Service, Pamela F

Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.

(1945- ) US author of fantasy and sf, mostly the former, who began to publish work of genre interest with "Chariot Ruts" in Asimov's for March-April 1978; she has written little short fiction. Her novels, usually designed for children or the Young Adult market, begin with the Winter sequence of Ruined Earth fantasies comprising Winter of Magic's Return (1985) and Tomorrow's Magic (1987), in which – released from immurement by a nuclear blast 500 years after World War Three – Merlin reinvokes the Matter of Britain through his discovery of Arthur, still alive, a Once and Future King ready to save the land [for Arthur, Matter, Merlin and Once and Future King see The Encyclopedia of Fantasy under links below]. Singletons of sf interest are: A Question of Destiny (1986), a young-adult sf thriller; the Stinker sequence comprising Stinker from Space (1988 chap) and Stinkers Return (1993), featuring an Alien forced to disguise itself on Earth as a skunk; Under Alien Stars (1990), set on an Earth occupied by Alien invaders whose mores challenge human prejudices, and who themselves are under attack from space; Being of Two Minds (1991), which intriguingly involves Identity Exchanges in a Ruritanian setting; Weirdos of the Universe, Unite! (1992), which unconvincingly pits figures from human Mythology against another alien Invasion; and Storm at the End of Time (1994) where – in a narrative similar to William Mayne's Cuddy (1994), both books being published simultaneously – Timeslips draw various characters together to search for the fragments of a staff whose reassembly is necessary to fight off an upwelling of evil in the world. Two later sf series – the Alien Agent sequence beginning with My Cousin, the Alien (2008), and the Way-Too-Real Aliens sequence beginning with Escape from Planet Yastol (2010) – were designed for younger readers. [JC]

Pamela Floy Service

born Berkeley, California: 8 October 1945

works

series

Winter

Winter of Magic's Return (New York: Atheneum, 1985) [Winter: hb/]
Tomorrow's Magic (New York: Macmillan/Atheneum, 1987) [Winter: hb/Toby Gowing]
- Tomorrow's Magic (New York: Random House Books for Young Readers, 2007) [omni of the above two: Winter: hb/]
Yesterday's Magic (New York: Random House, 2008) [Winter: hb/James Bernardin]
Earth's Magic (New York: Random House, 2009) [Winter: hb/James Bernardin]

Stinker

Stinker from Space (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1988) [Stinker: hb/]
Stinkers Return (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1993) [Stinker: hb/Gail Owens]

Alien Agent

My Cousin, the Alien (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Carolrhoda Books, 2008) [Alien Agent: hb/]
Camp Alien (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Carolrhoda Books, 2009) [Alien Agent: hb/]
Alien Expedition (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Carolrhoda Books, 2009) [Alien Agent: illus/hb/Mike Gorman]
Alien Encounter (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Carolrhoda Books, 2010) [Alien Agent: hb/Mike Gorman]
Alien Contact (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Carolrhoda Books, 2010) [Alien Agent: hb/Mike Gorman]
Alien Envoy (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Lerner Classroom, 2011) [Alien Agent: illus/hb/Mike Gorman]

Way-Too-Real Aliens

Escape from Planet Yastol (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Lerner Publishing Group/Darby Creek, 2010) [Way-Too-Real Aliens: illus/hb/Mike Gorman]
The Not-So-Perfect Planet (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Darby Creek, 2011) [Way-Too-Real Aliens: illus/hb/Mike Gorman]
The Wizards of Wyrd World (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Darby Creek, 2012) [Way-Too-Real Aliens: illus/hb/Mike Gorman]

individual titles

A Question of Destiny (New York: Atheneum/Argo, 1986) [hb/]
When the Night Wind Howls (New York: Macmillan/Atheneum, 1987) [hb/]
The Reluctant God (New York: Macmillan/Atheneum, 1988) [hb/Ondre Pettingill]
Vision Quest (New York: Macmillan/Atheneum, 1989) [hb/Michael Hays]
Under Alien Stars (New York: Macmillan/Atheneum, 1990) [hb/Ondre Pettingill]
Wizard of Wind and Rock (New York: Macmillan/Atheneum, 1990) [hb/Ondre Pettingill]
Being of Two Minds (New York: Macmillan/Atheneum, 1991) [hb/Michael Hays]
Weirdos of the Universe, Unite! (New York: Macmillan/Atheneum, 1992) [hb/Paul Henry]
All's Faire (New York: Ballantine Books/Fawcett Juniper, 1993) [chap: pb/]
Storm at the End of Time (New York: Walker and Company, 1994) [hb/Dennis Nolan]
Phantom Victory (New York: Macmillan/Atheneum, 1994) [hb/]

links

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