A Few More Cordwainer Smith Online Resources
This site is the only website completely devoted to the
science fiction of Cordwainer Smith. There are many interesting
CS pages out there, though, and a very small selection is
listed here.
When I began this website in 2000, I spent a lot of time
reviewing sites. Now, I've decided to do what I do best
—write—and let the search engines provide current, accurate
links to Cordwainer Smith and other science fiction
sites. So here are just a few links. All are set to open
in a new page in your browser.
You can read quite a few of Cordwainer Smith's
short stories online at no cost, and here are links for the
stories:
The Dead Lady of Clown Town
Under Old Earth
No, No, Not Rogov!
War No. 81-Q
Mark Elf
The Queen of the Afternoon
Scanners Live in Vain
The Lady Who Sailed The
Soul
When the People Fell
...and then if that whets your appetite, you can buy
two ebooks with these stories and more, at http://www.webscription.net/p-462-we-the-underpeople.aspx and
http://www.webscription.net/p-615-when-the-people-fell.aspx
These links are to Baen books, which sells a lot of science
fiction in ebook format.
Graham Sleight wrote a really good critical essay in Locus,
April 2007, Yesterday's Tomorrows: Cordwainer
Smith
http://www.ulmus.net/ace/menus/ace_s5_c7_b0_d0_x.html
Alan C. Elms is the leading Cordwainer Smith scholar, and this
is his site. Includes a description of the two main
Smith/Linebarger archives.
The University of Kansas has a collection of Cordwainer
Smith papers. Here's the science fiction page for the Department of
Special Collections... among the collections of SF
authors' papers are those of Cordwainer Smith. I couldn't
find much online, but this is at least an access point for
scholars.
Cats, cruelty and children: Idealism and morality in the
Instrumentality of Mankind is the title of a 1999
article by Angus McIntyre. This article discusses Christianity.
McIntyre writes, "The Quaker interpretation of Christianity
with its absence of any priesthood to intercede between God and
Man and its emphasis on the personal and basic aspects of
worship and morality rather than an impersonal and hierarchical
organization, is ideally suited to Smith's view of Christianity
and his overall moral programme."
He's commenting on a character named Liana in "The Colonel
Came Back from the Nothing-at-all," who was Quaker. Well, I
became involved with the Quakers during the Vietnam War though
it wasn't till some years after my father's death that I
'officially' became one myself. Hmm... and I thought I was
striking out on my own! I was accustomed to comments I'd made
at the breakfast table and many other details of my life
turning up in his stories, but I didn't know about this
reference.
The complete article is at http://www.raingod.com/angus/Writing/Essays/Literary/Smith.htm
http://www.fanac.org/worldcon/AussieCon/w99-rpt.html#smith
An interesting summary by Evelyn C. Leeper of a presentation
that Alan Elms did on CS in Australia, at the 1999 Aussiecon
Three. (This summary is also available at one or two other
sites you may come across.)
http://members.tripod.com/templetongate/csmith.htm
Galen Strickland has written quite a lengthy piece, describing
the stories and the universe that CS created.
The Internet Speculative Fiction Database
Cordwainer Smith page is not unlike Mike Bennett's
Illustrated Bibliography here on this site, which you can
get to from the menu.
In French and German:
This site includes information, a link
towards a biographical article,and towards French editions
of my father's work, sometimes with a scan of the cover,
sometimes with the summary blurb.
Here's a site with a link to some
information and a nicely done little CS pamphlet in German
that they sell.
Some General Science Fiction Sites that Include Cordwainer
Smith
New England Science Fiction Association, www.nesfa.org, has done a masterful job
of publishing two hardcover books of Cordwainer Smith's, the
ones I sell here on the site. Based in the Boston area, they
have meetings as well as a publishing wing which publishes a
variety of old and new writers. It's amazing what these
people do as a volunteer organization.
Espana's science fiction site is incredibly comprehensive,
with (last time I looked) 383 authors and 31 artists. Actually
a collection of what Espana calls "speculative fiction" to
broaden the category a bit, it's an amazing resource. The
Cordwainer Smith page has an
illustration of the Best of Cordwainer Smith front page,
then other Smith links, a bio, and a bibliography. (List
pages for authors and artists on the site are titled Alpha
Ralpha Boulevard and The Gebiet... quiet CS references.)
http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue199/site.html
Scifi.com chose this website as SF site of the week some time
ago, and you have to scroll down the page to find the article.
Their site-wide search engine returned a number of things for
Cordwainer Smith.
http://www.adherents.com/adh_sf.html
"Religious affiliation of the 50+ most famous Science
Fiction/Fantasy authors" including CS.
You can also check my blog for more links as I'll comment
on other sites there, without coming back to add those links
here.
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