Randall Garrett

Randall Garrett (December 16, 1927 - December 31, 1987) was an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was a prolific contributor to Astounding and other science fiction magazines of the 1950s and 1960s. He instructed Robert Silverberg in the techniques of selling large quantities of action-adventure science fiction, and collaborated with him on two novels about Earth bringing civilization to an alien planet.

Biography and writing career

Cover of Unwise Child by Garrett

Garrett is best known for the Lord Darcy books, the novel Too Many Magicians and two short story collections, set in an alternate world where a joint Anglo-French empire still led by a Plantagenet dynasty has survived into the twentieth century and where magic works and has been scientifically codified. The Darcy books are rich in jokes, puns, and references (particularly to works of detective and spy fiction: Lord Darcy is himself partially modelled on Sherlock Holmes), elements that often appear in the shorter works about the detective. Michael Kurland wrote two additional Lord Darcy novels.

Garrett wrote under a variety of pseudonyms including: David Gordon, John Gordon, Darrel T. Langart (an anagram of his name), Alexander Blade, Richard Greer, Ivar Jorgensen, Clyde Mitchell, Leonard G. Spencer, S. M. Tenneshaw, Gerald Vance. He was also a founding member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, as "Randall of Hightower" (a pun on "garret"). The short novel Brain Twister, written by Garrett in conjunction with author Laurence Janifer (using the joint pseudonym Mark Phillips) was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1960.

An inveterate punster (defining a pun as "the odor given off by a decaying mind"), he was a favorite guest at science fiction conventions and friend to many fans, especially in Southern California.

Garrett suffered an attack of encephalitis in the summer of 1979 and was not able to write after that; he spent the last 8 years of his life in a coma.

In 1999, Randall Garrett won the Sidewise Award for Alternate History Special Achievement Award for the Lord Darcy series.

He was also ordained in the Old Catholic Church.

Glen Cook's private detective character Garrett P.I. is named in honor of Garrett.

Works

Series

Lord Darcy

• Murder and Magic (1979, collection of 1964–1973 stories)
• Too Many Magicians (1966, magazine serialization 1966)
• Lord Darcy Investigates (1981, collection of 1974–1979 stories)
• Lord Darcy (1983) (this omnibus contains the contents of the three books above; 2002 edition adds 2 uncollected stories, with minor editing to remove repetitions of the backstory)

with Robert Silverberg, as Robert Randall

• The Shrouded Planet (1957)
• The Dawning Light (1959)

with Laurence M. Janifer, as Mark Phillips

• Brain Twister (1962) [1]
• The Impossibles (1963) [2]
• Supermind (1963) [3]

The Gandalara Cycle with Vicki Ann Heydron

Main article: Gandalara Cycle

• The Steel of Raithskar (1981)
• The Glass of Dyskornis (1982)
• The Bronze of Eddarta (1983)
• The Well of Darkness (1983)
• The Search for Ka (1984)
• Return to Eddarta (1984)
• The Gandalara Cycle I (omnibus; contains The Steel of Raithskar, The Glass of Dyskornis, The Bronze of Eddarta.) (1986)
• The Gandalara Cycle II (omnibus; contains The Well of Darkness, The Search for Ka, Return to Eddarta.) (1986)
• The River Wall (1986)

Novels

• Pagan Passions (1959) (with Laurence Janifer as "Larry M. Harris")[4]
• Unwise Child (1962) [5]
• Anything You Can Do (1963) (as Darrel T. Langart) [6]

Collections

• Takeoff! (1980), composed of tongue-in-cheek imitations of a number of other authors and universes, such as E.E. "Doc" Smith's Lensman series and Reginald Bretnor's Ferdinand Feghoot (who is "Benedict Breadfruit" in Garrett's treatment).
• The Best of Randall Garrett (1982) (edited by Robert Silverberg)
• Takeoff Too! (1987)
• A Little intelligence (2009; with Robert Silverberg, a collection of their early science-fictional mystery stories)

Notable short fiction

• "Probability Zero" (1944) first published science fiction story.
• "The Best Policy" (1957), in which a smart Earthling manages to convince a reconnaissance group of hostile aliens who abduct him that the earthlings are far more advanced and superior race, and instead of a hostile takeover, they send humble ambassadors. The catch is the aliens have a perfect truth detector and the hero has to phrase every line carefully so that while being literally honest he can pull off such a huge lie.
• "Despoilers of the Golden Empire" (1958) [7], in which he spun a pulp yarn of space flight, swordplay, and derring-do, only to reveal it to be a deception, an account of the conquest of Peru by Francisco Pizarro with careful misdirection in the text.

Complete list of publications

Novels and anthologies

• A Case of Identity 1964 (a Lord Darcy story)
• A Matter of Gravity 1974 (a Lord Darcy story)
• A Stretch of the Imagination 1973 (a Lord Darcy story)
• All the King's Horses with Robert Silverberg as Robert Randall 1958
• Anything You Can Do as Darrel T.Langart 1963 (Novel)
• Brain Twister 1962 expansion of That Sweet Little Old Lady 1959 with Laurence M. Janifer as Mark Phillips (Short Version) (Novel)
• False Prophet with Robert Silverberg as Robert Randall
• Lord Darcy 1983 (Lord Darcy omnibus)
• Lord Darcy Investigates 1981 (a Lord Darcy collection)
• Murder and Magic 1979 (a Lord Darcy collection)
• Pagan Passions with Larry M. Harris 1959 [8]
• Return to Eddarta with Vicki Ann Heydron 1985
• Occasion for Disaster|Supermind 1963 previously published as Occasion for Disaster 1960 with Laurence M. Janifer as Mark Phillips (Occasion for Disaster 1960) (Supermind 1963)
• Takeoff! 1980
• Takeoff Too 1987
• The Absence of Heat 1944
• The Best of Randall Garrett with Robert Silverberg 1982
• The Bronze of Eddarta with Vicki Ann Heydron 1983
• The Chosen People with Robert Silverberg as Robert Randall 1956
• The Dawning Light with Robert Silverberg as Robert Randall 1959
• The Eyes Have It 1964 (a Lord Darcy story) [9]
• The Glass of Dyskornis with Vicki Ann Heydron 1982
• The Impossibles 1963 previously published as Out Like a Light 1960 with Laurence M. Janifer as Mark Phillips (Out Like a Light 1960) (The Impossibles 1963)
• The Ipswich Phial 1976 (a Lord Darcy story)
• The Muddle of the Woad 1965 (a Lord Darcy story)
• The Napoli Express 1979 (a Lord Darcy story)
• The Promised Land with Robert Silverberg as Robert Randall
• The River Wall with Vicki Ann Heydron 1986
• The Search for Ka with Vicki Ann Heydron 1984
• The Shrouded Planet with Robert Silverberg as Robert Randall 1957
• The Sixteen Keys 1976 (a Lord Darcy story)
• The Spell of War 1978
• The Steel of Raithskar with Vicki Ann Heydron 1981
• The Well of Darkness with Vicki Ann Heydron 1983
• Too Many Magicians 1967 (a Lord Darcy novel)
• Unwise Child also published as Starship Death 1962 [10]

Novellas and Short stories

• A Fortnight of Miracles 1965
• A Little Intelligence with Robert Silverberg as Robert Randall 1958
• A Pattern for Monsters 1957
• A Spaceship Named McGuire 1961 [11]
• A Trip to Anywhen as Ivar Jorgensen 1956
• A World by the Tale as Seaton McKettrig 1963 [12]
• All About "The Thing" also published as Parodies Tossed 1956
• Anchorite as Johnathan Blake MacKenzie 1962 [13]
• And Check the Oil 1958
• And Then He Was Two as Ivar Jorgensen 1957
• Anything You Can Do as Darrell T.Langart 1962 Short Version
• Backstage Lensman 1978
• Backward, Turn Backward 1959
• Belly Laugh as Ivar Jorgensen 1953 [14]
• Blaze of Glory 1955
• Blessed Are the Murderous as Ivar Jorgensen 1954
• But, I Don't Think 1959 [15]
• By Proxy as David Gordon 1960 [16]
• Calling Captain Flint with Robert Silverberg as Richard Greer 1956
• Catch a Thief with Robert Silverberg as Gordon Aghill 1956
• Color Me Deadly 1973
• Cum Grano Salis as David Gordon 1959 [17]
• Damned If You Don't 1960 [18]
• Dead Giveaway 1959 [19]
• Death to the Earthman 1956
• Despoilers of the Golden Empire as David Gordon 1959 [20]
• El Ropo Tarkas (poem) 1978
• Engineer's Art 1961
• Fifty Per Cent Prophet as Darrell T.Langart 1961 [21]
• Fighting Division 1965
• Fimbulsommer with Michael Kurland 1970
• Frost and Thunder 1979
• Gambler's Planet with Robert Silverberg as Gordon Aghill 1956
• Gentlemen: Please Note 1957
• Gift from Tomorrow 1957
• Hail to the Chief 1962 [22]
• Hanging by a Thread as David Gordon 1961 [23]
• Heist Job on Thizar 1956 [24]
• Hepcats of Venus also published as The Cosmic Beat 1962
• His Master's Voice 1962
• Hot Argument 1960
• In Case of Fire 1960 [25]
• Infinite Resources 1954
• I've Got a Little List 1953
• Just Another Vampire Story 1979
• Keepersmith with Vicki Ann Heydron 1979
• La Difference 1962
• Lauralyn 1977
• Look Out! Duck! as David Gordon 1957
• Lord Darcy Investigates 1981
• Machine Complex 1956
• Masters of the Metropolis with Lin Carter 1957
• Murder and Magic 1979 (a Lord Darcy story)
• Mustang 1961
• Needler 1957
• No Connections 1958
• Nor Iron Bars A Cage ... as Johnathan Blake MacKenzie 1962 [26]
• Occasion for Disaster later published as Supermind with Laurence M. Janifer as Mark Phillips 1960 [27]
• On the Martian Problem 1977
• Or Your Money Back as David Gordon 1959 [28]
• Out Like a Light novella with Laurence M. Janifer as Mark Phillips 1960 [29]
• Overproof as Johnathan Blake MacKenzie 1965
• Penal Servitude 1958
• "Pest" with Lou Tabakow 1952
• Plague Planet as Ivar Jorgensen 1955
• Polly Plus (short story) 1978
• Pop! 1960
• Prehistoric Note 1979
• Pride and Primacy 1974
• Psichopath as Darrell T.Langart 1960 [30]
• Puzzle in Yellow 1956
• Quest of the Golden Ape as Ivar Jorgensen with Milton Lesser as Adam Chase 1957
• Quick Cure 1956
• Random Choice 1961
• Reading the Meter 1974
• Ready, Aim, Robot! 1959
• Reviews in Verse 1980
• Small Miracle 1959
• Something for the Woman as Ivar Jorgensen 1953
• Something Rich and Strange with Avram Davidson 1961
• Sound Decision with Robert Silverberg 1956
• Spatial Delivery 1954
• Spatial Relationship 1962
• Suite Mentale 1956 [31]
• The Adventures of "Little Willie" 1980
• The Asses of Balaam as David Gordon 1961 [32]
• The Beast with Seven Tails with Robert Silverberg as Leonard G. Spencer 1956
• The Best Policy as David Gordon 1957
• The Bitter End (short story) 1978 (a Lord Darcy story)
• The Blaze of Noon with Avram Davidson 1961
• The Bramble Bush 1962 [33]
• The Briefing 1969
• The Day the Gods Fell as Ivar Jorgensen 1953
• The Deadly Sky as Ivar Jorgensen 1971
• The Destroyers 1959 [34]
• The Final Fighting of Fion Mac Cumhaill 1975
• The Foreign Hand-Tie as David Gordon 1961 [35]
• The Genius as Ivar Jorgensen 1955
• The Girl from Bodies, Inc. with Robert Silverberg as Leonard G. Spencer 1956
• The Great Kladnar Race with Robert Silverberg as Richard Greer 1956
• The Highest Treason 1961 [36]
• The Horror Out of Time 1978
• The Hunting Lodge 1954
• The Judas Valley with Robert Silverberg as Gerald Vance 1956 [37]
• The Man who Collected Women 1957
• The Man who Hated Mars 1956 [38]
• The Man Who Knew Everything 1956
• The Man who Talked to Bees as Ivar Jorgensen 1955
• The Measure of A Man, novel 1960 [39]
• The Mummy Takes a Wife with Robert Silverberg as Clyde Mitchell 1956
• The Penal Cluster as Ivar Jorgensen 1957 [40]
• The Queen Bee 1958
• The Secret of the Shan with Robert Silverberg as Richard Greer 1957
• The Slow and the Dead with Robert Silverberg as Robert Randall 1956
• The Spell of War 1978 (a Lord Darcy story)
• The Unnecessary Man 1959 [41]
• The Vengeance of Kyvor 1957
• The Waiting Game, novel 1951
• The Wishing Stone as Ivar Jorgensen 1953
• There's No Fool as David Gordon 1956
• Thin Edge as Johnathan Blake MacKenzie 1963 [42]
• Through Time and Space with Benedict Breadfruit I-VIII as Grandall Barretton 1962
• Time Fuze 1954
• Tin Lizzie 1964
• Two to the Stars as Ivar Jorgensen 1955
• Viewpoint 1960 [43]
• What the Left Hand Was Doing as Darrell T.Langart 1960 [44]
• What's Eating You? 1957
• With All the Trappings 1956
• With No Strings Attached as David Gordon 1963 [45]
• Witness for the Persecution 1966
• Zap!, novel 1962

External links

• Randall Garrett at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Bibliography on SciFan
• Works by Randall Garrett at Project Gutenberg