Looks like the author of Hammers Slammers and other sci-fi has died. I was a real fan of the slammers books as a kid and I liked some of his collaborations like the “The General” series. I’ll probably have more to say later. Just wanted to get this on the board first.
Damn. I just referred to him in the “What would you do with 70k tons of iridium thread.” He was a fantastic author, and those who accused him of advocating the violence and war he wrote about utterly missed the point.
He’d been pretty open about his health issues recently on the website, a series of mini-strokes and other things. He seemed like he still had a lot of demons from his Vietnam experience, I hope he’s found peace.
Dammit! I knew he was in poor health, and it was clear that there wouldn’t be any new novels in favorite franchises, but it still hurts.
Hammer’s Slammers was my first ‘military’ sci-fi read, and I was a huge fan of the Raj Whitehall OG 5 books, as well as the Belisarius series.
I’m not sure I’ve ever read any of his own novels, but I’ve read some collaborations between him and other authors (Flint, Weber, etc.).
He was the reason why I bought every military science fiction book on the shelf. He was my gateway drug. This really sucks. See you on Fiddler’s Green.
I decided to read Hammers Slammers again, the first book of his I ever read. While searching my bookcases for it, I realized he’s got more books in my “collection” than any other author by at least a factor of 3. I may try to rearrange/catalog what I’ve got, but I’m guessing it’s on the order of 70-100 books.
I loved both the Raj Whitehall and Belisarius series.
If there’s a heaven may be he’ll collaborate with Eric Flint again
Did you read “Onward Drake!” ? It was a tribute anthology of short stories by writers who knew or had worked with him. Flint had a story that was a thinly fictionalized description of what the collaboration was like on the Belisarius books. It’s pretty funny, but it sounds like working with Drake could be challenging.
I went to one of his “pig pickins”, basically a big barbecue, with fellow sf writer John Kessel. What do two writers talk about when they get together? Money. It’s funny to watch. Put two amateurs or just-over-the-line professionals together and they’ll talk writing. Put two pros together and they’ll inevitably change the conversation to money.
I had a nice time at the party, anyway, and he seemed like a nice guy.
Then perhaps if Flint finds himself collaborating with Drake again he’s in Purgatory 