Address: Centauri
Encyclopedia
Address: Centauri was written in 1955 by Floyd L. Wallace
. It was published by Gnome Press
, being sold for the low price of $3.00 , and is based on a short story
previously written by Wallace called Accidental Flight. The short story
was published by Galaxy Publishing Corp. in 1952 and made and appearance in the magazine Galaxy Science Fiction
. Both pieces of fiction are categorized in the Science Fiction Fantasy
genre
, while Address: Centauri is categorized more specifically as a Space opera
. A Space opera
is defined by The Science Fiction Handbook by M. Keith Booker and Anne-Marie Thomas as a “type of science fiction narrative involving stories of adventure, exploration, and conflict in outer space. ”
was born in Rock Island, Illinois
in the United States on the 16th of February in 1915. Not much else is given about his life except his publications. Different from most authors of his time, Wallace wrote through the 1950’s and the early 60’s. He provided material for Gnome Press
trough the 1930’s, 40’s and early 50’s. He died on the 26th of November in 2004.
Collections
Chapterbooks
Shortfiction
as, “…the major non-realistic mode of imaginative creation of our epoch. It is the principal cultural way we locate ourselves imaginatively in time and space.” Really, Science Fiction
started really being defined and focused on in the early 1940’s through the 50’s. This was called the "Golden Age" of science fiction with influential authors like Ray Bradbury
. Later there were more influential writers such as Isaac Asimov
and George Orwell
.
’s wrote The True History In this story, “the author and a shipload of companions are wafted to the Moon, and the travelers observe an interplanetary battle fought to determine whether the empire of the Moon or of the Sun gets to colonize Venus.” But this story was not written to be Science Fiction
, but Fantasy
. Science Fiction was really changed in Europe
where there were new ideas about the universe being represented in books. This was done by Johannes Kepler
, who developed the basic laws of planetary motion, and wrote Somnium in 1634 to represent what living on the moon would be like. Moving in the ages we have many famous scientists who use writing in the genre to put their theories into words, such as New Atlantis
, written by Francis Bacon
in 1627. Also, Science Fiction was used to analyze society and improve it, such as Thomas More
’s Utopia
in 1516 .
F. L. Wallace
F. L. Wallace, sometimes credited as Floyd Wallace, was a noted science fiction and mystery writer. He was born in Rock Island, Illinois, in 1915, and died in Tustin, California, in 2004...
. It was published by Gnome Press
Gnome Press
Gnome Press was an American small-press publishing company primarily known for publishing many science fiction classics.The company was founded in 1948 by Martin Greenberg and David A. Kyle. Many of Gnome's titles were reprinted in England by Boardman Books...
, being sold for the low price of $3.00 , and is based on a short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
previously written by Wallace called Accidental Flight. The short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
was published by Galaxy Publishing Corp. in 1952 and made and appearance in the magazine Galaxy Science Fiction
Galaxy Science Fiction
Galaxy Science Fiction was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by an Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break in to the American market. World Editions hired as editor H. L...
. Both pieces of fiction are categorized in the Science Fiction Fantasy
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
, while Address: Centauri is categorized more specifically as a Space opera
Space opera
Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in outer space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing advanced technologies and abilities. The term has no relation to music and it is analogous to "soap...
. A Space opera
Space opera
Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in outer space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing advanced technologies and abilities. The term has no relation to music and it is analogous to "soap...
is defined by The Science Fiction Handbook by M. Keith Booker and Anne-Marie Thomas as a “type of science fiction narrative involving stories of adventure, exploration, and conflict in outer space. ”
Plot
Earth is different now. It is filled with beautiful people, technology has been advanced in many fields, and Earth is perfect. Or is it? Not too far off from is earth is Handicap Haven, a place where they send all of earth’s little imperfections. Handicap Haven is actually an asteroid containing a medical facility that takes care of all of the mental and physical rejects. We are introduced to a motley crew of rejects from Earth, with disabilities ranging from loss of limb, rampant flesh-building organisms, inability to speak, and even to telepathic powers. These characters have endured lives filled with being ostracized from society and rejected because of circumstance. So they all come up with a plan to send the asteroid that they call home off to the star system CentauriCharacters
- Jordan -He has broad shoulders and powerful arms, unfortunately this is where it ends. Jordan’s body stops just below his chest. A metal capsule holds his digestive organs. Jordan is also Docchi’s right-hand man.
- Anti - Anti was once a gifted dancer, but was infected by a rampant flesh-building organism.
- Docchi - Docchi was involved in a particularly messy lab experiment that ended in him being tossed in a tank of cold lightning fluid. He has lost all his shoulder muscle and most of his back muscle, which makes his arms only ornaments. Further than his physical limitations, Docchi is the leader of the group of misfits.
- Nona - Nona is very beautiful, but she is and emotional retard and cannot speak because she is missing her larynx. Nona is also telepathic, and can influence electronic and gravitic systems.
- Dr Cameron - He is a young doctor sent to Handicap Haven to address the problems. He later develops a relationship with Nona.
Life
Floyd L. WallaceF. L. Wallace
F. L. Wallace, sometimes credited as Floyd Wallace, was a noted science fiction and mystery writer. He was born in Rock Island, Illinois, in 1915, and died in Tustin, California, in 2004...
was born in Rock Island, Illinois
Rock Island, Illinois
Rock Island is the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 40,884 at the 2010 census. Located on the Mississippi River, it is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring Moline, East Moline, and the Iowa cities of Davenport and Bettendorf. The Quad Cities...
in the United States on the 16th of February in 1915. Not much else is given about his life except his publications. Different from most authors of his time, Wallace wrote through the 1950’s and the early 60’s. He provided material for Gnome Press
Gnome Press
Gnome Press was an American small-press publishing company primarily known for publishing many science fiction classics.The company was founded in 1948 by Martin Greenberg and David A. Kyle. Many of Gnome's titles were reprinted in England by Boardman Books...
trough the 1930’s, 40’s and early 50’s. He died on the 26th of November in 2004.
Written Material
Novels- Address: Centauri (1955)
Collections
- Paria del cosmo (1972)
Chapterbooks
- Second Landing (2008)
- Bolden's Pets (2009)
- Student Body (2010)
- Forget Me Nearly (2010)
- Tangle Hold (2010)
- Accidental Flight (2010)
- The Impossible Voyage Home (2010)
Shortfiction
- Hideaway (1951)
- Accidental Flight (1952)
- Delay in Transit (1952)
- Student Body (1953)
- Worlds in Balance (1953)
- Tangle Hold (1953)
- The Music Master (1953)
- Seasoned Traveller (1953)
- Forget Me Nearly (1954)
- The Deadly Ones (1954)
- The Impossible Voyage Home (1954)
- The Man Who Was Six (1954)
- Simple Psiman (1954)
- Big Ancestor (1954)
- End as a World (1955)
- Bolden's Pets (1955)
- The Assistant Self (1956)
- Mezzerow Loves Company (1956)
- A Little Thing for the House (1956)
- Queen of Clothes (1957)
- The Nevada Virus (1957)
- Growing Season (1959)
- Second Landing (1960)
- Privates All (1961)
Science Fiction Background
H. Bruce Franklin defined Science FictionScience fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
as, “…the major non-realistic mode of imaginative creation of our epoch. It is the principal cultural way we locate ourselves imaginatively in time and space.” Really, Science Fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
started really being defined and focused on in the early 1940’s through the 50’s. This was called the "Golden Age" of science fiction with influential authors like Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury is an American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man , Bradbury is one of the most celebrated among 20th...
. Later there were more influential writers such as Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
and George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
.
History of Science Fiction
Science fiction dates all the way back to 2nd Century A.D. where the Syrian writer LucianLucian
Lucian of Samosata was a rhetorician and satirist who wrote in the Greek language. He is noted for his witty and scoffing nature.His ethnicity is disputed and is attributed as Assyrian according to Frye and Parpola, and Syrian according to Joseph....
’s wrote The True History In this story, “the author and a shipload of companions are wafted to the Moon, and the travelers observe an interplanetary battle fought to determine whether the empire of the Moon or of the Sun gets to colonize Venus.” But this story was not written to be Science Fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
, but Fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
. Science Fiction was really changed in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
where there were new ideas about the universe being represented in books. This was done by Johannes Kepler
Johannes Kepler
Johannes Kepler was a German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer. A key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution, he is best known for his eponymous laws of planetary motion, codified by later astronomers, based on his works Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome of Copernican...
, who developed the basic laws of planetary motion, and wrote Somnium in 1634 to represent what living on the moon would be like. Moving in the ages we have many famous scientists who use writing in the genre to put their theories into words, such as New Atlantis
New Atlantis
New Atlantis and similar can mean:*New Atlantis, a novel by Sir Francis Bacon*The New Atlantis, founded in 2003, a journal about the social and political dimensions of science and technology...
, written by Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
in 1627. Also, Science Fiction was used to analyze society and improve it, such as Thomas More
Thomas More
Sir Thomas More , also known by Catholics as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman and noted Renaissance humanist. He was an important councillor to Henry VIII of England and, for three years toward the end of his life, Lord Chancellor...
’s Utopia
Utopia (book)
Utopia is a work of fiction by Thomas More published in 1516...
in 1516 .
Famous science fiction authors
- Isaac AsimovIsaac AsimovIsaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
(1920-1992) - Most famous Asimov works are I, RobotI, RobotI, Robot is a collection of nine science fiction short stories by Isaac Asimov, first published by Gnome Press in 1950 in an edition of 5,000 copies. The stories originally appeared in the American magazines Super Science Stories and Astounding Science Fiction between 1940 and 1950. The stories are...
(1950) and The Foundation Trilogy (1951 – 1953) . His most famous contribution to Science FictionScience fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
would have to be his Three Laws of RoboticsThree Laws of RoboticsThe Three Laws of Robotics are a set of rules devised by the science fiction author Isaac Asimov and later added to. The rules are introduced in his 1942 short story "Runaround", although they were foreshadowed in a few earlier stories...
:
- A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
- A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
- A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
- George OrwellGeorge OrwellEric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
(1903 – 1950) – Two of his most famous books were Animal FarmAnimal FarmAnimal Farm is an allegorical novella by George Orwell published in England on 17 August 1945. According to Orwell, the book reflects events leading up to and during the Stalin era before World War II...
(1945) and Nineteen Eighty Four (1949). Interestingly enough, George OrwellGeorge OrwellEric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
was just a penname. His real name was Eric Arthur Blair .
- George Orwell
Review by Gnome Press Science Fiction Odyssey
- “There is a great base here from which F.L. Wallace could have built a couple more books around our team’s efforts to establish their home and relations with the denizens of the Centauri system. It’s a real shame he didn’t as I really enjoyed the ride out there, and would have liked to tag along on some more adventures with Docchi, Nona, Anti and their interesting friends.”