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"I have been a soreheaded occupant of a file drawer labeled 'Science Fiction' and I would like out, particularly since so many serious critics regularly mistake the drawer for a urinal."
- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
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| Space Pirate | ||
| Space ships taken against their will. |
Perhaps the first use of the phrase "space pirate".
| For there were those against whom it must be guarded — space-pirates who dashed forth from time to time from hidden bases on earth or moon to harry and hold up in the void the rich lunar commerce. The boldest and most dreaded of them all was that swift and flashing corsair of the void known to all on earth and moon alike as the Hawk, and who for years had been the despair of all the Earth-Guard. |
| Technovelgy from Evans of the Earth-Guard,
by Edmond Hamilton. Published by Air Wonder Stories in 1930 Additional resources -
|
Where else will you find "corsair of the void" and (elsewhere in the story) "space-buccaneer", except in the writing of Edmond Hamilton!
Famed sf writer and editor John W. Campbell used this phrase in his excellent 1932 short story Invaders from the Infinite:
John Campbell also wrote a cool story about brain piracy in space in 1938; see The Brain Pirates.
Compare to astronaut from The Death's Head Meteor (1930) by Neil R. Jones,
astrogator from The Conquest of Space (1931) by David Lasser, space men from Revolt of the Star Men (1932) by Raymond Z. Gallun,
spacedog from A Question of Salvage (1939) by Malcolm Jameson,
space marines from Misfit (1939) by Robert Heinlein,
rocketeer from Sunward Flight (1943) by Leo Zagat and space cadet from Sunward Flight (1943) by Leo Zagat.
“And that,” said Arcot between puffs, “will certainly be a great boon to the Rocket Patrol, you must admit. They don’t like dueling with these space-pirates using the molecular rays, and since molecular rays have such a tremendous commercial value. We can’t prohibit the sale of ray apparatus."
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