Caselberg, Jay
Entry updated 25 October 2021. Tagged: Author.
Working name of Australian author James Caselberg (1958- ), mainly resident in the UK from the 1980s; he began publishing work of genre interest with "Photosynthesis" for The Pedestal Magazine in 2001 as by James A Hartley. Both his surnames are real – the first being Caselberg; on remarriage his mother took the name of Hartley – though he now uses Caselberg only. His Jack Stein sequence – comprising Wyrmhole (2003), Metal Sky (2004), The Star Table (2005) and Wall of Mirrors (2006) – places its noir detective into various venues requiring the use of his Psi Powers to solve crimes. In Wyrmhole, a mysteriously evacuated mining planet turns out to be the focus of complex interstellar corporation villainies; Metal Sky rather more traditionally puts Stein into problematic relations with a largish Mean Streets cast, the claustrophobia of this generic choice being loosened by the uncertainties imported by the overall sf context. This context most interestingly includes a city described in terms which combine Virtual Reality and Nanotechnology. There is a sense in the series that almost anything can happen, and can be explained. [JC]
James A Hartley/James Caselberg
born Camden, New South Wales: 11 March 1958
works
series
Jack Stein
- Wyrmhole (New York: Roc Books, 2003) [Jack Stein: pb/Christian McGrath]
- Metal Sky (New York: Roc Books, 2004) [Jack Stein: pb/Christian McGrath]
- The Star Table (New York: Roc Books, 2005) [Jack Stein: pb/Christian McGrath]
- Wall of Mirrors (New York: Roc Books, 2006) [Jack Stein: pb/Christian McGrath]
individual titles
- The Wind (Alconbury Weston, Cambridgeshire: Newcon Press, 2017) [novella: chap: hb/Vincent Sammy]
links
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