The name of the English writer Eric Russell glorified works in the genre of science fiction. The author is also popular as the creator of ironic short stories. One of the recognized luminaries of the Golden Age of Fiction has been creating for almost three decades. The winner of the literary American Hugo Prize was also published under the pseudonyms Webster Craig, Duncan Munro, Maurice Hugi.
The writer's activity began in the late thirties and continued until the mid-sixties of the last century. Neither in childhood nor in youth did Eric Frank Russell think about literary work. His favorite thing has always been technology. As a result, he began his career as an engineer. Yes, and received a technical education.
In search of calling
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 in a military academy. Sometimes, after him, the family had to move from place to place. As a result, Eric’s childhood passed in Sudan and Egypt, where the boy studied in private schools.
After school, the graduate decided to go to college. He studied chemistry, physics, was engaged in crystallography. After completing the training, he began his career as an operator at a telephone exchange. Then came the work of a clerk in a government organization, the technical representative of the Liverpool steel company.
A measured existence completely satisfied Russell. He successfully arranged a personal life. The nurse Ellen Van became the chosen one of the young man. They became husband and wife in 1930. Eric's daughter appeared with the couple four years later.
Science fiction has always attracted Eric. Since the mid-thirties, Russell became a member of the British Interplanetary Society. One of the leaders of the organization, writer Leslie Johnson, advised a talented person to start writing in the genre of science fiction. As a result, a co-written story appeared. Russell realized that he had found his calling by starting literary work. In 1937 his work "The Pelican West Saga" was published. The work was published by the prestigious Astounding Science Fiction Campbell. Very soon, the author became the first Englishman whose works appeared in the American journal all the time.
Confession
The idol of Russell was the founder of modern paleoastronautics Charles Fort. Russell led the national branch of the International Fortean Society with the rank of chairman. This markedly influenced his literary work.
The author’s first novel was The Evil Barrier, published in 1939. It shows the development of the main idea of Fort. According to his interpretation, mankind has an owner. In a huge space house, people are the pets of an invisible organism interacting with their nervous system.
The main theme of all the writings of the author was the overcoming of the supremacy of power and anti-war orientation. In the 1941 story “El Stow, ” which entered the star trek series, the main character was an android. He experiences human emotions. The science fiction work is written in a parody-satirical manner.
An interesting direction was the humorous stories of Russell. They wittily continued the ideas of Teilhard de Chardin and Stapeldon on 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 relay race of development on the planet from the last person left on it to ants. In the story "Metamorph", written in 1942, the story is already about cybernetic "heirs". The heroes of the work are witty, independent. They know how to cooperate and interact, despite the noticeable differences in everything.
New achievements
During the Second World War, after studying at London radio courses, the writer, already recognized as a professional, headed the division of radio operators. In the Royal Air Force, he served 4 years, commanding a mobile radio station. In peacetime, writing of works resumed.
In the Altar of Fear published in 1948, the author shows the planet as a space anthill, in which sleepwalkers are gathered from the entire Universe to treat madness.
In 1951, fans received a new literary book, The Sentinels of the Universe. According to her plan, people are not examples of life form. They do not even suspect the constant observation of more advanced organisms.
Russell’s short story “And No One Left” became the most famous. Published in 1951, the book is also called The Riddle of the Gund Planet. In a composition with striking author's humor, a system of economics and politics based solely on trust and cooperation is demonstrated. By 1962, the composition had changed, becoming the anti-militarist novel "The Great Explosion". In 1985, this work of the writer received the "Prometheus Hall of Fame Award".
The book tells about the inspection trip of the armed fleet of the Earth empire to alien colonies in which "dissenters" take refuge. The writer often created works in a satirical manner. A striking example is the 2974 novel The Wasp, which describes the adventures of a secret interstellar agent who managed to tame an entire planet.
