James White (author)
Encyclopedia
James White was a Northern Irish
author of science fiction
novella
s, short stories
and novels. He was born in Belfast and returned there after spending his early years in Canada. After a few years in the clothing industry, he worked at Short Brothers
Ltd. from 1965 until taking early retirement in 1984 as a result of diabetes. White married Margaret Sarah Martin, another science fiction
fan, in 1955 and the couple had three children.
He became a fan of the genre in 1941 and co-wrote two fanzine
s, from 1948 to 1953 and 1952 to 1965. Encouraged by other fans, White began publishing short stories
in 1953, and his first novel
appeared in 1957. His best-known novels were the twelve in the Sector General
series, the first appeared in 1962 and the last after his death of a stroke
. White also published nine other novels, two of which were nominated by major awards, unsuccessfully.
White abhorred violence, and medical and other emergencies were the sources of dramatic tension in his stories. He was regarded as a second-rank writer, who occasionally produced first-rank works, and his plots and writing were often formulaic. However, the "Sector General" series is regarded as defining the genre of medical science fiction, and as introducing "the most memorable crew of aliens ever created". Although narrowly missing winning four times in the most prestigious honours, White gained other awards for specific works and for contributions to science fiction. He was also was Guest-of-Honour at many conventions.
, Northern Ireland
, on 7 April 1928, and spent part of his early life in Canada. He was educated in Belfast at St. John's Primary School (1935 – 1941) and St. Joseph's Technical Secondary School (1942 – 1943). As a teenager he lived with foster parents. He wanted to study medicine
but financial circumstances prevented this. Between 1943 and 1965 he worked for several Belfast tailoring firms and then as assistant manager of a Co-op
department store
. He married Margaret ("Peggy") Sarah Martin, another science fiction
fan, in 1955 and the couple had three children: daughter Patricia, and sons Martin and Peter. White later worked for the aeroplane builders Short Brothers
Ltd. as a technical clerk (1965 – 1966), publicity assistant (1966 – 1968), and publicity officer (1968 – 1984).
He became a science fiction fan in 1941, attracted particularly by the works of E. E. "Doc" Smith
, which featured good aliens as well as evil ones, and of Robert A. Heinlein
, many of whose stories center round ordinary people. In 1947 he met another Irish fan, Walter A. ("Walt") Willis
(1919 – 1999), and the two helped to produce the magazines Slant
(1948 – 1953) and Hyphen
(1952 – 1965), which featured stories and articles by noted authors including John Brunner
, A. Bertram Chandler
, and Bob Shaw
. In 2004 both White and Willis were nominated for the retrospective Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer
of 1953, although neither won. White said that he started writing stories because the Slant team felt that Astounding Science Fiction was too dominated by prophesies of nuclear doom, and his friends dared him to write the kind of story that they all liked to read. He said that getting published was fairly easy in the 1950s, as the World War II
restrictions on paper were lifted, and there were at least 12 science magazines in Britain and about 40 in the United States. His first published short story
, Assisted Passage, a parody of 1950s Anglo-Australian emigration policies
, appeared in the January, 1953 edition of New Worlds
. Further stories appeared in New Worlds over the next few years, but White's attempt to break into the more lucrative American market by submitting stories to Astounding Science Fiction stalled after the publication of The Scavengers. White later said that his optimistic view of inter-species relations was unpalatable to Astoundings xenophobic editor, John W. Campbell
. As a result White's work was little-known outside the UK until the 1960s.
In 1957, Ace Books
published White's first novel, The Secret Visitors, which included locations in Northern Ireland. The book had previously been serialized in New Worlds under the title Tourist Planet. Ace Books' science fiction editor, Donald A. Wollheim
, thought the original ending was too tame and suggest that White should insert an all-out space battle just after the climactic courtroom scene. In November the same year New Worlds published White's novelette
Sector General, and editor John ("Ted") Carnell
requested more stories set in the same universe, founding the series for which White is best known. White gained "a steady following" for his "scientifically accurate" stories, which were notable examples of hard science fiction
in New Worlds, despite the magazine's promotion of literary "New Wave" science fiction
in the 1960s.
White kept up his day job with Short Brothers and wrote in the evenings, as his stories did not make enough money for him to become a full-time author. In 1980 he taught a literature course at a Belfast branch of the Workers Educational Association.
When diabetes had severely impaired his eyesight, he took early retirement in 1984 and moved to the north Antrim
resort town of Portstewart
, where he continued to write. For many years he was a Council Member of the British Science Fiction Association
and, with Harry Harrison
and Anne McCaffrey
, a Patron of the Irish Science Fiction Association.
White was also a strong pacifist. He died of a stroke on 23 August 1999, while his novels Double Contact
and The First Protector (Earth: Final Conflict) were being prepared for publication. His wife Peggy, son Martin, and daughter Patricia survived him.
The Sector General series consists of 12 books originally published between 1962 (Hospital Station
) and 1999 (Double Contact
). Additional short stories set in the Sector General Universe (Countercharm, Tableau, Occupation: Warrior, and Custom Fitting) appear in other collections by White.
Sector General is a gigantic multi-species hospital space station
founded as a peace-making project by two heroes from opposite sides of humanity's only full interstellar war. The hospital accommodates patients and staff from dozens of species, with different environmental requirements, behaviors and ailments. Initially most of the stories center round the career of Doctor Conway, who rises from junior surgeon to Diagnostician. In the fourth book the Galactic Federation decides that the emergency service which the hospital offers to victims of space accidents and planetary catastrophes is the most effective means of making peaceful contact
with new spacefaring species, which allows the series to expand its range of plots, characters and settings. The seventh and later books each have a different and usually alien viewpoint character, which gave them "considerable new pep". They also expand the range of issues beyond purely medical, and in Mike Resnick
's opinion handle deeper issues such as guilt and forgiveness better than most science fiction.
The series defined the sub-genre of multi-species medical stories, and was "the first explicitly pacifist space opera
" series, when much of contemporary space opera from the USA was notably military.
(1961), which White described as "about the last man on Earth" but with "an upbeat ending", was short-listed for a Hugo Award
. The Escape Orbit
(1965; title Open Prison in the UK), which was short-listed for a Nebula Award
, chronicles the efforts of human prisoners of war to survive after being dumped on a hostile planet without tools or weapons. Mike Resnick
described All Judgement Fled, which won the 1979 Europa prize, as his favorite among White's novels and as "Rendezvous with Rama
done right."
White's other novels outside the Sector General series are:
, and includes short stories and fanzine articles by White, plus sections of Gary Louie's guide to the Sector General
series. Among the stories, Custom Fitting (1976) was short-listed for a Hugo Award, and Sanctuary (1988) won an Analog Analytical Laboratory Award. His short story
Un-Birthday Boy, published in Analog
in 1996 but not in a collection or anthology, was short-listed for a Hugo Award.
Other collections include:
described White as a second-rank writer who occasionally produced first-rank works, and attracted a devoted but not wide audience. Kincaid noted that his plots were often formulaic and his writing employed a predictable set of techniques and mannerisms, along with a "studied quietness." On the other hand John Clute
wrote that "in the depiction of goodness may lie the real genius of James White," Mike Resnick
described the Sector General
series' characters as "the most memorable crew of aliens ever created," and Graham Andrews wrote that White's aliens are really alien, not just human minds with exotic biologies. Michael Ashley
commented that the setting of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
is reminiscent of Sector General, and Mark Leeper noted similarities between Sector General's setting and that of television's Babylon 5
. Chris Aylott wrote that White's plot construction and writing, including occasionally clumsy exposition, are typical of the Golden Age of science fiction
in the 1930s, '40s, and '50s.
Algis Budrys
concluded his review of The Watch Below
with "... this is very nice writing when considered simply as prose and as an attempt to involve the reader's emotions." However when reviewing All Judgment Fled he wrote, "I suspect that he generates so much tension within himself while writing a book that he literally cannot bear to come to grips with crucial scenes."
White said of his approach to producing stories, "Of course, the plot idea must come first – but the characters soon take over," and compared it to using a compass
rather than a map. He explained that he was drawn to medical themes by two factors: they offered opportunities for dramatic tension without war; and he had wanted to become a doctor, but had to go to work instead. His avoidance of violent themes is as strong in his non-medical stories as in the Sector General series.
None of White's works won Hugo
or Nebula
Awards, although four were short-listed. However, he won a Europa Prize in 1979, an Analog
Analytical Laboratory Award in 1988 and a Science Fiction Chronicle Reader Award in 1996. In 1998, White received the NESFA (New England Science Fiction Association) Skylark Award
for contributions to science fiction, named after a story by one of his inspirations, E. E. "Doc" Smith, and appreciated this so much that he donated his complete collection of Slant
to NESFA. The following year he was inducted into the European Science Fiction Society
's Hall of Fame
. White was Guest-of-Honour at many conventions including: the 1971 and 1985 Novacon
s in the United Kingdom; three Beneluxcons (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg
); the 1998 Octocon
(Éire
); a Nicon (Northern Ireland
); and the 1996 Worldcon
.
Since 2000 the James White Award has been presented for the best short story by a non-professional writer. The judges are professional authors and editors, and have included Mike Resnick
, Orson Scott Card
, Lois McMaster Bujold
, Peter F. Hamilton
, Christopher Priest and Robert Sheckley
.
:Category:Novels by James White
:Category:Short story collections by James White
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
author 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...
novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
s, short stories
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...
and novels. He was born in Belfast and returned there after spending his early years in Canada. After a few years in the clothing industry, he worked at Short Brothers
Short Brothers
Short Brothers plc is a British aerospace company, usually referred to simply as Shorts, that is now based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Founded in 1908, Shorts was the first company in the world to make production aircraft and was a manufacturer of flying boats during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s...
Ltd. from 1965 until taking early retirement in 1984 as a result of diabetes. White married Margaret Sarah Martin, another 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...
fan, in 1955 and the couple had three children.
He became a fan of the genre in 1941 and co-wrote two fanzine
Fanzine
A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...
s, from 1948 to 1953 and 1952 to 1965. Encouraged by other fans, White began publishing short stories
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...
in 1953, and his first novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
appeared in 1957. His best-known novels were the twelve in the Sector General
Sector General
Sector General is a series of twelve science fiction books and various short stories by the Northern Irish author James White. The series derives its name from the setting of the majority of the books, the Sector 12 General Hospital, a huge hospital space station located in deep space, designed to...
series, the first appeared in 1962 and the last after his death of a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
. White also published nine other novels, two of which were nominated by major awards, unsuccessfully.
White abhorred violence, and medical and other emergencies were the sources of dramatic tension in his stories. He was regarded as a second-rank writer, who occasionally produced first-rank works, and his plots and writing were often formulaic. However, the "Sector General" series is regarded as defining the genre of medical science fiction, and as introducing "the most memorable crew of aliens ever created". Although narrowly missing winning four times in the most prestigious honours, White gained other awards for specific works and for contributions to science fiction. He was also was Guest-of-Honour at many conventions.
Biography
James White was born in BelfastBelfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, on 7 April 1928, and spent part of his early life in Canada. He was educated in Belfast at St. John's Primary School (1935 – 1941) and St. Joseph's Technical Secondary School (1942 – 1943). As a teenager he lived with foster parents. He wanted to study medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
but financial circumstances prevented this. Between 1943 and 1965 he worked for several Belfast tailoring firms and then as assistant manager of a Co-op
The Co-operative brand
The Co-operative is a common branding used by a variety of co-operatives based in the United Kingdom.Many in the UK mistakenly consider the Co-op to be a single national business, however each Co-operative is actually a franchise selling branded goods produced by the Co-operative Group The...
department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
. He married Margaret ("Peggy") Sarah Martin, another 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...
fan, in 1955 and the couple had three children: daughter Patricia, and sons Martin and Peter. White later worked for the aeroplane builders Short Brothers
Short Brothers
Short Brothers plc is a British aerospace company, usually referred to simply as Shorts, that is now based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Founded in 1908, Shorts was the first company in the world to make production aircraft and was a manufacturer of flying boats during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s...
Ltd. as a technical clerk (1965 – 1966), publicity assistant (1966 – 1968), and publicity officer (1968 – 1984).
He became a science fiction fan in 1941, attracted particularly by the works of E. E. "Doc" Smith
E. E. Smith
Edward Elmer Smith, Ph.D., also, E. E. Smith, E. E. "Doc" Smith, Doc Smith, "Skylark" Smith, and Ted was a food engineer and early science fiction author who wrote the Lensman series and the Skylark series, among others...
, which featured good aliens as well as evil ones, and of 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...
, many of whose stories center round ordinary people. In 1947 he met another Irish fan, Walter A. ("Walt") Willis
Walt Willis
Walter Alexander Willis was a well-known Irish science fiction fan, resident in Belfast.Willis was awarded a 1958 Hugo Award as "Outstanding Actifan" , which replaced the Best Fanzine category that year. He was nominated for a best fan writer Hugo in 1969 and two retro-Hugos in the same category...
(1919 – 1999), and the two helped to produce the magazines Slant
Slant (fanzine)
Slant was a science fiction fanzine edited by Walt Willis in collaboration with James White. It won the retro-Hugo for Best Fanzine of 1954, awarded in 2004....
(1948 – 1953) and Hyphen
Hyphen (fanzine)
Hyphen was an Irish science fiction fanzine published from 1952-1965 by Walt Willis in collaboration with James White, Bob Shaw and various others . Over that period, they published 36 issues...
(1952 – 1965), which featured stories and articles by noted authors including John Brunner
John Brunner (novelist)
John Kilian Houston Brunner was a prolific British author of science fiction novels and stories. His 1968 novel Stand on Zanzibar, about an overpopulated world, won the 1968 Hugo Award for best science fiction novel. It also won the BSFA award the same year...
, A. Bertram Chandler
A. Bertram Chandler
Arthur Bertram Chandler was a British-Australian science fiction author. He also wrote under the pseudonyms George Whitley, George Whitely, Andrew Dunstan, and S.H.M....
, and Bob Shaw
Bob Shaw
Bob Shaw, born Robert Shaw, was a science fiction author and fan from Northern Ireland. He was noted for his originality and wit. He won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 1979 and 1980...
. In 2004 both White and Willis were nominated for the retrospective Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer
Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer
The Hugo Awards are presented every year by the World Science Fiction Society 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 once officially...
of 1953, although neither won. White said that he started writing stories because the Slant team felt that Astounding Science Fiction was too dominated by prophesies of nuclear doom, and his friends dared him to write the kind of story that they all liked to read. He said that getting published was fairly easy in the 1950s, as the 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...
restrictions on paper were lifted, and there were at least 12 science magazines in Britain and about 40 in the United States. His first published 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...
, Assisted Passage, a parody of 1950s Anglo-Australian emigration policies
Ten Pound Poms
Ten Pound Poms is a colloquial term used in Australia to describe British subjects who migrated to Australia after the Second World War under an assisted passage scheme established and operated by the Government of Australia.The scheme, a follow-on to the unofficial Big Brother Movement,...
, appeared in the January, 1953 edition of New Worlds
New Worlds (magazine)
New Worlds was a British science fiction magazine which was first published professionally in 1946. For 25 years it was widely considered the leading science fiction magazine in Britain, publishing 201 issues up to 1971...
. Further stories appeared in New Worlds over the next few years, but White's attempt to break into the more lucrative American market by submitting stories to Astounding Science Fiction stalled after the publication of The Scavengers. White later said that his optimistic view of inter-species relations was unpalatable to Astoundings xenophobic editor, John W. Campbell
John W. Campbell
John Wood Campbell, Jr. was an influential figure in American science fiction. As editor of Astounding Science Fiction , from late 1937 until his death, he is generally credited with shaping the so-called Golden Age of Science Fiction.Isaac Asimov called Campbell "the most powerful force in...
. As a result White's work was little-known outside the UK until the 1960s.
In 1957, Ace Books
Ace Books
Ace Books is the oldest active specialty publisher of science fiction and fantasy books. The company was founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn, and began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns...
published White's first novel, The Secret Visitors, which included locations in Northern Ireland. The book had previously been serialized in New Worlds under the title Tourist Planet. Ace Books' science fiction editor, Donald A. Wollheim
Donald A. Wollheim
Donald Allen Wollheim was an American science fiction ' editor, publisher, writer, and fan. As an author, he published under his own name as well as under pseudonyms, including David Grinnell....
, thought the original ending was too tame and suggest that White should insert an all-out space battle just after the climactic courtroom scene. In November the same year New Worlds published White's novelette
Novelette
A novelette is a piece of short prose fiction. The distinction between a novelette and other literary forms is usually based upon word count, with a novelette being longer than a short story, but shorter than a novella...
Sector General, and editor John ("Ted") Carnell
John Carnell
Edward John Carnell , known to his friends as either Ted or John, was a British science fiction editor known for editing New Worlds in 1946 then from 1949 to 1963. He also edited Science Fantasy from the 1950s...
requested more stories set in the same universe, founding the series for which White is best known. White gained "a steady following" for his "scientifically accurate" stories, which were notable examples of hard science fiction
Hard science fiction
Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by an emphasis on scientific or technical detail, or on scientific accuracy, or on both. The term was first used in print in 1957 by P. Schuyler Miller in a review of John W. Campbell, Jr.'s Islands of Space in Astounding Science...
in New Worlds, despite the magazine's promotion of literary "New Wave" science fiction
New Wave (science fiction)
New Wave is a term applied to science fiction produced in the 1960s and 1970s and characterized by a high degree of experimentation, both in form and in content, a "literary" or artistic sensibility, and a focus on "soft" as opposed to hard science. The term "New Wave" is borrowed from the French...
in the 1960s.
White kept up his day job with Short Brothers and wrote in the evenings, as his stories did not make enough money for him to become a full-time author. In 1980 he taught a literature course at a Belfast branch of the Workers Educational Association.
When diabetes had severely impaired his eyesight, he took early retirement in 1984 and moved to the north Antrim
County Antrim
County Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,844 km², with a population of approximately 616,000...
resort town of Portstewart
Portstewart
Portstewart is a small town in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 7,803 people in the 2001 Census. It is a seaside resort neighbouring Portrush. Of the two towns, Portstewart is decidedly quieter with more sedate attractions. Its harbour and scenic coastal paths form an...
, where he continued to write. For many years he was a Council Member of the British Science Fiction Association
British Science Fiction Association
The British Science Fiction Association was founded in 1958 by a group of British science fiction fans, authors, publishers and booksellers, in order to encourage science fiction in every form. It is an open membership organisation costing £26 per year for UK residents and £18 for the unwaged. The...
and, with Harry Harrison
Harry Harrison
Harry Harrison is an American science fiction author best known for his character the Stainless Steel Rat and the novel Make Room! Make Room! , the basis for the film Soylent Green...
and Anne McCaffrey
Anne McCaffrey
Anne Inez McCaffrey was an American-born Irish writer, best known for her Dragonriders of Pern series. Over the course of her 46 year career she won a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award...
, a Patron of the Irish Science Fiction Association.
White was also a strong pacifist. He died of a stroke on 23 August 1999, while his novels Double Contact
Double Contact
Double Contact is a 1999 science fiction book by author James White and is the last in the Sector General series.Clinton Lawrence described Double Contact as "in a very positive way, a throwback to an earlier era in science fiction" since it is optimistic and depicts several advanced species...
and The First Protector (Earth: Final Conflict) were being prepared for publication. His wife Peggy, son Martin, and daughter Patricia survived him.
Sector General
Hospital Station
Hospital Station is a 1962 science fiction book by author James White and is the first volume in the Sector General series. The book collects together a series of five short stories previously published in New Worlds magazine between 1957 and 1960....
) and 1999 (Double Contact
Double Contact
Double Contact is a 1999 science fiction book by author James White and is the last in the Sector General series.Clinton Lawrence described Double Contact as "in a very positive way, a throwback to an earlier era in science fiction" since it is optimistic and depicts several advanced species...
). Additional short stories set in the Sector General Universe (Countercharm, Tableau, Occupation: Warrior, and Custom Fitting) appear in other collections by White.
Sector General is a gigantic multi-species hospital space station
Space station
A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a crew which is designed to remain in space for an extended period of time, and to which other spacecraft can dock. A space station is distinguished from other spacecraft used for human spaceflight by its lack of major propulsion or landing...
founded as a peace-making project by two heroes from opposite sides of humanity's only full interstellar war. The hospital accommodates patients and staff from dozens of species, with different environmental requirements, behaviors and ailments. Initially most of the stories center round the career of Doctor Conway, who rises from junior surgeon to Diagnostician. In the fourth book the Galactic Federation decides that the emergency service which the hospital offers to victims of space accidents and planetary catastrophes is the most effective means of making peaceful contact
First contact (science fiction)
First contact is a common science fiction theme about the first meeting between humans and extraterrestrial life, or of any sentient race's first encounter with another one....
with new spacefaring species, which allows the series to expand its range of plots, characters and settings. The seventh and later books each have a different and usually alien viewpoint character, which gave them "considerable new pep". They also expand the range of issues beyond purely medical, and in Mike Resnick
Mike Resnick
Michael Diamond Resnick , better known by his published name Mike Resnick, is an American science fiction author. He was executive editor of Jim Baen's Universe.-Biography:...
's opinion handle deeper issues such as guilt and forgiveness better than most science fiction.
The series defined the sub-genre of multi-species medical stories, and was "the first explicitly pacifist 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...
" series, when much of contemporary space opera from the USA was notably military.
Other novels
Second EndingSecond Ending
Second Ending is a science fiction novel by northern Irish writer James White, published in 1961. Short listed for the Hugo Award, it tells the story of the only human survivor on Earth after a series of nuclear wars, accompanied by a group of robot and androids....
(1961), which White described as "about the last man on Earth" but with "an upbeat ending", was short-listed for a Hugo Award
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...
. The Escape Orbit
The Escape Orbit
The Escape Orbit is a science fiction novel by northern Irish author James White, published in 1963. It was a finalist at the Nebula Award....
(1965; title Open Prison in the UK), which was short-listed for a 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...
, chronicles the efforts of human prisoners of war to survive after being dumped on a hostile planet without tools or weapons. Mike Resnick
Mike Resnick
Michael Diamond Resnick , better known by his published name Mike Resnick, is an American science fiction author. He was executive editor of Jim Baen's Universe.-Biography:...
described All Judgement Fled, which won the 1979 Europa prize, as his favorite among White's novels and as "Rendezvous with Rama
Rendezvous with Rama
Rendezvous with Rama is a novel by Arthur C. Clarke first published in 1972. Set in the 22nd century, the story involves a cylindrical alien starship that enters Earth's solar system...
done right."
White's other novels outside the Sector General series are:
- The Secret Visitors (1957)
- The Watch BelowThe Watch BelowThe Watch Below is a novel by science fiction author James White about a colony of humans stranded underwater in a sunken ship surviving due to air pockets. It also tells of the water-breathing alien species from space that are in search of a new home who come in contact with the human colony....
(1966) - Tomorrow is Too Far (1971)
- Dark Inferno (1972) (alternate title: Lifeboat)
- The Dream MillenniumThe Dream MillenniumThe Dream Millennium is a 1974 science fiction novel by James White. The plot revolves around the captain of a starship who, along with the rest of the people on board, is fleeing a dystopian Earth, with the launch taking place around the year 2170....
(1974) - Underkill (1979)
- Federation World (1988)
- The Silent Stars Go ByThe Silent Stars Go ByThe Silent Stars Go By is a 1991 science fiction book by author James White.-Description on the back cover:The Kingdom of Hibernia had risen from its sleepy emerald isle to befriend the native Redmen of the West, and, with technology brought out of ancient Egyptian lands, had forged a mighty...
(1991) - Earth:Final Conflict:First Protector (1999)
Collections and short stories
The title story of White's collection Deadly Litter (1964) anticipated the dangers of space junk although there had been only a few orbital missions. The White Papers was produced by NESFA (New England Science Fiction Association) to commemorate White's being the Guest-of-Honour at the 1996 WorldconWorldcon
Worldcon, or more formally The World Science Fiction Convention, is a science fiction convention held each year since 1939 . It is the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society...
, and includes short stories and fanzine articles by White, plus sections of Gary Louie's guide to the Sector General
Sector General
Sector General is a series of twelve science fiction books and various short stories by the Northern Irish author James White. The series derives its name from the setting of the majority of the books, the Sector 12 General Hospital, a huge hospital space station located in deep space, designed to...
series. Among the stories, Custom Fitting (1976) was short-listed for a Hugo Award, and Sanctuary (1988) won an Analog Analytical Laboratory Award. His 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...
Un-Birthday Boy, published in Analog
Analog Science Fiction and Fact
Analog Science Fiction and Fact is an American science fiction magazine. As of 2011, it is the longest running continuously published magazine of that genre...
in 1996 but not in a collection or anthology, was short-listed for a Hugo Award.
Other collections include:
- The Aliens Among UsThe Aliens Among UsThe Aliens Among Us is a collection of science fiction short stories by James White, published in 1969. It contains:* "Countercharm" * "To Kill or Cure"* "Red Alert"...
(1969) - Monsters and Medics (1977; published by Ballantine Books; includes the novel Second Ending)
- Futures Past (1982) (includes the Sector General story Spacebird)
Critical appraisal
Paul KincaidPaul Kincaid
Paul Kincaid is a British science fiction critic. His writing has appeared in a wide range of publications including New Scientist, Times Literary Supplement, Literary Review, New York Review of Science Fiction, Foundation, Science Fiction Studies, Interzone and Strange Horizons. He is a former...
described White as a second-rank writer who occasionally produced first-rank works, and attracted a devoted but not wide audience. Kincaid noted that his plots were often formulaic and his writing employed a predictable set of techniques and mannerisms, along with a "studied quietness." On the other hand John Clute
John Clute
John Frederick Clute is a Canadian born author and critic who has lived in Britain since 1969. He has been described as "an integral part of science fiction's history."...
wrote that "in the depiction of goodness may lie the real genius of James White," Mike Resnick
Mike Resnick
Michael Diamond Resnick , better known by his published name Mike Resnick, is an American science fiction author. He was executive editor of Jim Baen's Universe.-Biography:...
described the Sector General
Sector General
Sector General is a series of twelve science fiction books and various short stories by the Northern Irish author James White. The series derives its name from the setting of the majority of the books, the Sector 12 General Hospital, a huge hospital space station located in deep space, designed to...
series' characters as "the most memorable crew of aliens ever created," and Graham Andrews wrote that White's aliens are really alien, not just human minds with exotic biologies. Michael Ashley
Mike Ashley (writer)
Michael Ashley is a British bibliographer, author and editor of science fiction, mystery, and fantasy.He edits the long-running Mammoth Book series of short story anthologies, each arranged around a particular theme in mystery, fantasy, or science fiction...
commented that the setting of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...
is reminiscent of Sector General, and Mark Leeper noted similarities between Sector General's setting and that of television's Babylon 5
Babylon 5
Babylon 5 is an American science fiction television series created, produced and largely written by J. Michael Straczynski. The show centers on a space station named Babylon 5: a focal point for politics, diplomacy, and conflict during the years 2257–2262...
. Chris Aylott wrote that White's plot construction and writing, including occasionally clumsy exposition, are typical of the Golden Age of science fiction
Golden Age of Science Fiction
The first Golden Age of Science Fiction — often recognized as the period from the late 1930s through the 1950s — was an era during which the science fiction genre gained wide public attention and many classic science fiction stories were published...
in the 1930s, '40s, and '50s.
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:...
concluded his review of The Watch Below
The Watch Below
The Watch Below is a novel by science fiction author James White about a colony of humans stranded underwater in a sunken ship surviving due to air pockets. It also tells of the water-breathing alien species from space that are in search of a new home who come in contact with the human colony....
with "... this is very nice writing when considered simply as prose and as an attempt to involve the reader's emotions." However when reviewing All Judgment Fled he wrote, "I suspect that he generates so much tension within himself while writing a book that he literally cannot bear to come to grips with crucial scenes."
White said of his approach to producing stories, "Of course, the plot idea must come first – but the characters soon take over," and compared it to using a compass
Compass
A compass is a navigational instrument that shows directions in a frame of reference that is stationary relative to the surface of the earth. The frame of reference defines the four cardinal directions – north, south, east, and west. Intermediate directions are also defined...
rather than a map. He explained that he was drawn to medical themes by two factors: they offered opportunities for dramatic tension without war; and he had wanted to become a doctor, but had to go to work instead. His avoidance of violent themes is as strong in his non-medical stories as in the Sector General series.
None of White's works won 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...
or Nebula
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...
Awards, although four were short-listed. However, he won a Europa Prize in 1979, an Analog
Analog Science Fiction and Fact
Analog Science Fiction and Fact is an American science fiction magazine. As of 2011, it is the longest running continuously published magazine of that genre...
Analytical Laboratory Award in 1988 and a Science Fiction Chronicle Reader Award in 1996. In 1998, White received the NESFA (New England Science Fiction Association) Skylark Award
Edward E. Smith Memorial Award
The Edward E. Smith Memorial Award for Imaginative Fiction is presented annually by NESFA to some person, who, in the opinion of the membership, has contributed significantly to science fiction, both through work in the field and by exemplifying the personal qualities which made the late "Doc"...
for contributions to science fiction, named after a story by one of his inspirations, E. E. "Doc" Smith, and appreciated this so much that he donated his complete collection of Slant
Slant (fanzine)
Slant was a science fiction fanzine edited by Walt Willis in collaboration with James White. It won the retro-Hugo for Best Fanzine of 1954, awarded in 2004....
to NESFA. The following year he was inducted into the European Science Fiction Society
European Science Fiction Society
The European Science Fiction Society is an international organisation of professionals and fans who are committed to promoting Science Fiction in Europe and European Science Fiction worldwide....
's Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame
A hall of fame, wall of fame, walk of fame, walk of stars or avenue of stars is a type of attraction established for any field of endeavor to honor individuals of noteworthy achievement in that field...
. White was Guest-of-Honour at many conventions including: the 1971 and 1985 Novacon
Novacon
Novacon is an annual science fiction convention, usually held each November in the West Midlands, UK. It is now the annual convention of the Birmingham Science Fiction Group.-History:...
s in the United Kingdom; three Beneluxcons (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
); the 1998 Octocon
Octocon
Octocon is the name given to the National Irish Science Fiction Convention, held annually in October.- History :1989/1990: The convention was initiated by members of the Irish Science Fiction Association, and named by artist Peter McCanney, who created the convention's first logo.1995: Advertised...
(Éire
Éire
is the Irish name for the island of Ireland and the sovereign state of the same name.- Etymology :The modern Irish Éire evolved from the Old Irish word Ériu, which was the name of a Gaelic goddess. Ériu is generally believed to have been the matron goddess of Ireland, a goddess of sovereignty, or...
); a Nicon (Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
); and the 1996 Worldcon
Worldcon
Worldcon, or more formally The World Science Fiction Convention, is a science fiction convention held each year since 1939 . It is the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society...
.
Since 2000 the James White Award has been presented for the best short story by a non-professional writer. The judges are professional authors and editors, and have included Mike Resnick
Mike Resnick
Michael Diamond Resnick , better known by his published name Mike Resnick, is an American science fiction author. He was executive editor of Jim Baen's Universe.-Biography:...
, Orson Scott Card
Orson Scott Card
Orson Scott Card is an American author, critic, public speaker, essayist, columnist, and political activist. He writes in several genres, but is primarily known for his science fiction. His novel Ender's Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead both won Hugo and Nebula Awards, making Card the...
, Lois McMaster Bujold
Lois McMaster Bujold
Lois McMaster Bujold is an American author of science fiction and fantasy works. Bujold is one of the most acclaimed writers in her field, having won the prestigious Hugo Award for best novel four times, matching Robert A. Heinlein's record. Her novella The Mountains of Mourning won both the Hugo...
, Peter F. Hamilton
Peter F. Hamilton
Peter F. Hamilton is a British author. He is best known for writing space opera. As of the publication of his tenth novel in 2004, his works had sold over two million copies worldwide.- Biography :...
, Christopher Priest and Robert Sheckley
Robert Sheckley
Robert Sheckley was a Hugo- and Nebula-nominated American author. First published in the science fiction magazines of the 1950s, his numerous quick-witted stories and novels were famously unpredictable, absurdist and broadly comical.Sheckley was named Author Emeritus by the Science Fiction and...
.
See also
:Category:Novels by James White
:Category:Short story collections by James White
External links
- Official home page
- Bibliography on SciFanSciFanSciFan is an online database for fans of science fiction and fantasy books.The site provides detailed bibliographies, linking books together into series' where appropriate and, in turn, grouping series by universe...