Mason, Douglas R
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
(1918-2013) UK junior-school headmaster and prolific author after 1964, both under his own name and as John Rankine (Rankine being his middle name); he was generally silent from about 1980 until his death, though some material was released or re-released in ebook form in 2003. His first story was "Two's Company" as by Rankine in John Carnell's New Writings in SF 1 (1964), and he was soon publishing two to three books a year, focusing under the Rankine name on generally routine Space Operas and other adventures. The Dag Fletcher series of Space Operas as by Rankine, was initiated in his first book, The Blockade of Sinitron: Four Adventures of Dag Fletcher (coll of linked stories 1966), and continued with Interstellar Two-Five (1966), One Is One (1968), The Plantos Affair (1971), The Ring of Garamas (1972) and The Bromius Phenomenon (1973). The series is set in a galactic environment shared by other Rankine titles including The Fingalnan Conspiracy (1973) and The Thorburn Enterprise (1977). As Rankine he also wrote several Ties to Space: 1999 (1975-1977).
Occasionally, under his own name – as with From Carthage then I Came (1966; vt Eight Against Utopia 1967), Matrix (1970), The Phaeton Condition (1973) and Pitman's Progress (1976) – Mason would attempt more ambitious novels containing some social comment; some of these would be set in a sometimes disguised Wirral, near Liverpool. Generally speaking, however, he seemed content to produce rather low-pressure work, though the republication in the twenty-first century of some of his better tales, along with some new matter, suggests that his career and accomplishments may be of greater interest than previously assumed. [JC]
see also: Cities; The Day After Tomorrow; Mathematics; New Writings in SF.
Douglas Rankine Mason
born Hawarden, Flintshire, Wales: 26 September 1918
died Bristol, England: 8 August 2013
works
as by John Rankine
series
Dag Fletcher
- The Blockade of Sinitron: Four Adventures of Dag Fletcher (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 1966) as by John Rankine [coll of linked stories: Dag Fletcher: hb/]
- Interstellar Two-Five (London: Dennis Dobson, 1966) as by John Rankine [Dag Fletcher: hb/Richard Weaver]
- One Is One (London: Dennis Dobson, 1968) as by John Rankine [Dag Fletcher: hb/Richard Weaver]
- The Plantos Affair (London: Dennis Dobson, 1971) as by John Rankine [Dag Fletcher: hb/Richard Weaver]
- The Ring of Garamas (London: Dennis Dobson, 1972) as by John Rankine [Dag Fletcher: hb/Richard Weaver]
- The Bromius Phenomenon (New York: Ace Books, 1973) as by John Rankine [Dag Fletcher: pb/T Upshur]
- The Fletcher Chronicles (Wallasey, Merseyside: Golden Apple, 2003) as by John Rankine [coll: Dag Fletcher: hb/]
Space Corporation
- Never the Same Door (London: Dennis Dobson, 1968) as by John Rankine [Space Corporation: hb/Richard Weaver]
- Moons of Triopus (London: Dennis Dobson, 1968) as by John Rankine [Space Corporation: hb/Richard Weaver]
Space: 1999
- Space: 1999 #2: Moon Odyssey (London: Orbit/Futura, 1975) as by John Rankine [tie to Space: 1999: Space: 1999: pb/]
- Space: 1999 #5: Lunar Attack (London: Orbit/Futura, 1975) as by John Rankine [tie to Space: 1999: Space: 1999: pb/]
- Space: 1999 #6: Astral Quest (London: Orbit/Futura, 1975) as by John Rankine [tie to Space: 1999: Space: 1999: pb/]
- Space: 1999 #8: Android Planet (London: Orbit/Futura, 1976) as by John Rankine [tie to Space: 1999: Space: 1999: pb/]
- Space: 1999 #10: Phoenix of Megaron (New York: Pocket Books, 1976) as by John Rankine [tie to Space: 1999: Space: 1999: pb/]
- Forgotten Rocket (Wallasey, Merseyside: Golden Apple, 2003) as by John Rankine [rev vt of the above: restoring the original non-series manuscript: first released as an ebook in 2002: pb/John R Mason]
individual titles
- Binary Z (London: Dennis Dobson, 1969) as by John Rankine [hb/Richard Weaver]
- The Weisman Experiment (London: Dennis Dobson, 1969) as by John Rankine [hb/Richard Weaver]
- Operation Umanaq (New York: Ace Books, 1973) [pb/Dean Ellis]
- The Fingalnan Conspiracy (London: Dennis Dobson, 1973) as by John Rankine [hb/Bill Sanderson]
- The Thorburn Enterprise (London: Dennis Dobson, 1977) as by John Rankine [hb/Richard Weaver]
- The Vort Programme (London: Dennis Dobson, 1979) as by John Rankine [hb/Richard Weaver]
- The Star of Hesiock (London: Dennis Dobson, 1980) as by John Rankine [hb/Richard Weaver]
- Last Shuttle to Planet Earth (London: Dennis Dobson, 1980) as by John Rankine [hb/Richard Weaver]
as Douglas R Mason
- From Carthage then I Came (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, 1966) [hb/]
- Eight Against Utopia (New York: Popular Library, 1967) [vt of the above: pb/Jack Gaughan]
- Landfall Is a State of Mind (London: Robert Hale Limited, 1968) [hb/Barbara Walton]
- Ring of Violence (London: Robert Hale Limited, 1968) [hb/Barry Glynn]
- The Tower of Rizwan (London: Robert Hale Limited, 1968) [hb/Barbara Walton]
- The Janus Syndrome (London: Robert Hale Limited, 1969) [hb/]
- Matrix (New York: Ballantine Books, 1970) [pb/Paul Lehr]
- Dilation Effect (New York: Ballantine Books, 1971) [pb/Wilson McLean]
- Horizon Alpha (New York: Ballantine Books, 1971) [pb/Wilson McLean]
- Satellite 54-Zero (New York: Ballantine Books, 1971) [pb/John Linder]
- The Resurrection of Roger Diment (New York: Ballantine Books, 1972) [pb/Paul Lehr]
- The End Bringers (New York: Ballantine Books, 1973) [pb/Chris Foss]
- The Phaeton Condition (New York: G P Putnam's Sons, 1973) [hb/Paul Lehr]
- Pitman's Progress (Morley, Yorkshire: The Elmfield Press, 1976) [hb/Josh Kirby]
- The Omega Worm (London: Robert Hale Limited, 1976) [hb/]
- Euphor Unfree (London: Robert Hale Limited, 1977) [hb/]
- Mission to Pactolus R (London: Robert Hale Limited, 1978) [hb/Graham Tucker]
- The Typhon Intervention (London: Robert Hale Limited, 1981) [hb/Helen Hale]
- In the Eye of the Storm (Wallasey, Merseyside: Golden Apple, 2003) [first released as an ebook in 2001: pb/]
collections
- Tuo Yaw (Wallasey, Merseyside: Golden Apple, 2003) [coll: first released as an ebook in 2003: pb/]
links
previous versions of this entry