goodbye to another great one

[adelaidesean]

Sad news just in from SFWA:

British New Wave author, Barrington John Bayley, died October 14, 2008. He published at least 16 science fiction novels plus numerous short stories and essays between 1954 and 2006. Bayley's novels include "Collision Course", "The Soul of the Robot", and "Star Virus". His 1983 novel, "Zen Gun", was nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award.

Bayley may have been better known for his influence on the work of other writers, than for the direct success of his own work.

The last sentence is right on the money. The Soul of the Robot is one of the novels I remember most clearly from my early days of reading "real" SF. It's wonderfully realised, thought-provoking and emotionally powerful. I still read it every now and again to remind myself of how it should be done. I wish I'd got to meet him, if only to say thanks for the inspiration.

Comments

[thefon.livejournal.com]

Very sad to hear this also. I loved his work, some amazing ideas.

Bye, bye, barrington, bye bye

[(Anonymous)]

Ye gods! I feel a void opening in my core of being. Bayley was a one of a kind writer. Insanely logical within bizarre conceptual frameworks. First novels felt like Doctor Who stories written by a tipsy A E Van Vogt. They were fun, delightfully megalomaniacal, never trivial, and completely skew-whiff yet so wildly logical. He hadn't published much recently, more's the pity, but what remains was wonderful, is wonderful, and will be wonderful. Only there's one less star shining brightly in this vast, terrible and beautiful universe.

best,

Jeff

Re: Bye, bye, barrington, bye bye

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

Doctor Who stories written by a tipsy A E Van Vogt

Beautiful, Jeff. Couldn't have put it better myself.

Sometimes I've wondered how his stories would've worked visually. Pretty well, I reckon.

Re: Bye, bye, barrington, bye bye

[(Anonymous)]

Bayley's stories visually? Of course, they would have been spectacular. Absolutely marvellous. The ideal choice of director would be either Stanley Kubrick or Sam Raiman. Since Stanley is resting for the next eternity, that leaves it to Sam to step up to the bat.

Considering the mileage cinema has gotten out of Philip K Dick, if they started strip-mining Bayley for the big screen then the skies's are the limit. Pure baroque space opera full of the pyrotechnics of bold wild eccentric concepts. Bayley reads like collaboration between E E 'Doc' Smith and Lewis Carroll, and bringing the best of both writers to the fore.

I'd love to see fleets of timeships battling through the strat in THE FALL OF CHRONOPOLIS: THE MOVIE. Actually most of his novels have so much action and spectacle that the blizzard of metaphysical, semi-philosophical and quasi-scientific ideas would be lost. But what's wrong with wallowing in pure visual excitement?

best,

Jeff