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Randle, Kevin D

Entry updated 24 July 2023. Tagged: Author.

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(1949-    ) US author who served in the Army as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam 1968-1969 and in the Air Force as an Intelligence Officer 1976-1986; he has written nonfantastic military fiction as by Eric Helm and Steve MacKenzie [not listed in Checklist below]. He began publishing sf with "Future War" for Combat Illustrated in 1978, but became an active writer only in the 1980s, beginning two sequences in 1980 and 1986 respectively, all titles in collaboration with Robert Cornett: the Time Mercenaries books – Remember the Alamo? (1980; vt Remember the Alamo! 1986), Remember Gettysburg! (1988) and Remember the Little Bighorn! (1990) – and the Seeds of War books, being Seeds of War (1988), The Aldebaran Campaign (1988) and The Aquarian Attack (1989) – and . The first series is an exhilarating Time-Travel sequence, in which Vietnam veterans are enlisted to travel to famous battles, where they must make sure that events take their proper course, initially for the benefit of a giant oil corporation; the second, Seeds of War, is a less remarkable example of Military SF, though still told with some verve.

The Jefferson's War sequence – The Galactic Silver Star (1990), The Price of Command (1990), The Lost Colony (1991), The January Platoon (1991), which focuses on a dangerous but vulnerable family of trained Clones, Death of a Regiment (1991) and Chain of Command (1992) – is again Military SF, carrying members of the United States Space Infantry into various tight corners. The similar Global War sequence began with Dawn of Conflict (1991); the Star Precinct sequence, with Ed Gorman writing as Richard Driscoll, began with Star Precinct (1992), set on a city-sized Space Station which features in each instalment; the Galactic MI sequence began with Galactic MI (1993); the Exploration Chronicles, a Space Opera sequence, began with Signals (2003).

Randle has also written nonfantastic military novels, including another series [not listed below] in collaboration with Cornett. His several books on Ufology (see UFOs) – beginning with The October Scenario: UFO Abductions, Theories about Them and a Prediction of When they will Return (1989) and The UFO Casebook (1989), and extending through Roswell in the 21st Century – The Evidence as It Exists Today (2016) – have been influential, though he has in more recent years given the impression that he feels the arguments in favour of this belief may not ever be proved. [JC]

Kevin Douglas Randle

born Cheyenne, Wyoming: 4 June 1949

works (selected)

series

Time Mercenaries

Seeds of War

Seals

  • Recon (New York: Avon Books, 1988) as by Steve MacKenzie [Seals: pb/]
  • Sniper (New York: Avon Books, 1988) as by Steve MacKenzie [Seals: pb/]

Jefferson's War

Global Conflict

Star Precinct

Galactic MI

Exploration Chronicles

  • Signals (New York: Ace Books, 2003) [Exploration Chronicles: pb/Danilo Ducak]
  • Starship (New York: Ace Books, 2004) [Exploration Chronicles: pb/Danilo Ducak]
  • F T L (New York: Ace Books, 2004) [Exploration Chronicles: pb/Danilo Ducak]
  • The Gate (New York: Ace Books, 2006) [Exploration Chronicles: pb/Edwin Herdfer]

individual titles

nonfiction

links

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