Intervjun finns även i Bertils julbok.
Tora.
2017-12-22 10:59 skrev Ahrvid:
På en annan lista jag frekventerar (utländsk, kallas Fictionmags)-----
började man plötsligt prata om Captain Future, känd i Sverige som
Kapten Frank (i JVM/VÄ på 1940-talet, även med någon story i Bertil
Falks JVM och senare i Kapten Frank och rymdkejsaren, som Pulp Press
gav ut).
Till båtnad för främst Bertil, fan av den frankiske kaptenen (och
han har träffat parte Hamilton/Bracket också!), tänklte jag återge en
del som kom upp.
En Ian C började med att skriva:
..I was fascinated recently by Mike A's revelation that Leigh
Brackett wrote
6 of the last 7 'Captain Future' stories from outlines by hubby Edmond
Hamilton. I bought the collection of 7 stories, and just finished
reading
it.
Has it ever been noted that this is a series of demolition jobs,
bordering
on hatred for the character and the series?
An editorial piece in the 4th Brackett story, 'Moon of the
Forgotten', says:
"..So a little over a year ago, we had Edmond Hamilton bring them
{{CF and
companions}} back to life - in somewhat briefer form, in somewhat more
mature form as befits a science fiction that is rapidly growing up."
The stories are structurally formulaic (19 pages, 4 chapters, the
same
descriptive phrases about the four main characters and their history) -
but
the _feeling_ of the stories is dark and even vicious. Where there was
once
playful banter, there are endless conversations with CF addressing a
companion with, '"Shut up," said Curt Newton'. And he means it. The
group
are seen as manipulative, secretive, and inhuman. When earlier
adventures
are mentioned, it's in terms of the damage they did, or which they
didn't
spot at the time. The Captain and companions, earlier portrayed as
justified heroes and protectors of humanity, are basically shown as
squabbling, near-insane, near-monsters. All four main characters are
shown
to be broken and despairing. Simon even gets the chance to be
completely
human but finally decides not to be because it's too painful and
restrictive.
Curt's paramour Joan is almost entirely written out, and the
'relationship'
between them (which in the Hamilton novels was definitely romantic) has
become an icy nothingness. Earth, their supposed charge, is shown as
decadent: soft, ignorant, corrupt. A man from our time wakes up in
their
time and finally decides to spend his life among the stars rather than
live
on Earth.
Brackett's solo work of the time had become harsh and barren ('The
Starmen
of Llyrdis', 'The Ark of Mars'.. the jet-black pellet of poison, 'Mars
Minus
Bisha') with a clear agenda about race relations which would culminate
in
the unspeakable 'All the Colors of the Rainbow'.. but this was 'Captain
Future'.
I wonder if Startling Stories knew what they were getting into? I
wonder if
Hamilton wrote outlines that were embellished rather than inverted by
Brackett. I wonder if readers brought about the end of the series, or
Hamilton / Brackett just decided they'd done what they needed to do
(seemingly destroy Captain Future) and wouldn't write any more? The
letters
column certainly has much praise for the stories, but there are two
sharp
nays to the series in the 'last' issue which CF is in, and here's the
nayest
(from Les and Es Cole):
** And while we are at it, let us discuss that intellectual giant,
the
people's cherce, the great lover, the one-and-only Captain Future. We
wonder
about him. Here he has been going around with the dimpled-darling of
the
spaceways, Joan Randall, for some ten years, and he has yet to make an
honorable woman of her. We think he should - and then retire.
Permanently.
Here's one reason why you are lacking a mature magazine. This latest
horror,
which, we could not finish, places the scene on Europa. Fine. So what
have
we? Homo cf. sapiens - but we won't go into that. Also, and get this
anyone
with even a grammar school scientific background, earthian ecology. The
not-so-odd thing about this, Anonymous, is that we couldn't have
complained
if Hamilton had set the scene on another planet in a different star
system.
(At least, we couldn't have complained about those particular things!)
But speaking psychologically, we could have predicted all this. You
see, Fig
Newton grew up on the Moon, surrounded by inept fatheads. Never having
had a
chance to resolve his oedipus, the kid was bound to be a pervert. The
Futuremen series has over the year, shown abysmally poor plotting, no
scientific background and phony, artificial Characters. In case you
didn't
get us the first time, we repeat: Captain Future is a vacuous, vapid
idiot.
And that goes for his ghoulish, moribund crew, too! **
Mike A gav referenser:
I raised this in a message I posted way back in January and on which
no one commented at the time. But it suddenly seems to have grown legs
and run. Here's what I said:
"There's a good essay about Leigh Brackett by Bertil Falk at
BEWILDERING STORIES
http://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue250/brackett1.html
http://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue250/brackett1.htmlhttp://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue250/brackett1.html
http://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue250/brackett1.html
And in the second part Falk writes:
"When Startling Stories asked Hamilton, in 1950, to revive Captain
Future for a series of short stories, he was busy working on other
assignments.. He wrote the first story “The Return of Captain Future.”
Then he wrote the synopses for the other stories. But when I visited
them, I was told that it was actually Leigh Brackett who wrote them
under his guidance using the “pen name” Edmond Hamilton."
I stopped short, asking myself, "did I know that?" and decided that
I don't think I did. I've always thought that, like Moore and Kuttner,
after their marriage Brackett and Hamilton sparked off each other and
may well have collaborated without it being acknowledged, though they
did write in very different ways. But it's interesting that Brackett
wrote these later Captain Futures as I don't think I've seen that
identified anywhere else."
Ian C igen:
Mike mentioned on list a few weeks ago - I think when there was some
discussion of Brackett - that Leigh and Edmond had been quite open
about it:
Edmond wrote the first story, and made notes for the other six, which
Leigh
was expanding into full stories.
The response in Startling Stories' letter column begins quite gently
- some
say the stories are as good as other stories in the mag, that they are
definitely better written than the earlier novels, some even call for
new
full-length novels rather than these brief and formulaic shorts, others
saying the series is probably out of date - then the comments ramp up
as
some readers praise Brackett for her own stylish stories (like
_Starmen_)
and say her work is far better than Hamilton whose work has not got
better
and (actually said) has become worse.
The Captain Future stories appear in Startling Stories for Jan 50
(Hamilton), May 50, Sept 50, Nov 50, Jan 51, Mar 51, May 51 (all
Brackett);
Hamilton's 'complete novel' _The City at World's End_ appeared in the
July
50 issue. So Hamilton 'appeared' to be in almost every issue for over a
year, with the majority being CF.
Is it also noteworthy that Startling changed editors {Merwin to
Mines} one
issue after CF was curtailed?
I quite like _City_ and it may be of note that Hamilton's brutal
'What's It
Like Out There?' would finally appear 'soon' after the CF stories
finished..
in Startling's sister mag, Thrilling Wonder Stories. Hamilton didn't
appear
in the mag for a few years after CF (Brackett had several, but her
output
was slowing by the year). Startling would of course publish Vance,
Boucher,
Fyfe, John D MacDonald, Kuttner, The Glory That Was, Hellflower, The
Lovers,
Big Planet.. so they certainly didn't lack for authors.
There are sections in the 6 Brackett/Hamilton stories when it’s
absolutely obvious it’s Brackett writing; the similes are unmistakable
.
For example: pages of ‘Moon of the Forgotten’ could be taken from
any of her ‘Mars’ stories:
“They came out into a wide square, from which many streets led off.
In the center was a winged monument, so effaced by millenniums of wind
and dust that it had the look of a grotesque skeleton, its eroded
pinions stark against the sky. Curt and Otho paused beneath it, tiny
figures beside that hundred-foot bulk of greenish marble.
Nothing stirred in the square. The deserted avenues stretched away,
edged with clotted shadow. The fallen palaces and shattered temples
reared to unknown gods stood still and brooding, remembering the
banners and the glory, the incense and the crimson robes.
One or two of the streets showed life, where flaring light marked
the wine-shops and the inns.
"Down there," said Captain Future and they went on, their boots
ringing on the paving blocks.
They entered the street that Curt had chosen. And as they walked a
little crowd began to gather, softly, unobtrusively, the dark-faced
men in dusty cloaks coming without sound from the doorways, from the
mouths of alleys, from nowhere and everywhere.
They were not the young men, the hot-handed fighters. Most of them
were grey and some were bent and even the youngest of them had an
indefinable look of age, a thing of the spirit rather than the flesh.
They did not speak. They watched the tall Earthman and the lithe one
beside him that seemed to be a man. Their dark eyes glistened and they
followed the strangers, borne with them like a ring of tattered
shadows shifting, flowing, thickening.”
Slutligen (via tips på listan) om Allen Steeles NYA Captain
Future-roman, Avengers of the Moon, recenserad i Locus
http://locusmag.com/2017/04/paul-di-filippo-reviews-allen-steele-3/
Of the reviving of old franchises there is no end. No pulp hero is
ever truly dead. I suppose that their unkillable nature is what made
them true pulp heroes to begin with. And although some revivals seem
crass and merely mercenary, we have no complaints of that nature when
the result is an authentic, heartfelt and evocative novel like Allen
Steele’s newest.
After being more or less defunct for decades, this seems to be
Captain Future’s time to be reborn. The deluxe yet affordable
omnibuses from Haffner Press deliver all the old-fashioned goodness of
the series that initially flourished from 1940 to 1951, and which
sparked up in reprints or refashionings at intervals thereafter. The
Captain’s retro yet timeless virtues–both the hero’s personal creed
and the narrative stylings–are arguably congruent with cultural trends
today toward a desired and desirable return to basics and old verities
with a useful revisioning. And this type of space opera is essentially
an infinite canvas on which new adventures can be perpetually
inscribed.
As for the choice of author to pick up the Captain’s tale–well, who
else on the current scene might one nominate? It would have to be, I
think, someone of a certain age. It’s not likely a Millennial writer
would care for the job or bring the appropriate zest and fondness to
the task. So that limits out choices. Mike Resnick or Stephen Baxter
or Robert Sawyer or David Brin or Catherine Asaro or C. J. Cherryh
would do a fine job. But not necessarily better than Steele’s loving
performance. As he says in his afterword, his novel is “neither an
homage to the Hamilton novels nor a parody, but rather an effort to
bring Captain Future into the twenty-first century for a new
generation of readers.”
I think Steele has succeeded wonderfully, while still retaining all
the old virtues and attractions of the original property.
First off, the science and interworld logistics and realpolitik of
his version of the old Planet Stories consensual future (every planet
in our Solar System inhabitable, and productive of different races of
mankind) is utterly believable and well-conceived. This is far from a
Hard SF book, but nonetheless Steele takes the time to consider such
matters as the terraforming of Mars and daily residential life on the
Moon in substantial detail. Likewise, Steele provides us with a level
of character development which, while not on the level of, say, a
postmodern space opera by M. John Harrison, is still fully mature and
of sufficient depth to endear the characters to us and make us
enthusiastically savor their aspirations, their triumphs and defeats.
The primary beneficiary of this attention is of course Curt Newton,
Captain Future himself. Steele wisely introduces Curt at the very
start of his career, as a naive yet brilliant and brave
twenty-something lad raised by his three oddball companions: Simon, a
disembodied human brain housed in a drone; Otho, an android; and Grag,
a sentient robot. The bonds among this quartet power the tale; family
is the engine of their adventures. Then in comes the feisty Joan
Randall, officer of the Interplanetary Police Force. Devoted to her
corps, Joan crosses paths with Curt and crew and is swept up in their
destiny, never to be the same. The seeds of romance between her and
Curt are planted in this installment and sprout, while leaving many
prospects ahead.
So then: good setting, good cast. What of the story itself? Steele
has wisely kept the tale from becoming overcomplicated, hewing to a
more-or-less straightforward revenge theme, while still providing
generous subplots and larger avenues to propel subsequent
developments. And the furniture of such tales is nicely arrayed.
Extinct Martian volcanoes! Castaway in space! Biosphere-capped
craters!
We begin with Curt’s desire for revenge on Victor Corvo, the sleazy
politician who murdered Curt’s parents twenty years in the past. But
this personal desire ensnares Curt in Corvo’s own schemes, leading the
posse ultimately to Mars, where the sinister and secretive Ul Quorn,
criminal and cult chieftain, awaits.
Steele keeps his chapters of modest length, his sentences graceful
yet uncomplex, and while not every segment ends on a cliffhanger,
there are still cliffhangers aplenty. But the pacing of this book is
not feverish and the plot is not overstuffed, so there is room for
contemplative moments.
One special feature that Steele has mastered is porting over the
whimsical moments of the original books. I will affirm that it takes a
rare talent to make a modern reader accept seriously and willingly a
concept like “Eek the moonpuppy.” On a similar note, the superscience
aspect of the old books are not scanted, but neither are they pushed
beyond believability.
Blending melodrama with restraint, mixing tragedy and comedy, and
hewing to tradition while simultaneously honoring contemporary tastes,
this book deserves to find a big audience amongst old and young
readers alike.
Finally, let me praise the really striking and distinctive cover art
by Thomas Ed Walker. It evokes old-school sense-of-wonder
magnificently.
Som ni ser är det Bertils besök hos Hamilton/Brackett som var upphov
till diskussionen. Då fick han reda på att det var Brackett som skrev
de sista novellerna (på outlines från Hamilton). Intressant också att
Allen Steele återupplivat den gode Kaptenen.
Jag kände f ö Sveriges, kanske Världens Störste Kapten Frank-fan,
Bengt-Olov Ringberg (utgivare av t ex fanzinet Future Fan). Besökte
honom ett par ggr (t ex på ett födelsedagskalas, både Laars-Olov
Strandberg och Bo Stenfors var där också) och var på hans begravning.
--
ahrvid@xxxxxxxxxxx / Follow @SFJournalen on Twitter for the latest
news in short form! / Gå med i SKRIVA, för författande, sf, fantasy,
kultur (skriva-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, subj: subscribe) och deltag i
FANTASTIKNOVELLTÄVLINGEN 2017, info
https://www.freelists.org/post/skriva/Fantastiknovelltvlingen-2017 /
Om Ahrvids novellsamling Mord på månen:
http://zenzat.wordpress.com/bocker C Fuglesang: "stor
förnöjelse...jättebra historier i mycket sannolik framtidsmiljö"! / Nu
som ljudbok: http://elib.se/ebook_detail.asp?id_type=ISBN&id‘86081462
/ Läs även AE i nya E-antologin Oskuld
http://www.novellmastarna.se/Oskuld.htm / Och fråga om hans
sf-fanhistoriska uppslagsverk Fandboken / YXSKAFTBUD, GE VÅR WCZONMÖ
IQ-HJÄLP! (DN NoN 00.02.07)
-----
SKRIVA - sf, fantasy och skräck * Äldsta svenska skrivarlistan
grundad 1997 * Info http://www.skriva.bravewriting.com eller skriva-
request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx för listkommandon (ex subject: subscribe).