death of a titan

December 12, 2025 8:27 AM Subscribe

"John Varley died two days ago on December 10, 2025. A great many will mourn him as a science fiction writer whose work they enjoyed. But this misses his moment."

I started to put this in the FPP but I know we kinda frown on editorial comments or whatever, but oh my god this hurts. Varley was so important to me as a kid. Finding the Gaea trilogy in high school helped define what kind of science fiction I wanted to read–these complete worlds full of problems, personal drama, where the technology was fraught, where nothing was perfect, where everything’s five minutes from breaking down completely, sometimes because everyone is selfish, sometimes because you’ve angered a god. Finding Steel Beach a couple of years later deepened that–it was so human, and I have recommended it so many many many times. I’d always wondered where he went, and it appears "off to Hollywood" is the answer, and then I never had a chance to catch up with any of his newer books, and now there won’t be any more. posted by mittens at 8:32 AM on December 12 [7 favorites]

That Locus obituary is an interesting take on Varley and I’m inclined to agree. Those earlier stories and novels are incredible and I really loved them as a teen. Those stories exemplify, for me, the most important part of the sci-fi genre - that it is built on ideas and possibilities. But his, I guess Post Hollywood, later stuff while good was never the equal to that earlier work. posted by Ashwagandha at 9:32 AM on December 12

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