David Guy Compton (born August 19, 1930) is a British author who writes

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel univers ...

under the name D. G. Compton. He used the name Guy Compton for his earlier crime novels and the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individu ...

Frances Lynch for his

Gothic novel Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror in the 20th century, is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name is a reference to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of ea ...

s. He has also written short stories, radio plays, and a non-fiction book on

stammering Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the ...

, its causes and cures. Compton was born in London. Son of Gerald Cross (Actor), and Nuna Davey (Actress). His first published book was the 1962 crime novel ''Too Many Murderers''. His 1970 novel ''The Steel Crocodile'' was nominated for the

Nebula Award The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of prof ...

, and his 1974 novel '' The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe'' was filmed as ''

Death Watch ''Death Watch'' (french: La Mort en direct) is a 1980 science fiction film directed by Bertrand Tavernier. It is based on the 1973 novel ''The Unsleeping Eye'' by David G. Compton. The film was entered into the 30th Berlin International Film Fe ...

'' by

Bertrand Tavernier Bertrand Tavernier (25 April 1941 – 25 March 2021) was a French director, screenwriter, actor and producer. Life and career Tavernier was born in Lyon, France, the son of Geneviève (née Dumond) and René Tavernier, a publicist and writer, s ...

in 1979. The 1983 film '' Brainstorm'' was very similar in content to Compton's 1968 novel ''

Synthajoy ''Synthajoy'' is a science fiction novel by D. G. Compton. originally published in 1968 as an Ace Science Fiction Special in the United States and in hardcover by Hodder & Stoughton in Great Britain. An Italian translation appeared in 1972. Gregg ...

''. In ''Science Fiction: History, Science, Vision'',

Robert Scholes Robert E. Scholes (1929 – December 9, 2016) was an American literary critic and theorist. He is known for his ideas on fabulation and metafiction. Education and career Robert Scholes was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1929. After taking his ...

and Eric S. Rabkin write:

Compton's work is informed by an acute and subtle moral sense which avoids the extremes of satire and sentiment while compelling us to see the world ethically...he succeeds superbly in preserving certain traditional fictional values and human values in works of genuine science fiction.

Compton was named the 2007 Author Emeritus by the

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, doing business as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. While ...

Bibliography

As Guy Compton: * ''Too Many Murderers'' (1962) * ''Medium for Murder'' (1963) * ''Dead on Cue'' (1964) * ''High Tide for Hanging'' (1965) * ''Disguise for a Dead Gentleman'' (1966) * ''And Murder Came Too'' (1967) As D. G. Compton: * ''The Quality of Mercy'' (1965) * ''Farewell, Earth's Bliss'' (1966) * ''The Silent Multitude'' (1967) * ''

'' (1968) * ''The Palace'' (1969) (non-SF) * ''The Steel Crocodile'' (1970) Alternate title: ''The Electric Crocodile'' * ''Chronocules'' (1971) Alternate titles: ''Chronicules'' and ''Hot Wireless Sets, Aspirin Tablets, the Sandpaper Slides of Used Matchboxes, and Something that Might have been Castor Oil'' * '' The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe'' (1974) Alternate titles: ''The Unsleeping Eye'' and ''Death Watch'' * ''The Missionaries'' (1975) * ''A Usual Lunacy'' (1978) * ''Windows'' (1979) * ''Ascendancies'' (1980) * ''Scudder's Game'' (1988) * ''Ragnarok'' (1991), with

John Gribbin John R. Gribbin (born 19 March 1946) is a British science writer, an astrophysicist, and a visiting fellow in astronomy at the University of Sussex. His writings include quantum physics, human evolution, climate change, global warming, the orig ...

* ''Nomansland'' (1993) * ''Stammering: its nature, history, causes and cures'' (1993) (non-fiction) * ''Justice City'' (1994) * ''Back of Town Blues'' (1996) * ''Die Herren von Talojz'' (1997) German translation only As Frances Lynch: * ''Twice Ten Thousand Miles'' (1974) * ''The Fine and Handsome Captain'' (1975) * ''Stranger at the Wedding'' (1976) * ''A Dangerous Magic'' (1978) * ''In the House of Dark Music'' (1979)

References

External links

* * https://web.archive.org/web/20080117044155/http://www.sfwa.org/awards/2007/index.html#AuthorEmeritus 1930 births Living people Writers from London English science fiction writers English male novelists {{UK-novelist-stub