Ross Rocklynne

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Ross Rocklynne (real name Ross Louis Rocklin; born February 21, 1913 in Cincinnati , Ohio ; died October 29, 1988 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American science fiction writer.

Life

Rocklynne attended school in Cincinnati and then worked in various professions, including being a story analyst at Warner Brothers and an employee in a literary agency . His first short story, Man of Iron , appeared in Pulp magazine Astounding in 1935 . In the following decade he published over 60 other short stories, some of which were reprinted in two anthologies in 1973, with The Sun Destroyers containing the stories from the Colbie & Deverel short story series and The Men and the Mirror those from the Darkness series.

His story Quietus (German as Ausklang or Tödliche Ververbindungen , translated by Walter Ernsting ) appeared in 1946 in the anthology Adventures in Time and Space edited by Raymond J. Healy and J. Francis McComas , and Jackdaw was in Groff Conklin's The Best of Science Fiction (1946) included. Probably best known in the German-speaking world is the short story Time Wants a Skeleton from 1941, translated as Ring of Damnation or Time Needs a Skeleton . This narrative was also included in the anthology The Mammoth Book of Golden Age Science Fiction , compiled by Isaac Asimov, Charles G. Waugh, and Martin H. Greenberg .

In the 1950s, Rocklynne's productivity declined as he became very interested in Dianetics during those years . From 1968, however, a strong comeback followed, in which he showed that he could adapt to the changed forms of science fiction, including in his story Ching Witch! , which appeared in Harlan Ellison's 1972 anthology Again, Dangerous Visions .

Rocklynne found critical acclaim with his science fiction, even if he did not achieve the same popularity with readers as other writers of the golden age of science fiction and did not become a classic like Heinlein or Isaac Asimov . So speaks Reclam's science fiction guide. by an "unjustifiably undervalued author" and Clute and Nicholls attest to his very interesting, albeit vigorous, imagination. Finally, Chad Oliver judged his older colleague:

"Ross Rocklynne was never less than a capable storyteller. However, he tried to be more than that: he pushed himself instead of always taking the easy way. He was a major creator of the science fiction of the past, but he was also one of those who pointed the way ahead. "

“Ross Rocklynne has always been at least a competent narrator. But he wanted to be more and drove himself instead of always making it easy for himself. He was one of the great creators of science fiction in the past, but also pointed to the future. "

Rocklynne married Frances Rosenthal in 1941 and had two sons with her. The marriage ended in divorce in 1947. Rocklynne died in 1988 at the age of 75.

bibliography

Novels
  • The Day of the Cloud (1942)
  • Pirates of the Time Trail (1943)
Colbie & Deverel (short story series)
  • At the Center of Gravity (1936)
  • Jupiter Trap (1937)
  • The Men and the Mirror (1938)
  • The Men and the Mirror (1973, collection)
Darkness (short story series)
  • Into the Darkness (1940)
    • German: Through the darkness. Translated by Rudolf Mühlstrasser. In: Science-Fiction-Stories 41. Ullstein 2000 # 77 (3081), 1974, ISBN 3-548-03081-5 . Also as: In the dark. Translated by Eva Malsch. In: Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg (ed.): The best stories from 1940. Moewig (Playboy Science Fiction # 6711), 1980, ISBN 3-8118-6711-3 .
  • Daughter of Darkness (1941)
  • Abyss of Darkness (1942)
  • Revolt of the Devil Star (1951, also as Rebel of the Darkness , 1951)
  • The Sun Destroyers (1973, collection)
Short stories
  • Man of Iron (1935)
  • Anton Moves the Earth (1936)
  • Water for Mars (1937)
  • Escape Through Space (1938)
  • "Who was Dilmo Deni?" (1938)
  • The Empress of Mars (1939)
  • Pressure (1939)
  • The Moth (1939)
  • And Then There Was One (1940)
  • The Tantalus Death (1940)
  • Trans-Plutonian Trap (1940)
  • Unguh Made a Fire (1940)
    • German: rise and fall. In: Hans Joachim Alpers, Werner Fuchs (eds.): Die Vierziger Jahre I. Hohenheim (Edition SF by Hohenheim Verlag), 1982, ISBN 3-8147-0027-9 . Also as: Unguh made a fire. In: Walter Ernsting (Ed.): Utopia special volume # 2 . Pabel, 1956.
  • The Forbidden Dream (1940)
  • The Mathematical Kid (1940)
  • The Reflection That Lived (1940)
  • Prophecy of Doom (1940)
  • Quietus (1940)
    • German: Ausklang. In: Walter Ernsting (Ed.): Utopia special volume # 1 . Pabel, 1955. Also as: Deadly mix-up. Translated by Walter Ernsting. In: Walter Spiegl (Ed.): Science-Fiction-Stories 10. Ullstein 2000 # 15 (2860), 1972, ISBN 3-548-02860-8 .
  • The Man Who Never Lived (1940)
  • Atom of Death (1940)
  • The Gods Gil Made (1940)
  • Collision Course (1941)
  • The Vanishing Witnesses (1941)
  • Exiles of the Desert Star (1941)
  • The Immortal (1941)
    • German: Ewigkeit. In: Walter Ernsting (Ed.): Utopia Science Fiction Magazin # 6. Pabel, 1957.
  • Big Man (1941)
  • Mutiny Aboard the “Terra” (1941)
  • Time Wants A Skeleton (1941)
    • English: Ring of Damnation. Pabel (Topia # 93), 1957. Also called: Time needs a skeleton. In: Isaac Asimov (ed.): The best stories from 1941. Moewig (Playboy Science Fiction # 6713), 1981, ISBN 3-8118-6713-X .
  • The Voice (1941)
  • The Wicked People (1942)
  • The Electrical Butterflies (1942)
  • Task to Lahri (1942)
  • Jackdaw (1942)
  • Return from Zero (1942)
  • Interlude (1942)
  • Storm in Space (1942)
  • The Creator (1942)
  • Backfire (1943)
  • For Sale — One World (1943)
  • Slaves of the Ninth Moon (1943)
  • The Sandhound (1943)
  • Warrior Queen of Lolarth (1943)
  • Exile to Centauri (1943)
  • The Powerful Pipsqueak (1943)
  • Beyond the Boiling Zone (1943)
  • Intruders from the Stars (1944)
  • The Invisible Army (1944)
  • Victory Drums (1944)
  • The Giant Runt (1944)
  • Secret of Chamuki (1945)
  • The Sandhound Strikes (1945)
  • Cosmic Yo-Yo (1945)
  • Venus Sky-Trap (1945)
  • The Last Outpost (1945)
  • Gift Horse (1945)
  • The Bubble Dwellers (1945)
  • The Infidels (1945)
  • The Diversifal (1945)
  • A Matter of Length (1946)
  • Captives of the Weir-Wind (1946)
  • The Bottled Men (1946)
  • Extra Earth (1946)
  • The Ice World (1946)
  • Six Tuesdays (1946)
  • The Good Egg (1946)
  • Giant of Ganymede (1946)
  • Distress Signal (1947)
  • Jaywalker (1950)
  • Out of the Atomfire (1951, with Bryce Walton)
  • Slave-Ship to Andrigo (1951)
  • They Fly So High (1952)
  • Courtesy Call (1952)
  • Interplanetary Tin Can (1952)
  • Chicken Farm (1953)
  • Fulfillment (1953)
  • Alphabet Scoop (1953)
  • The Big Tick (1953)
    • German: Something is dying. In: Utopia Science Fiction Magazine # 9. Pabel, 1957.
  • X Marks the Asteroid (1954)
  • Sorry: Wrong Dimension (1954)
  • Variant: Sorry Wrong Dimension (1978)
  • Winner Take All (1954)
  • Touch of the Moon (1968)
  • Daisies Yet Ungrown (1968)
  • Find the Face (1968)
  • The Sound of Space (1968)
  • Moon Trash (1970)
  • The Ideas (1971) with Edith Ogutsch
  • The Passing of Auntie Mat (1971)
  • The Lorn of Toucher (1971)
  • Ching Witch! (1972)
  • Fat City (1972)
  • Randy-Tandy Man (1973)
  • Othuum, Chapter Five: The Doom That Came to Blagham (1974)
  • Emptying the Plate (1975)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Chad Oliver : Rocklynne, Ross . In: Noelle Watson, Paul E. Schellinger: Twentieth-Century Science-Fiction Writers. St. James Press, Chicago 1991, ISBN 1-55862-111-3 , p. 672.
personal data
SURNAME Rocklynne, Ross
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rocklin, Ross Louis (real name); Rocklin, Ross Lewis (alternative spelling); Rocklin, RL (alternative spelling); Rocklinne, R. (alternative spelling); Rocklynn, Ross (alternative spelling); Cahendon, Paul (pseudonym); Cente, HF (pseudonym); Smith, Carlton (pen name); Conners, Crosly (pseudonym); Vischner, Floyd (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American science fiction writer
DATE OF BIRTH February 21, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Cincinnati , Ohio
DATE OF DEATH October 29, 1988
Place of death Los Angeles , California