What’s the collective noun for a group of birthdays? A cake? A bumps? Whatever it is, it was the anniversary of James White’s birthday last week and so this week’s Irish Fiction Friday squeezes in a celebration of one of our most famous and beloved science fiction authors. The Sector General series of 12 books was for many people, their first introduction to space opera, and Northern Irish White’s work continues to be a really important part of our SFnal heritage. We’re linking the amazon page of the second collection of his work – Alien Emergencies, which has a ‘look inside’ preview of the first chapter of book 4 in the series (Ambulance Ship). There’s also a really good article about the series by David Langford here, which talks about the series in general and why it’s such an important part of the canon. David also hosts the Sector General website, which is maintained and updated by James’ Shields and Bacon, where you can browse some absolutely classic SF artwork from the various covers and find out more about White’s work. For us, the Sector General series is a really classic example of ‘a good read’, so grab a cup of tea, snag some birthday cake and enjoy!
Read it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alien-Emergencies-Sector-General-Omnibus/dp/0312877706
