Williams, Gordon
Entry updated 3 June 2020. Tagged: Author.
(1934-2017) Scottish journalist and author best known for the nonfantastic The Siege of Trencher's Farm (1969), filmed by Sam Peckinpah as Straw Dogs (1971), and for the Hazell detective novels with Terry Venables (1943- ), the two writing together as P B Yuill, beginning with Hazell Plays Solomon (1974), all three volumes being later televised. The slightly earlier The Bornless Keeper (1974) as by P B Yuill (but solely by Williams) is a seemingly supernatural thriller with a Gothic flavour, set on an isolated Island whose murderous guardian – suggested in the title and by local legend – proves after much slaughter to be a deranged, bizarrely costumed serial killer. Of direct sf interest is the solo Micronauts sequence – The Micronauts (1977), The Microcolony (1979; vt Micronaut World 1981) and Revolt of the Micronauts (1981) – a series of thrillers about government agents miniaturized (see Great and Small; Miniaturization) to perform intricate assignments. [JC/DRL]
Gordon MacLean Williams
born Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland: 20 June 1934
died 20 August 2017
works (selected)
series
Micronauts
- The Micronauts (New York: Bantam Books, 1977) [Micronauts: pb/Boris Vallejo]
- The Microcolony (New York: Bantam Books, 1979) [Micronauts: pb/Lou Feck]
- Micronaut World (London: New English Library, 1981) [vt of the above: Micronauts: pb/Gerald Grace]
- Revolt of the Micronauts (New York: Bantam Books, 1981) [Micronauts: pb/Peter Goodfellow]
individual titles
- The Bornless Keeper (London: Macmillan, 1974) as by P B Yuill [hb/Chris Yates]
links
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