Eric Frank Russell

Although modest in size, the published output of Englishman Eric Frank Russell displays a humor and wisdom that has endeared him to generations of readers, earning him the title “The Forgotten Master.”

Russell was first published in the US pulp magazine Astounding Science Fiction, and during the 1930s he became the first British writer to be regularly featured in its pages. He published his first novel in 1939; entitled Sinister Barrier (1939), it was based upon the idea that the human race might be the “property” of invisible parasites that feed upon human pain and anguish. It was followed by his Jay Score series, a Star Trek-like tale about a crew of interplanetary explorers, including a heroic robot.

Some of Russell's best work was done in the years immediately after World War II, including a series of bitter anti-war stories and the fine pacifist satire “. . . And Then There Were None” (1951). The 1955 anti-bureaucratic satire “Allamagoosa” won him a Hugo award.

Induction year: 2000

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Sinister Barrier (1939)
Men, Martians and Machines (1955)
The Great Explosion (1962)
The Best of Eric Frank Russell (1978)