James White is a Northern Irish writer who has become famous for a series of novels and stories about a space hospital. He is the founder of the genre of medical science fiction. Winner of the Eurocon Literary Prize (1972).
Biography
James White was born in Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, on April 7, 1928. He became interested in science fiction in his youth, becoming at the age of 13 a co-author in an amateur magazine. After leaving school, James worked in a field far from science and adventure - a seller of garments. However, his thoughts were in deep space, in the center of inhabited worlds.
Family life was happy. In 1955, White married Margaret Sarah Martin, also a passionate fan of science fiction. The couple had three children. In 1966, thanks to his creative abilities, James White became closer to the stars. The writer, who had taken place by then, was taken to Short Brothers Ltd first as a technician, and then as deputy head of the public relations department. In 1984, he retired. He died on August 23, 1999.
Creation
White dreamed of becoming a doctor, but there was no money for training. He embodied his dreams on paper by writing the novels Star Surgeon, Ambulance, Killer Doctor, Space Psychologist, and others. At heart, the future famous writer does not accept violence, because his works are saturated with the spirit of mutual assistance, sacrifice and salvation.
The first stories were published in 1953, the first novel in 1957. In parallel, White collaborates with science fiction magazines. In 1947, he met another Irish science fiction writer, Walter Willis. Together they participated in the publication of the NF magazines Slant (1948-1953) and Hyphen (1952-1965). Among the authors of the "fanzines" were literary stars John Brunner, Bertram Chandler, Bob Shaw.
James White claimed that he took up the pen only because he was tired of the apocalyptic plots of that time, from the prophecies of death in a nuclear war. He wanted to show the supremacy of life over death, which was fully reflected in the Sector General cycle about the space hospital, where people are adjacent to the most unusual alien creatures.
Space Hospital
The series of works under the same name (in the original Sector General) consists of 12 books published between 1962 and 1999. In addition, short stories were created. The Intergalactic Hospital is a gigantic multi-species hospital, which houses patients and staff of dozens of intelligent races with different environmental requirements, behavior and the most exotic diseases. The station also serves as a peace center.
The series includes novels:
- "Star surgeon."
- "Star Doctor."
- "Interstellar ambulance."
- "The killer doctor."
- "Galactic Chef."
- "The final diagnosis."
- "Space psychologist."
- "Double contact."
And collections:
- "Space Hospital."
- "Big operation."
- "Ambulance".
- "Emergencies."
Plot
In the first three parts, White describes the purely medical problems that people may encounter when treating living organisms with a completely different physiology. The plot revolves around the twists and turns of Dr. Conway’s career, which rises from a junior surgeon to a highly qualified diagnostician.
In the fourth book, the Galactic Federation decides that the hospital emergency service, offering assistance to victims of space accidents and planetary catastrophes, is the most effective means of creating peaceful contact with new intelligent species of aliens. Thanks to this literary move, James was able to expand the range of stories and characters.
Starting from the seventh book, the emphasis is on different perceptions of the world by alien life forms, psychological problems. The circle of problems that go beyond medicine, philosophical questions about guilt and forgiveness is being solved. In fact, the British science fiction writer was the first to describe the interspecific relationship between humanoids and non-humanoids from a medical point of view. The series also became one of the first "peace-making" space operas, where pacifism dominates - the rejection of violence in any of its manifestations. During the Cold War, this was unusual.
Other works
James White wrote not only about space doctors. He has a lot of interesting topics in his arsenal. For example, in Deadly Litter (1964), the author outlined the problem of space debris, although at that time only a few orbital launches were carried out. The story “Sanctuary” (1988) received the Analog Analytical Laboratory Award. The book on the first contact of humanity with the alien race All Judgement Fled (1968) was awarded the Eurocon award in 1972. Four times White's work was nominated for the Hugo and Newbel Prizes.
Examples of other iconic works:
- Secret Visitors (1957).
- “Tomorrow is Too Far” (1971).
- The Millennium Dream (1974).
- The World Federation (1988).
- “Earth: The Last Conflict” (1999).
Devotion to a dream
James White loved writing. Returning from work, he composed stories on topics that he liked. Even when his vision dropped dramatically due to diabetes, he did not give up the main hobby of his life. For many years he was a member of the Council of the Science Fiction Association of Britain, his colleagues were Harry Harrison and Anne McCaffrey. He was also a patron of the Science Fiction Association of Ireland.