goodbye, J.G. Ballard

New-Wave author J.G. Ballard died today, April 19, 2009.

Ballard was best known for books like the autobiographical Empire of the Sun (turned into an excellent movie) and Crash (also made into a movie), though I first discovered him with The Drowned World, via recommendation from James Gunn.

Ballard was a master of bleak worlds, almost always expressing an anti-technological view, one of the first to bring this perspective to SF. Though these views are pretty much antithetical to mine, I was nonetheless moved and impressed with his work, and he influenced how I write. And without him, SF would be a different creature today.

Best,
Chris

goodbye, J.G. Ballard

New-Wave author J.G. Ballard died today, April 19, 2009.

Ballard was best known for books like the autobiographical Empire of the Sun (turned into an excellent movie) and Crash (also made into a movie), though I first discovered him with The Drowned World, via recommendation from James Gunn.

Ballard was a master of bleak worlds, almost always expressing an anti-technological view, one of the first to bring this perspective to SF. Though these views are pretty much antithetical to mine, I was nonetheless moved and impressed with his work, and he influenced how I write. And without him, SF would be a different creature today.

Best,
Chris