The Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith

This critical work concentrates on the science fiction writings of Paul Linebarger, who wrote under the pseudonym Cordwainer Smith, as well as other pseudonyms he created to reflect his different writing styles. His writings give voice to concerns about humanity and personal struggle; his ideas about love, loss, alienation, and psychic pain continue to resonate today.
This work begins with a brief biographical sketch of Cordwainer Smith, linking elements of his past to his writing and focusing on his contributions to science fiction as well as his concern with humanity. Also discussed are Smith’s published and unpublished novel–length non–science fiction, his revision process, the true man–underpeople dichotomy in his published and unpublished short fiction, and his only published novel-length science fiction work Norstrilia.

Karen Hellekson is a freelance copy editor and the coeditor with Kristina Busse of Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet (2006). She writes book reviews for Publishers Weekly and lives in Jay, Maine.

Karen L. Hellekson
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 166
Bibliographic Info: glossary, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2001
pISBN: 978-0-7864-1149-8
eISBN: 978-0-7864-5035-0
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments     v

Author’s Note     1

1 The Stars of Experience     3

2 Journey in Search of a Destination     19

3 Archipelagoes of Stars     43

4 Never Never Underpeople     57

5 Star-Craving Mad     71

6 To Wake, To Kill, To Die     85

Afterword: Romances of the Plunging Future     101

Appendix: Glossary of Cordwainer Smith’s Terms     105

Bibliography     149

Relevant Manuscripts Held by Spencer Research Library     153

Index     155

“welcome…informative…valuable”—SFRA Review; “new pieces to the puzzle of Cordwainer Smith…useful”—Science Fiction Studies; “the only book in print about him and/or his works…in English”—Cordwainer Smith’s Science Fiction Ezine.