MacApp, C C
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
Pseudonym used by US colour printer Carroll M Capps (1913-1971) in his writing career, which began – after illness forced his retirement – with "A Pride of Islands" in May 1960 for If, with which magazine (and its stablemates) he was chiefly associated for the balance of his short career. Much of his fiction concerns itself with Invasions by Aliens, notably the Gree stories in If and (one tale only) Worlds of Tomorrow – running from "Slaves of Gree" (August 1964 If) to "A Beachhead for Gree" (February 1967 If) – and his first novel, Omha Abides (stories April 1964, May 1966 Worlds of Tomorrow; fixup 1968), in which a long-lasting occupation by the alien Gaddyl is opposed by Terrans. These heroes' Native-American nature also finds expression in MacApp's most ambitious novel, Worlds of the Wall (October 1964 Fantastic as "Beyond the Ebon Wall"; exp 1969), an intriguing adventure of self-fulfilment – his protagonists typically resolve besetting personal crises through action – through immersion in a strange other-Dimensional world. Subb (part as "Where the Subbs Go", May 1968 If; fixup 1971) centres on what may be Greek gifts given to humanity by yet more aliens: a Faster Than Light interstellar expressway and prolonged life through brain transplant into humanoid but troublingly impassive-faced "subb" bodies. Though most of his work skimps character development in favour of action-oriented plots, MacApp's last novel, Bumsider (1972), pays more attention to the development of his cast's personalities. In general he wrote clearly and excitingly, and his range was still growing at the time of his death; the early truncation of his career was much regretted. Selected short fiction was eventually assembled as Somewhere in Space and Other Stories (coll 2014). [JC/DRL]
Carroll Mather Capps
born USA: 27 November 1913
died California: 15 January 1971
works
- Omha Abides (New York: Paperback Library, 1968) [fixup: stories "Under the Gaddyl", April 1964 Worlds of Tomorrow, and "Trees Like Torches", May 1966 Worlds of Tomorrow: pb/Robert Abbett?]
- Worlds of the Wall (New York: Avon Books, 1969) [portion first appeared October 1964 Fantastic as "Beyond the Ebon Wall": pb/uncredited]
- Prisoners of the Sky (New York: Lancer Books, 1969) [pb/Jim Steranko]
- Secret of the Sunless World (New York: Dell Books, 1969) [Carroll M Capps is given as author on cover and spine only: pb/John Berkey]
- Recall Not Earth (New York: Dell Books, 1970) [pb/uncredited]
- Subb (New York: Paperback Library, 1971) [fixup: portion first appeared as "Where the Subbs Go", May 1968 If: pb/uncredited]
- Bumsider (New York: Lancer Books, 1972) [pb/Josh Kirby]
collections and stories
- And All the Earth a Grave (no place given: Project Gutenberg, 2007) [story: ebook: first appeared December 1963 Galaxy: na/]
- Tulan (no place given: Project Gutenberg, 2009) [story: ebook: first appeared June 1960 Amazing: na/]
- Somewhere in Space and Other Stories (Vancleave, Mississippi: Ramble House/Dancing Tuatara Press, 2014) [coll: pb/Gavin L O'Keefe]
links
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