David McIlwain (21 January 1921 – 30 November 1981) better known by his pen name, Charles Eric Maine, was an English writer best known for several science fiction serials published in the 1950s and 1960s. He also wrote detective thrillers under the pen names Richard Rayner and Robert Wade.
Biography
Maine was born in
Liverpool, England
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
on 21 January 1921. His writing career began with publishing three issues of a science fiction magazine called ''
The Satellite'' which he co-edited along with
J. F. Burke. From 1940 to 1941, he published his own magazine, called ''Gargoyle''. During World War II, he was in the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
and served in Northern Africa in 1943.
After the war, he worked in TV engineering and became involved in editorial work for radio and TV. During 1952, he sold his first radio play, ''Spaceways'', to the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. Due to its popularity, it became a novel as well as a
'', was about a scientist who experiments with a time machine, only to be maliciously thrust into the future by a fellow scientist who was having an affair with his wife. It was originally written as a radio play known as ''
.
'' (1953) (variant title: ''Spaceways Satellite'')
*''Highway J'' (1953) (reprinted in anthology: ''Other Worlds, Other Times'', 1969)
*''Crisis 2000'' (1955 UK, 1959 US)
*''
'' (1955)
*''Escapement'' (1956) (variant title: ''The Man Who Couldn't Sleep'')
*''
'' (1956)
*''The Tide Went Out'' (1958) (revised in 1977 with variant title: ''Thirst!'')
*''World Without Men'' (1958) (revised in 1972 with variant title: ''Alph'')
*''Count-Down'' (1959) (variant title: ''Fire Past the Future'')
*''Subterfuge'' (1959)
*''
'' (1960)
*''He Owned the World'' (1960) (variant title: ''The Man Who Owned the World'')
*''The Mind of Mr. Soames'' (1961)
*''The Darkest of Nights'' (1962) (variant title: ''Survival Margin'')
*''B.E.A.S.T.'' (1966)
*''Alph'' (1972)