Jack Williamson
Encyclopedia
John Stewart Williamson (April 29, 1908 – November 10, 2006), who wrote as Jack Williamson (and occasionally under the pseudonym
s Will Stewart and Nils O. Sonderlund) was a U.S.
writer
often referred to as the "Dean of Science Fiction
" following the death in 1988 of Robert A. Heinlein.
, Arizona Territory
, and spent his early childhood in western Texas. In search of better pastures, his family migrated to rural New Mexico
in a horse-drawn covered wagon
in 1915. The farming was difficult there and the family turned to ranching, which they continue to this day. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II
as a weather forecaster.
, after answering an ad for one free issue. He strove to write his own fiction, selling his first story at age 20: "The Metal Man" appeared in the Dec. 1928 issue of Amazing Stories. His work during this early period was heavily influenced by A. Merritt. Noting the Merritt influence, Algis Budrys
described "The Metal Man" as "a story full of memorable images."
Early on, Williamson became impressed by the works of Miles J. Breuer
and struck up a correspondence with him. A doctor who wrote science fiction in his spare time, Breuer had a strong talent and turned Williamson away from dreamlike fantasies towards more rigorous plotting and stronger narrative. Under Breuer's tutelage, Williamson would send outlines and drafts for review. Their first work together was the novel Birth of a New Republic in which Moon
colonies were undergoing something like the American Revolution—a theme later taken up by many other SF writers, particularly in Robert A. Heinlein
's The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
.
Wracked by emotional storms and believing many of his physical ailments to be psychosomatic, Williamson underwent psychiatric evaluation in 1933 at the Menninger Clinic in Topeka
, Kansas
, in which he began to learn to resolve the conflict between his reason and his emotion. From this period, his stories take on a grittier, more realistic tone.
By the 1930s he was an established genre author, and the teenaged Isaac Asimov
was thrilled to receive a postcard from Williamson, whom he had idolized, congratulating him on his first published story and saying "welcome to the ranks". Williamson remained a regular contributor to the pulp magazine
s, though not reaching financial success until many years later. He published many collaborations with the science fiction author Frederik Pohl
. He continued to write as a nonagenarian and won both the Hugo
and Nebula Award
s during the last decade of his life, by far the oldest writer to win those awards.
and Master of Arts
degrees in English
in the 1950s from Eastern New Mexico University
(ENMU) in Portales
(near the Texas panhandle), joining the faculty of that university in 1960. He remained affiliated with the school for the rest of his life. In the late 1990s, he established a permanent trust to fund the publication of El Portal, ENMU's journal of literature and art. In the 1980s, he made a sizable donation of books and original manuscripts to ENMU's library, which resulted in the formation of a Special Collections department; the library now is home to the Jack Williamson Science Fiction Library, which ENMU's website describes as "one of the top science fiction collections in the world". In addition, Williamson hosted the Jack Williamson Lectureship Series, an annual panel discussion in which two science fiction authors were invited to speak to attendees on a set topic. The Jack Williamson Liberal Arts building houses the Mathematics, Art, and Languages & Literature Departments of the university.
Williamson completed his Ph.D.
in English literature at the University of Colorado
in Boulder
, focused on H.G. Wells' earlier works, demonstrating that Wells was not the naive optimist that many believed him to be. In the field of science, Jack Williamson coined the word terraforming
in a science-fiction story published in 1942 in Astounding Science Fiction.
by the Science Fiction Writers of America. He was only the second person to receive this honor. The first was Robert A. Heinlein
.
After retiring from teaching full-time in 1977, Williamson spent some time concentrating on his writing, but after being named Professor Emeritus by ENMU, he was coaxed back to co-teach two evening classes, "Creative Writing" and "Fantasy and Science Fiction" (he pioneered the latter at ENMU during his full-time professorship days). Williamson continued to co-teach these two classes into the 21st century. After he made a large donation of original manuscripts and rare books from his personal collection to the ENMU library, a special collections area was created to house these and it was named the "Jack Williamson Special Collection".
In 1994 Williamson received a World Fantasy Award
for Lifetime Achievement.
In November 2006, Williamson died at his home in Portales, New Mexico
at age 98. Despite his age, he had made an appearance at the Spring 2006 Jack Williamson Lectureship and published a 320-page novel, The Stonehenge Gate, in 2005.
course, Williamson learned that Henryk Sienkiewicz
had created one of his works by taking the Three Musketeers of Alexandre Dumas
and pairing them with John Falstaff of William Shakespeare
. Williamson took this idea into science fiction with The Legion of Space.
Desperate for money, he searched for a quick source of income. While most pulps of the time were slow to pay, the recently re-started Astounding was an exception. However, they did not accept novels, so Williamson submitted three short stories and a novelette. Learning that they were also accepting novels for serialization, he sent in The Legion of Space
, which was published in six parts. It quickly became a genre favorite, and was quickly collected into a hardcover
.
The story takes place in an era when humans have colonized the Solar System
but dare not go farther, as the first extra-solar expedition to Barnard's Star
failed and the survivors came back as babbling, grotesque, diseased madmen. They spoke of a gigantic planet, populated by ferocious animals and the single city left of the evil "Medusae." The Medusae bear a vague resemblance to jellyfish, but are actually elephant-sized, four-eyed, flying beings with hundreds of tentacles. The Medusae cannot speak and communicate with one another via a microwave code.
The Falstaff character is named Giles Habibula. He was once a criminal, and can open any lock ever made. In his youth he was called Giles The Ghost. Jay Kalam (Commander of The Legion) and Hal Samdu are the names of the other two warriors. In this story these warriors of the 30th Century battle the Medusae, the alien race from the lone planet of Barnard's Star. The Legion itself is the military and police force of the Solar System after the overthrow of an empire called the Purple Hall that once ruled all humans.
In this novel, renegade Purple pretenders ally themselves with the Medusae as a means to regain their empire. But the Medusae, who are totally unlike humans in all ways, turn on the Purples, seeking to destroy all humans and move to the Solar System, as their own world, far older than Earth, is finally spiraling back into Barnard's Star. One of the Purples, John Ulnar, supports the Legion from the start, and he is the fourth great warrior. His enemy is the Purple pretender Eric Ulnar, who sought the Medusae out in the first place, seeking to become the next Emperor of The Sun.
The Medusae conquered the Moon, set up their bases there, and went on to attempt conquest of the Solar System. The Medusae had for eons used a reddish, artificial greenhouse gas
to keep their dying world from freezing. The Medusae learned from the first human expedition to their world that the gas rots human flesh, and the Medusae use it as a potent chemical weapon, attempting ecological destruction by means of projectiles fired from the Moon. Their vast spaceships also have very effective plasma weapons, very similar to those the Romulans had in a Star Trek episode called Balance of Terror
.
The Legion works also featured a force field called AKKA which can erase from the Universe any matter, of any size, anywhere, even a star or a planet. AKKA was a weapon of mass destruction and the secret of it was entrusted to a series of women. AKKA was used in the past to overthrow the Purple tyranny. It was also used to wipe out most of the Medusae, though they had tried to steal the secret. When they were wiped out, the Moon
where they had established their base was erased out of existence. At the end of the story, John Ulnar falls in love with the keeper of AKKA, Aladoree Anthar, and marries her. Aladoree Anthar is described as a young woman with lustrous brown hair and gray eyes, beautiful as a goddess
.
Williamson next wrote The Cometeers
which takes place twenty years after The Legion of Space
in which the same characters battle another alien race, this one of different origin.
In this second tale, they fight The Cometeers
who are an alien race of energy beings controlling a "comet" which is really a giant force field containing a swarm of planets populated by their slaves. The slave races are of flesh and blood, but none are remotely similar to humans. The Cometeers cannot be destroyed by AKKA, as they are incorporeal from the Universe's point of view and exist for the most part in an alternate reality. The ruling Cometeers feed on their slaves and literally absorb their souls, leaving disgusting, dying hulks in their wake. It is said that they do so, as they were once fleshly entities themselves of various species. Hence, the ruling Cometeers keep other intelligent beings as slaves and "cattle." They fear AKKA, though, as it can erase all their possessions.
They are defeated by the skills of Giles Habibula. Giles broke into a secret chamber guarded by complex locks and force fields that the incorporeal Cometeers could not penetrate. In it the ruler of the Cometeers had kept its own weapon of mass destruction, one that would cause the Cometeers to disintegrate. The ruling Cometeer kept this weapon to enforce its rule over the others of its kind. Once the Cometeers were destroyed, their slaves were ordered by the Legion to take the comet and leave the Solar System, and never return.
Another novel, One Against the Legion, tells of a Purple pretender who sets up a robotic base on a world over seventy light years from Earth, and tries to conquer the Solar System via matter transporter
technology he has stolen. In this story robot
s are outlawed, as they are in Dune
. The story also features Jay Kalam, lobbying to allow the New Cometeers to leave the Solar System in peace, as many people were demanding that AKKA be used to obliterate the departing swarm of planets once and for all.
In 1983, Williamson published a final Legion novel, The Queen of the Legion. Giles Habibula reappears in this final novel, which is set after the disbanding of the Legion.
) and asteroid mining. This brought about the Seetee (C-T) series of short stories written as by Will Stewart.
, brought Williamson to the attention of The New York Sunday News, which needed a science fiction writer for a new comic strip. Williamson wrote the strip Beyond Mars
, loosely based on his novel Seetee Ship
for several years (1952–55), until the paper dropped all comics.
Humanoids Series
Seetee Series
Undersea Trilogy
(with Frederik Pohl)
Saga of Cuckoo
(with Frederik Pohl)
Starchild Trilogy
(with Frederik Pohl)
Wonder's Child: My Life in Science Fiction. Benbella Books, Dallas, 2005. (Paperback, updated with new photographs and epilogue)
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
s Will Stewart and Nils O. Sonderlund) was a U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
often referred to as the "Dean of 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...
" following the death in 1988 of Robert A. Heinlein.
Early life
Williamson was born April 29, 1908 in BisbeeBisbee, Arizona
Bisbee is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, 82 miles southeast of Tucson. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city was 6,177...
, Arizona Territory
Arizona Territory
The Territory of Arizona was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863 until February 14, 1912, when it was admitted to the Union as the 48th state....
, and spent his early childhood in western Texas. In search of better pastures, his family migrated to rural New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
in a horse-drawn covered wagon
Conestoga wagon
The Conestoga wagon is a heavy, broad-wheeled covered wagon that was used extensively during the late 18th century and the 19th century in the United States and sometimes in Canada as well. It was large enough to transport loads up to 8 tons , and was drawn by horses, mules or oxen...
in 1915. The farming was difficult there and the family turned to ranching, which they continue to this day. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
as a weather forecaster.
Writing career
Williamson discovered the local library and used it to educate himself. As a young man, he discovered the magazine Amazing StoriesAmazing Stories
Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...
, after answering an ad for one free issue. He strove to write his own fiction, selling his first story at age 20: "The Metal Man" appeared in the Dec. 1928 issue of Amazing Stories. His work during this early period was heavily influenced by A. Merritt. Noting the Merritt influence, Algis Budrys
Algis Budrys
Algis Budrys was a Lithuanian-American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He was also known under the pen names "Frank Mason", "Alger Rome", "John A. Sentry", "William Scarff", and "Paul Janvier."-Biography:...
described "The Metal Man" as "a story full of memorable images."
Early on, Williamson became impressed by the works of Miles J. Breuer
Miles J. Breuer
Miles John Breuer was an American physician and science fiction writer. He was part of the first generation of writers to appear regularly in the pulp science fiction magazines, publishing his first story, "The Man with the Strange Head", in the January 1927 issue of Amazing Stories...
and struck up a correspondence with him. A doctor who wrote science fiction in his spare time, Breuer had a strong talent and turned Williamson away from dreamlike fantasies towards more rigorous plotting and stronger narrative. Under Breuer's tutelage, Williamson would send outlines and drafts for review. Their first work together was the novel Birth of a New Republic in which Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
colonies were undergoing something like the American Revolution—a theme later taken up by many other SF writers, particularly in Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
's The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress is a 1966 science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, about a lunar colony's revolt against rule from Earth....
.
Wracked by emotional storms and believing many of his physical ailments to be psychosomatic, Williamson underwent psychiatric evaluation in 1933 at the Menninger Clinic in Topeka
Topeka, Kansas
Topeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, in which he began to learn to resolve the conflict between his reason and his emotion. From this period, his stories take on a grittier, more realistic tone.
By the 1930s he was an established genre author, and the teenaged 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...
was thrilled to receive a postcard from Williamson, whom he had idolized, congratulating him on his first published story and saying "welcome to the ranks". Williamson remained a regular contributor to the pulp magazine
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
s, though not reaching financial success until many years later. He published many collaborations with the science fiction author Frederik Pohl
Frederik Pohl
Frederik George Pohl, Jr. is an American science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career spanning over seventy years — from his first published work, "Elegy to a Dead Planet: Luna" , to his most recent novel, All the Lives He Led .He won the National Book Award in 1980 for his novel Jem...
. He continued to write as a nonagenarian and won both the Hugo
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
and Nebula Award
Nebula Award
The Nebula Award is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the previous year...
s during the last decade of his life, by far the oldest writer to win those awards.
Academic career
Williamson received his Bachelor of ArtsBachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
and Master of Arts
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
degrees in English
English studies
English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
in the 1950s from Eastern New Mexico University
Eastern New Mexico University
Eastern New Mexico University , frequently called Eastern, is a state university in Portales, Roosevelt County, New Mexico, USA...
(ENMU) in Portales
Portales, New Mexico
Portales is a city in and the county seat of Roosevelt County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 11,131 at the 2000 census. Portales is located near the larger city of Clovis as well as Cannon Air Force Base, a major contributor to the economy of the region.Eastern New Mexico...
(near the Texas panhandle), joining the faculty of that university in 1960. He remained affiliated with the school for the rest of his life. In the late 1990s, he established a permanent trust to fund the publication of El Portal, ENMU's journal of literature and art. In the 1980s, he made a sizable donation of books and original manuscripts to ENMU's library, which resulted in the formation of a Special Collections department; the library now is home to the Jack Williamson Science Fiction Library, which ENMU's website describes as "one of the top science fiction collections in the world". In addition, Williamson hosted the Jack Williamson Lectureship Series, an annual panel discussion in which two science fiction authors were invited to speak to attendees on a set topic. The Jack Williamson Liberal Arts building houses the Mathematics, Art, and Languages & Literature Departments of the university.
Williamson completed his Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in English literature at the University of Colorado
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
in Boulder
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
, focused on H.G. Wells' earlier works, demonstrating that Wells was not the naive optimist that many believed him to be. In the field of science, Jack Williamson coined the word terraforming
Terraforming
Terraforming of a planet, moon, or other body is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying its atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology to be similar to those of Earth, in order to make it habitable by terrestrial organisms.The term is sometimes used more generally as a...
in a science-fiction story published in 1942 in Astounding Science Fiction.
Later years
In the mid 1970s, Williamson was named a Grand Master of Science FictionDamon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award
The Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award is an award given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. It is awarded to a living author for lifetime achievement in science fiction and/or fantasy. Officially, it is not a Nebula Award though it is awarded at the Nebula ceremony...
by the Science Fiction Writers of America. He was only the second person to receive this honor. The first was Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
.
After retiring from teaching full-time in 1977, Williamson spent some time concentrating on his writing, but after being named Professor Emeritus by ENMU, he was coaxed back to co-teach two evening classes, "Creative Writing" and "Fantasy and Science Fiction" (he pioneered the latter at ENMU during his full-time professorship days). Williamson continued to co-teach these two classes into the 21st century. After he made a large donation of original manuscripts and rare books from his personal collection to the ENMU library, a special collections area was created to house these and it was named the "Jack Williamson Special Collection".
In 1994 Williamson received a World Fantasy Award
World Fantasy Award
The World Fantasy Awards are annual, international awards given to authors and artists who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in the field of fantasy...
for Lifetime Achievement.
In November 2006, Williamson died at his home in Portales, New Mexico
Portales, New Mexico
Portales is a city in and the county seat of Roosevelt County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 11,131 at the 2000 census. Portales is located near the larger city of Clovis as well as Cannon Air Force Base, a major contributor to the economy of the region.Eastern New Mexico...
at age 98. Despite his age, he had made an appearance at the Spring 2006 Jack Williamson Lectureship and published a 320-page novel, The Stonehenge Gate, in 2005.
The Legion of Space
While attending a Great BooksGreat Books
Great Books refers primarily to a group of books that tradition, and various institutions and authorities, have regarded as constituting or best expressing the foundations of Western culture ; derivatively the term also refers to a curriculum or method of education based around a list of such books...
course, Williamson learned that Henryk Sienkiewicz
Henryk Sienkiewicz
Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz was a Polish journalist and Nobel Prize-winning novelist. A Polish szlachcic of the Oszyk coat of arms, he was one of the most popular Polish writers at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1905 for his...
had created one of his works by taking the Three Musketeers of Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas, , born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a French writer, best known for his historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world...
and pairing them with John Falstaff of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
. Williamson took this idea into science fiction with The Legion of Space.
Desperate for money, he searched for a quick source of income. While most pulps of the time were slow to pay, the recently re-started Astounding was an exception. However, they did not accept novels, so Williamson submitted three short stories and a novelette. Learning that they were also accepting novels for serialization, he sent in The Legion of Space
The Legion of Space
The Legion of Space is a science-fiction novel by the American writer Jack Williamson. It was first published in book form by Fantasy Press in 1947 in an edition of 2,970 copies. The novel was revised from a version that was originally serialized in the magazine Astounding in 1934...
, which was published in six parts. It quickly became a genre favorite, and was quickly collected into a hardcover
Hardcover
A hardcover, hardback or hardbound is a book bound with rigid protective covers...
.
The story takes place in an era when humans have colonized the Solar System
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
but dare not go farther, as the first extra-solar expedition to Barnard's Star
Barnard's star
Barnard's Star, also known occasionally as Barnard's "Runaway" Star, is a very low-mass red dwarf star approximately six light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Ophiuchus . In 1916, the American astronomer E.E...
failed and the survivors came back as babbling, grotesque, diseased madmen. They spoke of a gigantic planet, populated by ferocious animals and the single city left of the evil "Medusae." The Medusae bear a vague resemblance to jellyfish, but are actually elephant-sized, four-eyed, flying beings with hundreds of tentacles. The Medusae cannot speak and communicate with one another via a microwave code.
The Falstaff character is named Giles Habibula. He was once a criminal, and can open any lock ever made. In his youth he was called Giles The Ghost. Jay Kalam (Commander of The Legion) and Hal Samdu are the names of the other two warriors. In this story these warriors of the 30th Century battle the Medusae, the alien race from the lone planet of Barnard's Star. The Legion itself is the military and police force of the Solar System after the overthrow of an empire called the Purple Hall that once ruled all humans.
In this novel, renegade Purple pretenders ally themselves with the Medusae as a means to regain their empire. But the Medusae, who are totally unlike humans in all ways, turn on the Purples, seeking to destroy all humans and move to the Solar System, as their own world, far older than Earth, is finally spiraling back into Barnard's Star. One of the Purples, John Ulnar, supports the Legion from the start, and he is the fourth great warrior. His enemy is the Purple pretender Eric Ulnar, who sought the Medusae out in the first place, seeking to become the next Emperor of The Sun.
The Medusae conquered the Moon, set up their bases there, and went on to attempt conquest of the Solar System. The Medusae had for eons used a reddish, artificial greenhouse gas
Greenhouse gas
A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...
to keep their dying world from freezing. The Medusae learned from the first human expedition to their world that the gas rots human flesh, and the Medusae use it as a potent chemical weapon, attempting ecological destruction by means of projectiles fired from the Moon. Their vast spaceships also have very effective plasma weapons, very similar to those the Romulans had in a Star Trek episode called Balance of Terror
Balance of terror
The phrase "balance of terror" is usually used in reference to the nuclear arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War....
.
The Legion works also featured a force field called AKKA which can erase from the Universe any matter, of any size, anywhere, even a star or a planet. AKKA was a weapon of mass destruction and the secret of it was entrusted to a series of women. AKKA was used in the past to overthrow the Purple tyranny. It was also used to wipe out most of the Medusae, though they had tried to steal the secret. When they were wiped out, the Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
where they had established their base was erased out of existence. At the end of the story, John Ulnar falls in love with the keeper of AKKA, Aladoree Anthar, and marries her. Aladoree Anthar is described as a young woman with lustrous brown hair and gray eyes, beautiful as a goddess
Goddess
A goddess is a female deity. In some cultures goddesses are associated with Earth, motherhood, love, and the household. In other cultures, goddesses also rule over war, death, and destruction as well as healing....
.
Williamson next wrote The Cometeers
The Cometeers
The Cometeers is a collection of two science-fiction novels by the American writer Jack Williamson. It was first published by Fantasy Press in 1950 in an edition of 3,162 copies...
which takes place twenty years after The Legion of Space
The Legion of Space
The Legion of Space is a science-fiction novel by the American writer Jack Williamson. It was first published in book form by Fantasy Press in 1947 in an edition of 2,970 copies. The novel was revised from a version that was originally serialized in the magazine Astounding in 1934...
in which the same characters battle another alien race, this one of different origin.
In this second tale, they fight The Cometeers
The Cometeers
The Cometeers is a collection of two science-fiction novels by the American writer Jack Williamson. It was first published by Fantasy Press in 1950 in an edition of 3,162 copies...
who are an alien race of energy beings controlling a "comet" which is really a giant force field containing a swarm of planets populated by their slaves. The slave races are of flesh and blood, but none are remotely similar to humans. The Cometeers cannot be destroyed by AKKA, as they are incorporeal from the Universe's point of view and exist for the most part in an alternate reality. The ruling Cometeers feed on their slaves and literally absorb their souls, leaving disgusting, dying hulks in their wake. It is said that they do so, as they were once fleshly entities themselves of various species. Hence, the ruling Cometeers keep other intelligent beings as slaves and "cattle." They fear AKKA, though, as it can erase all their possessions.
They are defeated by the skills of Giles Habibula. Giles broke into a secret chamber guarded by complex locks and force fields that the incorporeal Cometeers could not penetrate. In it the ruler of the Cometeers had kept its own weapon of mass destruction, one that would cause the Cometeers to disintegrate. The ruling Cometeer kept this weapon to enforce its rule over the others of its kind. Once the Cometeers were destroyed, their slaves were ordered by the Legion to take the comet and leave the Solar System, and never return.
Another novel, One Against the Legion, tells of a Purple pretender who sets up a robotic base on a world over seventy light years from Earth, and tries to conquer the Solar System via matter transporter
Teleportation
Teleportation is the fictional or imagined process by which matter is instantaneously transferred from one place to another.Teleportation may also refer to:*Quantum teleportation, a method of transmitting quantum data...
technology he has stolen. In this story robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
s are outlawed, as they are in Dune
Dune universe
Dune is a science fiction franchise which originated with the 1965 novel Dune by Frank Herbert. Considered by many to be the greatest science fiction novel of all time, Dune is frequently cited as the best-selling science fiction novel in history...
. The story also features Jay Kalam, lobbying to allow the New Cometeers to leave the Solar System in peace, as many people were demanding that AKKA be used to obliterate the departing swarm of planets once and for all.
In 1983, Williamson published a final Legion novel, The Queen of the Legion. Giles Habibula reappears in this final novel, which is set after the disbanding of the Legion.
Contraterrene
An editor suggested that Williamson combine the ideas of contraterrene matter (antimatterAntimatter
In particle physics, antimatter is the extension of the concept of the antiparticle to matter, where antimatter is composed of antiparticles in the same way that normal matter is composed of particles...
) and asteroid mining. This brought about the Seetee (C-T) series of short stories written as by Will Stewart.
Comic strip
An unfavorable review of one of his books, which compared his writing to that of a comic stripComic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
, brought Williamson to the attention of The New York Sunday News, which needed a science fiction writer for a new comic strip. Williamson wrote the strip Beyond Mars
Beyond Mars
Beyond Mars was a science fiction comic strip written by Jack Williamson and drawn by Lee Elias. The Sunday strip ran in New York's Daily News from February 17, 1952 to May 13, 1955, initially as a full tabloid page and, near the end, as a half tab...
, loosely based on his novel Seetee Ship
Seetee Ship
Seetee Ship is the second of two science fiction novels by Jack Williamson, writing under the pseudonym Will Stewart. It is a fix-up adapting two stories previously published in Astounding Science Fiction magazine, "Minus Sign" and "Opposites—React!" .Seetee Ship was released in 1951...
for several years (1952–55), until the paper dropped all comics.
Series
Legion of Space SeriesLegion of Space Series
For the fictional military force which is part of the Interplanetary Alliance, see Space LegionThe Legion of Space is a space opera science fiction series by Jack Williamson...
- The Legion of SpaceThe Legion of SpaceThe Legion of Space is a science-fiction novel by the American writer Jack Williamson. It was first published in book form by Fantasy Press in 1947 in an edition of 2,970 copies. The novel was revised from a version that was originally serialized in the magazine Astounding in 1934...
, 1947 [6-part serial in Astounding, 1934] - The CometeersThe CometeersThe Cometeers is a collection of two science-fiction novels by the American writer Jack Williamson. It was first published by Fantasy Press in 1950 in an edition of 3,162 copies...
, 1950 [4-part serial in Astounding, 1936, plus One Against the Legion, 3-part serial in Astounding, 1939] - One Against the Legion, 1967 [3-part serial in Astounding, 1939, plus 'Nowhere Near']
- Three from the Legion, (Omnibus of 3 novels plus 'Nowhere Near') 1980
- The Queen of the Legion, 1983
Humanoids Series
- With Folded HandsWith Folded Hands"With Folded Hands ..." is a 1947 science fiction novelette by Jack Williamson . Willamson's influence for this story was in the aftermath of World War II and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and his concern that "some of the technological creations we had developed with the best...
, 1947 [in Astounding] - The Humanoids, 1949 [3-part serial as '..And Searching Mind' in Astounding, 1949]
- The Humanoid Touch, 1980
- The Humanoids / With Folded Hands (Omnibus) (1996)
Seetee Series
- Seetee Shock (1949) (as by Will Stewart) [from Astounding, 1949]
- Seetee ShipSeetee ShipSeetee Ship is the second of two science fiction novels by Jack Williamson, writing under the pseudonym Will Stewart. It is a fix-up adapting two stories previously published in Astounding Science Fiction magazine, "Minus Sign" and "Opposites—React!" .Seetee Ship was released in 1951...
(1951) (as by Will Stewart) [from previously published stories 1942-3] - Seetee Ship/Seetee Shock (1971)
Undersea Trilogy
Undersea Trilogy
The Undersea Trilogy is a series of three Science Fiction novels by authors Frederik Pohl and Jack Williamson. The novels were first published by Gnome Press beginning in 1954. The novels were collected in a single omnibus volume published by Baen Books in 1992. The story takes place in and...
(with Frederik Pohl)
- Undersea Quest (1954)
- Undersea Fleet (1956)
- Undersea City (1958)
- The Undersea Trilogy (Omnibus) (1992)
Saga of Cuckoo
Saga of Cuckoo
Saga of Cuckoo is a series of science fiction novels by Frederik Pohl and Jack Williamson. It consists of two novels:*Farthest Star *Wall Around A Star -Themes:...
(with Frederik Pohl)
- Farthest StarFarthest StarFarthest Star is the first novel of the Saga of Cuckoo Series. The author is Frederik Pohl, in collaboration with Jack Williamson. It was published by Ballantine Books in 1975....
(1975) - Wall Around A StarWall Around A StarWall Around A Star is the second book of the Saga of Cuckoo series, the first of which was Farthest Star. The author is Frederik Pohl, in collaboration with Jack Williamson. The cover art for the 1983 edition was done by David Mattingly...
(1983)
Starchild Trilogy
Starchild Trilogy
The Starchild Trilogy is a series of three books written by Frederik Pohl and Jack Williamson. In the future depicted in this series, mankind is ruled by a brutal authoritarian totalitarian government known as the Plan of Man, enforced by a computerized surveillance state.The books in the series...
(with Frederik Pohl)
- The Reefs of Space (1964)
- Starchild (1965)
- Rogue Star (1969)
- The Starchild Trilogy (omnibus) (1977)
Novels
- The Girl from Mars (1930, with Miles J. BreuerMiles J. BreuerMiles John Breuer was an American physician and science fiction writer. He was part of the first generation of writers to appear regularly in the pulp science fiction magazines, publishing his first story, "The Man with the Strange Head", in the January 1927 issue of Amazing Stories...
) - The Green Girl (1930)
- Golden Blood (1933)
- Xandulu (1934)
- The Blue Spot (1935)
- Islands of the Sun (1935)
- Realm of Wizardry (1940)
- Darker Than You ThinkDarker Than You ThinkDarker Than You Think by Jack Williamson, originally a novelette, was expanded into novel length and published by Fantasy Press in 1948. The short version was published Unknown in 1940...
(1948) - Dragon's Island (1951) (also known as The Not-Men)
- Star BridgeStar BridgeStar Bridge is a science fiction novel by authors Jack Williamson and James E. Gunn. It was published in 1955 by Gnome Press in an edition of 5,000 copies. However, 900 copies were never bound...
(1955, with James E. GunnJames Gunn (author)- Further reading :James E. Gunn The Listeners, BenBella Books, ISBN 1-932100-12-1 -External links:*...
) - The Dome Around America (1955) (also known as Gateway to Paradise)
- The Trial of Terra (1962) [from 4 previously published stories, 1951-1962]
- The Reign of Wizardry (1964)
- Bright New Universe (1967)
- Trapped in Space (1968)
- The Moon Children (1972)
- The Power of Blackness (1975)
- Brother to Demons, Brother to Gods (1979) [from 5 previously published stories, 1977-78]
- Manseed (1982)
- Lifeburst (1984)
- Firechild (1986)
- Land's End (1988, with Frederik PohlFrederik PohlFrederik George Pohl, Jr. is an American science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career spanning over seventy years — from his first published work, "Elegy to a Dead Planet: Luna" , to his most recent novel, All the Lives He Led .He won the National Book Award in 1980 for his novel Jem...
) - Mazeway (1990)
- The Singers of Time (1991, with Frederik PohlFrederik PohlFrederik George Pohl, Jr. is an American science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career spanning over seventy years — from his first published work, "Elegy to a Dead Planet: Luna" , to his most recent novel, All the Lives He Led .He won the National Book Award in 1980 for his novel Jem...
) - Beachhead (1992)
- Demon Moon (1994)
- The Black Sun (1997)
- The Fortress of Utopia (1998) [originally in Startling StoriesStartling StoriesStartling Stories was an American pulp science fiction magazine, published from 1939 to 1955 by Standard Magazines. It was initially edited by Mort Weisinger, who was also the editor of Thrilling Wonder Stories, Standard's other science fiction title. Startling ran a lead novel in every issue;...
, 1939] - The Silicon Dagger (1999)
- The Stone from a Green Star (1999) [originally in Amazing StoriesAmazing StoriesAmazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...
, 1931] - Terraforming Earth (2001) (Co-winner of 2002 John W. Campbell Memorial AwardJohn W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction NovelThe John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel for best science fiction novel was created in 1973 by writers and critics Harry Harrison and Brian W. Aldiss to honor Campbell's name...
) - The Stonehenge Gate (2005)
Collections
- The Legion of Time, and After World's End (1952)
- The Pandora Effect (1969)
- People Machines (1971)
- The Early Williamson, 1975
- The Best of Jack Williamson (1978)
- The Alien Intelligence (1980)
- Millions de Soleils (1988)
- Into the Eighth Decade (1990)
- The Prince of Space/The Girl from Mars (1998) [TGFM written with Miles J. Breuer]
- The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, Volume One, The Metal Man and Others (1999)
- The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, Volume Two, Wolves of Darkness (1999)
- The Blue Spot, and Entropy Reversed (Released Entropy) (2000) [both from {Astounding}, 1937]
- The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, Volume Three, Wizard's Isle (2000)
- Dragon's Island and other stories (2002) [novel & 2 shorts]
- The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, Volume Four, Spider Island (2002)
- Seventy-Five: The Diamond Anniversary of a Science Fiction Pioneer, Stephen Haffner & Richard A. Hauptmann, eds. (2004)
- The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, Volume Five, The Crucible of Power (2006)
- In Memory of Wonder's Child Stephen Haffner, ed. (2007)
- The Worlds of Jack Williamson: A Centennial Tribute (1908-2008), Stephen Haffner, ed. (2008)
- The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, Volume Six, Gateway to Paradise (2008)
- With Folded Hands . . . And Searching Mind, The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, Volume Seven (2010)
- At the Human Limit, The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, Volume Eight (forthcoming)
Short stories
- The Metal Man, 1928
- The Cosmic Express, 1930
- The Moon Era, 1931
- Born of the Sun, 1934
- Star Bright, 1939
- The Angel From Hell, 1939 (in Marvel TalesMarvel TalesMarvel Tales is the title of three American comic-book series published by Marvel Comics, the first of them from the company's 1950s predecessor, Atlas Comics...
, writing as Nils O. Sonderlund) - Hindsight, 1940
- Collision Orbit, 1942 (writing as Will Stewart) [into Seetee Ship]
- Minus Sign, 1942 (writing as Will Stewart) [into Seetee Ship]
- Opposites - React!, 1943 (writing as Will Stewart) [into Seetee Ship]
- With Folded Hands..., 1947
- The Man from Outside, 1951
- Beans, 1958
- Jamboree, 1969
- The Highest Dive, 1976
- The Humanoid Universe, 1980
- The Firefly Tree, 1997
- The Pet Rocks Mystery, 1998
- Eden Star, 2000
- The Ultimate Earth, 2000 (awarded the Hugo for Best Novella in 2001)
Autobiography
Wonder's Child: My Life in Science Fiction. Bluejay Books, New York, 1984. (Hardcover)Wonder's Child: My Life in Science Fiction. Benbella Books, Dallas, 2005. (Paperback, updated with new photographs and epilogue)
See also
- Genetic engineeringGenetic engineeringGenetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct human manipulation of an organism's genome using modern DNA technology. It involves the introduction of foreign DNA or synthetic genes into the organism of interest...
(Williamson invented this term in "Dragon's Island" and it has since passed into common use.) - TerraformingTerraformingTerraforming of a planet, moon, or other body is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying its atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology to be similar to those of Earth, in order to make it habitable by terrestrial organisms.The term is sometimes used more generally as a...
- PsionicsPsionicsPsionics refers to the practice, study, or psychic ability of using the mind to induce paranormal phenomena. Examples of this include telepathy, telekinesis, and other workings of the outside world through the psyche.-History and terminology:...
- Space OperaSpace operaSpace 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...
- Anti-matter
- Seetee ShipSeetee ShipSeetee Ship is the second of two science fiction novels by Jack Williamson, writing under the pseudonym Will Stewart. It is a fix-up adapting two stories previously published in Astounding Science Fiction magazine, "Minus Sign" and "Opposites—React!" .Seetee Ship was released in 1951...
- Frederik PohlFrederik PohlFrederik George Pohl, Jr. is an American science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career spanning over seventy years — from his first published work, "Elegy to a Dead Planet: Luna" , to his most recent novel, All the Lives He Led .He won the National Book Award in 1980 for his novel Jem...
- Android
Listen to
External links
- Bibliography
- John Clute on Jack Williamson
- Williamson Biography on ENMU website
- Books by Jack Williamson from Haffner Press
- Jack Williamson Science Fiction Library at ENMU
- Jack Williamson Lectureship Series
- Eastern New Mexico University press release
- Scifi.com interview
- McCaffery, Larry (July 1991) An Interview with Jack Williamson. Science Fiction StudiesScience Fiction StudiesScience Fiction Studies is an academic journal founded in 1973 by R.D. Mullen. The journal is published three times per year by DePauw University. As the name implies, the journal publishes articles and book reviews on science fiction, but also occasionally on fantasy and horror when the topic...
#54 Volume 18, Part 2 - Jack Williamson Obituary
- Obituaries: Jack Williamson, The Daily TelegraphThe Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, November 15, 2006