Crosby was born in Norwich, Connecticut, the only child of Harry Clifton Crosby and Rose Glasbrenner. After serving as a pilot with the U.S. military,[2] he began publishing science fiction with the story "Cinderella, Inc." in the December 1952 issue of the magazine Imagination. By 1956, he had adopted his pseudonym Christopher Anvil and his science-fiction work was being published in Astounding. He went on to a long and successful career in the field.
His stories usually about characters in different human government organizations, gadgetry, and subterfuge both internal and external while on an adventure. His military background enabled him to bring a certain realism to his portrayal of action and intrigue, which counterpointed the more fantastical elements of his stories.[citation needed]
Anvil appeared in Astounding/Analog throughout the 1950s and '60s. This was due his ability to write stories aimed at one of Astounding editor John W. Campbell's preferred concepts: alien opponents with superior firepower losing out to the superior intelligence or indomitable will of humans. Anvil also used humor in his characterization of story crafting, where his protagonists slid from disaster to disaster with the best of intentions, and through exercise of fast thinking, managed to snatch victory somehow from the jaws of defeat.[citation needed]
According to David Weber, who acknowledges being influenced by Anvil:
An Anvil character triumphs by shooting the rapids, by caroming from one obstacle to another, adapting and overcoming as he goes. In many ways, his characters are science-fiction descendants of Odysseus, the scheming fast thinker who dazzles his opponents with his footwork. Of course, sometimes it's a little difficult to tell whether they're dazzling an opponent with their footwork, or skittering across a floor covered in ball bearings. But Anvil has the technique and the skill to bring them out triumphant in the end, and watching them dance is such a delightful pleasure.[3]
His stories became a perennial favorite with readers, and then ... "he hit a winning streak in the late 1960s in a series which seemed straight out of Star Trek ... The Interstellar Patrol".[2]
Many of his nonseries stories are almost purely idea-driven science fiction. Some of the most striking of these, for example "Gadget vs. Trend", entirely lack dialogue and almost entirely lack characters; these stories consist of a series of newspaper reports or other similar materials. In these and other stories, Anvil's technique is to put forth a gadget, invention, or social trend and logically develop the consequences.[citation needed]
Interstellar Patrol II: The Federation of Humanity (2005)
The Trouble with Aliens (2006)
The Trouble with Humans (2007)
War Games (2008)
RX for Chaos (2009)
The Power of Illusion (2010)
Modern reprintsedit
As other 20th century science fiction writers, Anvil's work became available through print-on-demand and ebooks.
One of Anvil's best-known short stories is "Pandora's Planet", which appeared first in Astounding in September 1956.[7] It has since been reprinted several times, and also combined with the other stories in his Pandora series into a full length "fixed-up" novel, Pandora's Legions.[8]
Anvil also published a number of stories which he and John Campbell referred to as the Colonization Series:
The Colonization series can accurately be characterized, I think, as Christopher Anvil's magnum opus. Taken together, counting number of titles, the stories constitute almost one third of Anvil's science fiction output, totaling something like four hundred thousand words of writing.[9]
Works by Christopher Anvil at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
May 08, 2024
christopher, anvil, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, neutrality, this, article, disputed, relevant, discussion, found, talk, page, please, remove, this, . This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages The neutrality of this article is disputed Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met December 2017 Learn how and when to remove this message This article possibly contains original research Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations Statements consisting only of original research should be removed December 2017 Learn how and when to remove this message This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Christopher Anvil news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2017 Learn how and when to remove this message Learn how and when to remove this message Christopher Anvil March 11 1925 November 30 2009 1 is a pseudonym used by American author Harry Christopher Crosby Harry Christopher Crosby Jr Born 1925 03 11 March 11 1925Norwich Connecticut U S DiedNovember 30 2009 2009 11 30 aged 84 Cayuta New York U S Pen nameChristopher AnvilOccupationNovelist short story authorGenreScience fiction Contents 1 Biography and work 1 1 Novels by Christopher Anvil 2 Modern reprints 3 Bibliography 4 References 5 External linksBiography and work editCrosby was born in Norwich Connecticut the only child of Harry Clifton Crosby and Rose Glasbrenner After serving as a pilot with the U S military 2 he began publishing science fiction with the story Cinderella Inc in the December 1952 issue of the magazine Imagination By 1956 he had adopted his pseudonym Christopher Anvil and his science fiction work was being published in Astounding He went on to a long and successful career in the field His stories usually about characters in different human government organizations gadgetry and subterfuge both internal and external while on an adventure His military background enabled him to bring a certain realism to his portrayal of action and intrigue which counterpointed the more fantastical elements of his stories citation needed Anvil appeared in Astounding Analog throughout the 1950s and 60s This was due his ability to write stories aimed at one of Astounding editor John W Campbell s preferred concepts alien opponents with superior firepower losing out to the superior intelligence or indomitable will of humans Anvil also used humor in his characterization of story crafting where his protagonists slid from disaster to disaster with the best of intentions and through exercise of fast thinking managed to snatch victory somehow from the jaws of defeat citation needed According to David Weber who acknowledges being influenced by Anvil An Anvil character triumphs by shooting the rapids by caroming from one obstacle to another adapting and overcoming as he goes In many ways his characters are science fiction descendants of Odysseus the scheming fast thinker who dazzles his opponents with his footwork Of course sometimes it s a little difficult to tell whether they re dazzling an opponent with their footwork or skittering across a floor covered in ball bearings But Anvil has the technique and the skill to bring them out triumphant in the end and watching them dance is such a delightful pleasure 3 His stories became a perennial favorite with readers and then he hit a winning streak in the late 1960s in a series which seemed straight out of Star Trek The Interstellar Patrol 2 Many of his nonseries stories are almost purely idea driven science fiction Some of the most striking of these for example Gadget vs Trend entirely lack dialogue and almost entirely lack characters these stories consist of a series of newspaper reports or other similar materials In these and other stories Anvil s technique is to put forth a gadget invention or social trend and logically develop the consequences citation needed Novels by Christopher Anvil edit Sources 4 5 6 The Day the Machines Stopped 1964 Strangers in Paradise 1969 Pandora s Planet 1972 1984 Warlords World 1975 The Steel the Mist and the Blazing Sun 1980 Pandora s Legions 2002 Interstellar Patrol 2003 Interstellar Patrol II The Federation of Humanity 2005 The Trouble with Aliens 2006 The Trouble with Humans 2007 War Games 2008 RX for Chaos 2009 The Power of Illusion 2010 Modern reprints editAs other 20th century science fiction writers Anvil s work became available through print on demand and ebooks One of Anvil s best known short stories is Pandora s Planet which appeared first in Astounding in September 1956 7 It has since been reprinted several times and also combined with the other stories in his Pandora series into a full length fixed up novel Pandora s Legions 8 Anvil also published a number of stories which he and John Campbell referred to as the Colonization Series The Colonization series can accurately be characterized I think as Christopher Anvil s magnum opus Taken together counting number of titles the stories constitute almost one third of Anvil s science fiction output totaling something like four hundred thousand words of writing 9 Bibliography editMain article Christopher Anvil bibliographyReferences edit Christopher Anvil 1925 2009 Locus December 9 2009 a b Transformations The Story of the Science Fiction Magazines from 1950 to 1970 Liverpool University Press 2005 page 286 David Weber introduction to Christopher Anvil s Interstellar Patrol collection 2003 ThriftBooks Christopher Anvil Books List of books by author Christopher Anvil ThriftBooks Retrieved 2023 03 31 Christopher Anvil Books in Order 10 Book Series Most Recommended Books Retrieved 2023 03 31 Baen Books by Anvil Archived 2007 10 21 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 11 30 2007 ASTOUNDING Science Fiction September Sept 1956 Pandora s Planet by Astounding Christopher Anvil Murray Leinster Poul Anderson Hal Clement Robert Silverberg Isaac Asimov 1956 Magazine Periodical Books from the Crypt www abebooks com Retrieved 2023 04 03 Brown Alan 2021 04 29 Those Pesky Earthlings Pandora s Legions by Christopher Anvil Tor com Retrieved 2023 04 03 Eric Flint afterward to Christopher Anvil s Interstellar Patrol collection 2003 External links editChristopher Anvil at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database Bibliography at SciFan Baen Books by Anvil and Books by Anvil in the Baen Free Library Bibliography including short fiction at scifi fantasy info com Works by Christopher Anvil at LibriVox public domain audiobooks nbsp Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Christopher Anvil amp oldid 1184800725, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
