Smith, Wayland
Entry updated 18 November 2024. Tagged: Author.
Pseudonym used for his one Scientific Romance by UK engineer and author Victor Bayley (1880-1972); he served in the Royal Engineers during World War One; his career at a high level in the Indian railway system was reflected in much of his adventure fiction, some of which verged on fantasy, and which he signed with his real name. Wayland Smith was a legendary blacksmith in German and Norse mythology; in The Machine Stops (1936) by Smith, a mysterious Pandemic causes all metals to disintegrate, a Disaster that casts humanity back into barbarism. One young man (a kind of avatar of the mythical smith) attempts to fabricate a new alloy (see Inventions) to save the race. [JC]
Victor Bayley
born Lambeth, London: 30 May 1880
died Amersham, Buckinghamshire: 5 November 1972
works
- The Machine Stops (London: Robert Hale, 1936) [hb/]
links
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