Christopher Anvil (March 11, 1925 – November 30, 2009) is a pseudonym used by
American author
American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition thus is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also inc ...
Harry Christopher Crosby.
Biography and work
Crosby was born in Norwich, Connecticut, the only child of Harry Clifton Crosby and Rose Glasbrenner. After serving as a pilot with the U.S. military,
[''Transformations : The Story of the Science Fiction Magazines from 1950 to 1970'', Liverpool University Press, 2005, page 286.] he began publishing science fiction with the story "Cinderella, Inc." in the December 1952 issue of the magazine ''Imagination''. By 1956, he had adopted his pseudonym Christopher Anvil and his science-fiction work was being published in ''
Astounding
''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William C ...
''. He went on to a long and successful career in the field.
His stories usually deal with characters in different human government organizations, dealing with adventures, gadgetry, and subterfuge both internal and external. His military background enabled him to bring a certain realism to his portrayal of action and intrigue, which counterpointed the more fantastical elements of his stories.
One of Anvil's best-known short stories is "Pandora's Planet", which appeared first in ''Astounding'' in September 1956, and has since been reprinted several times, including an appearance in the first volume of Anvil's works published in hardcover by Baen's Books, ''Pandora's Legions''. It has also been "fixed-up" into a full-length novel.
Anvil's repeated appearances in ''Astounding''/''Analog'' in the 1950s and '60s were due in part to three factors. First was his ability to write stories which fitted with one of ''Astounding'' editor
John W. Campbell
John Wood Campbell Jr. (June 8, 1910 – July 11, 1971) was an American science fiction writer and editor. He was editor of ''Astounding Science Fiction'' (later called '' Analog Science Fiction and Fact'') from late 1937 until his death ...
's preferred approaches to plotting: alien opponents with superior firepower losing out to the superior intelligence or indomitable will of humans. Secondly, his stories are nearly always humorous throughout, and the humour is well done. Finally was his characterization and manner of story crafting, where his protagonists slid from disaster to disaster with the best of intentions, and through exercise of fast thinking, managed to snatch victory somehow from the jaws of defeat.
His stories became a perennial favorite with readers, and then in 1966... "he hit a winning streak in the late 1960s in a series which seemed straight out of ''
Star Trek'' ... The Interstellar Patrol".
The bulk of Anvil's published writing consists of short stories, but these can be read in sequence according to the in-world timeline, as is now arranged in the two collections of ''The Interstellar Patrol''.
Many of his nonseries stories are almost purely idea-driven science fiction. Some of the most striking of these, for example "Gadget vs. Trend", entirely lack dialogue and almost entirely lack characters; these stories consist of a series of newspaper reports or other similar materials. In these and other stories, Anvil's technique is to put forth a gadget, invention, or social trend and logically develop the consequences.
Modern reprints
Like the work of many 20th century science fiction writers, all of Anvil's work has recently become available again by print-on-demand and ebooks. According to
David Weber
David Mark Weber (born October 24, 1952) is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He has written several science-fiction and fantasy books series, the best known of which is the Honor Harrington science-fiction series. His first nove ...
, who acknowledges being influenced by Anvil in the introduction to the anthology
''Interstellar Patrol'':
Anvil also published a number of stories taking place within the Federation of Humanity (The term originates in the sub-title of the third anthology title released by Baen: ''Interstellar Patrol II'', "The Federation of Humanity"
Baen Books by Anvil
, retrieved: 11-30-2007).
Anvil himself, as well as John Campbell, referred to these stories as the ''Colonization Series'' prior to their being released as collections.
Bibliography
References
External links
*
Bibliography
at SciFan
Baen Books by Anvil
an
in the Baen Free Library.
Bibliography including short fiction
a
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anvil, Christopher
1925 births
2009 deaths
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American novelists
20th-century American short story writers
20th-century pseudonymous writers
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American novelists
21st-century American short story writers
21st-century pseudonymous writers
American male novelists
American male short story writers
American science fiction writers
Analog Science Fiction and Fact people
Novelists from Connecticut