Bounds, Sydney J
Entry updated 6 November 2023. Tagged: Author.
(1920-2006) UK author, active in various fields from the late 1940s, who published his first Horror fantasy, "Strange Portrait", in the sole issue of Outlands dated Winter 1946. Some early short Space Opera in Authentic and New Worlds appeared 1953-1955 as by George C Duncan. He built a considerable and well-respected oeuvre of short fiction in various genres, examples of which have been assembled as The Best of Sydney J Bounds, Volume One: Strange Portrait and Other Stories (coll 2003) edited by Philip Harbottle and The Best of Sydney J Bounds, Volume Two: The Wayward Ship and Other Stories (coll 2003) edited by Philip Harbottle.
Under at least nine pseudonyms (and House Names such as Peter Saxon, which he used for a Sexton Blake tale), Bounds published over thirty novels, mostly Westerns. His sf includes The Moon Raiders (1955), which features stolen Uranium-235, human agents shanghaied to the Moon, and Alien invaders; and The World Wrecker (1956), which stars a Mad Scientist who blows up Cities by placing phase-shifted rocks under them (see Matter Penetration) and returning these rocks to normal spacetime, with calamitous effects. Of his numerous Comic strips, "Jeff Curtiss and the V3 Menace" (Combat Library #44 1960) is typical. From the beginning of the 1970s he concentrated on horror. His story "The Animators" (in Tales of Terror from Outer Space, anth 1975, ed R Chetwynd-Hayes) was adapted for Cinema as The Last Days on Mars (2013). [JC/DRL]
Sydney James Bounds
born Brighton, Sussex: 4 November 1920
died Telford, Shropshire: 24 November 2006
works
- Dimension of Horror (London: Panther, 1953) [pb/John Richards]
- The Vanishing Man (Anstey, Leicestershire: Ulverscroft/Linford Mystery, 2010) [rev vt of the above: pb/]
- The Moon Raiders (London: E Foulsham, 1955) [hb/]
- The World Wrecker (London: E Foulsham, 1956) [hb/]
- The Robot Brains (London: Digit, 1958) [pb/Glen Steward]
collections
- The Best of Sydney J Bounds, Volume One: Strange Portrait and Other Stories (Holicong, Pennsylvania: Wildside Press, 2003) [coll: edited by Philip Harbottle: pb/Ron Turner]
- The Best of Sydney J. Bounds: Volume One (London: Venture Press, 2016) [coll: rev vt of the above: edited by Philip Harbottle: pb/]
- The Best of Sydney J Bounds, Volume Two: The Wayward Ship and Other Stories (Holicong, Pennsylvania: Cosmos Books, 2003) [coll: edited by Philip Harbottle: pb/Ron Turner]
- The Best of Sydney J. Bounds: Volume Two (London: Venture Press, 2016) [coll: exp vt of the above: edited by Philip Harbottle: pb/]
links
previous versions of this entry