The Doctor Who Christmas Specials have become a bit of a tradition the last few years. It got me thinking about Christmas Science Fiction as well as Fantasy. Arthur C. Clarke's "The Star" (Infinity Science Fiction, November 1955) is a classic of this sort, as is Seabury Quinn's "Roads" (Weird Tales, January 1938) for Fantasy. L. Frank Baum's The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1902) and "A Kidnapped Santa Claus" (1904) are two examples of a writer trying to redefine in the Santa legend though with mixed results. Baum has some nice fantasy elements but never transcends his juvenile audience for adult readers. I prefer Quinn's "Roads" which starts like a bit of Sword & Sorcery and then becomes more and more Christmas story. A barbarian at the death of Christ becomes cursed with immortality like the Wandering Jew, eventually becoming Santa Claus. Quinn lost out the cover to Dorothy Quick though Quinn's story has become something of a WT legend in itself. For children's books I prefer Tolkien's The Father Christmas Letters (1976) with its goblins and the crazy polar bear. The book is made up of illustrated letters Tolkien wrote for his children between 1920-1940. (Those same children sued New Line Cinema for $150 Million dollars earlier this year. But that's another post.)
Bill Hillman has a great gallery of SF Christmas here.
GW
G. W. Thomas has been published since 1987. He has appeared in over 400 publications including Writer's Digest, The Writer and Black October Magazine. His website is www.gwthomas.org
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