Bohemian Word Werks - Fred Saberhagen dead at 77

Fred Saberhagen dead at 77

Jul. 2nd, 2007 at 9:54 PM

The man who gave me my first cover blurb died today.

I'd been reading Fred Saberhagen from very early on. My dad was a big fan of the Berserker books and gave them to me. I think it was the first SF I moved on to after Doc Smith's Lensmen and Skylark books. I'll always remember his story "Goodlife" because it was the first SF I read that wasn't so much about interstellar derring-do and adventure, but about the human spirit.

He also wrote some cool Vampire fiction, mixing Sherlock Holmes and Dracula (why not, they were both in London at the same time!).

I got to know him at World Fantasy 2001 in Montreal, which was a fortuitous con for me in a number of ways. We sat on a panel together and he was genial and entertaining. It was pretty cool to be sitting next to a man I read when I was ten and have him treating me as a colleague. He generously offered to read Way of the Wolf and give me his thoughts. He liked it enough to blurb me.

You can't pay that sort of help back. All you can do is pay it forward.

God rest his soul.

Comments

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dragonling wrote:

Jul. 3rd, 2007 03:39 am (UTC)

I've got a copy of Seance for a Vampire kicking around somewhere. One of my favourites.

I'm sorry to hear of his passing. :(

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eeknight wrote:

Jul. 3rd, 2007 06:04 pm (UTC)

Yeah.

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pabba wrote:

Jul. 3rd, 2007 03:50 am (UTC)

I enjoyed many of his Berserker books. Sad to hear of his passing.

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eeknight wrote:

Jul. 3rd, 2007 06:04 pm (UTC)

The tech in the earlier stuff is a little outdated when you read them now, but if you ignore that I think they hold up well.

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anysia wrote:

Jul. 3rd, 2007 04:31 am (UTC)

Damn :(

One book that Fred Saberhagen co-wrote with Roger Zelazny comes to mind, very clearly. "Coils" It made an impression on me so many years ago. Then followed the Lensmen.

Aww damn.

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eeknight wrote:

Jul. 3rd, 2007 06:03 pm (UTC)

Re: Damn :(

I never read that one! That's quite a team!

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mistervimes wrote:

Jul. 3rd, 2007 12:30 pm (UTC)

Well... shit

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eeknight wrote:

Jul. 3rd, 2007 06:01 pm (UTC)

My feelings exactly.

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(Anonymous) wrote:

Jul. 3rd, 2007 01:31 pm (UTC)

Valentine's Resolve

I only started reading the Vampire Earth novels in March 07 but ever since I picked up Way of the Wolf I haven't been able to stop reading them. I picked up Valentine's Resolve this past Saturday and I have to say that it is amazing and I wish I wasn't taking summer classes so that I could read it all in one day. My only problem is with who wrote the Cover Blurb. I say this because in the cover it says "Valentine discovers that the Lightweavers, Earth's allies in the conflict, have all but vanished." I'm sure any fan of the series has noticed this and I'm not trying to be picky or mean but maybe you should proofread the blurb before it's printed. Other than that, I'm exstatic about this book, I have read past half way and I want to finish it today but I have a final and all that. I can't wait until the next two come out! O and just as a little side note, and I bet you get this one all the time, but if you ever need an outside opinion my email is cjr539@umr.edu. Does Valentine ever get to go back to Jamaca?

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eeknight wrote:

Jul. 3rd, 2007 06:00 pm (UTC)

Re: Valentine's Resolve

I've got very little to do with the covers of the books. That's marketing.

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