Pike, Christopher
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
Pseudonym – apparently based on a Star Trek character – of US author Kevin McFadden (1954- ), whose career has been mostly devoted to novels for children and the Young Adult market; some of these, like The Tachyon Web (1986) and, are sf adventures combining orthodox plots (in this case a group of teenagers "borrows" a Spaceship in which they penetrate the eponymous barrier which keeps humans from outer space) with a modicum of contemporary relevance (the children in this book are sexually involved with one another). Other juveniles – including Chain Letter (1986), Last Act (1988), Scavenger Hunt (1989), See You Later (1990), Witch (1990) and Fall into Darkness (1990) – are horror or fantasy, the latter sometimes involving Time Travel. The Last Vampire sequence, beginning with The Last Vampire (1994) and ending with Thirst No 4: The Shadow of Death (2011) [see Checklist for omnis] carries its central Vampire through millennia from its birth of a demon in ancient India; other series, like the Spooksville sequence (not listed), are horror/fantasies with a very light touch, for younger children; the Alosha sequence, comprising Alosha (2004), The Shaktra (2005) and The Yanti (2006), sets its protagonist a complex rite of passage: she must successfully become a woman while saving Earth – threatened by Ecological Disaster – from massed armies of dwarves and elves ready to take over the planet.
With Sati (1990), whose eponymous heroine may be God or may be a dippy channeller, Pike moved briefly into adult fiction. Whisper of Death (1991) is an sf tale for older children; The Season of Passage (1992) is an adult horror novel; The Eternal Enemy (1993) is again Young Adult sf, in which a VCR turn into a Time Viewer capable of giving the young protagonist sight of the future; Magic Fire (1999), whose pyromaniac protagonist creates a California-wide Disaster when he sets the state alight; The Secret of Ka (2010) is an ambitious fantasy with, once again, the planet at stake. But most of his work is distant from sf. [JC]
Other works:
Kevin McFadden
born New York: 12 November 1954
works
series (selected)
Remember Me
- Remember Me (New York: Pocket Books, 1989) [Remember Me: pb/]
- Remember Me 2: The Return (New York: Pocket Books, 1994) [Remember Me: pb/Danilo Ducak]
- Remember Me, Volume One (London: Hodder Children's Books, 2010) [omni of the above two: Remember Me: pb/]
- Remember Me 3: The Last Story (New York: Pocket Books, 1995) [Remember Me: pb/Danilo Ducak]
- Remember Me (New York: Simon Pulse, 2010) [omni of the above three: Remember Me: pb/]
- Remember Me, Volume Two (London: Hodder Children's Books, 2010) [omni of the above two: Remember Me: pb/]
The Last Vampire
- The Last Vampire (New York: Pocket Books/Archway, 1994) [Last Vampire: pb/Brian Kotzky]
- Black Blood (New York: Pocket Books/Archway, 1994) [Last Vampire: pb/Danilo Ducak]
- The Last Vampire No 1 and 2 (London: Hodder Children's Books, 1997) [omni of the above two: Last Vampire: pb/Paul Davies]
- The Last Vampire (London: Hodder Children's Books, 2007) [vt of the above: Last Vampire: pb/David Frankland]
- The Last Vampire: The Last Vampire and Black Blood (London: Hodder Children's Books, 2010) [vt of the above: Last Vampire: pb/]
- The Last Vampire (London: Hodder Children's Books, 2007) [vt of the above: Last Vampire: pb/David Frankland]
- The Last Vampire No 1 and 2 (London: Hodder Children's Books, 1997) [omni of the above two: Last Vampire: pb/Paul Davies]
- Red Dice (New York: Pocket Books/Archway, 1995) [Last Vampire: pb/Danilo Ducak]
- The Last Vampire: Collector's Edition 1 (New York: Pocket Books, 1998) [omni of the above three: Last Vampire: pb/Danilo Ducak]
- Thirst No 1 (New York: Simon Pulse, 2010) [vt of the above: Last Vampire: pb/Michael Frost]
- The Last Vampire: Collector's Edition 1 (New York: Pocket Books, 1998) [omni of the above three: Last Vampire: pb/Danilo Ducak]
- Phantom (New York: Pocket Books/Archway, 1996) [Last Vampire: pb/Danilo Jeff Walker]
- The Last Vampire: Red Dice and Phantom (London: Hodder Children's Books, 1998) [omni of the above two: Last Vampire: pb/]
- Evil Thirst (New York: Pocket Books/Archway, 1996) [Last Vampire: pb/Joe Danisi]
- Creatures of Forever (New York: Pocket Books/Archway, 1996) [Last Vampire: pb/Phil Schramm]
- The Last Vampire: Collector's Edition 1 and 2 (New York: Pocket Books, 1998) [omni of the above three: Last Vampire: pb/Jeff Walker]
- Thirst No 2 (New York: Simon Pulse, 2010) [vt of the above: Last Vampire: pb/Danilo Ducak]
- The Last Vampire: Evil Thirst and Creatures of Forever (London: Hodder Children's Books, 2010) [omni of the above two: Last Vampire: pb/]
- The Last Vampire: Collector's Edition 1 and 2 (New York: Pocket Books, 1998) [omni of the above three: Last Vampire: pb/Jeff Walker]
- Thirst No 3: The Eternal Dawn (New York: Simon Pulse, 2010) [Last Vampire: pb/Michael Frost]
- Thirst No 4: The Shadow of Death (New York: Simon Pulse, 2011) [Last Vampire: pb/Michael Frost]
- Thirst No 5: The Sacred Veil (New York: Simon Pulse, 2013) [Last Vampire: pb/Michael Frost]
Alosha
- Alosha (New York: St Martin's Press, 2004) [Alosha: hb/Larry Rostant]
- The Shaktra (New York: Tor Starscape, 2005) [Alosha: hb/Daniel Dos Santos]
- Alosha (New York: Tor Teen, 2004) [Alosha: hb/Daniel Dos Santos]
individual titles (selected)
- The Tachyon Web (New York: Bantam Spectra, 1986) [pb/Kevin Johnson]
- Chain Letter (New York: Avon Books, 1986) [pb/]
- Last Act (New York: Pocket Books/Archway, 1990) [pb/]
- Scavenger Hunt (New York: Pocket Books/Archway, 1989) [pb/Brian Kotzky]
- See You Later (New York: Pocket Books, 1990) [pb/]
- Witch (New York: Pocket Books/Archway, 1990) [pb/Brian Kotzky]
- Fall into Darkness (New York: Pocket Books/Archway, 1990) [pb/Brian Kotzky]
- Sati (New York: St Martin's Press, 1990) [hb/Honi Werner]
- Whisper of Death (New York: Pocket Books/Archway, 1991) [pb/]
- The Season of Passage (New York: Tor, 1992) [hb/Scott Hague]
- Monster (New York: Pocket Books/Archway, 1992) [pb/Brian Kotzky]
- Road to Nowhere (New York: Pocket Books/Archway, 1993) [pb/]
- The Eternal Enemy (New York: Pocket Books/Archway, 1993) [pb/Brian Kotzky]
- The Immortal (New York: Pocket Books/Archway, 1993) [pb/Brian Kotzky]
- The Wicked Heart (New York: Pocket Books/Archway, 1993) [pb/Dru Blair]
- The Listeners (London: Coronet, 1994) [pb/Paul Davies]
- The Midnight Club (New York: Pocket Books/Archway, 1994) [pb/Brian Kotzky]
- Magic Fire (New York: Archway, 1999) [pb/Franco Accornero]
- The Secret of Ka (New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010) [hb/Odessa Sawyer]
- Strange Girl (New York: Simon Pulse, 2015) [pb/]
links
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