Michael G. Coney

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Michael Greatrex Coney (September 28, 1932 - November 4, 2005) was a British science fiction writer who spent his last years in Canada. Born in Birmingham, England on September 28, 1932, he moved to Vancouver, British Columbia in 1972. He died at age 73 of mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lungs, on November 4, 2005 at the Saanich Peninsula Hospital palliative care unit.

Contents

[edit] Assessment

Settings and themes vary between the different novels. A common element is that you follow rather ordinary people who are buffeted by forces beyond their strength, and mostly not much concerned with them. Most SF gives the superior powers to the leading characters, or has them acquire it during the course of the tale. Coney avoided this, and cleverly satirised it in The Hero of Downways.

The stories do also tie in with the cultural concerns of the time:

His first novel, Mirror Image (1972), neatly intensified the American genre's Cold War focus on impostors and secret invaders; in this case the "amorphs", who are indistinguishable from us, are themselves convinced that they are human.
After a first rush of dystopian tales, however, Coney began to shift his ground... his most successful later work - The Celestial Steam Locomotive and Gods of the Greataway - could almost be set on a transfigured Vancouver Island. (Obituary by John Clute).

Another of Coney's themes is small isolated communities - The Hero of Downways, Winter's Children and Fang, the Gnome. A different perspective is seen in ‘‘Hello Summer, Goodbye’’ - an adventure / mystery among people who are not quite human, on a planet rather like Earth, but with significant differences. An unpublished sequel to Hello Summer Goodbye is due to be appear in 2007.[1] It has previously been available as an internet download.

Brontomek! received the British Science Fiction Association award for best novel of 1976. He was nominated for a Nebula Award in 1995 for his novelette, Tea and Hamsters.

[edit] Fiction

[edit] Novels

  • Mirror Image, 1972
  • Syzygy, 1973
  • Friends Come in Boxes, 1973
  • The Hero of Downways, 1973
  • Winter's Children, 1974
  • Monitor Found in Orbit, 1974
  • The Jaws that Bite, the Claws that Catch, 1974. (UK title, The Girl with a Symphony in her Fingers)
  • Hello Summer, Goodbye, aka. Rax, 1975
  • Charisma, 1975
  • Brontomek, 1976
  • The Ultimate Jungle, 1979
  • Neptune's Cauldron, 1981
  • Cat Karina, 1982
  • The Celestial Steam Locomotive, 1983
  • Gods of the Greataway, 1984
  • Fang, the Gnome, 1988
  • King of the Scepter'd Isle, 1989
  • A Tomcat Called Sabrina, 1992
  • No Place for a Sealion, 1992

The Celestial Steam Locomotive and Gods of the Greataway are two parts of a single tale. Cat Karina, Fang, the Gnome and King of the Scepter'd Isle are independent stories in the same framework. Brontomek is set on the same world as Syzygy and is also loosely linked to Mirror Image.

[edit] Short Stories

  • The Angel of Marsh End, (nv) Amazing Winter 1995
  • Bartholomew & Son (and the Fish-Girl) [Joe Sagar], (nv) New Writings in SF 27, ed. Kenneth Bulmer, London: Sidgwick & Jackson 1975
  • Belinda's Mother, (ss) Tesseracts 5, ed. Robert Runte & Yves Meynard, Edmonton: Tesseract Books 1996
  • Beneath Still Waters, (nv) If January 1971
  • The Bridge of the Scraw [Donald Lackland], (ss) F&SF July 1973
  • Brontomek!, (n.) Gollancz 1976 (hc)
  • The Bucca, (ss) TransVersions, Autumn 1994] [Number 1]
  • Bulldog Drummond and the Grim Reaper, (nv) F&SF January 1996
  • The Byrds, (ss) Changes, ed. Michael Bishop & Ian Watson, Ace 1983
  • The Care and Killing of Your Doozle, (nv) Unpublished
  • Catapult to the Stars [Joe Sagar], (nv) F&SF April 1977
  • Cat Karina, (n.) Ace 1982 (pb)
  • Catnap, (ss) Alfred Hitchcok's Mystery Magazine May 1997
  • The Celestial Steam Locomotive, (n) Houghton Mifflin 1983 (hc)
  • Charisma, (n.) Gollancz 1975 (hc)
  • A Chimp of Few Words [Foss Creek], (nv) Scheduled to appear in Spectrum SF
  • The Cinderella Machine [Joe Sagar], (nv) F&SF August 1976
  • Crossing Pendhu Bridge, (nv) Unpublished
  • Die, Lorelei [Joe Sagar], (nv) F&SF May 1993
  • Discover a Latent Moses [from Winter's Children Gollancz, 1974], (nv) Galaxy April 1970
  • Dorothy Past and Present, (ss) Crime Through Time II, ed. Miriam Grace Monfredo and Sharan Newman 1998
  • An Entry in the Galactic Wildlife Encyclopedia, Copyright 2046, (vi) Drabble II: Double Century, ed. Rob Meades & David B. Wake, Beccon Publications 1990
  • Esmeralda, (ss) Galaxy January 1972
  • Fang, the Gnome, (n.) NAL 1988 (hc)
  • The Flower of Goronwy, (n.) Unpublished
  • Friends Come in Boxes, (n.) Gollancz 1973 (pb)
  • Foul Play at Duffy's Marina, (n.) Unpublished
  • The Gateway to Now, (ss) F&SF July 1974
  • The Girl With a Symphony in Her Fingers, (nv) Galaxy January 1974
  • Gods of the Greataway, (n.) Houghton Mifflin 1984 (hc)
  • The Hand of Fair Lysette, (ss) Tales of the Round Table, ed. Mike Ashley, Past Times 1997
  • Hello Summer, Goodbye (UK) [Rax (US)/Pallahaxi Tide (Canada)], (n.) Gollancz 1975 (hc)
  • The Hero of Downways, (n.) DAW 1973 (pb)
  • Hold My Hand, My Love!, (nv) Worlds of Tomorrow Spring 1971
  • The Hollow Where, (ss) New Writings in Horror and the Supernatural #1, ed. David A. Sutton, London: Sphere 1971
  • The Hook, the Eye and the Whip [Joe Sagar], (nv) Galaxy March 1974
  • In Search of Professor Greatrex, (ss) Pulsar #1, ed. George Hay, Penguin 1978
  • I Remember Pallahaxi, (n.) Unpublished
  • The Jaws that Bite, The Claws that Catch (US) [The Girl With a Symphony in Her Fingers (UK)], (n.) DAW 1975
  • A Judge of Men, (ss) Vision of Tomorrow December 1969
  • Just an Old-Fashioned War Story, (ss) Ascents of Wonder, ed. David Gerrold, Popular Library 1977
  • King of the Sceptre'd Isle, (n.) NAL 1989 (hc)
  • Lady Flamingo and the Shapecast Jennies, (ss) Unpublished
  • The Manya [Donald Lackland], (ss) F&SF March 1973
  • Mehitabel's Memories [Peninsula], (nv) Spectrum SF July 2001 [Number 6]
  • Memories of Gwynneth, (as Jennifer Black) (ss) F&SF February 1986
  • The Mind Prison, (n.) New Writings in SF 19, ed. John Carnell, London: Dobson 1971
  • Mirror Image, (n.) DAW 1972 (pb)
  • Monitor Found in Orbit, (ss) New Worlds Quarterly 2, ed. Michael Moorcock, London: Sphere 1971
  • Monitor Found in Orbit, (co) DAW 1974 (pb)
  • The Most Ancient Battle, (nv) Phantoms of the Night, ed. Richard Gilliam & Martin H. Greenberg, DAW 1996
  • Neptune's Cauldron, (n.) Tower 1981 (pb)
  • The Never Girl [fix-up Friends Come in Boxes Gollancz, 1975], (nv) If February 1973
  • No Place for a Sealion, (n.) Porthole Press 1988 (pb)
  • Oh, Valinda!, (nv) New Writings in SF 20, ed. John Carnell, London: Dobson 1972
  • Penny on a Skyhorse, (ss) Galileo Double Issue 1979] [Number 11 & 12]
  • Poppy Day [Joe Sagar], (nv) Spectrum SF February 2001 [Number 5]
  • The Porcupine, (ss) Unpublished
  • R26/5/PSY and I, (ss) New Writings in SF 16, ed. John Carnell, London: Dobson 1969
  • The Sharks of Pentreath, (ss) Galaxy February 1971
  • Shout of the Storm Riders, (ss) TransVersions, Winter 1996] [Number 6]
  • Sixth Sense, (ss) Vision of Tomorrow August 1969
  • The Small Penance of Lady Disdain, (nv) Hotel Andromeda, ed. Jack L. Chalker, Ace 1994
  • Snow Princess [from Winter's Children Gollancz, 1974], (nv) Galaxy January 1971
  • Sophie's Spyglass, (ss) F&SF February 1993
  • Sparklebugs, Holly and Love, (ss) F&SF December 1977
  • Starthinker 9, (ss) Andromeda 1, ed. Peter Weston, London: Futura 1976
  • The Summer Sweet, the Winter Wild, (ss) Interfaces, ed. Ursula K. Le Guin & Virginia Kidd, Ace 1980
  • Susanna, Susanna! [from Charisma], (ss) F&SF November 1972
  • Suspicion, (ss) Crime Through Time III, ed. Sharan Newman and Anne Perry 2000
  • Suzy is Something Special, (nv) The Last Dangerous Visions, ed. Harlon Ellison] [Unpublished]
  • Symbiote, (ss) New Writings in SF 15, ed. John Carnell, London: Dobson 1969
  • Syzygy, (n.) Ballantine 1973 (pb)
  • Tea and Hamsters [Foss Creek], (nv) F&SF January 1995
  • The Tertiary Justification, (nv) New Writings in SF 21, ed. John Carnell, London: Sidgwick & Jackson 1972
  • Thank You for the Music, (ar) Foundation #32 1984
  • Those Good Old Days of Liquid Fuel [Joe Sagar], (nv) F&SF January 1976
  • A Tomcat Called Sabrina, (n.) Porthole Press 1988 (pb)
  • Trading Post, (ss) SF Digest 1976] [Number 1]
  • The Trees of Terpsichore Three, (with Eric Brown)(nv) Spectrum SF May 2002
  • Troubleshooter, (ss) If May 1970
  • The True Worth of Ruth Villiers, (ss) New Writings in SF 17, ed. John Carnell, London: Dobson 1970
  • The Ultimate Jungle, (n.) Millington 1979 (hc)
  • Ultimatumbra, (ss) Vector Spring 1969 [Number 52]
  • The Unsavory Episode of Mrs. Hector Powell-Challenger, (ss) Monitor Found in Orbit, (co) DAW 1974
  • Werewolves in Sheep's Clothing [Foss Creek], (nv) F&SF September 1996
  • What Are Little Girls Made Of?, (ss) TransVersions, Spring 1998] [Number 8/9]
  • Whatever Became of the McGowans?, (ss) Galaxy May 1970
  • Winter's Children, (n.) Gollancz 1974
  • A Woman and Her Friend [fix-up Friends Come in Boxes Gollancz, 1975], (nv) If March 1973

[edit] Award Nominations

[edit] External links

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