Editing Christopher Anvil

{{short description|American novelist}}

{{multiple issues|
{{original research|date=December 2017}}
{{more citations needed|date=December 2017}}
}}
{{Infobox writer
| name        = Harry Christopher Crosby, Jr.
| image       =
| caption     =
| pseudonym   = Christopher Anvil
| birth_date   = {{birth date|mf=yes|1925|3|11}}
| birth_place  = [[Norwich, Connecticut]], U.S.
| death_date   = {{death date and age|mf=yes|2009|11|30|1925|3|11}}
| death_place  = [[Cayuta, New York]], U.S.
| occupation  = Novelist, short story author
| genre       = [[Science fiction]]
| movement    =
| magnum_opus =
| influences  =
<!-- | influenced  = David Weber -->
| website     =}}

'''Christopher Anvil''' (March 11, 1925 – November 30, 2009<ref>"[http://www.locusmag.com/News/2009/12/christopher-anvil-1925-2009.html Christopher Anvil 1925-2009]", ''Locus'', December 9, 2009.</ref>) is a pseudonym used by [[American literature|American author]] '''Harry Christopher Crosby'''.

==Biography and work==
Crosby was born in Norwich, Connecticut, the only child of Harry Clifton Crosby and Rose Glasbrenner. After serving as a pilot with the U.S. military,<ref name="Transformations 2005, page 286">''Transformations : The Story of the Science Fiction Magazines from 1950 to 1970'', Liverpool University Press, 2005, page 286.</ref> he began publishing science fiction with the story "Cinderella, Inc." in the December 1952 issue of the magazine ''Imagination''.  By 1956, he had adopted his pseudonym Christopher Anvil and his science-fiction work was being published in ''[[Astounding Magazine|Astounding]]''. He went on to a long and successful career in the field.

His stories usually about characters in different human government organizations, gadgetry, and subterfuge both internal and external while on an adventure. His military background enabled him to bring a certain realism to his portrayal of action and intrigue, which counterpointed the more fantastical elements of his stories.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}}

Anvil appeared in ''Astounding''/''Analog'' throughout the 1950s and '60s. This was due his ability to write stories aimed at one of ''Astounding'' editor [[John W. Campbell]]'s preferred concepts: alien opponents with superior firepower losing out to the superior intelligence or indomitable will of humans. Anvil also used humor in his characterization of story crafting, where his protagonists slid from disaster to disaster with the best of intentions, and through exercise of fast thinking, managed to snatch victory somehow from the jaws of defeat.  According to [[David Weber]], who acknowledges being influenced by Anvil:

{{blockquote|text=An Anvil character triumphs by shooting the rapids, by caroming from one obstacle to another, adapting and overcoming as he goes. In many ways, his characters are science-fiction descendants of Odysseus, the scheming fast thinker who dazzles his opponents with his footwork. Of course, sometimes it's a little difficult to tell whether they're dazzling an opponent with their footwork, or skittering across a floor covered in ball bearings. But Anvil has the technique and the skill to bring them out triumphant in the end, and watching them dance is such a delightful pleasure.<ref Name="BaenIntPat">David Weber, introduction to Christopher Anvil's ''[https://archive.org/details/interstellarpatr00anvi Interstellar Patrol]'' collection (2003)</ref>}}
His stories became a perennial favorite with readers, and then ... "he hit a winning streak in the late 1960s in a series which seemed straight out of ''[[Star Trek]]'' ... The Interstellar Patrol".<ref name="Transformations 2005, page 286"/>

Many of his nonseries stories are almost purely idea-driven science fiction.  Some of the most striking of these, for example "Gadget vs. Trend", entirely lack dialogue and almost entirely lack characters; these stories consist of a series of newspaper reports or other similar materials.  In these and other stories, Anvil's technique is to put forth a gadget, invention, or social trend and logically develop the consequences.{{citation needed|date=December 2017}} 
=== Novels by Christopher Anvil ===
Sources:<ref>{{Cite web |last=ThriftBooks |title=Christopher Anvil Books {{!}} List of books by author Christopher Anvil |url=https://www.thriftbooks.com/a/christopher-anvil/305371/ |access-date=2023-03-31 |website=ThriftBooks |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Christopher Anvil Books in Order (10 Book Series) |url=https://www.mostrecommendedbooks.com/series/christopher-anvil-books-in-order |access-date=2023-03-31 |website=Most Recommended Books |language=en}}</ref><ref>[http://www.baen.com/author_catalog.asp?author=canvil Baen Books by Anvil] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021210618/http://www.baen.com/author_catalog.asp?author=canvil |date=2007-10-21 }}, retrieved: 11-30-2007</ref>

* The Day the Machines Stopped (1964)
* Strangers in Paradise (1969)
* Pandora's Planet (1972/1984)
* Warlords World (1975)
* [[The Steel, the Mist, and the Blazing Sun]] (1980)
* Pandora's Legions (2002)
* Interstellar Patrol (2003)
* Interstellar Patrol II: The Federation of Humanity (2005)
* The Trouble with Aliens (2006)
* The Trouble with Humans (2007)
* War Games (2008)
* RX for Chaos (2009)
* The Power of Illusion (2010)

==Modern reprints==
As with other 20th century science fiction writers, Anvil's work became available through [[Print on demand|print-on-demand]] and [[Ebook|ebooks]]. 

One of Anvil's best-known short stories is "Pandora's Planet", which appeared first in ''Astounding'' in September 1956.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ASTOUNDING Science Fiction: September, Sept. 1956 ("Pandora's Planet") by Astounding (Christopher Anvil; Murray Leinster; Poul Anderson; Hal Clement; Robert Silverberg; Isaac Asimov): (1956) Magazine&nbsp;/&nbsp;Periodical {{!}} Books from the Crypt |url=https://www.abebooks.com/magazines-periodicals/ASTOUNDING-Science-Fiction-September-Sept-1956/30452927298/bd |access-date=2023-04-03 |website=www.abebooks.com |language=en}}</ref> It has since been reprinted several times, and also combined with the other stories in his Pandora series into a full length "fixed-up" novel, ''Pandora's Legions''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Alan |date=2021-04-29 |title=Those Pesky Earthlings: Pandora’s Legions by Christopher Anvil |url=https://www.tor.com/2021/04/29/those-pesky-earthlings-pandoras-legions-by-christopher-anvil/ |access-date=2023-04-03 |website=Tor.com |language=en-US}}</ref> 

Anvil also published a number of stories which he and John Campbell referred to as the ''Colonization Series'':
{{blockquote|text=The Colonization series can accurately be characterized, I think, as Christopher Anvil's magnum opus. Taken together, counting number of titles, the stories constitute almost one third of Anvil's science fiction output, totaling something like four hundred thousand words of writing.<ref Name="BaenAftEdit">[[Eric Flint]], afterward to Christopher Anvil's ''[https://archive.org/details/interstellarpatr00anvi Interstellar Patrol]'' collection (2003)</ref>}}

==Bibliography==
{{main|Christopher Anvil bibliography}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{isfdb name|name=Christopher Anvil|id=Christopher_Anvil}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20020124015736/http://scifan.com/writers/aa/AnvilChristopher.asp Bibliography] at SciFan
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071021210618/http://www.baen.com/author_catalog.asp?author=canvil Baen Books by Anvil] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20041124023727/http://www.baen.com/library/canvil.htm Books by Anvil] in the [[Baen Free Library]].
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090523235212/http://www.scifi-fantasy-info.com/christopher-anvil-bibliography.html Bibliography including short fiction] at [https://web.archive.org/web/20080131063322/http://www.scifi-fantasy-info.com/bibliographies.html scifi-fantasy-info.com]
* {{Librivox author |id=17427}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anvil, Christopher}}
[[Category:1925 births]]
[[Category:2009 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century American short story writers]]
[[Category:20th-century pseudonymous writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century American short story writers]]
[[Category:21st-century pseudonymous writers]]
[[Category:American male novelists]]
[[Category:American male short story writers]]
[[Category:American science fiction writers]]
[[Category:Analog Science Fiction and Fact people]]
[[Category:Novelists from Connecticut]]