The name of the English writer Eric Russell was made famous by works in the genre of science fiction. Also the author is popular as the creator of ironic short stories. One of the recognized luminaries of the Golden Age of science fiction worked for almost three decades. The laureate of the American literary "Hugo" Prize has also published under the pseudonyms Webster Craig, Duncan Munroe, Maurice Hughie.
The writer's activity began in the late thirties and continued until the mid-sixties of the last century. Erik Frank Russell did not think about literary work either in childhood or in his youth. His favorite thing has always been technology. As a result, he started his career as an engineer. Yes, and received a technical education.
Looking for a vocation
The biography of the future writer began in 2905. The child was born in Sandhurst on January 6 in a military family. My father worked as an instructor at the military academy. Sometimes, after him, the household had to move from place to place. As a result, Eric spent his childhood in Sudan and Egypt, where the boy studied in private schools.
After school, the graduate decided to go to college. He studied chemistry, physics, and was engaged in crystallography. After completing his studies, he began a career as a telephone exchange operator. Then there was the job of a clerk in a government organization, a technical representative of the Liverpool steel company.
A measured existence suited Russell completely. He successfully arranged a personal life. The young man's chosen one was nurse Ellen Wen. They became husband and wife in 1930. Erik's daughter appeared at the couple four years later.
Science fiction has always attracted Eric. From the mid-thirties, Russell became a member of the British Interplanetary Society. One of the leaders of the organization, writer Leslie Johnson, advised the talented person to start writing in the genre of science fiction. The result was a co-written story. Russell realized that he had found his calling by starting literary work. In 1937 his work "The Saga of the Pelican West" was published. Published by the prestigious Astounding Science Fiction "Campbell. Very soon, the author became the first Englishman whose works appeared in an American magazine constantly.
Confession
Russell's idol was Charles Fort, the founder of modern paleoastronautics. Russell headed the national chapter of the International Forte Society with the rank of chairman. This noticeably influenced his literary work.
The first novel by the author was The Eerie Barrier, published in 1939. It shows the development of the main idea of Fort. According to his interpretation, humanity has an owner. In a huge cosmic house, people are pets of an invisible organism that interacts with their nervous system.
The main theme of all the works of the author was overcoming the supremacy of power and anti-war orientation. In the 1941 story "Al Stow", which was included in the Star Trek series, the android became the protagonist. He is experiencing human emotions. The sci-fi work is written in a parody-satirical vein.
Russell's humorous stories became an interesting direction. They wittily continue the ideas of Teilhard de Chardin and Stapledon about the symbiosis of the theory of evolution and the Catholic understanding of man and the world.
The composition "Mana" tells about the transfer of the baton of development on the planet from the last man left on it to ants. In the story "Metamorph", written in 1942, the story is already about the cybernetic "heirs". The heroes of the work are witty and independent. They know how to cooperate and interact, despite the noticeable differences in everything.
New achievements
During the Second World War, after studying at the London radio courses, the writer, already recognized as a professional, headed the division of radio operators. He served in the Royal Air Force for 4 years, commanding a mobile radio station. In peacetime, the writing of works was resumed.
In the "Altar of Fear" published in 1948, the author shows the planet as a space anthill, in which sleepwalkers from all over the Universe are gathered to cure madness.
In 1951, fans received a new book by the writer, The Sentinels of the Universe. According to her design, people are not examples of a life form. They do not even suspect about the constant monitoring of more advanced organisms.
The most famous was Russell's story "And there was no one left." Published in 1951, the book is also called The Mystery of the Gandhi Planet. The essay demonstrates a system of economics and politics based solely on trust and cooperation with the author's striking humor. By 1962, the essay had morphed into the anti-militarist novel The Great Explosion. In 1985 this work of the writer won the Prometheus Hall of Fame Award.
The book tells about an inspection trip of the armed fleet of the Earth empire to alien colonies, in which "dissidents" take refuge. The writer often created works in a satirical manner. A striking example is the novel 2974 The Wasp, which describes the adventures of a secret interstellar agent who managed to tame an entire planet.
Memory of the writer
Russell's characters can be absolutely incredible creatures. So, in "Dear Devil", published in 1951, readers are introduced to aliens that are very reminiscent of angels. Demons and gods appear in the stories "The Only Solution", "The Devil", "Hobby". According to the author's version, the Universe was created by the Creator only for the sake of entertainment.
One of the brightest examples of satire on bureaucracy was the story "Abracadabra" ("Hugo-56" or "Alamagusa"). The work "Slowly" shows how the difference in metabolic rate "turns" the representatives of alien life for people into statues.
The writer passed away in 1978, on the last day of February. Despite being inducted into the Hall of Science Fiction and Fantasy in 2000, Eric Frank Russell, fans call the writer a forgotten author, underestimated.
