The Man Who Ruined Science Fiction (part 3)

Roger Elwood’s own editorial ineptitude plus the fact he stretched himself too thin undercut the potential of the Laser Books line.

The packaging looked superb, each cover painted by legendary sci-fi artist Frank Kelly Freas featuring a cameo head portrait of that book’s central character with a background element indicating what the story would be about.  A distinctive logo that couldn’t be easily swiped by competitors, enough marketing muscle to get the books out to the readers.

What could possibly go worng?

In a word:
Elwood.

Here’s the hidden clue I hinted out throughout these posts:  Elwood saw himself as a devout Christian.

Before anyone raises a sneery lip at that, let the record show being a devout Christian does not impair the genuine artist.

It’s not necessarily a benefit, but it needn’t be an impediment.

Ray Bradbury springs to mind, as good a Christian as one could hope to meet, but certainly not a prude and certainly not morally judgmental.

Which by all accounts are two traits deeply engrained in the late Roger Elwood.

While Elwood certainly enjoyed science fiction and fantasy, his personal religious code worked against him embracing the more challenging examples of the genre, especially in the middle of the aforementioned Old Thing vs. New Wave debate.

To his credit, Elwood wanted to promote works that reflected his moral values, and he appeared open and above board in that aspect.

But this also blocked him from writers who would challenge those sensibilities.

He might still have pulled it off and established Laser Books as a respected line in the field, but his over-eager ambition led him to accept far too many substandard works while his editorial policies led him to drastically revise more than a few novels that were latter reprinted as intended to much better acclaim.

A lot of Laser’s material appeared to be trunk novels that sat gathering dust in a desk drawer for well over a decade.  I remember reviewing one for Dick Geis’ Science Fiction Review, going at it hammer and tong for the blatant and ugly 1930s racial stereotypes permeating it.

He asked me why I went after a gnat with an elephant gun.

By 1977 Elwood suffered his third strike in science fiction and slunk off into Christian publishing, writing 30 some novels between 1988 and 2001 (plus a posthumous book in 2011).

It is a testimony to his impact in the field that during the time I packaged the Serenity graphic novels for the Christian book market, nobody ever mentioned his name or his books, much less held them up as examples of what to strive for.

Now, I bear no personal grudge against the man, never meeting him or sharing any direct communication with him.

But I do recognize similarities and differences between us.

© Buzz Dixon