Coville, Bruce

Entry updated 4 September 2023. Tagged: Author.

(1950- ) US author of sf and fantasy, mostly the latter, almost exclusively juveniles. Of some sf interest are: Murder in Orbit (1987; vt Space Station ICE-3 1987); My Teacher Is an Alien (1989) and its sequels, My Teacher Fried My Brains (1991), My Teacher Glows in the Dark (1991), all three assembled as My Teacher Is an Alien: 3 Books in One (omni 1995), plus and My Teacher Flunked the Planet (1992); Philip José Farmer's The Dungeon #2: The Dark Abyss (1989), a tie; the A.I. Gang sequence for children – Operation Sherlock (1986), Robot Trouble (1986) and Forever Begins Tomorrow (1986); and the Rod Allbright sequence of humorous sf adventures, Aliens Ate My Homework (1993) and I Left My Sneakers in Dimension X (1994). None of this work can easily be thought of as meant to be taken seriously, though Armageddon Summer (1998) with Jane Yolen is an acute and sympathetic rendering of benefits (and costs) of living through a fundamentalist understanding of the seemingly imminent End of the World, and the tales assembled in The One Right Thing (coll, 2008) are both competent and varied. [JC]

see also: Skylark Award.

Bruce Farrington Coville

born Syracuse, New York: 16 May 1950

works (selected)

fiction (sf)

series

A.I. Gang

Operation Sherlock (New York: New American Library/Signet Vista, 1986) [A.I. Gang: pb/]
- The A.I. Gang: Operation Sherlock (New York: Pocket Books/Minstrel, 1995) [rev vt of the above: A.I. Gang: pb/]
Robot Trouble (New York: New American Library/Signet Vista, 1986) [A.I. Gang: pb/]
- The A.I. Gang: Robot Trouble (New York: Pocket Books/Minstrel, 1995) [rev vt of the above: A.I. Gang: pb/Broeck Steadman]
Forever Begins Tomorrow (New York: New American Library/Signet Vista, 1986) [A.I. Gang: pb/]

Planet Builders

Planet Builders: Mountain of Stolen Dreams (New York: Ivy Books, 1988) as by Robyn Tallis [Planet Builders: pb/Bob Eggleton]
Planet Builders: Night of Two New Moons (New York: Ivy Books, 1989) as by Robyn Tallis [Planet Builders: pb/Keith Birdsong]

My Teacher

My Teacher Is an Alien (New York: Pocket Books/Minstrel Book, 1989) [My Teacher: pb/Mike Wimmer]
My Teacher Fried My Brains (New York: Pocket Books/Minstrel Book, 1991) [My Teacher: pb/Stever Fashner]
My Teacher Glows in the Dark (New York: Pocket Books/Minstrel Book, 1991) [My Teacher: pb/Jeffrey Lindberg]
- My Teacher Is an Alien: 3 Books in One (London: HarperCollins, 1995) [omni of the above three: My Teacher: pb/]
My Teacher Flunked the Planet (New York: Pocket Books/Minstrel Book, 1992) [My Teacher: pb/Stever Fashner]
- The My Teacher Is an Alien Collection (New York: Aladdin, 2014) [omni of the above four: My Teacher: pb/]

Space Brat

Space Brat (New York: Pocket Books/Minstrel, 1992) [chap: Space Brat: pb/Greg Wray]
Space Brat 2: Blork's Evil Twin (New York: Simon and Schuster/Aladdin, 1993) [chap: Space Brat: pb/]
Space Brat 3: The Wrath of Squat (New York: Pocket Books/Minstrel, 1994) [chap: Space Brat: pb/]
Space Brat 4: The Planet of the Dips (New York: Pocket Books/Minstrel, 1995) [chap: Space Brat: pb/Katherine Coville]
Space Brat 5: The Saber-Toothed Poodnoobie (New York: Pocket Books/Minstrel, 1997) [chap: Space Brat: pb/]

Rod Allbright

Aliens Ate My Homework (New York: Pocket Books/Minstrel, 1993) [Rod Allbright: pb/Stephen Peringer]
I Left My Sneakers in Dimension X (New York: Pocket Books/Minstrel, 1994) [Rod Allbright: pb/Stephen Peringer]
The Search for Snout (New York: Pocket Books/Minstrel, 1995) [Rod Allbright: pb/Katherine Coville]
Aliens Stole My Body (New York: Pocket Books/Minstrel, 1998) [Rod Allbright: pb/]
- Aliens Ate My Homework Collection (New York: Aladdin, 2018) [omni of the above four: Rod Allbright: pb/]

individual titles (sf)

Murder in Orbit (London: Dragon Books, 1987) [Omni Odysseys: pb/]
- Space Station ICE-3 (New York: Scholastic, 1987) [vt of the above: Omni Odysseys: pb/Lindberg]
- Space Station ICE-3 (New York: Pocket Archway, 1996) [rev of the above: Omni Odysseys: pb/Broeck Steadman]
Philip José Farmer's The Dungeon #2: The Dark Abyss (New York: Bantam Books/Byron Preiss, 1989) [tie: Philip José Farmer's The Dungeon: pb/Robert Gould]
Armageddon Summer (New York: Harcourt Brace, 1998) with Jane Yolen [hb/Kamil Vojnar]

fiction (non-sf)

series

Spirits and Spells (New York: Dell/Twilight, 1983) [Dark Forces/Spirit World: pb/]
- Bruce Coville's Chamber of Horrors: Spirits and Spells (New York: Pocket Archway, 1996) [vt of the above: Dark Forces/Spirit World: pb/Ciruelo Cabral]
  - Spirit World: Spirits and Spells (London: Hodder Children's Books, 1998) [vt of the above: Dark Forces/Spirit World: pb/Sam Hadley]
Eyes of the Tarot (New York: Bantam Books, 1983) [Dark Forces/Spirit World: pb/Jill Bauman]
- Bruce Coville's Chamber of Horrors #3: Eyes of the Tarot (New York: Pocket Archway, 1996) [rev vt of the above: Dark Forces/Spirit World: pb/Ciruelo Cabral]
  - Spirit World: Eyes of the Tarot (London: Hodder Children's Books, 1998) [vt of the above: Dark Forces/Spirit World: pb/Sam Hadley]
Amulet of Doom (New York: Dell/Twilight, 1985) [Spirits and Spells: pb/]
- Bruce Coville's Chamber of Horrors #1: Amulet of Doom (New York: Pocket Archway, 1996) [Spirits and Spells: pb/Ciruelo Cabral]
  - Spirit World: Creature of Fire (London: Hodder Children's Books, 1998) [vt of the above: pb/Sam Hadley]

Magic Shop

The Monster's Ring (New York: Pocket Books, 1987) [chap: Magic Shop: pb/Barclay Shaw]
- The Monster's Ring (New York: Harcourt, 2002) [exp of the above: Magic Shop: hb/Tony DiTerlizzi]
Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1991) [Magic Shop: hb/Gary A Lippincott]
Jennifer Murdley's Toad (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1992) [Magic Shop: hb/Gary A Lippincott]
The Skull of Truth (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1997) [Magic Shop: hb/Gary A Lippincott]
Juliet Dove, Queen of Love (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 2005) [Magic Shop: hb/Tony DiTerlizzi]

Camp Haunted Hills

The Ghost Wore Gray (New York: Pocket Books/Minstrel Book, 1988) [Camp Haunted Hills: pb/]
Some of My Best Friends Are Monsters (New York: Pocket Books/Minstrel Book, 1988) [Camp Haunted Hills: pb/]
The Dinosaur That Followed me Home (New York: Pocket Books/Minstrel Book, 1990) [Camp Haunted Hills: pb/]

Unicorn Chronicles

Into the Land of Unicorns (New York: Scholastic, 1994) [Unicorn Chronicles: hb/Neal McPheeters]
Song of the Wanderer (New York: Scholastic, 1999) [Unicorn Chronicles: hb/Rebecca Guay]
Dark Whispers (New York: Scholastic, 2008) [Unicorn Chronicles: hb/Petar Meseldzija]
The Last Hunt (New York: Scholastic, 1999) [Unicorn Chronicles: hb/Petar Meseldzija]

individual titles

The Ghost in the Third Row (New York: Bantam Books, 1987) [pb/]
Monster of the Year (New York: Pocket Books/Minstrel Book, 1989) [pb/Harvey Kurtzman]
The Ghost in the Big Brass Bed (New York: Bantam Skylark, 1991) [pb/Daniel Henderson]
The Dragonslayers (New York: Pocket Books/Minstrel, 1994) [pb/Tim Hildebrandt]
Oddly Enough: Stories (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1994) [coll: hb/Michael Hussar]
Odder Than Ever (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1999) [coll: hb/Michael Hussar]
- Odds Are Good: An Oddly Enough and Oddly Than Ever Omnibus (New York: Magic Carpet Books, 2006) [omni of above coll plus Oddly Enough: pb/Cliff Nielsen]
William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (New York: The Dial Press, 1996) [hb/Dennis A Nolan]
The Monsters of Morley Manor (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 2001) [hb/John Berg]
Thor's Wedding Day (New York: Harcourt, 2005) [hb/Matthew Cogswell]
The One Right Thing (Framingham, Massachusetts: NESFA Press, 2008) [coll: hb/Omar Rayyan]
Oddest of All (New York: Harcourt, 2008) [coll: hb/Kelly Eismann]
Always October (New York: Harper, 2012) [hb/Andrea Fermerstrand]

works as editor (highly selected)

The Unicorn Treasury: Stories, Poems and Unicorn Lore (New York: Doubleday and Company, 1988) [anth: hb/Tim Hildebrandt]
Half-Human (New York: Scholastic Press, 2001) [anth: hb/Marc Tauss]

links

previous versions of this entry

Internet Archive