Your favorite Catholic science-fiction authors

[louisak]

I recently started a thread about Christian novelists. Someone mentioned Gene Wolfe, of whom I had never heard. I was interested to learn that he is regarded as one of the greatest writers working today, AND is also a serious Catholic. In reading about him, I also learned about a number of other Catholic sci-fi writers with whom I was not familiar.

So I thought it would be fun to have a poll, and maybe get some conversation started about these writers. There was a poll on this question some years back, but my list of writers is very different from that one. I have excluded authors such as Russell Kirk, Robert Hugh Benson, Walker Percy and others who often appear in lists of this kind. Although they wrote imaginative or speculative fiction of one sort or another, they weren’t known for science fiction in the strict sense. Also, I wanted to make room for some authors of the older generation who are not as well known today.

I excluded Walter M. Miller because his major work (his two novels about Leibowitz) was written after he had left the Church. I debated whether or not to include John C. Wright, since his best-known work (the books that made his reputation) was written when he was still an atheist. However, he is a Catholic now, and also one of the most highly-regarded SF authors working today, so I have included him.

 

[StephieNorthCo]

Although I know of most of the ones on the list, I checked 3 of my favorites. I did not realize Fred Saberhagen was Catholic, or rather, I could not pick it out based on his novels.

Blessings,
Stephie

 

[louisak]

I did not realize Fred Saberhagen was Catholic, or rather, I could not pick it out based on his novels.

Well, for sure, these folks vary in how overtly their faith is displayed in their writings. It’s pretty obvious with, for example, Lafferty’s Fourth Mansions (the title is a reference to the Interior Castle by St. Theresa of Avila) or Flynn’s Eifelheim with its detailed and positive depiction of medieval Catholicism. I understand that Wolfe’s faith is also important in his writing although in more subtle ways.

I actually haven’t read most of these authors (yet) myself, although I have just started on a volume of Wolfe’s short stories. He really is a gifted writer. I’m also planning to read Lafferty’s Past Master - in which people of the future use time travel to bring Thomas More into their time so that he can govern their would-be utopian society - sounds like a riot!

 

[Arizona_Mike]

I didn’t know you could pick more than one!

 

[JimG]

I recognize some of these authors from when I first started reading SF, back in the Paleozoic Era. I didn’t even know then that such a category existed. As a teenager, I was looking for some short stories to read on the paperback rack, and came across some anthologies edited by Groff Conklin, with intriguing cover art. The stories grabbed my attention, and I kept buying new anthologies edited by Conklin as they came out.

Then it occurred to me that these stories were first published in science fiction magazines, so I found a newsstand that carried the SF mags and started buying them.

I had no idea which authors were Catholic. As it turns out, some of my favorites were. But one of my favorites—Isaac Asimov—was not only not Catholic, but atheist and a fervent secular humanist. It was a blind spot of his which I was willing to overlook. I was also disappointed when he divorced his first wife.

 

[Arizona_Mike]

I’m a huge fan of both Gene Wolfe and R.A. Lafferty, as well as the other authors on this poll/

You could also have included Jules Verne, father of all SF authors, as well as Fr. Robert Hugh Benson, Anthony Burgess (A Clockwork Orange, The Wanting Seed, and 1985), Karel Capek, G.K. Chesterton (who dabbled in SF in The Napoleon of Notting Hill, The Man Who Was Thursday, and The Flying Inn (with its vision of a future Islamic-dminated England), Dean Koontz and Jerry Pournelle (both Catholic converts, as were Wolfe and Murray Leinster), Brian Moore (for the novella Catholics), St. Thomas More (Utopia), Walker Percy, Clifford Simak (possibly - his religious denomination varies depending on which source you consult), Charles Beaumont (best known for horror, but also an SF writer). There were quite a few others who were baptized and raised as Catholics but did not later identify as such, like Phillip Jose Farmer and Frank Herbert.

 

[louisak]

I didn’t know you could pick more than one!

When someone creates a poll, they get to choose whether to allow more than one answer, or not. So, it’s not true of all polls.

 

[louisak]

I had no idea which authors were Catholic. As it turns out, some of my favorites were. But one of my favorites—Isaac Asimov—was not only not Catholic, but atheist and a fervent secular humanist. It was a blind spot of his which I was willing to overlook. I was also disappointed when he divorced his first wife.

When I was reading lots of SF as a young man, I read a few of his Foundation novels. I remember feeling that they were well-written, and yet they left me cold. As far as I can recall, there was no religion-bashing in them, as there sometimes is in Arthur C. Clarke; but there was something lacking in his vision of the future. It seemed as though it never occurred to him there might be a dimension to human existence beyond the material - very different from, say, Ray Bradbury. Although to be fair, I did enjoy I, Robot and I found it satisfying.

I recently re-read his famous story “Nightfall”, and I thought there was intellectual laziness in the depiction of the Cultists. They served a plot function, but there was no historical or psychological plausibility for their fanaticism and hostility. It’s as if Asimov just took it for granted that religious people would be like that. That marred what was otherwise a powerful story.

 

[louisak]

I’m a huge fan of both Gene Wolfe and R.A. Lafferty, as well as the other authors on this poll.

I had never heard of either of them until quite recently. I was very intrigued by what I learned about them, namely 1) the importance of their Catholic faith in their writing and 2) that their work shows tremendous imagination, and goes far beyond the usual sci-fi tropes of robots, time travel, Martians etc.

I borrowed a copy of The Best of Gene Wolfe from my local library and read some of the stories. They were a mixed lot, in my opinion. He certainly is a very talented writer, but some of the stories were frustrating to me because they seemed to have no point. “Beech Hill”, in particular, really left me scratching my head. Although I found an analysis of the story online afterward, and it made me realize that I had missed a lot of subtle clues in the story as to what was really going on. I understand this is typical of Wolfe - reviews often say things like “he expects the reader to do the work” and “he only gives a piece of information once”. I have a feeling I won’t be reading much of him any more, as I find that kind of thing too frustrating. When I read mystery novels I don’t usually pick up on the clues, but that’s OK because I know that everything will be explained at the end. I hate it when I get to the end of a story and I still don’t understand what happened.

Lafferty, of course, they don’t have at the library but I was lucky to find a used copy of Past Master on Amazon.com that was not too expensive. I’ve read four or five chapters and I have mixed feelings about it too. I get the satirical point he is trying to make - at least I think I do - and I enjoy the wackiness of some of the situations; such as the scene in the first chapter, where the characters are calmly having a discussion in spite of the fact that killer robots are tearing the building down - or the craziness of the dreams that the characters have during faster-than-light travel. But there are places where it seems he is indulging in weirdness just for its own sake, and that gets tiresome quickly. I do want to get a copy of his first short-story collection Nine Hundred Grandmothers if I can find a used copy for less than twenty dollars. I suspect his particular brand of craziness is easier to take in short doses.

 

[louisak]

Clifford Simak (possibly - his religious denomination varies depending on which source you consult)

That’s interesting. In the article about Catholic sci-fi writers which I read, he was included as one of them. His Wikipedia article doesn’t touch on his religious affiliation.

Of course it doesn’t matter to the enjoyment of his work. I recently read his story “Huddling Place” which was included in an anthology of great sci-fi stories. I really enjoyed it, and the thing that particularly struck me was that it had several of the usual sci-fi tropes - robots, space travel, Martians - and yet there was also an emphasis on purely human values - specifically the importance of rootedness, of being connected to one’s place and family, and to the traditions of one’s ancestors. It’s a juxtaposition that I find very attractive, and it reminds me of Ray Bradbury, whose best work tended to combine those same elements. I’m really looking forward to reading more Simak. It’s too bad he isn’t better known - my local library doesn’t have a single one of his books. I’ll have to hunt down copies of City and Way Station.

 

[Justin_Swanton]

A pity Walter Miller isn’t on the list. A Canticle for Liebowitz has got to be one of the great classic Catholic SF novels.

 

[louisak]

A pity Walter Miller isn’t on the list. A Canticle for Liebowitz has got to be one of the great classic Catholic SF novels.

It certainly is a great book. There’s been dispute, though, about how Catholic it is - and how Catholic Miller really was. Evidently he was involved in the bombing of the abbey at Monte Casino during WWII. His conversion to Catholicism after the war was apparently motivated at least in part by guilt over this. It’s questionable how deep his conversion was, as he later left the Church again - and Canticle was written after that, from all the information I’ve been able to gather.

There was a discussion of this book here on Catholic Answers Forums a few years ago, and someone made the point that although the Church has a central role in the book, and for the most part is portrayed positively, there is little if any place for Divine grace or the supernatural in the book. He seems to be only interested in moral issues, and sees the Church as a guardian of ethics and the means to proper human living. I did a search to see if I could find that discussion again, but there were so many results that I couldn’t locate it.

 

[Exiled_Child]

Tim Powers voter, checking in.

(All science fiction afficianados owe it to themselves to buy and read The Anubis Gates, post haste.)