John M. Ford

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

John M. Ford (“Mike” to friends) passed away abruptly last night. An accomplished writer of fantasy, SF and RPGs, many fans will remember him for two of the best Trek novels ever, “How Much For Just the Planet” and “The Final Reflection.”

PAD

23 comments on “John M. Ford”

  2. Wow, I just re-read “how much for just the planet” the other day. When I moved from NYC to Texas I had to make some hard decisions and pare down my books, comics and DVDs for moving. Out of the 400 books I had collected (and stayed in storage at my moms house in Massapequa LI) I took 50 novels and put the rest on Ebay. “How much for just the planet” was one of the few I could not part with (along with Dreadnaught and Battlestations & all the novels by Peter David).

  3. Ai ya, hwai luh. I didn’t even know Mike was sick. You know the cause of death, Peter?

    Miles

  4. My condolensces to his family and friends.

    I’ll always remember HOW MUCH FOR JUST THE PLANET? as being a great summer time read back when I was in high school, though its been awhile since high school and some of the details are fuzzy. That’s the one that ended with a pir fight, correct? I also remember FINAL REFLECTION for being told from the Klingon POV.

  5. I read “How Much For Just the Planet” back in ’89 or ’90. I was actually sitting in class at the end of the day and starting cracking up in my seat when I got to the pie fight. I don’t know why, but the line right before Kirk gets nailed in the face made me lose it. Got tagged be the teacher for it.

    I’ll have to dig that out and get in trouble at work this week.

  6. Holy… I had no idea. Ðámņ — he was absolutely one of the good ones. I’ve got very fond memories of both of the novels in question.

    Thanks for passing along the news, and I echo the condolences. Just … dámņ.

    TWL

  7. Cause of death isn’t known yet. It appears to have been something very quick, since the body was found circa 2 a.m. with no indication beforehand that anything was wrong.

  8. So sad. He was still young and I was always hoping for big flashing lights success to come visit him.

    I never read a bad novel by him, but for true insane genius, find a copy of the Paranoia Roleplaying supplment ‘Yellow Clearance Black Box Blues’. He was also a very nice guy whenever I spoke to him on message boards or by email.

    No idea if it’s related to his death, but I seem to remember his having a kidney transplant a few years back.

  9. That is absolutely terrible! I read both books and a BUNCH of his RPG stuff. All the best to his family.

  10. “doctor, i believe you know PRECISELY where you can store it,” is the funniest thing i’ve read in the hundred-some odd ST books i’ve gone through.
    tied for that is pretty much everything in HMFJtP, from the birdseed cone to the roman couch to the songs to the victory over the inflatable starship (“got the little devil!”) to, which i love, mccoy growrling into the mess and ordering “mrglikngink smrsmsrsing. AND COFFEE.”
    don’t care who you are, that’s just funny.
    i’m sorry mr. ford is gone. this, as they say, sucks. [and i’m quoting off the top of my head- all apologies if i mis-wright anything.]

  12. Neil Gaiman posted this morning on his journal an e-mail that he received from John M. Ford a few days ago and then mentioned that he had passed away. I went looking and wasn’t able to find anything else on the story at the time.

  14. Oddly enough, I had just finished re-reading “How Much For Just the Planet” last night… I don’t know what made me pick it up the other day, as I’ve not read a Trek book in ages…

    I never met him, but I certainly recommended his books to others *many* times over the years… “The Final Reflection” was one of the best Trek stories, print or otherwise, period.

  15. Ðámņ.

    The Final Reflection was the best Trek book, IMO. It’s the one I’d give to SF fans who hated Trek.

    Zha riest’n, Mr. Ford.

  16. Oh dámņ.
    The man was a great talent.

    To reiterate what others have posted here, anyone reading this would be well off reading The Final Reflection and How Much For Just the Planet.

  17. That’s a dámņ shame.

    I’ve never been one of those fans who HAS to read EVERY Trek novel, but I read and enjoyed both “How Much for Just the Planet?” and “The Final Reflection.”
    Some years back, someone told me that “HMfJtP?” had received a huge amount of negative mail, I guess because it didn’t take Trek seriously enough.
    I also recall Harlan Ellison (I think) giving Ford props for having written and sold a Star Trek novel without any Star Trek characters in it–which would be “The Final Reflection,” in which the only familiar characters in the book make what amount to cameo appearances.

  18. PAD,

    Thanks for the note about a great author. “How Much..” was one of my all time ST favorites. “Reflection” was great as well, but the humor in “Planet” was just incredible.

    It makes sense that you would honor him. The humor in your books (especially Q-In-Law if I remember the title correctly) is what made them one of the few I bought rather than just checked out of the library.

    Iowa Jim

  20. ya gotta love “how much for just the planet?”
    i say we all enjoy an “iz krem zhoda” in mike’s memory

  21. iz krem zhoda.

    How’s that? I remember the book only very vaguely but remember the fun I had reading it at least a decade ago. I should pick it up. I could use a good laugh.

    Capt. Naraht

  22. I can only say this: Someone who saw the good in the sci-fi genre and it’s comedy has left a a collection of books that are still enjoyed.

  23. Ðámņ. “How Much for Just The Planet” had me laughing at a ST novel that didn’t take itself to seriously. The fact that he tried to make the Klingons more that an FTL Mongol horde is going to be sadly missed.

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