Avram Davidson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Avram Davidson
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| Born | April 23, 1923 Yonkers, New York, US |
| Died | May 8, 1993 (aged 70) Bremerton, Washington, US |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Genre | Science fiction, crime fiction |
| Notable awards | Edgar Award Hugo Award World Fantasy Award |
| Spouse | Grania Davis |
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Avram Davidson (born April 23, 1923 – died May 8, 1993) was an American writer. He wrote many stories, including fantasy fiction, science fiction, and crime fiction (mystery stories). He also wrote stories that didn't fit into just one type.
Avram Davidson won several important awards for his writing. These include a Hugo Award and three World Fantasy Awards for his science fiction and fantasy stories. He also won an Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine short story award and an Edgar Award for his mystery stories.
From 1962 to 1964, Davidson was the editor of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. His last novel, The Boss in the Wall: A Treatise on the House Devil, was finished by Grania Davis. It was even nominated for a Nebula Award in 1998. Many people think he was one of the most literary science fiction authors.
Contents
Biography
Avram Davidson was born in 1923 in Yonkers, New York. His parents were Jewish. During World War II, he served in the Marine Corps as a medic (a hospital corpsman). He worked in the Pacific region.
He started his writing career around 1950. In 1962, he married Grania Kaiman.
Davidson was known for being generous to his friends. He moved around a lot during his life and career. His popularity among science fiction and fantasy readers grew in the 1960s. Even after his death, a group of fans kept his stories popular.
He was part of a group called the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America (SAGA). This group was made up of Heroic Fantasy authors. Some of their stories were put together in books called Flashing Swords!.
While he was editing The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, he lived in Mexico. Later, he lived in British Honduras (now called Belize). In his later years, he lived in Washington state. He passed away in his apartment in Bremerton on May 8, 1993, when he was 70 years old.
He had a son named Ethan. His ex-wife, Grania Davis, continued to work on and publish his stories that had not been released yet.
His Stories and Books
Davidson started writing stories for magazines in the 1950s. Before that, he published his first fiction in Jewish intellectual magazines.
He was interested in science fiction from a young age. Two of his novels were nominated for the Nebula Award: Rogue Dragon (1965) and Virgil in Averno (1987). Virgil in Averno was part of a series about Vergil Magus. This character was a magician from medieval legends, based on the Roman poet Virgil.
Other fantasy stories he wrote include:
- The Peregrine novels: These were funny stories about Europe shortly after the fall of Rome.
- The Jack Limekiller stories: These were about a Canadian living in a made-up Central American country, similar to Belize, in the 1960s.
- The stories of Dr. Eszterhazy: This character was a very smart detective, like Sherlock Holmes. He lived in a mythical place called Scythia-Pannonia-Transbalkania.
Davidson also wrote mystery stories. These were collected after his death in a book called The Investigations of Avram Davidson. His mystery stories often took place in the past. He also helped write two Ellery Queen mysteries and a true crime book.
He also worked with other writers on some books:
- Joyleg, A Folly: Written with Ward Moore. This story is about a veteran from the American Revolutionary War who is found alive in the Tennessee backwoods. He survived for centuries by soaking in whiskey!
- Marco Polo and the Sleeping Beauty: Written with Grania Davis. This story uses the travels of Marco Polo in the Mongol Empire as its background.
- The Boss in the Wall: Also finished by Grania Davis after Davidson's death. This is a horror novel.
Davidson wrote many short stories that are hard to put into one category. He also wrote essays called Adventures in Unhistory. In these essays, he explored historical puzzles, like who Prester John was.
His writing often showed a strong interest in history. His stories often focused on small events that later became very important. He also created very detailed characters, which was unusual for fantasy writers. He was good at writing different accents.
Davidson's writing style was unique. Not a lot might happen in his stories, but he described everything in great detail. Hidden within these details were facts that became important later. He sometimes used very long sentences or seemed to go off-topic at the beginning of a story. He expected his readers to pay close attention, and he gave them a lot to think about.
Books
- Kar-Chee series
- Rogue Dragon, Ace, 1965
- The Kar-Chee Reign, Ace Double, 1966
- Vergil Magus series (a fantasy series set an alternate ancient Mediterranean world in which harpies, basilisks, and satyrs exist during the Punic Wars)
- The Phoenix and the Mirror, Doubleday, 1969; issued in 1970 as The Phoenix and the Mirror or, The Enigmatic Speculum in the Ace Science Fiction Specials series
- Vergil in Averno, Doubleday, 1987
- The Scarlet Fig; or Slowly through a Land of Stone; Rose Press, 2005
- Peregrine series
- Peregrine: Primus, Walker, 1971
- Peregrine: Secundus, Berkley, 1981
- Solo novels not part of a series
- Mutiny in Space, Pyramid, 1964
- Rork!, Berkley, 1965
- Masters of the Maze, Pyramid, 1965
- Clash of Star-Kings, Ace Double, 1966
- The Enemy of My Enemy, Berkley, 1966
- The Island Under the Earth, original to the Ace Science Fiction Specials series, 1969
- Ursus of Ultima Thule, Avon, 1973
- With Ward Moore
- Joyleg, Pyramid, 1962
- With Grania Davis
- Marco Polo and the Sleeping Beauty, Baen, 1987
- The Boss in the Wall, A Treatise on the House Devil, Tachyon Publications, 1998
- Collections
- Or All the Seas with Oysters, Berkley, 1962
- Crimes and Chaos, Regency, 1962
- What Strange Stars and Skies, Ace, 1965
- Strange Seas and Shores, Doubleday, 1971
- The Enquiries of Doctor Eszterhazy, Warner, 1975
- The Redward Edward Papers, Doubleday, 1978
- The Best of Avram Davidson, Doubleday, 1979
- Collected Fantasies, Berkley, 1982
- The Adventures of Doctor Eszterhazy, Owlswick, 1990
- Adventures in Unhistory, Owlswick, 1993
- The Avram Davidson Treasury, Tor, 1998
- The Investigations of Avram Davidson, Owlswick, 1999 [collected mystery stories]
- Everybody Has Somebody in Heaven, Devora, 2000
- The Other Nineteenth Century, Tor, 2001
- ¡Limekiller!, Old Earth Books, 2003
- Ellery Queen books: mysteries written under the Ellery Queen name
- And on the Eighth Day, Random House, 1964
- The Fourth Side of the Triangle, Random House, 1965
See also
In Spanish: Avram Davidson para niños
