The Remakable Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith
 

Have you met C'Mell, the cat girlygirl who helped Rod McBan achieve his heart's desires?

Or Rod himself, the Norstrilian boy who inadvertently bought Old Earth one night?

Or Martel, the scanner who was cranched at a crucial moment?

No? Then you are one of the lucky ones. You can look forward to meeting the strange mind of Cordwainer Smith.

Yes? Then extend your acquaintance here... Wherever on Earth you come from... and Cordwainer Smith fans come from every continent including Antarctica.... you will find much to interest you on this website.

When we emerge from one of Smith's science fiction stories, it is with a sense of enrichment. Life seems sometimes more tragic, sometimes more luminous...

But don't take my word for it... I am his daughter, and not exactly objective. (That does not mean I am all-adoring. Nothing that relates to Cordwainer Smith is simple, and growing up under the influence of that mind was not a simple matter.)

To keep up with Cordwainer Smith news, and comments of fans, see my blog. You can also contribute your own Cordwainer Smith thoughts there, via comments.

His Effect on Other Science Fiction Authors

Cordwainer Smith has had a tremendous effect on the field of science fiction.

 Ursula LeGuin spoke of Smith's "obstinate idealism."

James Patrick Kelly said in one of his award-winning stories:

"I was reading Galaxy. I even remember the story: 'The Ballad of Lost C'Mell' by Cordwainer Smith. The squirrels must have been chittering for some time, but I was too engrossed by Lord Jestocost's problems to notice."

Robert Silverberg and many others have credited Smith with pointing the way to new areas for science fiction to explore. Many writers have tried to imitate his style, not an easy thing to copy well.

He died in 1966, just as his fame was beginning to blossom. And that was when it became known that Cordwainer Smith was a pseudonym for Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger, a scholar, a diplomat, a spy, a military man, a science fiction author, and more.

"Better than any writer we've yet seen, Smith represents the sense of awe and wonder that is the heart of science fiction."
--Scott Edelman


"Magnificently weird"

--John Clute

What Readers Say about Cordwainer Smith

This website is a result of readers' comments. Late one night in the year 2000, I was at amazon.com, and I wondered what reaction my father was getting there. So I began reading the readers' reviews, and there were so many people who loved the stories!

  • Someone had cried upon learning that Cordwainer Smith had died and thus there would be no more stories.
  • Someone else had learned to read in order to read Smith's science fiction stories.

The next morning I sat down and outlined this site.

Now, you can read more readers' comments. If you'd like to add your own to this site, you can do it via the blog.

--Rosana Hart, webmaster and daughter of Cordwainer Smith

 

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NEW! His spy thriller  Atomsk, written as Carmichael Smith, is now on the Kindle!
Click on the image to find out more at Amazon.


Atomsk Kindle version

 Home
 The Blog
 His Books
 The Rediscovery of Man, by Cordwainer Smith
 Norstrilia, by Cordwainer Smith
 Atomsk, by Carmichael Smith
 Ria, by Felix C. Forrest
 Carola, by Felix C. Forrest
 Psychological Warfare, by Paul M. A. Linebarger
 Letters from Paul, by Paul M. A. Linebarger
 Letters from Paul: One Letter
 Books about His Science Fiction
 Concordance to Cordwainer Smith, by Anthony Lewis
 The Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith, by Karen Hellekson
 Exploring Cordwainer Smith, Booklet by Andrew Porter
 Where You Can Get Books
 Cordwainer Smith at Amazon
 Cordwainer Smith at Alibris
 Cordwainer Smith at AbeBooks
 Cordwainer Smith on eBay
 Cordwainer Smith, the Author
 A Cordwainer Smith Panel Discussion
 Scholarly Corner, by Alan C. Elms
 What Other Science Fiction Authors Say
 What Readers Say
 Paul M. A. Linebarger, the Man
 Family Photos
 A Daughter's Memories
 Was Paul Linebarger Kirk Allen?
 His Arlington National Cemetery Bio and My Comments
 Rosana's Ramblings
 Rambling 1: Shakespeare Had It Wrong
 Rambling 2: The Return of C'mell, Sort Of
 Art Inspired by Cordwainer Smith
 Virgil Finlay
 Pierre Lacombe
 Craig Moore
 Corby Waste
 Annual Rediscovery Award
 2012 Fredric Brown
 2011 Katherine MacLean
 2010 Mark Clifton
 2009 A. Merritt
 2008 Stanley G. Weinbaum
 2007 Daniel F Galouye
 2006 William Hope Hodgson
 2005 Leigh Brackett
 Leigh Brackett: Her Biography
 2004 Henry Kuttner & C. L. Moore
 2003 Edgar Pangborn
 2002 R. A. Lafferty
 2001 Olaf Stapledon
 Cordwainer Smith Foundation
 Cordwainer Smith T-Shirts
 Cordwainer Smith: Other Online Resources
 Contact Us
 Illustrated Bibliography, by Mike Bennett
 Introduction to the Illustrated Bibliography
 All the Stories and All the Books
 Chronological Book List
 Magazine Covers
 Book Covers
 Book Covers: Best of Cordwainer Smith
 Book Covers: Instrumentality of Mankind
 Book Covers: Norstrilia
 Book Covers: Planet Buyer
 Book Covers: Rediscovery of Man
 Book Covers: Quest of the Three Worlds
 Book Covers: Space Lords
 Book Covers: Stardreamer
 Book Covers: Under Old Earth
 Book Covers: Underpeople
 Book Covers: You Will Never Be the Same
 Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger - Chronology
 Press Releases
 2008 Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award Goes to Stanley G. Weinbaum
 2002: About the Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award
 2001: First Rediscovery Award Ceremony
 2001: Creation of Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award