Byrne, Stuart J
Entry updated 13 January 2025. Tagged: Author.
(1913-2011) US screenwriter and author who began publishing sf with "The Music of the Spheres" for Amazing in August 1935. He was intermittently active after World War Two in the magazines, sometimes writing as John Bloodstone, a name he used also for some routine sf adventures, most notably the Star Man sequence [see Checklist below]. Also as Bloodstone, he wrote one Tarzan book, which the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate refused permission to publish; photocopies circulated for some years, but Tarzan on Mars (written circa 1955; 1995) was not genuinely published for decades. As Rothayne Amare, he wrote a Gothic, The Visitation (1977). As Byrne he wrote scripts for the television series Men into Space (1959-1960) and scripted solo a less than successful sf film, Doomsday Machine (1972; vt Escape from Planet Earth). Also as Byrne, he wrote several routine sf novels [see Checklist] beginning with The Alpha Trap (1976). His novel Power Metal (May-June 1953 Other Worlds; 2015) as by S J Byrne appeared only posthumously in book form; "Last Days of Thronas" (February 1954 Science Stories as a Complete Novel) as by Bloodstone has yet to be reissued thus.
Byrne's full bibliography has not been properly researched. The following titles, all as by John Bloodstone, and all purporting to continue into a series the novel Godman! (1970), have been listed more than once, but no actual trace has been found of any actual books. They are «The Cosmium Raiders» (1977), «Interstellar Mutineers» (1977), «Lost in the Milky Way» (1977), «Slaves of Venus» (1977) and «Superman of Alpha» (1977); these titles are almost certainly identical with the short stories assembled as Star Man 1-5 (coll 1979), and are not likely therefore to have been published separately. Some other titles have also been listed, but their existence has not been confirmed. [JC/DRL]
Stuart James Byrne
born St Paul, Minnesota: 26 October 1913
died Ojai, California: 23 September 2011
works
series
Star Man
- Star Man 1-5 (Van Nuys, California: Master Publications, 1979) as by John Bloodstone [anth: Star Man: includes a Perry Rhodan story, #137 of that series: pb/David Zlotky]
- Star Man 6-11: The Universe Builder (Van Nuys, California: Master Publications, 1979) as by John Bloodstone [coll: Star Man: pb/]
David Duquayne Saga
- The ALPHA Trap: The David Duquayne Saga, Book One (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press/San Bernardino, California: The Borgo Press, 2008) [David Duquayne Saga: pb/]
- Lord of the Djinn (place not given: Renaissance E Books, 2008) [ebook: David Duquayne Saga: na/]
individual titles
- Starman (550 Years into the Future) (Reseda Park, California: Powell Books, 1969) [pb/Bill Hughes]
- Godman! (Reseda Park, California: Powell Books, 1970) as by John Bloodstone [pb/Bill Hughes]
- Thundar, Man of Two Worlds (North Hollywood, California: Leisure Books, 1971) as by John Bloodstone [pb/Bill Hughes]
- The Alpha Trap (Canoga Park, California: Major Books, 1976) [pb/]
- The Visitation (Canoga Park, California: Major Books, 1977) as by Rothayne Amare [pb/]
- Tarzan on Mars (Sydney, New South Wales: Graham Stone, 1995) as by John Bloodstone [possibly a pirate edition: Tarzan: hb/]
- Star Quest (Victoria, British Columbia: Trafford, 2002) as S J Byrne [pb/]
- Prometheus II (Medford, Oregon: Armchair Fiction, 2013) as S J Byrne [first appeared February 1948 Amazing: pb/Malcolm Smith]
- The Golden Guardsmen (Medford, Oregon: Armchair Fiction, 2013) as S J Byrne [first appeared April-June 1952 Other Worlds: pb/Malcolm Smith]
- The Metamorphs (Medford, Oregon: Armchair Fiction, 2013) as S J Byrne [dos: first appeared January 1957 Other Worlds: pb/Paul Blaisdell]
- Beyond the Darkness (Medford, Oregon: Armchair Fiction, 2014) as S J Byrne [dos: first appeared June/July 1951 Other Worlds: pb/]
- Land Beyond the Lens (Medford, Oregon: Armchair Fiction, 2014) as S J Byrne [dos: first appeared March 1952 Amazing: pb/Barye Phillips]
- Potential Zero (Medford, Oregon: Armchair Fiction, 2014) [dos: first appeared December 1953 Science Stories: pb/Virgil Finlay]
- Power Metal (Medford, Oregon: Armchair Fiction, 2015) [first appeared May-July 1953 Other Worlds: pb/Malcolm H Smith]
- The Naked Goddess (Medford, Oregon: Armchair Fiction, 2017) [dos: first appeared October 1952 Other Worlds: pb/Malcolm Smith]
- Colossus (Medford, Oregon: Armchair Fiction, 2018) [dos: first appeared May 1950 Other Worlds: pb/Lawrence Sterne Stevens as Lawrence]
- The Colossus Conclusion (Medford, Oregon: Armchair Fiction, 2019) [dos: first appeared July 1950 Other Worlds as "Colossus II" and September 1950 Other Worlds as "Colossus III": pb/Malcolm Smith]
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