiration for the role-playing game "Assassin".

Another novel, "Immortality, Inc." — about a world in which the afterlife could be obtained via a scientific process — was very loosely adapted into a film, the 1992 "Freejack", starring Mick Jagger, Emilio Estevez, Rene Russo, and Anthony Hopkins.

His 1954 story "Ghost V" and 1955 story "The Lifeboat Mutiny" were adapted in two episodes of the USSR science fiction TV series "This Fantastic World". [ [http://www.gtrf.ru/ State Fund of Television and Radio Programs] ru icon]

His 1958 short story [http://arthurwendover.com/arthurs/sheckley/prizep10.html "The Prize of Peril"] was adapted in 1970 as the German TV movie "Das Millionenspiel", [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066079/ Millionenspiel, Das (1970) (TV) ] ] and again in 1983 as the French movie "Le Prix du Danger". Written about a man who goes on a TV show in which he must evade people out to kill him for a week in order to win a large cash prize, it is perhaps the first-ever published work predicting the advent of reality television.

A number of Sheckley's works, both as Sheckley and as Finn O'Donnevan, were also adapted for the radio show "X Minus One" in the late 1950s, including the above-mentioned "Seventh Victim", "Bad Medicine" and "Protection". The radio show "Tales of Tomorrow" also in the late 1950s did a version of "Watchbird" and South Africa radio did their version of "Watchbird" on the series SF68.

One of the most famous of Sheckley's stories was the AAA Ace Series involving a series of stories involving two partners in the far -future encountering various unusual problems. [ [http://www.scifi.darkroastedblend.com/2005/10/robert-sheckley.html Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading Experience: Robert Sheckley ] ]

In the 1990s, Sheckley wrote a well-received series of three mystery novels featuring detective Hob Draconian, as well as novels set in the worlds of "" and "Alien". Before his death, Sheckley had been commissioned to write an original novel based upon the TV series "The Prisoner" for Powys Media but died before completing the manuscript.

His novel "Dimension of Miracles" is often cited as an influence on Douglas Adams, although in an interview for Neil Gaiman's book "", Adams claimed not to have read it until after writing "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"Fact|date=May 2008.

Opinions on Sheckley's work

*"I had no idea the competition was so terrifyingly good." — Douglas Adams [On the cover of "Hunter/Victim".]
*"Sheckley at his best is Voltaire and Soda." — Brian W. Aldiss [Aldiss, Brian; Wingrove, David (1986). "Trillion Year Spree". London: Paladin. ISBN 0586086846. p.411]
*"Always he crackles with ideas." — Kingsley Amis [http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/s/robert-sheckley/alternative-detective.htm fantasticfiction.co.uk - blurbs for "The Alternative Detective"] ]
*" [Robert Sheckley is] witty and ingenious... a draught of pure Voltaire and tonic." — J. G. Ballard
*"If the Marx Brothers had been literary rather than thespic fantasists ... they would have been Robert Sheckley." — Harlan Ellison

Bibliography

cience fiction and fantasy novels

*"Immortality, Inc." (1958)
*"The Status Civilization," also known as "Omega" (1960)
*"Journey of Joenes" (1962)
*"Journey beyond Tomorrow" (1963)
*"The 10th Victim" (1966)
*"Mindswap" (1966)
*"Dimension of Miracles" (1968)
*"Options" (1975)
*"The Alchemical Marriage of Alistair Crompton" also known as "Crompton Divided" (1978)
*"Dramocles" (1983)
*"Pop Death" (1986)
*"Victim Prime" (1987)
*"Hunter / Victim" (1988)
*"On The Planet of Bottled Brains" (with Harry Harrison, 1990)
*"Minotaur Maze" (short, 1990)
*"Watchbird" (short, 1990)
*"Xolotl" (short, 1991)
*"Alien Starswarm" (short, 1991)
*"" (1995)
*"" (1995)
*"Godshome" (1997)
*"" (1999)
*"The Grand-Guignol of the Surrealists" (2000)
*"Dimension of Miracles Revisited" (2001)

Millennial Contest series (with Roger Zelazny)

*"Bring Me the Head of Prince Charming" (1991)
*"If at Faust You Don't Succeed" (1993)
*"A Farce to Be Reckoned With" (1995)

Mystery and espionage novels

*"The Game of X" (1965) was loosely adapted as the 1981 Disney film, "Condorman": Sheckley also wrote the novelization of this film.

tephen Dain series

*"Calibre .50" (1961)
*"Dead Run" (1961)
*"Live Gold" (1962)
*"White Death" (1963)
*"Time Limit" (1967)

Hob Draconian series

*"The Alternative Detective" (1993)
*"Draconian New York" (1996)
*"Soma Blues" (1997)

Other works

*"The Man in the Water" (1962)

hort story collections

*"The Perfect Woman" (1953)
*"Untouched by Human Hands" (1954)
*"Citizen in Space" (1955)
*"Pilgrimage to Earth" (1957)
*"" (1960)
*"Store of Infinity" (1960)
*"Shards of Space" (1962)
*"The People Trap" (1968)
*"Can You Feel Anything When I Do This?" (also known as "The Same to You Doubled") (1972)
*"The Robot Who Looked Like Me" (1978)
*"The Wonderful World of Robert Sheckley" (1979)
*"The Sheckley Omnibus" (1979)
*"Is THAT What People Do?" (1984)
*"The Collected Short Fiction of Robert Sheckley" (5 volumes, 1991)
*"Uncanny Tales" (2003)
*"The Masque Of Mañana" (2005)

Books as editor

*"After the Fall" (1980)
*"Thrillers" (1994)

References

External links

* [http://www.sheckley.com Official site]
* [http://robertsheckley.com Bibliography]
*gutenberg author| id=Robert+Sheckley | name=Robert Sheckley
*isfdb name|id=Robert_Sheckley|name=Robert Sheckley
*imdb name|id=0790533|name=Robert Sheckley
* [http://www.sfwa.org/News/rsheckley.htm Obituaries] at the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America site
* [http://www.sheckley.com/edwardsummer.html Sheckley Obituary] Obituary by Edward Summer
* [http://www.martin-olson.com/mandlebrot/mandlebrot.html Sheckley Reads His Work] at www.Martin-Olson.com
* [http://www.robertoquaglia.com/foto/fotoindexsheckley.html Large collection of pictures of Sheckley in Europe from 1999 to 2005] - From the private collection of Roberto Quaglia

Persondata
NAME= Sheckley, Robert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= American author
DATE OF BIRTH= July 16, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH= New York City
DATE OF DEATH= December 9, 2005
PLACE OF DEATH= Poughkeepsie, New York

Источник: Robert Sheckley