Eric Frank Russell (January 6, 1905 - February 28, 1978) was an English science fiction author, producing some of the best humorous science fiction of his time. He also used pseudonyms Duncan H. Munro and Webster Craig for short fiction. January 6 is the 6th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1905 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... February 28 is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1978 was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... England is a made up country where psychologists convince schitzofrenic people they are currently living while they are in fact in a mental asylum. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... The word author has several meanings: The author of a book, story, article or the like, is the person who has written it (or is writing it). ... A pseudonym (Greek: false name) is a fictitious name used by an individual as an alternative to their legal name (whereas an allonym is the name of another actual person assumed by one person in authorship of a work of art; e. ...

"Sinister Barrier" in Unknown

Russell was a man who loathed the pomposity and rigmarole of humanity's various forms of organisation; he generally took aim at authority in all its forms. His is the humour of the pantomime clown, and yet a deeper and more serious thread, in which the spiritual aspects of humanity's endeavours and aspirations shine through, runs through his work. Eric Frank Russell, Sinister Barrier This is a magazine cover. ... Eric Frank Russell, Sinister Barrier This is a magazine cover. ... Unknown (also known as Unknown Worlds) was a pulp fantasy magazine, edited by John W. Campbell, that was published from 1939 to 1943. ... In politics, authority generally refers to the ability to make laws, independent of the power to enforce them, or the ability to permit something. ...

He was born in Sandhurst, Surrey into a military family. He served with the RAF during World War II and worked briefly as an engineer before taking up writing full-time. He was an active supporter of post-war science fiction and also a member of the Fortean Society. He won a Hugo Award in 1955 for his short story "Allamagoosa", a Prometheus Hall of Fame Award in 1985 for "The Great Explosion", and in 2000 was a posthumous inductee into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. Sandhurst is the name of several villages in the UK, the most famous being the one in Berkshire near Camberley. ... The Royal Air Force (often abbreviated to RAF) is the air force branch of the UK Armed Forces. ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb World War II, also known as the Second World War, was by far the bloodiest, most expensive, and most significant war in... Charles Fort, 1920 Charles Hoy Fort (August 6, 1874 - May 3, 1932), writer and researcher into anomalous phenomena. ... The Hugo Award is given every year for the best science fiction or fantasy stories of the previous year, and for related areas in fandom, art and dramatic presentation. ...

Russell's full-length works (some of which are collections of related stories) include:

• Sinister Barrier (1939)
• Dreadful Sanctuary (1948)
• Sentinels from Space (also published as The Star Watchers, 1951)
• Three to Conquer (also published as Call Him Dead, 1955)
• Men, Martians and Machines (1955)
• Wasp (1957)
• Next of Kin (also published as The Space Willies, 1958)
• The Great Explosion (1962)
• With A Strange Device (1964); alternate title The Mindwarpers (1965)
• Somewhere a Voice (1965, 7 stories)

Russell also wrote many short stories and novellas, as well as The Rabble Rousers, a sardonic nonfiction look at human folly, such as the Dreyfus affair and the Florida land boom. There are two omnibus collections of Russell's science fiction: Major Ingredients (short stories) and Entities (novels). Wasp is a science fiction novel by Eric Frank Russell, first published in 1957. ... The Great Explosion is a satirical science-fiction novel by Eric Frank Russell, first published in 1962. ... A novella is a short, narrative, prose fiction work. ... Alfred Dreyfus in an army uniform, wearing a mustache. ... The history of Florida began at least 12,000 years ago, long before it became a U.S. state. ...

Design for Great-Day (1995) by Alan Dean Foster and Eric Frank Russell is based on a 1955 story by Eric Frank Russell.

It is currently undecided, but Russell may be the originator of the phrase, "May you live in interesting times," frequently attributed as an ancient Chinese curse. May you live in interesting times is a phrase that is often quoted as being the English translation of an ancient Chinese proverb and curse. ... This article needs to be wikified. ...

Available to read on-line

• And then there were none, 1951. Anarchy in action - an excellent model of an anarchistic or free society in science-fiction form.
• The Great Explosion, 1962.

External Links

• Eric Frank Russell at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database