The Best of Eric Frank Russell

Eric Frank Russell was a B-lister of the Campbellian Golden Age. A decent enough prose stylist, Russell sent his square jawed astronauts against big cosmological themes like intelligence, conquest, and survival, with mixed results. His stories have a tendency to culminate in punchline based around some element deliberately hidden from the writer, and worse the punches feel likely off compared to a true master like Isaac Asimov. A few of the stories drag on for far longer than they have to.

That said, this collection includes the military bureaucratic farce Allamagoosa, which is worth reading (google will get you there) if you haven't yet. Make sure you know where your Offdog is, sailor.

Russell is one of the more enjoyable of the old science fiction writers. At his best, such as Allamagoosa in this volume, he is engaging and funny. He can also be quite paranoid, as his novel Sinister Barrier, bears out. Or he can be a bit of both, as in Wasp, perhaps my favorite book ever written. The short stories here are always entertaining, a bit dated in most cases, but well worth your time.

My favorite brand of SF. Clever, clean, deceptively simple (vs artsy-fartsy). A variety of insightful commentaries on what it means to be human, some satirical, some somber, some just plain gorgeous. Also an intriguing variety of aliens and other non-humans. A classic, certainly.

Did not include what, imho, was his best story: 'And Then There Were None' by Eric Frank Russell abelard.org
F -IW Freedom -I will , or Freedom -I won´t...

ShiraDestinie
Community
MEOWdate: 6.8.12,014 H.E.

Did not include what, imho, was his best story: 'And Then There Were None' by Eric Frank Russell abelard.org
F -IW Freedom -I will , or Freedom -I won´t...

ShiraDestinie
Community
MEOWdate: 6.8.12,014 H.E.