Peter David describes books that sent his life in new directions
By Peter David – COMBO #1 – It’s difficult for me to single out a book or books that have had a major impact on my life. Certainly the bodies of work of various authors have; but is it possible to select one particular book and say, “This was it. This really shook things up, and sent my life in a particular direction?”
Three come to mind, I suppose. None of them is particularly the best written books, nor will they make anyone’s top 100 (or even 1000) list of great literature. But one can’t argue with The Way Things Are, I guess.
‘Star Trek III’ by James Blish
No, not the movie adaptation. The third collection of short stories adapting episodes of the series. It was my first genuine exposure to the series (I hadn’t seen it in its original run) and it hooked me. Perhaps I would have gotten into Star Trek in later years…but perhaps not. I got the previous two books, started watching the series in syndication…and eventually got into Trek fandom; made friends, whom I have to this day; met a girl at a Trek con, whom I eventually made my wife (to this day); made some kids with her, who—it can be said—owe their lives to Star Trek; and wrote a bunch of Trek books and comic books of my own that have garnered me thousands of fans and helped build my career.
‘Tunnel Through Time’ by Lester Del Rey
Probably not even by Del Rey but rather by someone ghosting it for him, nevertheless it was a juvenile science-fiction novel that I read and reread and re-re-read. Something about it hooked me into Sci-Fi…for good.
‘Tarzan Alive’ by Philip Jose Farmer
A detailed, straight-faced biography that totally buffaloed me (at a tender young age, admittedly) into believing that Tarzan genuinely existed. It literally took me years to realize I’d been snookered (hey, I never said I was quick). It made me realize just how thoroughly people can be convinced of things through the power of the written word. If someone had said to me, “There really was a Tarzan,” I would’ve figured they were kidding. But here someone had written it all down and it had been published…it had to be true.
