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| Brian Aldiss: the pre-eminent science-fiction writer – and always a gentleman | Brian Aldiss: the pre-eminent science-fiction writer – and always a gentleman |
| (1 day later) | |
| Neil Gaiman remembers the ‘grand old man’ of sci-fi, whose death at the age of 92 was announced earlier in the week, as a ‘genially opinionated giant’ | |
| Tue 22 Aug 2017 11.14 BST | |
| Last modified on Wed 20 Sep 2017 10.27 BST | |
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| I encountered Brian Aldiss when I was a boy. I liked him as a writer, but even more than I enjoyed his writing, I loved his editorial choices: his influence on Penguin’s science fiction through the 1960s was immeasurable, and he introduced me to many of my favourite writers. | I encountered Brian Aldiss when I was a boy. I liked him as a writer, but even more than I enjoyed his writing, I loved his editorial choices: his influence on Penguin’s science fiction through the 1960s was immeasurable, and he introduced me to many of my favourite writers. |
| As a teen I enjoyed his novels more (Brian was a writer for adults), and delighted in the richness of his world-building. The Helliconia sequence in particular, set in a world with seasons that lasted for many centuries, observed by a satellite from Earth, was a glorious, long storytelling sequence set at the intersection of many sciences, and felt, even as it was being published, like a classic of the field. I learned from his critical writings, including Billion Year Spree, his history of the science-fiction world. | As a teen I enjoyed his novels more (Brian was a writer for adults), and delighted in the richness of his world-building. The Helliconia sequence in particular, set in a world with seasons that lasted for many centuries, observed by a satellite from Earth, was a glorious, long storytelling sequence set at the intersection of many sciences, and felt, even as it was being published, like a classic of the field. I learned from his critical writings, including Billion Year Spree, his history of the science-fiction world. |
| So when I met Aldiss, in 1984, it felt like I knew him already, as if he was an old friend. And Brian was kind to me, a 23-year-old journalist, and he remained kind as the years went on. Always a gentleman, full of anecdotes from his years as a writer, with a blustery charm and a delight in getting people’s backs up. I took huge pleasure in writing an introduction to his novel Hothouse in 2008, when it was chosen as a Penguin Modern Classic. | So when I met Aldiss, in 1984, it felt like I knew him already, as if he was an old friend. And Brian was kind to me, a 23-year-old journalist, and he remained kind as the years went on. Always a gentleman, full of anecdotes from his years as a writer, with a blustery charm and a delight in getting people’s backs up. I took huge pleasure in writing an introduction to his novel Hothouse in 2008, when it was chosen as a Penguin Modern Classic. |
| Brian Aldiss was a writer of science fiction, mainstream fiction, and experimental fiction. He was a memoirist, an editor, a genially opinionated giant. He was the pre-eminent English science-fiction writer, and he will be missed, as a writer and as a man. | Brian Aldiss was a writer of science fiction, mainstream fiction, and experimental fiction. He was a memoirist, an editor, a genially opinionated giant. He was the pre-eminent English science-fiction writer, and he will be missed, as a writer and as a man. |
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| Neil Gaiman | |
| Fiction | |
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