ecl@mtgzz.UUCP (e.c.leeper) (10/29/85)
(Originally posted to net.books only.) > three books: _Masque World_, _The Thurb Revolution_, and _Starwell_, which > were supposed to be a kind of James-Bond-in-space series with hero Anthony > Villiers. They were listed as being by Alexei and Cory Panshin. They weren't > just disappointing; they were poorly written, extremely short (~150pp. and in > larger-than-average print), and in general seemed to be the work of an amateur > pulp SF writer. I don't know who Cory Panshin is -- son, I suspect -- but I > bet he or she wrote 95% of this and got Alexei to agree to add his name to the > cover. Cory Panshin is Alexei Panshin's wife. The Villiers novels originally came out under Alexei's name alone in the late 1960's (the one I glanced at was 1968) for 75 cents each from Ace. The story behind "Alexei and Cory Panshin" (as I understand it) is that Panshin at one point, in a burst of high writing energy and low bank account, sold the rights (first refusal rights, whatever) for his next five novels to a publisher. After he spent the advance, he realized that he'd have to write five novels for nothing (well, it would seem that way) and hit upon the idea of co-authoring his future work with his wife, thereby avoiding having to turn it over to said publisher. (I'm not trying to libel him, merely repeating what I have heard. If it's not true, I'm sure Jayembee will correct me.) I suspect he has adopted a policy of releasing all his work under the double byline as a precaution. While his wife may be co-authoring his current novels, it seems unlikely that she retroactively helped write the Villiers novels. I haven't read the Villiers novels, though I have known people who have enjoyed them immensely. Panshin (singular/plural) has also written: EARTH MAGIC FAREWELL TO YESTERDAYS TOMORROW HEINLEIN IN DIMENSION (non-fiction) SF IN DIMENSION (non-fiction) as well as others than I can't think of off-hand. Evelyn C. Leeper ...ihnp4!mtgzz!ecl ****************************************************************************** * Get a Usenetter on the ballot at Confederation! * * Nominate MARK R. LEEPER for Hugo for Best Fan Writer in 1986! * ******************************************************************************