(ReacTor) Five Superb SFF Fix-Up Novels

[James Nicoll]

Five Superb SFF Fix-Up Novels

A celebration of the SFFnal tradition of transforming short works into
more commercially viable novels.

https://reactormag.com/five-superb-sff-fix-up-novels/

[Robert Woodward]

Post by James Nicoll
Five Superb SFF Fix-Up Novels
A celebration of the SFFnal tradition of transforming short works into
more commercially viable novels.
https://reactormag.com/five-superb-sff-fix-up-novels/

I have read four of them (and several short stories that ended up in
_Accelerando_).

[Lynn McGuire]

Post by James Nicoll
Five Superb SFF Fix-Up Novels
A celebration of the SFFnal tradition of transforming short works into
more commercially viable novels.
https://reactormag.com/five-superb-sff-fix-up-novels/

"A Canticle For Leibowitz" is pretty good, I have not read the other four.

I would add "Ender's Game" to this list.

Lynn

[James Nicoll]

Post by Lynn McGuire

Post by James Nicoll
Five Superb SFF Fix-Up Novels
A celebration of the SFFnal tradition of transforming short works into
more commercially viable novels.
https://reactormag.com/five-superb-sff-fix-up-novels/

"A Canticle For Leibowitz" is pretty good, I have not read the other four.
I would add "Ender's Game" to this list.

That's not a fixup. That's an expansion of a single short work into a
novel, like Flowers for Algernon or Second Game. I cannot offhand
think of an example where the novel was as good as the novella, although
I suppose there must be at least one.

[William Hyde]

Post by James Nicoll

Post by Lynn McGuire

Post by James Nicoll
Five Superb SFF Fix-Up Novels
A celebration of the SFFnal tradition of transforming short works into
more commercially viable novels.
https://reactormag.com/five-superb-sff-fix-up-novels/

"A Canticle For Leibowitz" is pretty good, I have not read the other four.
I would add "Ender's Game" to this list.

That's not a fixup. That's an expansion of a single short work into a
novel, like Flowers for Algernon or Second Game. I cannot offhand
think of an example where the novel was as good as the novella, although
I suppose there must be at least one.

I think a case could be made that Dickson's "Soldier, Ask Not" novel is
as good as the novella. I don't think so myself, but I am glad the
novel was written.

William Hyde

[Tony Nance]

Post by James Nicoll

Post by Lynn McGuire

Post by James Nicoll
Five Superb SFF Fix-Up Novels
A celebration of the SFFnal tradition of transforming short works into
more commercially viable novels.
https://reactormag.com/five-superb-sff-fix-up-novels/

"A Canticle For Leibowitz" is pretty good, I have not read the other four.
I would add "Ender's Game" to this list.

That's not a fixup. That's an expansion of a single short work into a
novel, like Flowers for Algernon or Second Game. I cannot offhand
think of an example where the novel was as good as the novella, although
I suppose there must be at least one.

Maybe...
Budrys - Michaelmas and Rogue Moon
McIntyre - Dreamsnake (unless Dreamsnake is a fix-up?)
de Camp - Lest Darkness Fall (though I admit I'm less familiar with the
shorter version)


Tony

[Chris Buckley]

Post by James Nicoll

Post by Lynn McGuire

Post by James Nicoll
Five Superb SFF Fix-Up Novels
A celebration of the SFFnal tradition of transforming short works into
more commercially viable novels.
https://reactormag.com/five-superb-sff-fix-up-novels/

"A Canticle For Leibowitz" is pretty good, I have not read the other four.
I would add "Ender's Game" to this list.

That's not a fixup. That's an expansion of a single short work into a
novel, like Flowers for Algernon or Second Game. I cannot offhand
think of an example where the novel was as good as the novella, although
I suppose there must be at least one.

Depending on your definitions, _Startide Rising_ as an expansion of
"The Tides of Kithrup". From what I can gather, the longer work was always
envisioned with much of it written, but the novella/novelette was
published two years earlier.

Again depending on your definitions, there's several Ace doubles that
were improved when they got expanded later, IMO. You've been reading Brunner;
I think several of his improved.

Chris

[Michael F. Stemper]

Post by James Nicoll
Five Superb SFF Fix-Up Novels
A celebration of the SFFnal tradition of transforming short works into
more commercially viable novels.
https://reactormag.com/five-superb-sff-fix-up-novels/

I was glad to see the Nourse, which was my first encounter with fix-ups,
and for which I've always had a soft spot in my heart.

Another example is _Masters of the Vortex_ (a/k/a _The Vortex Blaster_).
<http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1203>

[Tony Nance]

Post by Michael F. Stemper

Post by James Nicoll
Five Superb SFF Fix-Up Novels
A celebration of the SFFnal tradition of transforming short works into
more commercially viable novels.
https://reactormag.com/five-superb-sff-fix-up-novels/

I was glad to see the Nourse, which was my first encounter with fix-ups,
and for which I've always had a soft spot in my heart.
Another example is _Masters of the Vortex_ (a/k/a _The Vortex Blaster_).
<http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1203>

I forgot about that one!

While we're on the topic, is Triplanetary a fix-up?
- Tony

[Michael F. Stemper]

Post by Tony Nance

Post by Michael F. Stemper

Post by James Nicoll
Five Superb SFF Fix-Up Novels
A celebration of the SFFnal tradition of transforming short works into
more commercially viable novels.
https://reactormag.com/five-superb-sff-fix-up-novels/

I was glad to see the Nourse, which was my first encounter with fix-ups,
and for which I've always had a soft spot in my heart.
Another example is _Masters of the Vortex_ (a/k/a _The Vortex Blaster_).
<http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1203>

I forgot about that one!
While we're on the topic, is Triplanetary a fix-up?

Not really.

The original novel, or maybe novella, was heavily revised to make it fit
into the Lensman universe. The "Dawn" and "The World War" sections were
written specifically to accompany the revised version.

[Ted Nolan <tednolan>]

Post by Tony Nance

Post by Michael F. Stemper

Post by James Nicoll
Five Superb SFF Fix-Up Novels
A celebration of the SFFnal tradition of transforming short works into
more commercially viable novels.
https://reactormag.com/five-superb-sff-fix-up-novels/

I was glad to see the Nourse, which was my first encounter with fix-ups,
and for which I've always had a soft spot in my heart.
Another example is _Masters of the Vortex_ (a/k/a _The Vortex Blaster_).
<http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1203>

I forgot about that one!
While we're on the topic, is Triplanetary a fix-up?
- Tony

The Gnome/Pyramid version, yes. The original magazine version no.

However, thinking on it further, it may stretch the definition of fix-up
as I don't believe the new material was ever published separately.

[Default User]

Post by James Nicoll
Five Superb SFF Fix-Up Novels
A celebration of the SFFnal tradition of transforming short works
into more commercially viable novels.

One I read quite some time ago was Starfinder by Robert F Young that
was a fixup of stories that ran in F&SF.

The stories were:
Jonathan and the Space Whale
Star Eel, The
Haute Bourgeoisie
Mindanao Deep, The
As a Man Has a Whale a Love Story

It featured some large living creatures that could travel through space
and time. Humans would get inside and destroy the higher brain
function, to leave a controllable ship. Jonathon is on the job when a
whale communicates with him and convinces him that they should instead
run off together.

The novel was somewhat different, but I don't recall the specifics.


Brian

[Ted Nolan <tednolan>]

Post by Default User

Post by James Nicoll
Five Superb SFF Fix-Up Novels
A celebration of the SFFnal tradition of transforming short works
into more commercially viable novels.

One I read quite some time ago was Starfinder by Robert F Young that
was a fixup of stories that ran in F&SF.
Jonathan and the Space Whale
Star Eel, The
Haute Bourgeoisie
Mindanao Deep, The
As a Man Has a Whale a Love Story
It featured some large living creatures that could travel through space
and time. Humans would get inside and destroy the higher brain
function, to leave a controllable ship. Jonathon is on the job when a
whale communicates with him and convinces him that they should instead
run off together.
The novel was somewhat different, but I don't recall the specifics.
Brian

Hmm. I remember that one: The space whale had a rare secondary brain
that escaped the original cull. I thought it was an "Orbit" story though..