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Van Dyke, John Henry

(?   -?   ) US author whose self-published Flash sequence of occultish sf novels, comprising The Flash (1927) and Blended Worlds (1927), carries a variegated cast through Western-inflected landscapes, where Secret Masters are met in Underground fastnesses, advanced science is displayed, all within the frame of a plot seemingly designed – though it is not easy to unpack a Godgame understory – to challenge the main protagonists to earn their coming marriage through aspirational ascents and twists, both physical and spiritual. In the course of this climb to virtue, the male protagonist becomes a famous boxer, and his bride to be a faith-healer.

Van Dyke should not be confused with the American poet and author Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933). [JC]

John Henry Van Dyke

born

works

series

Flash

• The Flash (Miami, Arizona: Southern Arizona Publishing Company, 1927) [Flash: hb/]
• Blended Worlds (Miami, Arizona: Southern Arizona Publishing Company, 1927) [Flash: hb/]

links

• Picture Gallery

Entry from The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (2011-current) edited by John Clute and David Langford.
Accessed 07:29 am on 27 June 2026.
<https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/van_dyke_john_henry>