F. M. Busby
Encyclopedia
Francis Marion Busby was a science fiction
writer and figure in science fiction fandom
. In 1960 he was a co-winner of the Hugo Award for Best Fanzine
.
He began writing short fiction in 1957, but did not start writing novels until the 1970s, a good deal of his novel work being space-opera.
, United States
, the son of Francis Marion Busby and Clara Nye Busby. The family settled in Colfax
, Washington (US) in 1931 where Busby attended high school. He subsequently attended Washington State College until he joined the National Guard
. He was subsequently discharged and returned to college. He did not remain long, however, and enlisted in the US Army on July 23, 1943 at Spokane
(WA).
Busby served out the war in the Alaska Communication System, assigned to the island of Amchitka
. At the end of World War II
he left the army and returned to college to graduate as an engineer. He subsequently returned to the Alaska Communication System to work in a civilian role based in Seattle, Washington.
In 1954 Busby married Elinor Doub and subsequently had at least one child, a daughter. Together with his wife and others he published a fanzine
entitled Cry of the Nameless which won a Hugo award
in 1960. From 1974 to 1976 Busby was Vice President of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
.
Busby continued to work for the Alaska Communication System until 1971, when the organization was sold to private industry and renamed RCA Alascom and he took early retirement from the company.
Robert A. Heinlein
in part dedicated his 1985 novel The Cat Who Walks Through Walls
to Busby, and in part dedicated his 1982 novel Friday to Elinor.
At the age of fifty he became a freelance science-fiction author. He wrote nineteen published novels and numerous short stories between 1973 and 1996.
He ceased writing fiction at some time after 1996, claiming in an email:
How real the influence of the Thor Power Tools decision was on Busby's writing career is unsure, considering a great many of his novels were written and published after it. What is certain is that he believed this was the case.
In November 2004 Busby was diagnosed with severe intestinal problems. He went into the Swedish Medical Center/Ballard Campus for surgery and suffered complications. He underwent further surgery before being moved to Health and Rehabilitation of Seattle, where he died on Thursday afternoon, February 17, 2005.
Although Busby's setting was a fairly hard science fiction
one, with initially no faster than light travel and minimal contact with aliens, the series clearly qualifies as space opera
by the treatment of the characters involved - especially after the end of first trilogy, where both FTL and intelligent aliens were introduced.
Busby himself was a longtime science fiction
fan and may have been influenced by many writers and artists, though it is difficult to identify any one clear influence in his writing. The Hulzein series of novels is essentially the story of an evil empire defied by a small number of heroic but all too human characters.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
writer and figure in science fiction fandom
Science fiction fandom
Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or "fandom" of people actively interested in science fiction and fantasy and in contact with one another based upon that interest...
. In 1960 he was a co-winner of the Hugo Award for Best Fanzine
Hugo Award for Best Fanzine
The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
.
He began writing short fiction in 1957, but did not start writing novels until the 1970s, a good deal of his novel work being space-opera.
Biography
Francis Marion "Buz" Busby was born in IndianapolisIndianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the son of Francis Marion Busby and Clara Nye Busby. The family settled in Colfax
Colfax
- Historical events :* Colfax massacre, an 1873 incident in Colfax, Louisiana* Colfax County War in New Mexico in 1876 between settlers and the Santa Fe Ring* 1958 Colfax, Wisconsin tornado outbreak which killed at least 28 people...
, Washington (US) in 1931 where Busby attended high school. He subsequently attended Washington State College until he joined the National Guard
United States National Guard
The National Guard of the United States is a reserve military force composed of state National Guard militia members or units under federally recognized active or inactive armed force service for the United States. Militia members are citizen soldiers, meaning they work part time for the National...
. He was subsequently discharged and returned to college. He did not remain long, however, and enlisted in the US Army on July 23, 1943 at Spokane
Spokane, Washington
Spokane is a city located in the Northwestern United States in the state of Washington. It is the largest city of Spokane County of which it is also the county seat, and the metropolitan center of the Inland Northwest region...
(WA).
Busby served out the war in the Alaska Communication System, assigned to the island of Amchitka
Amchitka
Amchitka is a volcanic, tectonically unstable island in the Rat Islands group of the Aleutian Islands in southwest Alaska. It is part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. The island is about long, and from wide...
. At the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he left the army and returned to college to graduate as an engineer. He subsequently returned to the Alaska Communication System to work in a civilian role based in Seattle, Washington.
In 1954 Busby married Elinor Doub and subsequently had at least one child, a daughter. Together with his wife and others he published a fanzine
Fanzine
A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...
entitled Cry of the Nameless which won a Hugo award
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
in 1960. From 1974 to 1976 Busby was Vice President of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, or SFWA is a nonprofit association of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. It was founded in 1965 by Damon Knight under the name Science Fiction Writers of America, Inc. and it retains the acronym SFWA after a very brief use of the SFFWA...
.
Busby continued to work for the Alaska Communication System until 1971, when the organization was sold to private industry and renamed RCA Alascom and he took early retirement from the company.
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
in part dedicated his 1985 novel The Cat Who Walks Through Walls
The Cat Who Walks Through Walls
The Cat Who Walks Through Walls: A Comedy of Manners is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein published in 1985. Like many of his later novels, it features Lazarus Long and Jubal Harshaw as supporting characters.-Plot summary:...
to Busby, and in part dedicated his 1982 novel Friday to Elinor.
At the age of fifty he became a freelance science-fiction author. He wrote nineteen published novels and numerous short stories between 1973 and 1996.
He ceased writing fiction at some time after 1996, claiming in an email:
How real the influence of the Thor Power Tools decision was on Busby's writing career is unsure, considering a great many of his novels were written and published after it. What is certain is that he believed this was the case.
In November 2004 Busby was diagnosed with severe intestinal problems. He went into the Swedish Medical Center/Ballard Campus for surgery and suffered complications. He underwent further surgery before being moved to Health and Rehabilitation of Seattle, where he died on Thursday afternoon, February 17, 2005.
Themes, styles and influences
In the Rissa Kerguelen and Bran Tregare series of Hulzein family novels, Busby's theme was one of human brutality on an institutional scale and how it inevitably shapes the very people who will eventually fight against it. Additional themes touched upon included the worst extremes of corporate power, the oppression of minorities (particularly homosexuals), human rights under totalitarian regimes and the dehumanization of those who serve totalitarian states.Although Busby's setting was a fairly hard science fiction
Hard science fiction
Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by an emphasis on scientific or technical detail, or on scientific accuracy, or on both. The term was first used in print in 1957 by P. Schuyler Miller in a review of John W. Campbell, Jr.'s Islands of Space in Astounding Science...
one, with initially no faster than light travel and minimal contact with aliens, the series clearly qualifies as space opera
Space opera
Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in outer space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing advanced technologies and abilities. The term has no relation to music and it is analogous to "soap...
by the treatment of the characters involved - especially after the end of first trilogy, where both FTL and intelligent aliens were introduced.
Busby himself was a longtime science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
fan and may have been influenced by many writers and artists, though it is difficult to identify any one clear influence in his writing. The Hulzein series of novels is essentially the story of an evil empire defied by a small number of heroic but all too human characters.
Demu
- 1. Cage a Man (1973)
- "The Learning of Eeshta" (1973) - short story; also appeared in collection Getting Home (1987)
- 2. The Proud Enemy (1975)
- 3. End of the Line (1980) - not published separately, but only in The Demu Trilogy
- The Demu Trilogy (omnibus) (1980) - includes all four titles (including first appearance of End of the Line)
Rissa Kerguelen
- Rissa Kerguelen (aka Young Rissa) (1976)
- Rissa and Tregare (1984)
- The Long View (1976)
- Zelde M'Tana (1980)
Hulzein
- The Star Rebel (1984)
- The Alien Debt (1984)
- Rebel's Quest (1984)
- Rebel's Seed (1986)
- The Rebel Dynasty - Volume I (omnibus) (1987) - Contains Star Rebel and Rebel's Quest
- The Rebel Dynasty - Volume II (omnibus) (1988) - Contains The Alien Debt and Rebel's Seed
Slow Freight
- Slow Freight (1991)
- Arrow from Earth (1995)
- The Triad Worlds (1996)
Non-series novels
- All These Earths (1978)
- The Breeds of Man (1988)
- The Singularity Project (1993)
- Islands of Tomorrow (1994)
Short-Story Collection
- Getting Home (1987) (for some stories, year of first appearance anywhere noted)
-
- "A Gun for Grandfather"
- "Of Mice and Otis"
- "The Puiss of Krrlik"
- "The Absence of Tom Leone"
- "Proof"
- "The Real World"
- "Tell Me All About Yourself" (1973)
- "Once Upon a Unicorn" (1973)
- "Road Map"
- "If This Is Winnetka, You Must Be Judy" (1974)
- "Three Tinks on the House"
- "The Learning of Eeshta" - Part of the Demu series, and also included in The Demu Trilogy (1980)
- "I'm Going to Get You" (1974)
- "2000½: A Spaced Oddity"
- "Time of Need"
- "Retroflex"
- "Misconception"
- "The Signing of Tulip"
- "Advantage"
- "Getting Home"
Other short stories
Busby reportedly wrote over 40 short stories, thus leaving over 20 still uncollected, including:- "First Person Plural" (1980)
Anthologies containing stories by Busby
His work appeared in the following anthologies:- The Best Science Fiction of the Year 3 (1974)
- Universe 5 (1975)
- 100 Great Science Fiction Short Short Stories (1978)
- The Best of New Dimensions (1979)
- Universe 10 (1980)
- Heroic Visions (1983)
- 100 Great Fantasy Short Short Stories (1984)
External links
- F. M. Busby on the Spacelight science fiction author database
- F. M. Busby on Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of AmericaScience Fiction and Fantasy Writers of AmericaScience Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, or SFWA is a nonprofit association of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. It was founded in 1965 by Damon Knight under the name Science Fiction Writers of America, Inc. and it retains the acronym SFWA after a very brief use of the SFFWA...
- fmbusby.com
- F. M. Busby book-jacket art