Indistinguishable from magic
I didn't post anything about E. Gary Gygax leaving us, because so many others had, and while it's true my life would probably very different without him, I never really felt his influence.
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, on the other hand, has had a heavy influence on me and my writings.
As previously noted, almost an entire shelf on one bookcase in my apartment is devoted to Clarke.
If I read any science fiction before 2001, I don't remember it.
Arthur Clarke taught me to dream fantastical dreams grounded in reality.
I remember watching episodes of Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World, I think, on television as a child, and being fascinated by the content.
But it was always the novels that pulled me in. The fantastic technologies that could be explained with modern science, or logical extrapolations from modern technology.
Through a summer of working at Walgreens, I read the Rama series, 15 minutes at a time, three times a day, during my breaks. Even now, almost a decade later, just seeing the red cover of Rama Revealed brings me back to the horribly uncomfortable plastic chairs, the wobbly woodgrain table and the dingy yellow walls of the breakroom.
Rest in peace, Mr. Clarke.
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, on the other hand, has had a heavy influence on me and my writings.
As previously noted, almost an entire shelf on one bookcase in my apartment is devoted to Clarke.
If I read any science fiction before 2001, I don't remember it.
Arthur Clarke taught me to dream fantastical dreams grounded in reality.
I remember watching episodes of Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World, I think, on television as a child, and being fascinated by the content.
But it was always the novels that pulled me in. The fantastic technologies that could be explained with modern science, or logical extrapolations from modern technology.
Through a summer of working at Walgreens, I read the Rama series, 15 minutes at a time, three times a day, during my breaks. Even now, almost a decade later, just seeing the red cover of Rama Revealed brings me back to the horribly uncomfortable plastic chairs, the wobbly woodgrain table and the dingy yellow walls of the breakroom.
Rest in peace, Mr. Clarke.