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Sci-fi Author Harry Harrison Dies at 87
tmjva writes "Per BBC's Entertainment page, author Harry Harrison died today at the age of 87. His body of work included Make Room! Make Room!, (the inspiration for Soylent Green), The Stainless Steel Rat, and Bill the Galactic Hero. From the article: 'Harrison's first novel, Deathworld, was published in 1960, while the first book in the Stainless Steel Rat series was published a year later. The last of the series was published just two years ago in 2010 and the books are widely regarded as producing one of science fiction's great anti-heroes, Slippery Jim diGriz, aka The Stainless Steel Rat. The author also parodied the sci-fi genre in his seven Bill the Galactic Hero books, which were first seen in 1965. He saw his work as anti-war and anti-militaristic.'"
The guy was talented. The Stainless Steel Rat series was quite funny.
Thank you, Harry, I truly enjoyed the books.
You can't handle the truth.
The adventures of Jim di Griz were as formative in my teenage years as any other book I could name. I love the idea that in the future, when poverty and war was more or less eliminated and even murderers could be (mostly) rehabilitated, the government itself would allow a few of the brightest criminal minds to slip through the cracks and cause a little chaos (and occasionally stop bigger chaos from leaking off various planets.) The world was mildly dystopian, but still a much more tongue in cheek vision of the future than it was outright depressing. Rest in peace, Harry Harrison.
Occasionally living proof of the Ballmer peak.
I think you know what THEY'RE made of...
Not quite. Deathworld is in the public domain because it copyrighted under the pre 1976 copyright law, and was (apparently) never renewed. Pre-1976 books are minefield to figure out if they are in the public domain or not.
In order to be sure they are in the public domain, in the US, you need to do careful research, or the book has to have been copyrighted in 1923 or before. The UK and the rest of the world have different laws, so don't assume they carry over.
Oh and Peter Pan will likely never be in the public domain...
What do you know I wrote a novel
"Slippery Jim" diGriz and Bill, the Galactic Hero. I've worn out 2 or 3 copies of both series over the years.
Oddly enough, just a couple of days ago, I just happened to run across a reprint of A Trans-Atlantic Tunnel, Hurrah! which I bought and read on impulse, having seen it years and years ago but never having actually cracked the cover. A fun read, if you've not not already had the pleasure.
Thanks, Harry. I don't think I'll ever tire of your work.
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
His name was one of the first I learned to recognize as a young beginner sci-fi-aficionado (ohh, maybe 10 years old?). I really liked the Steel Rat books, both others as well.
Here is a comment by John Scalzi (who is actually surprisingly similiar in style - I recommend).
OK, well, fwiw it appears in Project Gutenberg.
I first read his Stainless Steel Rat books in a small town in the bible belt, whre my stepfather was a minister. His were the first books I ever encountered that openly made the case for athiesm. It was so different form everything else I'd run into-of course I had head of it, but to come right out and openly advocate it in the books (and a bit after the story proper, IIRC) was definitely a bit of a first. Tonight, I'm heading out to a sushi joint with the other members of my Skeptic/Freethinkers' singles group, and I'll raise a toast to Slippery Jim. For me, he was step one on a long, long journey, and I am grateful.
RIP Harry. As with many others I spent many a night wearing out old paperbacks with his name on the binder.
One of the set of novels that has not been mentioned is his Edan series. A very good series that Harry put some serious effort into. Not as much 'fun' as some of his other work but very good sci-fi.
Really, I know what I'm doing...Ohhhh, look at the shiny buttons!
Harry Harrison wrote quite a bit of stuff during the days when copyright actually could expire.
http://www.feedbooks.com/books/search?query=harry+harrison
Noteworthy: "The Misplaced Battleship" (the first Stainless Steel Rat story) Deathworld (the first Deathworld novel)
It would be cool to see the Stainless Steel Rat adventures turned into movies. I'd love to see what a .75 calibre recoilless pistol would look like as a prop.
steveha
lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
Mi gutted sciante ke vi estas ne en la mondo ie, pensante. Ripozi en paco!
He wore the most screamingly funny science fiction book ever written - "Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers". A parody of Doc Smith's books. It's worth te the trouble to find.
There is no God, and Dirac is his prophet.
Harry, i grew up with you. You changed my childhood. I wouldn't be the man I am without you. Thanks a bunch! Slippery Jim
War is the statesman's game, the priest's delight, the lawyer's jest, the hired assassin's trade.- Shelley
Loved the Stainless Steel Rat. It influenced my life in 3 key ways. Jim di Griz's mastery of judo inspired me to earn a green belt and stand up successfully to the bullies in my junior high school. And if it weren't for you I wouldn't have known Esperanto existed. Never learned much of that, but it kicked off a life-long love for languages that has led to mastery of five others. Lastly, it began a life-long quest for a real-life glass of Syrian Panther Sweat.
If not us, who? If not now, when?
Actually Bill the Galactic Hero seemed more like a parody of one book specifically, Starship Troopers. Did a good job of skewering Heinlein I thought.
Mod parent +1 esperanto!
Thinking about the Grey Men and the training methods still makes me uneasy.