Elder, Michael
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
(1931-2004) London-born actor and author in various genres, in Scotland from about 1940, where he featured in at least 1000 radio broadcasts, though he was best known for his television role as the doctor in Take the High Road (1980-2003), a long-running soap opera. The first of his novels, The Affair at Invergarroch (1950), hints at the supernatural as an ancient cathedral is ransacked for treasure; he began writing sf proper with Paradise is Not Enough (1970) for Robert Hale Limited, a Dystopia set in Robot-controlled Near Future whose human victims are almost literally consumed by the circumambient Media Landscape; and thereafter produced a number of sometimes routine adventures for that firm. Most notable are the Barclay Space-Opera adventures involving Colonization and its perils: Nowhere On Earth (1972), which also deals with problems of Overpopulation, as does Double Time (1976); The Perfumed Planet (1973; vt Flight to Terror 1973): Down to Earth (1973); The Seeds of Frenzy (1974); and The Island of the Dead (1975). His other connected books are Mindslip (1976) and its sequel Mindquest (1978) and Oil-Seeker (1977) and its sequel Oil-Planet (1978). Elder's ambitions did not generally extend beyond entertainment, though a pessimistic bent of thought about the quality of our husbandry of planet Earth is sometimes allowed to surface. [JC]
Michael Aiken Elder
born London: 30 April 1931
died Edinburgh, Scotland: 28 July 2004
works
series
Barclay
- Nowhere On Earth (London: Robert Hale, 1972) [Barclay: hb/]
- The Perfumed Planet (London: Robert Hale, 1973) [Barclay: hb/]
- Flight to Terror (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1973) [vt of the above: Barclay: hb/]
- Down to Earth (London: Robert Hale, 1973) [Barclay: hb/]
- The Seeds of Frenzy (London: Robert Hale, 1974) [Barclay: hb/]
- The Island of the Dead (London: Robert Hale, 1975) [Barclay: hb/]
Mindslip
- Mindslip (London: Robert Hale, 1976) [Mindslip: hb/]
- Mindquest (London: Robert Hale, 1978) [Mindslip: hb/]
Oil-Seeker
- Oil-Seeker (London: Robert Hale, 1977) [Oil-Seeker: hb/Katya Koutrouboussis]
- Oil-Planet (London: Robert Hale, 1978) [Oil-Seeker: hb/]
individual titles
- The Affair at Invergarroch (London: Adam and Charles Black, 1950) [illus/hb/Douglas Relf]
- Paradise is Not Enough (London: Robert Hale, 1970) [hb/]
- The Alien Earth (London: Robert Hale, 1971) [hb/]
- The Everlasting Man (London: Robert Hale, 1972) [hb/]
- A Different World (London: Robert Hale, 1974) [hb/]
- Centaurian Quest (London: Robert Hale, 1975) [hb/]
- Double Time (London: Robert Hale, 1976) [hb/]
links
previous versions of this entry