Re: (Shockwave Reader) A Maze of Stars by John Brunner

In article <MPG.42e02af582dc07f7989718@news.eternal-september.org>,
Melissa Hollingsworth  <thetruemelissa@gmail.com> wrote:

Verily, in article <1055vk9$a6t$1@reader1.panix.com>, did
jdnicoll@panix.com deliver unto us this message:

 
In article <slrn107cs87.bsl.naddy@lorvorc.mips.inka.de>,
Christian Weisgerber  <naddy@mips.inka.de> wrote:

On 2025-07-15, James Nicoll <jdnicoll@panix.com> wrote:
>

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/till-eternity

>
| A number of SF authors pursued careers like Brunner�?s: early
| prodigious output of competent pulp, a middle ambitious period,
| the grim realization that readers had no interest in rewarding
| their hard work with a commensurate increase in income, embittered
| disenchantment, and a return to their origins, albeit with better
| prose and plotting.
>
I'll bite: What other authors followed such a career trajectory?

 
Piers Anthony is one. Robert Silverberg is another.

>
It's always a bummer to be reminded that there are more people who like
predictable tropes than who like creative literature.
>
I liked some of Piers Anthony's more ambitious work. I believe it's all
Xanth all the time now. Of course, he's also fairly old and may just see
this as semi-retirement.
>

Oh, Anthony worked out very early that writing books like Macroscope
is hard and pays poorly, whereas cranking out endless crap like Xanth
is easy and pays well. He was quite frank about it in early interviews.

 


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