DeChancie, John
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
(1946- ) US author who worked in television in various capacities before beginning to publish sf with his Skyway Trilogy comprising Starrigger (1983), Red Limit Freeway (1984) and Paradox Alley (1986). Based on a truckers-in-space premise with some comic potential, the already crowded tale is complicated by Time Paradoxes, godlings and much more, all built around the search for a missing interstellar spaceways map; the ensuing epic is at points extremely funny. A second comic sf sequence, the USS Recluse stories, began with The Kruton Interface (1993) though no further instalments have appeared; and a third, the Dr. Dimension series in collaboration with David Bischoff, comprises Dr. Dimension (1993) and Dr. Dimension: Masters of Spacetime (1994), both containing Recursive SF elements. Crooked House (1987) with Thomas F Monteleone is a competent horror novel, and the Zelaznyesque Castle Perilous sequence, beginning with Castle Perilous (1988) and ending with Bride of the Castle (1994) – is fantasy, at times rollicking. Further sequences include the Castle Falkenstein series beginning with Castle Falkenstein: From Prussia with Love (1996), based on the Role Playing Game Castle Falkenstein (1994). Witchblade: Talons (2002) is a contribution to the Witchblade sequence, based on the television series.
DeChancie's later work includes some sf like Living With Aliens (1995), which is humorous, and Innerverse (1996), in which – after twenty years of isolation – the eastern portion of the United States is found to be inhabited by Zombie-like citizens acting out the commands of Innerverse, an all-controlling nanoware (see nanotechnology) network. DeChancie has also written two biographies of figures not related to the field of the fantastic: Peron (1987) and Nasser (1987). [JC]
John DeChancie
born Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: 3 August 1946
works
series
Skyway Trilogy
- Starrigger (New York: Ace Books, 1983) [Skyway Trilogy: pb/Jim Gurney]
- Red Limit Freeway (New York: Ace Books, 1984) [Skyway Trilogy: pb/John Berkey]
- Paradox Alley (New York: Ace Books, 1986) [Skyway Trilogy: pb/Jim Gurney]
Castle Perilous
- Castle Perilous (New York: Ace Books, 1988) [Castle Perilous: pb/Jim Gurney]
- Castle For Rent (New York: Ace Books, 1989) [Castle Perilous: pb/Jim Gurney]
- Castle Kidnapped (New York: Ace Books, 1989) [Castle Perilous: pb/Jim Gurney]
- Castle War! (New York: Ace Books, 1990) [Castle Perilous: pb/James Warhola]
- Castle Murders (New York: Ace Books, 1991) [Castle Perilous: pb/Robert Grace]
- Castle Dreams (New York: Ace Books, 1992) [Castle Perilous: pb/Robert Grace]
- Castle Spellbound (New York: Ace Books, 1992) [Castle Perilous: pb/Richard Hescox]
- Bride of the Castle (New York: Ace Books, 1994) [Castle Perilous: pb/Richard Hescox]
- The Pirates of Perilous (Baltimore, Maryland: Borderlands Press, 2015) [Castle Perilous: pb/Bartlomeij Piotr Flak]
U.S.S. Recluse
- The Kruton Interface (New York: Ace Books, 1993) [U.S.S. Recluse: pb/Gary Ruddell]
Dr. Dimension
- Dr Dimension (New York: Penguin/Roc, 1993) with David Bischoff [Dr Dimension: pb/David Mattingly]
- Dr Dimension: Masters of Spacetime (New York: Penguin/Roc, 1994) with David Bischoff [Dr Dimension: pb/David Mattingly]
Castle Falkenstein
- Castle Falkenstein: From Prussia with Love (New York: Prima/Proteus, 1996) [tie to Castle Falkenstein: Castle Falkenstein: pb/]
- Castle Falkenstein: Masterminds of Falkenstein (New York: Prima/Proteus, 1996) [tie to Castle Falkenstein: Castle Falkenstein: pb/]
Witchblade
- Witchblade: Talons (New York: Pocket/ibooks, 2002) [tie to the television series: Witchblade: pb/]
individual titles
- Crooked House (New York: Tor, 1987) with Thomas F Monteleone [pb/]
- Magicnet (New York: William Morrow/AvoNova, 1993) [hb/Jean Targete]
- Living With Aliens (New York: Ace Books, 1995) [pb/Danilo Ducak]
- Innerverse (New York: Avon Books, 1996) [pb/Thomas Canty]
collections
- A Little Gray Book of Alien Stories (Grantham, New Hampshire: Borderlands Press, 2004) [coll: hb/]
- Far Cries (Baltimore, Maryland: Borderlands Press, 2015) [coll: pb/John DeChancie]
works as editor
- Castle Fantastic (New York: DAW Books, 1996) with Martin H Greenberg [anth: pb/John Howe]
- Other States of Being: 16 Short Abductions (Mill Valley, California: Pulpless.com, 1999) [anth: pb/Billy Tackett]
links
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