And here is another great piece by
theklicktator. Cheers!
Culture: Old Earth Chronicles (1978-1993)
The
Old Earth Chronicles are a series of fantasy novels written by American author Joel Rucker Henderson between 1978 and 1993. They are largely considered to be one of the most influential modern American fantasy novels. Many credit the books as bringing about what the Seattle Times dubbed the 'adultification' of fantasy literature.
Henderson was born on a small dairy farm run by his grandparents in Wisconsin. His parents had an unhappy marriage that ended abruptly when Henderson's father abandoned the family when Joel was only eight months old. As the author later remarked: "the only thing my good-for-nothing father every gave me was a last name. That, and a damn good idea for an antagonist".
His mother turned to alcohol to deal with the grief and she died of cirrhosis of the liver shortly before Henderson's ninth birthday. Henderson's grandparents were made legal guardians of the child and he spent the remainder of his childhood working on their farm. The work was backbreaking, and the job was made all the more difficult by the fact that his grandmother spoke very little English, preferring her native German and his grandfather was gone for weeks at a time trying to make ends meet. In an effort to bond with her only remaining descendant, his grandmother often told Henderson ancient German fables that had been passed down from one generation to the next.
A creative boy from his earliest days, Henderson was enraptured by the stories and soon began daydreaming of his own while doing his chores on the farm. When he turned eighteen, he left the farm to attend the University of Wisconsin and graduated with a degree in ancient folklore in 1945. Though clearly creative, Henderson was forced to return to the dairy farm due to the failing health of his grandparents and assume control of the family business. Though busy, Henderson spent most of his nights on an old typewriter slowly working on a manuscript for the fantasy book he had been dreaming of since he was a child. When the farm was bought out by a larger dairy company looking to expand their operations, Henderson saw his chance and used the money from the sale to publish the first of what would become the
Old Earth Chronicles in 1978.
The setting for the book was on Earth, "in a time before ours, where magic still ran amok, and man shared this world with many others both great and small". Detailing the adventures of several gnomes as well as their human, elven, and dwarven allies, the
Old Earth Chronicles told a sweeping story of love, courage, redemption, as well as the continuous struggle of good and evil.
A love letter to the Germanic folklore his grandmother had spoke of, the
Old Earth Chronicles was unique in the fact that it relied on very few of the tropes that had defined the fantasy genre for years. Appealing to adults as much as it did to children, the
Old Earth Chronicles became a gradual success that while not considered a smash hit when it was first published, gained a steady following as years went by. Emboldened by his success, Henderson wrote an additional four books, with each successive novel covering more ground, expanding the lore of his world, and fleshing out many of the characters from his original book. An alcoholic for much of his life, Henderson died of heart failure in early 1993, resulting in his final book being published posthumously.
The legacy of
Old Earth Chronicles has been massive and impactful, with many modern fantasy writers taking their inspiration from the books and Henderson's tales remain one of the most beloved pieces of entertainment to this day. A group of Canadian archeologists in 2001 named the skeletons of three foot tall hominids they discovered in Indonesia
Homo Gnomius after the species of the main characters in the
Old Earth Chronicles.
Though filmmakers have been keen to adapt Henderson's books for the big screen, as of 2028 all such adaptations have resulted in failure, either from ballooning production budgets that made producers balk, to the Henderson estate refusing to allow an adaptation due to divergence from the source material. Though many of the Old Earth fans wish to see their heroes on screen, there is belief in San Jose that the books are unfilmable and will remain on page alone for decades to come.
Joel Rucker Henderson (1921-1993)
