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RIP: Charles Sheffield

Posted by chrisd on from the now-an-influential-dead-writer dept.

uberdood writes "Dr. Charles Sheffield, noted for such SF works as the Heritage Universe series, Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Higher Education, The Ganymede Club, Brothers to Dragons, Cold As Ice, and The Mind Pool, has died of brain cancer at the age of 67. Sheffield will be remembered for colorful characters such as McAndrew - and the wealth of short stories that helped make SF pulp rags so enjoyable. More information can be found via the Washington Post article. One of my favorite authors, dammit."

10 of 99 comments (clear)

  1. Didn't Live It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Let's be honest - he was only 67. He didn't get to live his life to the fullest. His life was taken from him by a brain tumor. If you follow his news on his web site or any of various places he published his thoughts, he still had a lot of writing ahead of him.

    I met him years ago and he seemed far younger than his actual age. He was a brilliant man and an author who deserved far more recognition than he received. Sheffield was, perhaps, THE finest writer of SCIENCE fiction during his time. He carried a regular job as Chief Scientist at the Earth Sciences Corporation and was more prolific than most full time writers. In a field that barely pays a fair rate for adult novels, he also wrote short stories and novels for young adults. His name should have been ranked with Asimov, Heinlein and Clarke.

    Perhaps now that he's gone the SF community will realize what they've lost - or perhaps they'll just go back to reading Star Wars and Star Trek books.

    Kermit

  2. Can we have an obituary category? by AtariDatacenter · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I appreciate that this man has made significant contributions to Science Fiction, however, I really don't want to use headline space for every person who dies who is of interest to the Slashdot crew. Actresses, potentially transgendered computer sciences (remember that one?), etc.

    And generally, a great deal of disrespect is generated with stories, such as these. A spinning grave icon, indeed. But this isn't news for nerds.

  3. Brother to Dragons by cryms0n · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Brother to Dragons was a great book, the first and only fiction I've been able to read over and over.

    Damn.

  4. Och, Damn. by Felix+The+Cat · · Score: 4, Interesting

    As a long-time fan of his McAndrew stories (I'm in the middle of "The Compleat McAndrew" right now), this really saddens me. With these stories, Dr. Sheffield showed that he really knew how to take an esoteric scientific subject (like Kerr-Newman black holes) and explain it in layman terms (through McAndrew trying to explain it to Captain Roker). I haven't read any of his other works, but if they're as good as the McAndrew stuff, I'm probably missing out on some good stuff.

    --
    Windows is the Acme of computing -- in the Wile E. Coyote sense.
  5. Not true.. by phrackwulf · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Dr. Sheffield continued to work with Earth Satellite Corporation after he turned 40 and his mathematical work was the basis for a lot of Earthsat's early success. He's definitely made a mark in the geology/remote sensing community. Mr. Doug Hall, CEO of Earthsat, sent out a very moving e-mail addressing the man's achievements, which I don't think would be appropriate to post here. Maybe Chris Peterson, of Earthsat, is a slashdotter and could comment further. In answer to the troll above, don't bother. You're obviously far too dumb to know much about geology or the widely varied disciplines Dr. Charles Sheffield worked in. Reminds me of my own field of study, Materials Science. You've probably never heard of that either.

    [-)

    --
    What would Richard Feynman do, if he were here right now? He'd do some math and he'd follow through!
  6. City on Mars named after him - Kinda cool by Embedded+Geek · · Score: 3, Interesting
    When I read Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars series (Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars) I noticed that one of the main cities was named Sheffield. After I saw him mentioned in Robinson's acknowledgements, I always figured that the city was named for him, but was never sure (obviously, Bradbury and other locations were named that way). I never got around to looking into it, but a quick check I ran today shows that is the case.

    Kind of a neat way to honor an author you admire, doncha think?

    --

    "Prepare for the worst - hope for the best."

    1. Re:City on Mars named after him - Kinda cool by squiggleslash · · Score: 2, Interesting
      If you read through those books to the end, you'll see Robinson has Sheffield at the top of his thank you list. I gather Sheffield was consulted on a lot of the technical details or some such, it's been a while.

      Absolutely beautiful books, whatever the pseudo-libertarians say.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
  7. Can someone suggest a reading list? by Embedded+Geek · · Score: 4, Interesting
    I admit it: Sheffield is one of those authors that I never got around to reading (God knows there's so many). Well, now he's gone and I'm gonna make a point to pick up at least one of his books and give him a try. A quick search got me a list of his works. As with most prolific authors, though, it's difficult for me to figure out where to start.

    So, here's my question: Does anyone who has read him have a suggestion on which book would be a good one as a first read? Not necesarrily his best (as that might include his series) but a single novel or collection that would give me a feel for his work and let me know if I would like to dig further into his collected works.

    Thanks

    --

    "Prepare for the worst - hope for the best."

  8. Re:A far-sighted author by squiggleslash · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Oh absolutely. I've been to Arisia. That's what I was saying by suggesting the same characters inspired the creations of both Bat and CSG.

    As an aside, Cold as Ice has an extra level of humour if you read Bat's pronouncements in a CSG-type voice (not difficult, Bat has just the right air of arrogance)

    Ok, well I mentioned two books in the above, so I better link to 'em:

    • The Web Between the Worlds - Sheffield's take on space elevators, genetic engineering, drug misuse, and gung-ho capitalism. An easy read, but my favourate part has to be the factual description of elevator dynamics tacked onto the end of the story. Incidentally, if you enjoy it, check out Clarke's Fountains of Paradise at the same time. Completely different approach to the same idea, and one of Clarke's best books.
    • Cold as Ice - A take on a future post-solar-system-war-type-scenario which includes discussions of the potential for life on other worlds, the future of weaponry, and Sheffield's love of the topic genetic engineering comes in there again. Once you tune to Sheffield's wavelength, very funny, and insightful. (Erm, +3 Funny, +5 Insightful, -2 Flamebait ;-)
    There are, of course, many more, but those two struck me as particularly readable, and the former is historically very important. The latter is more recent, and the beginning of a series of books using the same characters. God help us ;-)
    --
    You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
  9. My very best to Nancy Kress, his widow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I was most pleased to hear of your marriage some years after I met Charles at the ConAdian World SF Convention in Winnipeg in 1994. I believe it was Oscar Wilde who described second (or in this case third) marriages as "the triumph of hope over experience", and I wish you and your stepchildren well. I only met him once and spoke with him for about ten minutes, but I enjoyed everything he wrote and published, including his on-line autobiography. Our thoughts are with you.