71
votes
Accepted
Why did Iain M. Banks use his middle initial for his science fiction writing, but go by 'Iain Banks' in other works?
Banks himself answered this question in a 5-minute BBC interview:
I blame my uncles; I put The Wasp Factory in, the very first book what I got published and it was "Iain M. Banks" on it, ...
- 139k
48
votes
Accepted
Were Bilbo, Frodo, or Samwise Tolkien's self-inserts?
There's nothing that would suggest Bilbo, Frodo, and Sam, but there are other characters who are to some degree self-inserts
Faramir
Tolkien has said that "as far as any character is like me it ...
- 95.7k
40
votes
Accepted
Old site with the religious affiliations of most science fiction writers
You're probably looking for this. It's a wayback machine (web.archive.org) link (from 2019; thanks to @Nzall), as suggested by @lucasbachmann. (The earliest working snapshot is from August 2000.)
...
- 2,534
31
votes
Accepted
Science fiction story where an author steals the settings from a better author's AI writing tool
This could be "So Bright The Vision" (1956), by Clifford Simak. The super-computers are called "yarners", and as the story starts the protagonist, Kemp Hart, looks at an expensive ...
- 4,875
28
votes
Looking for any biographical info on Terence Haile, author of Space Train
Terence Haile was born in 1921. He had at least two siblings, Reginald and Jean May Haile. Terence lived with his parents in Birmingham for many years, and he married Kathleen Theresa Mary Dunham (...
- 1,931
26
votes
Who said, "The only way to model an infinitely complex system is with the system, itself"?
I believe this is from Asimov's Prelude to Foundation (1988) chapter 32;
"The LPS - that is, 'the least possible simulation' - gains in complexity faster than the object being simulated does and ...
- 360
24
votes
Accepted
Who said, "The only way to model an infinitely complex system is with the system, itself"?
I think this comes from von Neumann's Hixon Symposium Talk at Pasadena in 1948. It is described in "Theory of Self-Reproducing Automata", edited and compiled by Arthur W. Burks, pages 53 - ...
- 69.1k
20
votes
Were Bilbo, Frodo, or Samwise Tolkien's self-inserts?
Almost certainly not. There's nothing in any of Tolkien's letters or writings to indicate that he thought of himself as any of these characters, even in inspiration. He wasn't at all similar to any of ...
- 65.9k
18
votes
Bio of Donald A. Wollheim
I am the daughter of Donald A. Wollheim and have written an extensive biographical article about him. It was published in Leigh Grossman's SENSE OF WONDER: A CENTURY OF SCIENCE FICTION.
This is the ...
17
votes
Looking for any biographical info on Terence Haile, author of Space Train
He wrote a third book titled "The Sports Stars In Danger", which was not science fiction. He also wrote two Westerns called "Trail's End" and "Crevice Rock".
This ...
- 25.4k
16
votes
Was there really an author called Allen Sharp?
I just randomly found this thread on Allen Sharp. I am Nicholas Peter Velissaris and I did my PhD on "choice-based narratives" at RMIT. I'm based in Australia and during my research, I ...
- 169
16
votes
Accepted
Parody names of SF writers in Damon Knight story
Larry Shaw wrote an article about this story in the fanzine Fan History #3 (April 1, 1956). His assignments were as follows (see page 12). Anagrams (and near-anagrams) are marked with †.
Character
...
- 1,821
15
votes
Parody names of SF writers in Damon Knight story
Preacher Flatt — Fletcher Pratt
Ray Alvarez — Lester del Rey
Rod Pfehl (the P is silent, as in Psmith) — Fred Pohl
Tom Q. Jones went by in a hurry, carrying a big camera. —
Punchy Carrol, nut-brown in ...
15
votes
Accepted
Who was Gavin Hyde and what happened to him?
This has been quite a lot of fun conjecture but I am in a position to tell you who the science fiction author Gavin Hyde was, because I knew him; in fact, he was my half-brother. Very nice guy, smart ...
- 666
14
votes
Accepted
Was there really an author called Allen Sharp?
Allen Sharp is listed in various locations as Allen W. Sharp and flourished as an author in the 1970s and 1980s. At that same time, another (possibly the same) Allen W. Sharp (b.1928?) was writing ...
- 710k
13
votes
Why did Iain M. Banks use his middle initial for his science fiction writing, but go by 'Iain Banks' in other works?
According to the Wikipedia article on the author
Banks published work under two names. His parents had meant to name
him "Iain Menzies Banks", but his father mistakenly registered him as
&...
- 7,181
12
votes
Were Bilbo, Frodo, or Samwise Tolkien's self-inserts?
Well, maybe.
Tolkien put a lot of himself into his legendarium, and it's almost inevitable that we recognize various pieces here and there.
Other answers, such as the one by @ibid have covered many of ...
- 16k
11
votes
Accepted
Can the creator of a fictional universe get their own lore wrong?
Warlords of Draenor involves alternate reality time-travel shenanigans.
World of Warcraft has always played loosely with the lore, and Blizzard is not above retconning something if they think they ...
- 36.6k
11
votes
What's become of the author Dan Simmons?
Back in February of this year he answered a question about OMEGA CANYON and its release date on his Facebook page. He said:
“It's not out yet. Nor is it quite finished. But it's alive. IT'S ALIVE!!! ...
- 121
10
votes
Accepted
How closely did When Worlds Collide authors pursue the physics of the catastrophic damage and planet trajectories?
Sam Moskowitz, prominent old-time fan and historian of science fiction, wrote an essay on Philip Wylie in his Studies in Science Fiction series. Titled "Philip Wylie: The Saccharine Cynic", ...
- 170k
10
votes
Any details on Dannie Plachta's bio and name pronunciation?
I am Dannie (Daniel) Plachta's niece and Leonard Plachta's daughter. You have the correct information; Dan's friend is/was Roger Zelazny and they apparently co-authored or supported each other on ...
- 101
9
votes
Who said, "The only way to model an infinitely complex system is with the system, itself"?
In his book The Island author Des Greene says:
To model complexity we can't short-circuit any step - each step must
be enacted individually. This means in effect that complexity can
never be modeled ...
- 16.2k
9
votes
Author of a short story in a compilation or high school textbook for a Sci-Fi extra credit course
This is Sanity by Fritz Leiber.
World Manager Carrsbury runs the affairs of the world government in a
future where the concept of insanity is no longer recognized, even
though pretty much all of the ...
- 710k
8
votes
Accepted
Any details on Dannie Plachta's bio and name pronunciation?
Daniel "Dannie" Paul Plachta (Russian translations of his works give his name as Daniel Plektey) was born in 1935 in Michigan, USA. In the 1960s Plachta was an active participant in the ...
- 710k
7
votes
Accepted
Authorship of Forgotten Realms novels
R.A. Salvatore "oversaw" the book series, acting as co-editor.
Q. What can you tell us about writing the final book of R.A. Salvatore’s War of the Spider Queen?
PK: It was a unique ...
- 710k
7
votes
Identify the author of an anthology, which included a story about an alien working in City Lights bookshop
My answer misses as many points as it hits, but I will put it forward anyway...
Jay Lake was a science fiction author born in Taiwan and lived much of his life in Oregon, so did not have a ...
- 69.1k
5
votes
Accepted
Author of "military squad" SF podcast
I think that you may be thinking of Andy Remic.
This is a British author who has written some other fiction, including SF thrillers and a steampunk(ish) fantasy called the Clockwork Vampires.
There is ...
- 9,334
5
votes
Looking for an author's anthology of short surreal/absurdist fiction (80s-90s)
Any chance that story is the novella "The Calvin Coolidge Home for Dead Comedians" by Bradley Denton, republished in both his collection of that name and his collection One Day Closer to ...
- 1,837
4
votes
Successful author who began writing while completely disabled
Is it possible you're thinking of Dominick Parisien?
Bio for a Kickstarter for Uncanny Magazine:
Dominik Parisien is the co-editor, with Navah Wolfe, of The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales, which is a ...
- 233k
4
votes
Successful author who began writing while completely disabled
Dennis McKiernan checks most of the boxes. He's not Canadian and I have no idea of his financials, but the Mithgar series is 15 novels, one short story collection, and one short story/graphic novel (...
- 13.1k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible