Harry Harrison (born Henry Maxwell Dempsey, March 12, 1925 in Stamford, Connecticut) is an American science fiction author best known for his character the Stainless Steel Rat and the novel Make Room! Make Room! (1966), the basis for the film Soylent Green (1973).
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Harry Harrison, what genre do you prefer: science fiction or alternate history?


I see alternate history as part of SF. As well as fantasy, robots, etc. When I have an idea I write it irrespective of the genre it falls into.

The Hammer and the cross trilogy was a huge fresco about how Europe could have been if Christianity hadn't gone so far. Do you mean things could have gone better if Scandinavia and the British world could be unified under Odin's and Thor's religion?

I certainly do not. I agree with Gore Vidal’s quote in the opening of the book that …Christianity was the greatest disaster to befall western civilization… The same would apply to any religion. I am a humanist and believe in the strong separation of church and state.

You're famous also because of the Jim DiGriz series. Are you going to mess around again with him and the mighty Angelina? ;-)

-I have written 10 Stainless Steel Rat books—and I think that is more than enough.

The impression is that science fiction nowadays is spreading into millions of streams: genetic, biology, personal introspection in difficult backgrounds such as a travel in outer space, and so on. Why is it that nobody tries anymore to write solid stories?

Because the writers are very lazy. It takes great energy to write good competent strong SF. Since editors will buy weak and dull stories, and the readers will buy them in turn, the writers feel no pressure to do any better.

Where is science fiction moving to, on your opinion? Which will be the coming topics?

- I think it has stopped moving. With few critical values of any kind I am beginning to feel that SF has come to the end of line; there is no future.

While looking at recent movies, people seem to prefer very amazing stories, such as the ones in the Worlds War, the Matrix series. Why is it so difficult to build up a science fiction movie with solid characters?

It is worse in the film because film writers know nothing abut SF. They use the props of SF—rocket ships, time machines, etc—write in lots of meaningless action with no intellectual content. They are incapable of writing competent SF.

What are you working to at the present moment?

I am writing a non-fiction book about the history of mechanical analog computers—which I worked on the army. I am also hoping to finish my autobiography.

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