(1930- ) UK writer, born of parents who were both in the theatre; he lived for some time in the USA after 1981. Compton's novels are almost always set in the Near Future, and present a moral dilemma within that arena: the future is used in his work as a device for bringing contemporary trends into a clearer but still intimate focus. Most of their interest lies in personal relationships and the behaviour of people under stress; minor characters are observed with humour which frequently arises from class differences. Endings are ambiguous or deliberately inconclusive. Later novels are increasingly varied in the narrative techniques deployed. Compton's rare public utterances confirm the impression that he is not interested in the staple concerns of Genre SF.
Compton's first sf novel was The Quality of Mercy (1965; rev 1970), concerning a genocidal plot, using a biological weapon, to combat Overpopulation. In The Silent Multitude (1967) the crumbling of a cathedral city reflects a disintegration in the human spirit. Farewell, Earth's Bliss (1966; rev 1971) shows the plight of social misfits transported to Mars. Synthajoy (1968), a more complex novel, brought Compton wider notice, particularly in the USA. A surgeon and an electronics engineer develop tapes which enable unremarkable people to enjoy the experiences of those who are more gifted or fortunate. This basic idea is a premise for the exploration of a moral problem and the observation of human beings in extreme situations. The Steel Crocodile (1970; vt The Electric Crocodile 1970) treats accesses and applications of new knowledge in terms of the dangers awoken by the uncontrollable (and hence potentially humanly destructive) new. Chronocules (1970; vt Hot Wireless Sets, Aspirin Tablets, the Sandpaper Sides of Used Matchboxes, and Something that Might have been Castor Oil 1971) is a Time-Travel story. The Missionaries (1972) describes the efforts of some evangelizing aliens with a good deal of social comedy.
Compton's strengths as a writer are all displayed in the much admired Katherine Mortenhoe series comprising The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe (1974; edited version vt The Unsleeping Eye 1974; vt Death Watch 1981) and Windows (1979). A woman in her 40s is given four weeks to live. A reporter with eyes replaced by television cameras has the job of watching her decline for the entertainment of a pain-starved public in a world where illness is almost unknown. The reporter sees one of the transmissions and realizes (perhaps a little late in the game) that the camera cannot tell the truth; the recorded film is without mind and therefore without compassion. The second volume depicts the consequences of the reporter's decision to opt for the oxymoron of literal blindness; neither character in the end is allowed to escape into solitude. The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe was filmed as La Mort en Direct (1979). In a more recent solo novel of interest, Ascendancies (1980), manna-like free energy begins to fall from space, but the side-effects include profound displacements, both physical and in the domestic psyches whose traumas have always inspired his best work. Ragnarok (1991) with John Gribbin shows Compton's grasp of character depiction; its near-future plot – in which a scientist brings on a Nuclear Winter in an attempt to enforce disarmament – owes much to his collaborator's grasp of scientific process. But Nomansland (1993), and the Alec Jordan series of Near Future policiers comprising Justice City (1994) and Back of Town Blues (1996), increasingly demonstrate his recapture of the humane smoothness with which, in earlier books, he so eloquently anatomized the near future. In 2007 he was honoured by SFWA as Author Emeritus (> SFWA Grand Master Award). [MaA/JC]
see also: Colonization of Other Worlds; Communications; Computers; Cybernetics; Cyborgs; Disaster; Media Landscape; Power Sources; Psychology; Religion; Scientists.
David Guy Compton
born London: 9 August 1930
died
works
series
Katherine Mortenhoe
- The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe (London: Victor Gollancz, 1974) [Katherine Mortenhoe: hb/nonpictorial]
- The Unsleeping Eye (New York: DAW Books, 1974) [rev vt: text edited by publisher: Katherine Mortenhoe: pb/Karel Thole]
- Death Watch (London: Methuen/Magnum Books, 1981) [vt of the above: Katherine Mortenhoe: pb/uncredited]
- Windows
(New York: Berkley Publishing Company, 1979) [Katherine Mortenhoe: hb/Paul Stinson]
Alec Duncan
individual titles
- The Quality of Mercy (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1965) [hb/Reginald Lloyd]
- Farewell, Earth's Bliss (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1966) [hb/Reginald Lloyd]
- The Silent Multitude (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1967) [hb/Tony Page]
- Synthajoy (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1968) [hb/Juanita Grout]
- The Palace (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1969) [hb/Paul Giovanopolis]
- The Steel Crocodile (New York: Ace Books, 1970) [pb/Leo and Diane Dillon]
- Chronocules (New York: Ace Books, 1970) [pb/Leo and Diane Dillon]
- The Missionaries (New York: Ace Books, 1972) [pb/uncredited]
- A Dangerous Magic (New York: St Martin's Press, 1978) as by Frances Lynch [hb/]
- A Usual Lunacy (San Bernardino, California: The Borgo Press, 1978) [hb/Mary Sherman]
- Ascendancies (London: Gollancz, 1980) [hb/nonpictorial]
- Scudders Spiel (Munich, Germany: Heyne Verlag, 1984) [trans by Walter Brumm from English-language manuscript: pb/]
- Scudder's Game (Worcester Park, Surrey: Kerosina Books, 1988) [English version of the above: hb/Keith Roberts]
- Radio Plays (Worcester Park, Surrey: Kerosina Books, 1988) [plays: coll: chap: hb/Keith Roberts]
- Ragnarok (London: Victor Gollancz, 1991) with John Gribbin [hb/Martin Baker]
- Nomansland (London: Victor Gollancz, 1993) [hb/Tom Stimpson]
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