Paul's Turn
January 7, 2005
10:55 a.m., MT

A couple of days ago, a post on individualism and extremism turned into something of a Butler Shaffer tribute -- a richly deserved tribute. I also mentioned F. Paul Wilson, and promised more on him, in support of my labeling him my "favorite pro-freedom fiction author". Well, readers, your wait is over -- here's my too-brief tribute to Paul.

My first introduction to scifi was via my (statist) then-husband's bookshelf, which I recall to be mostly Asimov and Clarke. Both authors impressed me less as I read more, because the stories were decreasingly original -- Asimov in particular. I also didn't like many of the ideas -- although, not being a full-fledged libertarian yet, I couldn't articulate my dissatisfaction well.

Fast forward a few years ... Don Lobo and I met online, and in keeping with his generous nature, one of his first acts was to send me pure treasure: several (like maybe 20) scifi novels. Of course, Paul was in there. I don't remember the title(s) now ... probably An Enemy of the State and LaNague Chronicles. I do remember reading it/them and being impressed.

Fast forward a couple more years ... DLT and I meet Skeptical Man. Conversation naturally turns to books, and to scifi ... and fairly quickly gets to Paul. The Skeptic waxes enthusiastic about the Repairman Jack series, but DLT and I aren't convinced. For differing reasons, neither of us cares much for horror, and we've heard that RJ is more horror than scifi. Skeptical Man is gentle and patient with his persuasion, and finally (if I remember correctly), I agree to read The Tomb. Upon completing it, I tell Lobo he HAS to start the RJ series. (If you want to know more about RJ, I reviewed The Haunted Air as an FMN Freedom Book of the month when it first came out; that review includes general background, plus links to all RJ novels up to that point.)

That's the history. So, why does Paul earn my top spot for pro-freedom fiction author? First, and most important, he delivers every time. Even in his horror books, and others that aren't as hard-core or explicitly anarchist as some of his older works are, he consistently, deftly weaves in self-defense, individualistic, self-sufficiency, and other pro-freedom ideas. And Paul does so in ways that aren't preachy, polemical, or likely to turn off his mainstream following, meaning that regular readers get a steady diet of anti-state ideas that are presented in non-threatening ways.

If you already value liberty, none of the above should be taken to mean that you'll not find meaty stuff for you to consider. Again, with an amazing touch, Paul addresses deeper issues in many novels, including the nature of good and evil, epistemology, and complexities of scientific/technological advances. His most recent Prometheus Award-winning book, Sims, examines implications of genetic modification, challenges readers to consider where the line exists (if it does) between human and animal, or "artificial" and "native" intelligence, and more -- all set in the context of an unfolding legal battle.

Paul also is flat-out one helluva story teller. In this aspect he's right up there with Robert Heinlein, in my opinion. But -- and this is where Paul nudges ahead of the venerable RAH in my ranking -- Paul crafts highly engaging characters. That's hard to do consistently; it's all too common to strive to create something unique, only to have it clunk into the "hackneyed", "stereotyped", or "just plain fails" bin. Sure, not all of Paul's characters are gems, and for some people any attempt to convey an accent will fall flat, but for me (and, it would seem for many of his fans, if the Amazon.com reviews are typical), he connects more often than not.

Because of his ongoing success at drawing me in to his stories and characters, I've expanded my reading of Paul's works to include more of his horror. And I've not been disappointed. Paul's horror is, thus far in my experience, built upon various ingenious ideas that are mostly tweaks to our reality -- and more importantly, he keeps the tweaks consistent. No pulling logic-defying saves out of his literary posterior (as Star Trek so often did); his alternative worlds keep to their realities, making it even easier for me to remain immersed in their creepiness.

I mentioned in that previous blog entry that I've met Paul in person ... t'was at a smallish scifi convention, where Lobo, a couple of good friends, the snolfs, and I were able to have a brief lunch with him. He was hurried and sought-after; we were road-weary and not at our best. But Paul was thoroughly gracious and genuine; if he's any "celebrity ego" about him it was totally absent throughout our visit. That's remained the case in all subsequent contact with Paul; and he's become a cherished friend.

Here's perhaps the best measure of Paul's value that I can offer to any hard-nosed economically-minded readers out there: I buy Paul's books. Yes, he has arranged for me to get advance review copies of some, and he has sent me other books himself; but it's because of the value that I got from those that I decided to purchase other books through regular channels. He's the only popular/mainstream/well-known author -- and currently, the only fiction writer -- whose books I buy, and buy hardback, and new. Moreover, when I hear of forthcoming FPW books, I've taken to shuffling my budget priorities if necessary in order to secure multiple copies. After all, I like rewarding friends who provide me with value ... and since DLT and Skeptical Man both did that with Paul's work, I enjoy repeatedly saying "thank you" by giving them copies (often signed).

In fact, it was the recent anticipation of such a shipment from Shocklines that got me to thinking about favorite authors and suchlike in the first place (I don't normally waste brain-energy with such stuff). When I received an email from Paul announcing a limited-edition book, called A Little Beige Book of Nondescript Stories, available through them, I immediately set off to buy it. I also knew I had to get copies for DLT and the Skeptic. It arrived while I was away, and so ended up being late gifts to each of them. I made time just last night to read it -- and couldn't put it down once I started! I do have a quibble with Paul over the title ... it is a little book (plenty potent all the same), but the stories are hardly nondescript. I'm rather surprised to see that copies of this edition (only 500 printed) remain.

And now, in writing this opus -- which I introduced by saying it would be "too brief", and I stand by that -- I realize that I limited my admiration of Paul's work in choosing the label I did. I'd say Paul is my favorite modern fiction author ... and maybe, if anyone would be so inclined to discuss the subject with me after slogging through all this, we could debate the qualifier "modern".

If you're not familiar with F. Paul Wilson, or if you've limited yourself to some subsection of his literary corpus, I encourage you to begin exploring others ... I really doubt you'll be disappointed.

[NB: I make no profit off of any links to retail sites in this post; all links are strictly for my interested readers' convenience. Further, I've learned that Amazon is being dodgy in what link coding properly credits an affiliate site with sales -- apparently, the "tg/detail" bit can cause sales credits not to be registered properly. If you're an Amazon affiliate and you want to change these links for use on your own site, check with them (the wankers) on how to do it properly to get credit for sales. If anyone does want to use this essay, either in whole or in part, please provide author credit and a link to this site. Thanks.]