Publishing the novels of Sam Youd (alias Hilary Ford, alias John Christopher etc) (See also https://nitter.cf/t.co/f0ewGIPTiv)
Joined January 2014
- Tweets13.5K
- Following671
- Followers784
- Likes11.9K
Pinned Tweet
'Poplitiko' (@alexnesspoetry ?) on Writers, Ageism and Racism - poplitiko.blogspot.com/2022/…
#johnchristopher #sciencefiction #apocalypse #dystopian #disaster #extinction
The SYLE Press retweeted
Today, I'm recommending four essential works by John Christopher (the pseudonym of Sam Youd).
The Death of Grass (1956): After a virus wipes out all grass and grain, John Custance leads a party north to his brother's farm as society crumbles around them. A bleak and terrifying portrait of civilization in collapse.
The White Mountains (1967): The opening novel of the Tripods trilogy follows young Will and his friends as they flee toward the mysterious White Mountains to escape being enslaved by alien mind control.
The City of Gold and Lead (1967): The gripping second novel in the Tripods trilogy sees our heroes infiltrate the high-gravity city of the alien Masters, where they uncover the invaders' true plans for Earth.
The Guardians (1970): Winner of the 1971 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, this dystopian tale is set in a future Britain divided between the crowded, high-tech "Conurb" and the aristocratic "County." A quiet but powerful exploration of conformity, social control, and class division.
Check out the quoted thread for the recommended works of Theodore Sturgeon, Alfred Bester, Bob Shaw, Clifford D. Simak, Algis Budrys, A.E. van Vogt, C.L. Moore, Cordwainer Smith, C.M. Kornbluth, D.G. Compton, Thomas M. Disch, Alice Bradley Sheldon (James Tiptree, Jr.), John Brunner, Judith Merril, Hal Clement, James Blish, Jack Williamson, Katherine MacLean, Fred Saberhagen, Jack Vance, Leigh Brackett, Edgar Pangborn, R.A. Lafferty, William Tenn, Kate Wilhelm, Avram Davidson, James H. Schmitz, Eric Frank Russell, Brian W. Aldiss, Carol Emshwiller, Wilson Tucker, Chad Oliver, Zenna Henderson, Pauline Ashwell, Frederik Pohl, Henry Kuttner, Barrington J. Bayley, James P. Hogan, C.J. Cherryh, Margaret St. Clair, Keith Laumer, Charles L. Harness, Howard Waldrop, Rosel George Brown, Gordon R. Dickson, Robert Sheckley, Fredric Brown, Kit Reed, Joanna Russ, H. Beam Piper, Daniel F. Galouye, Sydney J. Van Scyoc, Tom Godwin, Andre Norton, Harry Harrison, and Vonda McIntyre.
Today, I'm recommending four essential works by Vonda N. McIntyre, one of the leading voices in late-twentieth-century science fiction.
Dreamsnake (1978): This Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Award-winning novel explores healing, ecology, and human connection. It follows a healer who journeys through a post-apocalyptic world, using genetically engineered snakes to cure disease. When her rare and fragile dreamsnake is killed out of fear, she embarks on a dangerous quest to find another.
Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand (1973): This powerful Nebula Award-winning novelette was later expanded into the opening section of Dreamsnake, widely considered to be McIntyre's masterpiece.
The Moon and the Sun (1997): An alternate-history novel with fantasy elements, set in the court of Louis XIV, it follows a natural philosopher studying a captured mermaid-like creature. It won the Nebula Award for Best Novel over George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones.
Superluminal (1983): Developed from her acclaimed novella Aztecs, this novel follows a woman who undergoes a radical surgical modification, replacing her heart with an artificial pump in order to pilot faster-than-light spacecraft. It explores identity, gender, and the physical cost of interstellar travel.
Check out the quoted thread for the recommended works of Theodore Sturgeon, Alfred Bester, Bob Shaw, Clifford D. Simak, Algis Budrys, A.E. van Vogt, C.L. Moore, Cordwainer Smith, C.M. Kornbluth, D.G. Compton, Thomas M. Disch, Alice Bradley Sheldon (James Tiptree, Jr.), John Brunner, Judith Merril, Hal Clement, James Blish, Jack Williamson, Katherine MacLean, Fred Saberhagen, Jack Vance, Leigh Brackett, Edgar Pangborn, R.A. Lafferty, William Tenn, Kate Wilhelm, Avram Davidson, James H. Schmitz, Eric Frank Russell, Brian W. Aldiss, Carol Emshwiller, Wilson Tucker, Chad Oliver, Zenna Henderson, Pauline Ashwell, Frederik Pohl, Henry Kuttner, Barrington J. Bayley, James P. Hogan, C.J. Cherryh, Margaret St. Clair, Keith Laumer, Charles L. Harness, Howard Waldrop, Rosel George Brown, Gordon R. Dickson, Robert Sheckley, Fredric Brown, Kit Reed, Joanna Russ, H. Beam Piper, Daniel F. Galouye, Sydney J. Van Scyoc, Tom Godwin, Andre Norton, and Harry Harrison.
The SYLE Press retweeted
Cancel Dr Who and just adapt all the books by John Christopher and Robert Westall.
For more on the Mad Captain, thesylepress.com/whats-wrong… ...
#Postapocalypticfriday 'A Wrinkle in the Skin' - John Christopher. Yet another novel that was a great influence on cementing my love of the genre. Global Earthquakes, Mad Captains, and the English Channel no longer full of water. What is not to like? 🔥🔥🔥🔥
The SYLE Press retweeted
Not sure if he'd like these or find himself too old for them, but the Tripods series by John Christopher is a great read. There are three books plus a prequel; read them in publishing order (prequel last). I read them to my son years ago.
The SYLE Press retweeted
#Famouswritersbirthdays Famous writers’ birthdays for 4/16. Anatole France (4/16/1844) Sam Youd (aka John Christopher) (4/16/1922) Kingsley Amis (April 16, 1922). More literary events at buff.ly/Q4zeqPv
The SYLE Press retweeted
Check out this month’s reviews of reviews of books for young readers in our Nana’s Nook by Ruth Plumly Thompson, Kobi Yamada, and John Christopher at thenamelesszine.org/Nana.php
#bookreviews
The SYLE Press retweeted
#Postapocalypticfriday Flame Review is 'The Death of Grass', by John Christopher, published in 1966. A novel that was one of the formative books in cementing my own love of the genre, with a brutality to it, in places, that belies belief. Not an easy read, but a solid
🔥🔥🔥🔥
The SYLE Press retweeted
Even more fun reading space for kids at Bookhouse 43, Columbus, OH.
“What value did courage have, without a free and challenging mind to direct it?”
—John Christopher, 16 April 1922—3 February 2012, author of “Tripods” series, from “The White Mountains.” #LibraryOftheDay #write
The SYLE Press retweeted
John Christopher - legend. Watched The Tripods after my Saturday job. Read his Sword of Spirits trilogy - post apocalyptic Arthurian narrative set in Hampshire (the men of Winchester at war with Southampton). Those & John Wyndham novels were a very intense part of an 80s youth.
SY rated the Narnia books high among the chidren's books he most admired: "the imaginative sweep is magnificent".
The SYLE Press retweeted
Check out the work of John Christopher especially A Wrinkle In The Skin and The Tripods.
The SYLE Press retweeted
This is the 1968 Avon paperback edition (V2243, 75 cents) of The Little People, a 1966 horror novel by John Christopher (pen name of Samuel Youd, known for the Tripods series).
• Erotic undercurrents
• Nazi experiments
The cover, by Hector Garrido, shows a snarling green gnome in a pointed hat holding a whip, wearing a swastika armband, with a pack of similar tiny creatures charging.
Behind them is a brooding castle and a human couple. Its wild Nazi-leprechaun vibe makes it a favorite in bad sci-fi/horror cover communities.
Plot summary:
A young woman inherits a remote castle in Ireland and turns it into a small hotel.
Guests include a dysfunctional mix of people with tensions and secrets. Strange events lead to the discovery of foot-tall beings living secretly in the castle.
They speak German and originate from dark Nazi medical experiments on Jewish prisoners, giving them psychic powers they use to torment the humans.
The story mixes character drama, psychological horror, and eventual confrontation.
It starts as quiet, atmospheric horror with strong character work rather than pulpy action.
The sensational cover doesnt perfectly match the book but helped make this edition collectible and meme-worthy.
Originally published in 1966 by Hodder & Stoughton.
And have you read the 19-year-old Sam Youd's account of the bombing of Southampton? BLITZ! in taff.org.uk/ebooks.php?x=Hom…
The SYLE Press retweeted
I'd recommend all of John Wyndham's books, The Tripods series by John Christopher. The Merlin trilogy by Mary Stewart. All of Daphne Du Maurier. The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico. The Shepherd by Frederick Forsyth. These will set a young child up for life. Did me.
The SYLE Press retweeted
Born #onthisday1922 Sam Youd British #scifi #author used pseudonym John Christopher books inc The Death of Grass (1956) The Possessors (1964) remembered 4 #YAfiction Tripods Trilogy (1967 – 68) won The Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize (1971) Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis (1976)
The SYLE Press retweeted
Book recommendation:
‘The Death of Grass’ by John Christopher.
Picture ‘Mad Max’ but written by John Wyndham and set in England where everyone’s fighting over rice instead of fuel.
A bleakly chilling, underrated, dystopian gem.
