![the star pit samuel delany the star pit samuel delany](https://booklikes.com/photo/max/100/150/upload/books/f/a/fa3ca008f53ffd0a68a06ef25a3f83df.jpg)
![the star pit samuel delany the star pit samuel delany](https://cosmiccauldronbooks.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/DSCN3305.jpg)
An economical use of colourful detail, often initially surprising but logical when considered, is used to flesh out the social background of the stories. Physically and psychologically damaged participants are common. The plot structure is almost invariably that of a quest, or some form of Fantastic Voyage. The early novels had certain similarities, and some of the themes initiated in them have recurred regularly in Delany's work. Another early novel was The Ballad of Beta-2 ( 1965 dos text corrected 1977). This was followed by the trilogy The Fall of the Towers: Captives of the Flame ( 1963 dos rev vt Out of the Dead City 1968), The Towers of Toron ( 1964 dos rev 1968) and City of a Thousand Suns ( 19), all assembled as The Fall of the Towers (omni of rev texts 1970). His first published sf was also a novel, released when he was 20: The Jewels of Aptor ( 1962 dos restored 19) the later versions restore the one-third of the text originally excised by Ace Books. He became famous as one of the youthful prodigies of sf, though it was only recently that substantial portions of his first novel were published as Voyage, Orestes!: (written 1960-1963 2019). This double background is evident in all his writing. He has a somewhat mixed cultural background: he is Black, born and raised in Harlem, New York, and therefore familiar with the Black ghetto but having won scholarships without which the cost would have been prohibitive, Delany was educated at the Dalton School and later the prestigious Bronx High School of Science (although he left college after only one term). (1942- ) US author and critic, one of the most influential and most discussed within the genre he has taught at several universities from 1975, and was professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Massachusetts Amherst 1988-1999, of English at SUNY Buffalo 1999-2000, and of English and Creative Writing at Temple University in Philadelphia since 2001.