I see dead authors...

[ffutures]

I've just been indulging in my favourite pursuit of trying to find authors who have gone out of European copyright, and realised that James Joyce will be out pretty soon, since he died in 1941.

I suspect that we will shortly see a shitload of crap from people who think that they are capable of doing his work justice... or not, e.g. Ulysses - With Zombies!

Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed. A semiautomatic shotgun, shoulder-slung, was sustained gently behind him on the mild morning air. He held the bowl aloft. Outside zombies intoned:

"— Brainzzzzz"

This is just a promise that I will NOT attempt to write Ulysses - The Role Playing Game or any variant thereof.

All of which reminds me to say that if anyone can suggest any good SF authors who died in e.g. 1930-40 I would love to know about them - the Weinbaum RPG has been getting some very positive feedback, and eventually I might want to venture into this period again.

Comments

[pauldormer.livejournal.com]

Ulysses - The Role Playing Game would actually be a game that I'd be interested in. :-)

Steven R. Boyett did a book of Star Trek parodies called Treks not Taken. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Fan begins:

"Stately, bald Captain Picarus came from the turbolift, bearing a personal log on which a cup of Earl Gray lay steeping."

I came across this book at a Worldcon in Los Angeles when the author was doing a signing. I picked up a copy, turned to the Joyce parody, and burst out laughing. To which the author said, I really had to buy a copy now. But he did add a Joycean dedication (which I can't now read).

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Nice, but bearing in mind the "quality" of most of the literature I work with (Weinbaum and Walton being the big exceptions, of course) I really doubt I can do justice to Joyce.