Аннотация
This fourth volume of Theodore Sturgeon's Complete Stories publishes the work of 1946-1948, wen Sturgeon's early popularity among science fiction readers crystallized into a lasting reputation among a wider group of readers. "e;Maturity"e; and "e;Thunder and Roses"e; are the best-known of the stories in this period. "e;It Wasn't Syzygy"e; display's Sturgeon's interest in psychological themes. "e;The Professor's Teddy Bear"e; is an early prototype of the modern "e;horror story"e; as practiced by Clive Baker, Stephen King and many others. In these years Sturgeon was recovering from the failure of his first marriage and a severe case of "e;writer's block"e;. In March 1947 his luck turned around: a story he had failed to sell earlier won a short story contest sponsored by the prominent British magazine, Argosy, with the then-enormous prize of $1000. Later Sturgeon credited this event for restoring his faith in himself as a writer. The same year "e;Maturity"e; and "e;Thunder and Roses"e; were received with tremendous enthusiasm by his peers. Ray Bradbury, a few years short of his own success, wrote to Sturgeon in February 1947: "e;Ted, I hate you!...MATURITY...is a damned nice story. Your sense of humour, sir, is incredible. I don't believe you've written a bad story yet; I don't think you ever will. This is not log-rolling, by God; I only speak the truth. I predict you'll be selling at least six stories a year to Collier's and The Post before long. You have the touch."e; A month later, the day he learned he'd won the contest, Sturgeon wrote to his ex-wife, "e;It's more than a thousand dollars. The curse is off with me. My faith in [the story's] quality and my own is restored, and I don't think that I shall ever again experience that mystic diffidence and childish astonishment when one of my stories sells or is anthologized. I know now why they do, and I'm proud of it, and I know how to use it."e; This fourth volume also features a major "e;undiscovered"e; story, "e;Wham Bop!"e;, from an obscure youth magazine in 1947. It may be one of the finest fictional portraits of a 1940s jazz band in American letters. Additional delicacies awaiting the Sturgeon fan in Thunder and Roses are his first Western Story, "e;Well Spiced"e;, and a UFO saga, "e;The Sky Was Full of Ships"e;, written in 1947 and set in the Southwest. It could well be the true story of the Roswell incident.
Отзывы