Williamson, Jack 1908-

(Will Stewart, John Stewart Williamson)

PERSONAL: Born April 29, 1908, in Bisbee, Arizona Territory (now the state of Arizona); son of Asa Lee (a rancher and teacher) and Lucy Betty (a former teacher; maiden name, Hunt) Williamson; married Blanche Slaten Harp (a merchant), August 15, 1947; children: (stepchildren) Keigm Harp, Adele Harp Lovorn. Education: Home schooled until he was twelve, then attended high school in Richland, NM; attended West Texas State Teachers College (now West Texas State University), 1928–30, and University of New Mexico, 1932–33; Eastern New Mexico University, B.A. (summa cum laude) and M.A., 1957; University of Colorado at Boulder, Ph.D., 1964. Politics: Democrat. Religion: Methodist.

ADDRESSES: Home—Box 761, Portales, NM 88130.

CAREER: Fantasy and science fiction writer, 1928–; News Tribune, Portales, NM, wire editor, 1947; creator of comic strip "Beyond Mars" for New York Sunday News, 1953–56; New Mexico Military Institute, Roswell, instructor in English, 1957–59; University of Colorado at Boulder, instructor in English, 1960; Eastern New Mexico University, Portales, associate professor, 1960–69, professor, 1969–77, currently Distinguished Research Professor in English. Guest of honor, Thirty-fifth World Science Fiction Convention, Miami, 1977, and at numerous regional conventions.

MEMBER: Science Fiction Writers of America (president, 1978–80), National Council of Teachers of English, Masons, Rotary Club.

AWARDS, HONORS: First Fandom Science Fiction Hall of Fame Award, 1968; Pilgrim Award, Science Fiction Research Association, 1973; Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement, Science Fiction Writers of America, 1976; Hugo Award, 1985, for Wonder's Child: My Life in Science Fiction; Hugo Award for Best Novella, World Science Fiction Society, and Nebula Award in novella category, both 2001, both for The Ultimate Earth; John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best science fiction novel of the year, University of Kansas, 2001, for Terraforming Earth.

WRITINGS:

SCIENCE FICTION NOVELS

(With Miles J. Breuer) The Girl from Mars, Stellar (New York, NY), 1929.

The Legion of Space (also see below), illustrated by A.J. Donnell, Fantasy Press (Reading, PA), 1947.

Darker than You Think, Fantasy Press (Reading, PA), 1948 reprinted, Orb (New York, NY), 1999.

The Humanoids (originally published in Astounding as And Searching Mind), Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1949.

One against the Legion (also see below), Fantasy Press (Reading, PA), 1950, published with novella Nowhere Near, Pyramid (New York, NY), 1967.

The Green Girl, Avon (New York, NY), 1950.

The Cometeers (also see below), illustrated by Ed Cartier, Fantasy Press (Reading, PA), 1950.

Dragon's Island, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1951, published as The Not-Men, Belmont (New York, NY), 1968.

The Legend of Time, Fantasy Press (Reading, PA), 1952, published as The Legion of Time and After Worlds End, two volumes, Digit, 1961.

Dome around America, Ace (New York, NY), 1955.

(With James E. Gunn) Star Bridge, Gnome Press (New York, NY), 1955.

The Trial of Terra, Ace (New York, NY), 1962.

Golden Blood, Lancer (New York, NY), 1964.

The Reign of Wizardry, Lancer (New York, NY), 1964.

Bright New Universe, Ace (New York, NY), 1967.

Trapped in Space (juvenile), illustrated by Robert Amundsen, Doubleday (Garden City, NY), 1968.

The Moon Children, Putnam (New York, NY), 1972.

The Power of Blackness, Berkley (New York, NY), 1976.

Brother to Demons, Brother to Gods, Bobbs-Merrill (Indianapolis, IN), 1979.

The Humanoid Touch (sequel to The Humanoids), Holt (New York, NY), 1980.

Three from the Legion (contains The Legion of Space, The Cometeers, and One against the Legion), Doubleday (Garden City, NY), 1981.

(With Miles J. Breuer) The Birth of a New Republic: Jack Williamson—The Collector's edition, Volume II, P.D.A. Enterprises (New Orleans, LA), 1981.

Manseed, Ballantine (New York, NY), 1982.

The Queen of the Legion, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1983.

Lifeburst, Ballantine (New York, NY), 1984.

Firebird, Bluejay (New York, NY), 1986.

Firechild, Bluejay (New York, NY), 1986.

(With Frederik Pohl) Land's End, T. Doherty (New York, NY), 1988.

Mazeway, Ballantine (New York, NY), 1990.

(With Frederik Pohl) The Singers of Time, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1991.

Beachhead, Tor (New York, NY), 1992.

Demon Moon, Tor (New York, NY), 1994.

The Black Sun, Tor (New York, NY), 1997.

The Silicon Dagger, Tor (New York, NY), 1999.

Terraforming Earth, Tor (New York, NY), 2001.

The Stonehenge Gate, Tor (New York, NY), 2005.

"JIM EDEN" SERIES; WITH FREDERIK POHL

Undersea Quest, Gnome Press (New York, NY), 1954.

Undersea Fleet, Gnome Press (New York, NY), 1956.

Undersea City, Gnome Press (New York, NY), 1958.

"STARCHILD" TRILOGY; WITH FREDERIK POHL

The Reefs of Space (also see below), Ballantine (New York, NY), 1964.

Starchild (also see below), Ballantine (New York, NY), 1965.

Rogue Star (also see below), Ballantine (New York, NY), 1969.

The Starchild Trilogy (contains The Reefs of Space, Starchild, and Rogue Star), Doubleday (Garden City, NY), 1977.

"CUCKOO'S SAGA"; WITH FREDERIK POHL

Farthest Star (also see below), Ballantine (New York, NY), 1975.

Wall Around a Star (also see below), Ballantine (New York, NY), 1983.

The Saga of Cuckoo (contains Farthest Star and Wall Around a Star), Doubleday (Garden City, NY), 1983.

SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS

Lady in Danger, Utopian (New York, NY), 1945.

(With Murray Leinster and John Wyndham) Three Stories, Doubleday (Garden City, NY), 1967, published as A Sense of Wonder: Three Science Fiction Stories, edited by Sam Moskowitz, Sidgwick & Jackson (London, England), 1967.

The Pandora Effect, Ace (New York, NY), 1969.

People Machines, Ace (New York, NY), 1971.

The Early Williamson, Doubleday (Garden City, NY), 1975.

Dreadful Sleep, Weinberg (Chicago, IL), 1977.

The Best of Jack Williamson, introduction by Frederik Pohl, Ballantine (New York, NY), 1978.

The Alien Intelligence: Jack Williamson—The Collector's edition, Volume I, P.D.A. Enterprises (New Orleans, LA), 1980.

(With others) Medea: Harlan's World, edited by Harlan Ellison, illustrated by Kelly Freas, cartography by Diane Duane, Bantam (New York, NY), 1985.

The Metal Man and Others, foreword by Hal Clement, Haffner Press (Royal Oak, MI), 1999.

Wolves of Darkness, foreword by Harlan Ellison, Haffner Press (Royal Oak, MI), 1999.

Spider Island: The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, Volume Four, Haffner Press (Royal Oak, MI), 2001.

Dragon's Island and Other Stories, Five Star (Water-ville, ME), 2002.

SCIENCE-FICTION NOVELS; UNDER PSEUDONYM WILL STEWART

Seetee Shock (originally published serially), Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1950, reprinted under name Jack Williamson, Lancer (New York, NY), 1968.

Seetee Ship (originally published serially), Gnome Press (New York, NY), 1951, reprinted under name Jack Williamson, Lancer (New York, NY), 1968.

OTHER; UNDER NAME JACK WILLIAMSON

Teaching Science Fiction (nonfiction), privately printed, 1973.

(Editor) Teaching Science Fiction: Education for Tomorrow (essays), Owlswick (Philadelphia, PA), 1980.

Wonder's Child: My Life in Science Fiction (autobiography), Bluejay (New York, NY), 1985, reprinted, BenBella Books (Dallas, TX), 2005

Seventy-five: The Diamond Anniversary of a Science Fiction Pioneer (collection), Haffner Press (Royal Oak, MI), 2003.

Also author of the novella The Ultimate Earth. Contributor of stories, under name Jack Williamson, to science-fiction anthologies, including Of Worlds Beyond, edited by Lloyd Arthur Eshbach, Fantasy Press (Reading, PA), 1947; The Mirror of Infinity, edited by Robert Silverberg, Harper (New York, NY), 1970; The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, edited by Ben Bova, Doubleday (Garden City, NY), 1973; Before the Golden Age, edited by Isaac Asimov, Doubleday (Garden City, NY), 1974; Science Fiction: Today and Tomorrow, edited by Reginald Bretnor, Harper (New York, NY), 1974; and Number Six, edited by Terry Carr, Holt (New York, NY), 1977. Contributor of short stories to periodicals, including Amazing Stories, Science Wonder Stories, Air Wonder Stories, Astounding Stories, Wonder Stories, Weird Tales, Astounding Science Fiction, and Argosy.

SIDELIGHTS: Science-fiction writer Jack Williamson was born in the Arizona Territory, moved to Mexico, then Texas, and then, by covered wagon, to a homestead in eastern New Mexico. Because his family's ranch failed to prosper, Williamson was unable to pursue his ambition of becoming a scientist. However, by employing both his imagination and his interest in science, he has become a pivotal author in the genre of science fiction.

While living in the desert land of New Mexico, Williamson discovered Hugo Gernsback's new magazine, Amazing Stories. Williamson decided to take a chance writing in the genre and sold his first story, "The Metal Man," to Amazing Stories in 1928. Thirteen of his first twenty-one published stories were spectacular enough to gain covers in the early science-fiction magazines, often appearing in installments. Williamson says he generally earned his living writing for these magazines for as little as a half-cent per word.

"If science-fiction writing is an art that can be taught, there is probably no one in the world better qualified to teach it than Jack Williamson," remarked Sam Moskowitz in Seekers of Tomorrow: Masters of Science Fiction. "[Williamson is] an author who pioneered superior characterization in a field almost barren of it, realism in the presentation of human motivation previously unknown, scientific rationalization of supernatural concepts for story purposes, and exploitation of the untapped story potentials of antimatter." As an academic, Williamson also legitimized science fiction as a field deserving of literary attention. In recognition of his contributions, he received the Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement from the Science Fiction Writers of America in 1976.

Williamson initially attracted attention in the science fiction genre as a master of the space opera. The Legion of Space, the first book of what was to become a series, put Williamson on equal ground with such science fiction writers as John W. Campbell and Edward E. "Doc" Smith. Set in the thirtieth century, The Legion of Space's authenticity rests on the development of the memorable comic figure Giles Habibula. Alfred D. Stewart wrote in the Dictionary of Literary Biography: "Developed in Dickensian fashion through distinctive traits of speech and character, [Habibula] is modeled on Shakespeare's Falstaff; he is a born thief who whines about his ills and threats to his personal safety throughout the series." In his second book in the series, The Cometeers, Williamson introduces another interesting character, Orco. During the course of the story, Orco discovers, to his distress, that he is not a true human. While the characterization in these early stories was found to be rather striking by reviewers, Moskowitz claimed that Williamson's true expertise at characterization came in the stories that followed. "Realism was present in the characterization as well as in the plotting of [his later] stories. Giles Habibula had been a milestone, but Garth Hammond, aptly labeled 'a hero whose heart is purest brass,' in [the short story 'Crucible of Power'], was a giant step towards believability in science fiction. Hammond was the man who made the first trip to Mars and built a power station near the sun for sheer selfish, self-seeking gain…. There had never been anything as blunt as this in science fiction before…. After [Williamson] showed the way, not-completely-sympathetic and more three-dimensional people began to appear" in science fiction.

Reviewers labeled Williamson's early writing, such as the "Legion of Space" novels, fantasy literature. Stewart stressed that such novels were "vehicles for cosmic plotting and pseudo-scientific devices, not for the examination of man's possibilities. Williamson's [eventual] fascination with [Charles] Darwin, H.G. Wells, and evolution led him, in his best thought-out and best written books, to deal with real possibilities for man, not exaggerated romantic vagaries." Williamson's writing, beginning in the forties, became more grounded in logical scientific explanations. He wrote his "Seetee" series in the early part of the decade under the pseudonym Will Stewart; to some they are considered the best expositions on the subject of antimatter ever written. (The concept of antimatter, or contra-terrene, is the condition in which positive and negative charges are reversed from that typical on earth.) In Seetee Ship, the earth has become morally and politically stagnant, and scientists, known as "asterites," strive to legalize the use of antimatter as a means of reestablishing freedom and progress for mankind. But the asterites and the Establishment are at odds. In the sequel, Seetee Shock, the conflict has expanded—the asterites are convinced the power of antimatter should be available to all inhabitants on all planets. When the novel's hero, Nick Jenkins, manages to turn on a special transmitter, the Fifth Freedom results, destroying governments and establishing freedom for all in the universe.

Williamson's most famous novel, The Humanoids, also strives for human freedom, but the outcome is disastrous. The humanoids are small robots who have as their goal the protection and happiness of man. However, Stewart pointed out, "As Williamson remarked in a talk at the 1977 World Science Fiction Convention, 'Their built-in benevolence goes too far. Alert to the potential harm in nearly every human activity, they don't let people drive cars, ride bicycles, smoke, drink, or engage in unsupervised sex. Doing everything for everybody, they forbid all free action. Their world becomes a luxurious but nightmarish prison of total frustration.'" Eventually man must regain his freedom and does so by developing psychic powers. A contributor to the New York Herald Tribune Book Review thought that The Humanoids "deals, essentially, with the conflict that began when the wheel and the lever were invented: the battle between men and machines." Does advanced technology cause man to progress or regress? Williamson questions. Thirty years later Williamson wrote the sequel to The Humanoids, titled The Humanoid Touch.

Several of Williamson's other works focus on genetic engineering, advanced human evolution, and a number of additional evolutionary possibilities. Four distinct species of man exist in Brother to Demons, Brother to Gods: premen, trumen, mumen, and stargods. Because of the varying abilities and moralities of these four species, a power struggle arises and the only hope for universal peace is the evolution of "ultiman," a being of perfect love and power. According to Stewart, "Brother to Demons, Brother to Gods focuses in the end on humanity's stupendous potential." Fireways, set in the contemporary world, also explores the positive and negative possibilities inherent in genetic engineering. Scientists at a top-secret lab create a completely new life form, a tiny pink "worm" that is capable of communicating telepathically with humans. However, in the course of their experimentation, they also manage to unleash a genetic plague that destroys an entire town. Along the way the CIA, the KGB, the Pentagon, and religious fanatics all get into the act.

Throughout his eighties, Williamson not only continued to produce a variety of science-fiction novels at a steady pace, but novels that were for the most part well received. In Mazeway, set against a far-future interstellar backdrop, young Ben Dain attempts to save a dying Earth by convincing the Eldren, an ancient and powerful alien race, that humans are worthy of their attention. A reviewer for Kliatt called it a "well-done tale" with "unusual and wonderfully depicted aliens, subverted robots, death, and mystery." Joel Singer in Voice of Youth Advocates felt that the book is "well thought out and plotted," but suffers from a disjointed writing style from one chapter to the next.

In Beachhead, Williamson returns to the near-future with a book focusing on the human exploration and colonization of Mars. The adversities the pioneers must confront—a deadly virus, a mutiny, a crash landing—are played against a parallel plot involving the financial machinations and intrigues within the multinational consortium backing the mission. Dan Chow, writing in Locus, remarked on Williamson's scientific research and observed that "Beachhead shows a freshness and vigor which would be remarkable in a writer generations younger."

In Demon Moon, Williamson harkens back to his pulp origins with a tale of a world infested by wolves, wyverns, and dragons that is reminiscent of his classic Darker than You Think. According to Russell Letson in Locus, the book "creates a surface of high-fantasy motifs whose rationalizations turn out to be science fictional." Letson felt that the world Williamson creates is both "fantastic and real enough to push back when poked." Tom Easton in Analog Science Fiction & Fact credited Demon Moon as a successful thriller, but found it lacking in originality and too derivative of other work in the field.

In Black Sun, a ravaged Earth sends out ninety-nine star ships in an attempt to seed the galaxy with humanity and ensure the survival of the species. The book deals with the travails of the last ship to leave Earth: its landing on a frozen planet, its incompetent and crazed captain, and the strange discoveries of past habitation on the planet as the crew members attempt to explore their new world and survive.

Stewart felt that "the future of science fiction is now as unlimited as the future of science itself, and Jack Williamson is one of the pioneer writers who made it so." Yet more than a pioneer, Williamson has remained a significant voice in the field. Moskowitz credited him as "one of the most adaptable science-fiction writers alive." Chow noted that "Williamson continues to astonish. This man simply cannot be underestimated or dismissed as a relic of prehistory. Many are the authors, decades younger, who have fallen by the wayside. Yet Williamson goes on, by the evidence, as fresh as ever."

Proof of Williamson's adaptability and inventiveness can be seen in his 1999 release The Silicon Dagger. In a critique of the book for the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Charles de Lint observed, "Williamson proves with his latest novel that he still has what it takes to tell an engaging story." Clay Barstow travels to Kentucky to investigate the murder of his brother, Alden Kirk, and stumbles upon a top-secret technology with the potential to cause a civil war within the United States. De Lint observed that much of the book contains discussions about the ease with which information is distributed today and how new technologies will change the way the United States defends itself. The reviewer noted that rather than overwhelming the story, "these discussions are the story, and a riveting one at that." De Lint went on to call The Silicon Dagger "a novel of ideas" and "a fascinating read." In Booklist, Roland Green stated: "Williamson's understated prose heightens dramatic impact, and his characterizations are as solid as ever."

In Williamson's next book, Terraforming Earth, an asteroid collides with Earth, leaving the planet devoid of life save for a small group of clones who managed to escape to a colony on the moon. From the moon, generation after generation of clones gaze upon Earth and wait for the time to return and terraform—ready the planet for human life—the Earth. Jackie Cassada of Library Journal termed Terraforming Earth a "vividly imagined tale of life at the far end of time," while Booklist reviewer Green remarked: "This is indeed the work of a grand master of [science fiction.]" Similarly, a Publishers Weekly critic called it a "masterful work by a superb chronicler of the cosmic."

The Stonehenge Gate, Williamson's 2005 effort, centers on a group of four poker-playing academics who discover what appears to be a Stonehenge-like structure buried beneath the Sahara Desert. After unearthing the structure, the group determines that it is actually a portal to another planet with inhabitants who may be connected to the origins of life on Earth. In a Publishers Weekly review of The Stonehenge Gate, one contributor felt that the characters are "uninteresting," but acknowledged the "lush descriptions" and "refreshingly brisk pace." Regina Schroeder of Booklist described the book as a "surprisingly successful" mix of "technological inventiveness and heroic quest" that "offer[s] a neat origin story for humanity." In the Library Journal, Cassada reported that The Stonehenge Gate "challenges the imagination at every turn."

Williamson's shorter works have been collected in Spider Island: The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, Dragon's Island and Other Stories, and Seventy-five: The Diamond Anniversary of a Science Fiction Pioneer. Commenting on the works included in Dragon's Island and Other Stories, Booklist contributor Green noted: "Williamson's spare prose keeps the melodrama in hand and makes it consistently read-able." In reviews for Library Journal, Michael J. Rogers called the stories in Spider Island "vintage sf at its best," and defined Seventy-five as a "glorious tribute" to Williamson and his work.

Williamson once told CA: "Though retired from actual teaching, I'm still a full-time science-fiction writer, happy that ideas still happen, that I enjoy making them into stories, that editors and readers still seem interested—sometimes, anyhow.

"With so many old and dear friends gone, I have probably been writing science fiction longer than anybody else who is still writing science fiction. Unlike those who dislike the label 'science fiction' on their work, I've always been proud of it. Though some apologists claim too much for the genre, I think some of our claims are justified. It's a way of thinking and feeling about change, about the impacts of science and technology on our minds and our lives—impacts that keep coming harder and faster. Some of the things that some science-fiction writers do, at least some of the time, are akin to what some scientists do. For one small example, newspaper reporters who interview me these days give me credit for coining the phrase 'genetic engineering'—for a novel, Dragon's Island, first published in 1951, a couple of years before Watson and Crick broke the genetic code and touched off the current exciting transformation of imagined possibility into hard science.

"Since I discovered science fiction—back in 1926, before it had been named science fiction—it has been half my life. For the first twenty years and more; writing it paid barely enough to let me keep writing it, but in recent decades the rewards in recognition as well as in royalties have been more generous than I had ever dared expect. Looking back on a life of being reasonably well rewarded for doing exactly what I wanted to do, I feel pretty lucky. Pretty optimistic, too, about the ability of homo sapiens to keep on surviving crises as it has always survived them, and about my own ability to survive a little longer as a science-fiction writer."

Williamson's work has been translated into numerous languages. A collection of his work can be found at Eastern New Mexico University in Portales, New Mexico.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Clareson, Thomas D., editor, Voices for the Future: Essays on Major Science-Fiction Writers, Volume 1, Bowling Green University (Bowling Green, OH), 1976.

Contemporary Literary Criticism, Volume 29, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1984.

Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 8: Twentieth-Century American Science-Fiction Writers, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1981.

Hauptmann, Richard A., The Work of Jack Williamson: An Annotated Bibliography and Literary Guide, edited by Boden Clark, Borgo Press (San Bernardino, CA), 1997.

McCaffrey, Larry, Jack Williamson: An Interview, Northhouse & Northouse (Dallas, TX), 1988.

Moskowitz, Sam, Seekers of Tomorrow: Masters of Science Fiction, World Publishing (Cleveland, OH), 1966.

Myers, Robert E., editor, Jack Williamson: A Primary and Secondary Bibliography, G.K. Hall (Boston, MA), 1980.

Williamson, Jack, Wonder's Child: My Life in Science Fiction (autobiography), Bluejay (New York, NY), 1985.

Zelany, Roger, editor, The Williamson Effect, Tor (New York, NY), 1996.

PERIODICALS

Analog Science Fiction & Fact, February, 1987, review of Firechild, p. 180; February, 1991, review of Mazeway, p. 176; December 15, 1994, Tom Easton, review of Demon Moon, p. 165; June, 2000, review of story "The Stone from the Green Star" from Wolves of Darkness, p. 130.

Booklist, April 15, 1999, Roland Green, review of The Silicon Dagger, p. 1518; May 15, 2001, Roland Green, review of Terraforming Earth, p. 1739; September 15, 2002, Roland Green, review of Dragon's Island and Other Stories, p. 212; August, 2005, Regina Schroeder, review of The Stonehenge Gate, p. 2010.

Book World, March 30, 1997, review of The Black Sun, p. 8.

Chronicle, December, 1992, review of Beachhead, p. 37; September, 1994, review of Demon Moon, p. 37; June, 1997, review of The Black Sun, p. 41; September, 2005, Don D'Ammassa, review of The Stonehenge Gate, p. 28.

Emergency Librarian, January, 1988, review of The Humaniods, p. 26.

Extrapolation, fall, 1989, review of Darker Than You Think, p. 205.

Guardian Weekly, June 26, 1988, review of Firechild, p. 28.

Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 1992, review of Beachhead, p. 754.

Kliatt, January, 1991, review of Mazeway, p. 25.

Library Journal, November 15, 1988, review of The Humanoids, p. 31; April 15, 1999, Jackie Cassada, review of The Silicon Dagger, p. 149; July, 2001, Jackie Cassada, review of Terraforming Earth, p. 131; May 15, 2002, Michael J. Rogers, review of Spider Island: The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, p. 131; December 1, 2004, Michael J. Rogers, review of Seventy-five: The Diamond Anniversary of a Science Fiction Pioneer, p. 184; August 1, 2005, Jackie Cassada, review of The Stonehenge Gate, p. 76.

Library Media Connection, March, 1987, review of Firechild, p. 34.

Locus, July, 1992, Dan Chow, review of Beachhead, p. 29; May, 1994, Russell Letson, review of Demon Moon, p. 27; June, 1994, review of Demon Moon, p. 60; October, 1994, review of Demon Moon, p. 56.

Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, August, 1999, Charles de Lint, review of The Silicon Dagger, p. 43.

New York Herald Tribune Book Review, October 9, 1949, review of The Humanoids.

Publishers Weekly, July 10, 1987, review of Firechild, p. 65; June 25, 2001, review of Terraforming Earth, p. 55; August 12, 2002, review of Dragon's Island and Other Stories, p. 282; July 18, 2005, review of The Stonehenge Gate, p. 189.

Tribune Books (Chicago, IL), January 18, 1987, review of Firechild, p. 6; August 30, 1992, review of Beachhead, p. 6.

Voice of Youth Advocates, December, 1986, review of Firechild, p. 242; February, 1991, Joel Singer, review of Mazeway, p. 389; April, 1993, review of Beachhead, p. 23; December, 1994, review of Demon Moon, p. 291; August, 1999, review of The Black Sun, p. 197.

ONLINE

Science Fiction Weekly Web site, http://www.scifi.com/ (September 30, 2002), Kathie Huddleston, "After 75 Years of Publishing, Jack Williamson Is SF's Grand Master."