McLaughlin, Dean
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
(1931- ) US author who began publishing sf with "For Those who Follow After" for Astounding in July 1951. Of his three sf novels to appear in book form – Dome World (March 1958 Astounding as "The Man on the Bottom"; exp 1962), The Fury from Earth (1963) and The Man Who Wanted Stars (fixup 1965) – the last is probably the best, though all of these straightforward Libertarian SF adventures are densely written. The first is set Under the Sea, the second describes a war between Earth and a liberated Venus, and the third depicts one man's long, driven quest to force and trick Earth governments into attaining interstellar Space Flight. Hawk Among the Sparrows: Three Science Fiction Novellas (coll 1976) assembles stories of the 1960s; the title piece "Hawk Among the Sparrows" (July 1968 Analog) is a frequently cited example of Military SF, involving the Timeslip of a modern fighter plane to World War One. More recently, Dawn (April-June 1981 Analog; 2006) depicts a Messiah-like figure, native of a planet in a multi-star system, who predicts the coming of darkness, as in Isaac Asimov's"Nightfall" (September 1941 Astounding), which is specifically acknowledged; as he is about to be crucified, darkness does fall. McLaughlin's subject matter and style were fairly typical of those encouraged by John W Campbell Jr during his editorial domination of Astounding. [JC/DRL]
Dean Benjamin McLaughlin Jr
born Ann Arbor, Michigan: 22 July 1931
works
- Dome World (New York: Pyramid Books, 1962) [pb/Ed Emshwiller]
- The Fury from Earth (New York: Pyramid Books, 1963) [pb/Jack Gaughan]
- The Man Who Wanted Stars (New York: Lancer Books, 1965) [pb/John Schoenherr]
- Hawk Among the Sparrows: Three Science Fiction Novellas (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1976) [coll: hb/Kelly Freas]
- Dawn (Waterville, Maine: Five Star, 2006) [first appeared April-June 1981 Analog: hb/Alan M Clark]
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