Samuel Youd
Encyclopedia
Samuel Youd is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 author, best known for his science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 writings under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...

 John Christopher, including the novel The Death of Grass
The Death Of Grass
The Death of Grass is a 1956 post-apocalyptic science fiction novel written by the English author Samuel Youd under the nom de plume John Christopher...

 and the young adult oriented novel
Young adult literature
Young-adult fiction or young adult literature , also juvenile fiction, is fiction written for, published for, or marketed to adolescents and young adults, roughly ages 14 to 21. The Young Adult Library Services of the American Library Association defines a young adult as "someone between the...

 series The Tripods
The Tripods
The Tripods is a series of young adult novels written by John Christopher, beginning in 1967. The first two were the basis of a science fiction TV-series, produced in the United Kingdom in the 1980s....

. He won the Guardian Award
Guardian Award
The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize or Guardian Award is a prominent award for works of children's literature by British or Commonwealth authors, published in the United Kingdom during the preceding year. The award has been given annually since 1967, and is decided by a panel of authors and the...

 in 1971, and the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis
Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis
The Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis is an annual award established in 1956 by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth to recognise outstanding works of children's literature. It is Germany's only state-funded literary award. In the past, authors from many countries...

 in 1976.

Youd has written under his own name, and under the following additional pseudonyms: Stanley Winchester, Hilary Ford, William Godfrey, William Vine, Peter Graaf, Peter Nichols, and Anthony Rye.

Biography

Christopher Samuel Youd was born in Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

. He was educated at Peter Symonds' School
Peter Symonds College
Peter Symonds College is a sixth form college in Winchester, Hampshire, in the south of England. It is one of the largest sixth form colleges in Britain.-Admissions:...

 in Winchester, Hampshire in 1948. His surname, Youd
Youd
Youd or Youds is a Flemish/French Flemish surname. Those with this surname most certainly emigrated from either France, Belgium or Holland and the name has a lot of Jewish significance and as Jewish people have been nomadic for many years due to religious persecution, it is difficult to ascertain...

, is of Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...

 origin, from the French Flemish dialect.

He served in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 in the Royal Corps of Signals
Royal Corps of Signals
The Royal Corps of Signals is one of the combat support arms of the British Army...

 between 1941 and 1946. A scholarship from the Rockefeller Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...

 made it possible for him to pursue a writing career, beginning with The Winter Swan, published as Samuel Youd. His first major success as a writer was with his science fiction novel The Death of Grass
The Death Of Grass
The Death of Grass is a 1956 post-apocalyptic science fiction novel written by the English author Samuel Youd under the nom de plume John Christopher...

, his second work under the pseudonym John Christopher, under which the majority of his work, and all of his science fiction novels, has been published. The Death of Grass was reprinted in the Penguin Modern Classics series in 2009.

In 1966 he started writing science fiction for adolescents
Young adult literature
Young-adult fiction or young adult literature , also juvenile fiction, is fiction written for, published for, or marketed to adolescents and young adults, roughly ages 14 to 21. The Young Adult Library Services of the American Library Association defines a young adult as "someone between the...

. The Tripods trilogy, the Prince in Waiting
Sword of the Spirits
The Sword of the Spirits is the title of a trilogy of young adult oriented novels written by John Christopher. The stories are set in the South of England in a post-apocalyptic future where, due to a worldwide ecological catastrophe, life has reverted back to a militaristic, medieval setting of...

 trilogy (also known as the Sword of the Spirits trilogy), The Lotus Caves
The Lotus Caves
The Lotus Caves is a juvenile science fiction novel by John Christopher, first published in 1969.-Plot synopsis:Two teenage boys, Marty and Steve, live in a colony on the Moon, "The Bubble", in the year 2068. Exploring outside the dome of "The Bubble" is strictly controlled...

, and The Guardians
The Guardians (novel)
The Guardians is a young adult science fiction novel written by John Christopher, originally published in 1970.Set in the year 2052, the novel depicts a future, authoritarian England divided into two distinct societies: the modern, overpopulated "Conurbs" and the aristocratic, rarefied "County";...

 were well received, with The Guardians winning the coincidentally titled Guardian Award
Guardian Award
The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize or Guardian Award is a prominent award for works of children's literature by British or Commonwealth authors, published in the United Kingdom during the preceding year. The award has been given annually since 1967, and is decided by a panel of authors and the...

 in 1971.

Film and television adaptions

The Death of Grass
The Death Of Grass
The Death of Grass is a 1956 post-apocalyptic science fiction novel written by the English author Samuel Youd under the nom de plume John Christopher...

 was made into a film, No Blade of Grass
No Blade of Grass (film)
No Blade of Grass is a 1970 British-American apocalyptic science fiction film directed by Cornel Wilde and starring Nigel Davenport, Jean Wallace and John Hamill. It is an adaptation of the novel The Death of Grass by John Christopher...

, in 1970, by Cornel Wilde
Cornel Wilde
Cornel Wilde was an American actor and film director.-Early life:Kornél Lajos Weisz was born in 1912 in Prievidza, Hungary , although his year and place of birth are usually and inaccurately given as 1915 in New York City...

. The Tripods
The Tripods
The Tripods is a series of young adult novels written by John Christopher, beginning in 1967. The first two were the basis of a science fiction TV-series, produced in the United Kingdom in the 1980s....

 was partially developed into a British TV series. It is in development as a film. Empty World
Empty World
Empty World is a science fiction novel written by John Christopher aimed at an adolescent audience. It was Christopher's eleventh such novel. The German station ZDF produced a TV adaptation of Empty World in 1987...

 was developed into a 1987 TV movie in Germany, Leere Welt. The Guardians
The Guardians (novel)
The Guardians is a young adult science fiction novel written by John Christopher, originally published in 1970.Set in the year 2052, the novel depicts a future, authoritarian England divided into two distinct societies: the modern, overpopulated "Conurbs" and the aristocratic, rarefied "County";...

 was made into a 1986 TV series in Germany, Die Wächter. The Lotus Caves
The Lotus Caves
The Lotus Caves is a juvenile science fiction novel by John Christopher, first published in 1969.-Plot synopsis:Two teenage boys, Marty and Steve, live in a colony on the Moon, "The Bubble", in the year 2068. Exploring outside the dome of "The Bubble" is strictly controlled...

 was in development in 2007, as a film from Walden Media
Walden Media
Walden Media is a children's film production and publishing company best known as the producers of The Chronicles of Narnia series. Its films are based on notable classic or award-winning children's literature, compelling biographies or historical events, documentaries and some original...

, to have been directed by Rpin Suwannath.

John Christopher

  • The Twenty-Second Century (1954) (short story collection)
  • The Year of the Comet (US title Planet in Peril, 1955)
  • The Death of Grass
    The Death Of Grass
    The Death of Grass is a 1956 post-apocalyptic science fiction novel written by the English author Samuel Youd under the nom de plume John Christopher...

     (1956), Michael Joseph (UK)
    • No Blade of Grass (1957), Simon & Schuster
      Simon & Schuster
      Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...

       (US)
  • The Caves of Night (1958)
  • A Scent of White Poppies (1959)
  • The Long Voyage (US title The White Voyage, 1960)
  • The World in Winter
    The World in Winter
    The World in Winter is a 1962 post-apocalyptic science fiction novel by John Christopher. It deals with a new ice age caused by a reduction in the output of the Sun.-Plot summary:...

     (US title The Long Winter, 1962)
  • Cloud on Silver (US title Sweeney's Island, 1964)
  • The Possessors (1964)
  • A Wrinkle in the Skin
    A Wrinkle in the Skin
    A Wrinkle In The Skin is a 1965 post-apocalyptic science fiction novel written by the English author John Christopher.-Plot summary:...

     (US title The Ragged Edge, 1965)
  • The Little People (1966)
  • The Tripods
    The Tripods
    The Tripods is a series of young adult novels written by John Christopher, beginning in 1967. The first two were the basis of a science fiction TV-series, produced in the United Kingdom in the 1980s....

     trilogy (expanded to quatrology, 1988)
    • The White Mountains (1967) Macmillan
      Macmillan Publishers (United States)
      Macmillan Publishers USA, also known as Macmillan Publishing, is a privately held American publishing company owned by the Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. It has offices in 41 countries worldwide and operates in more than 30 others....

       (US); Hamish Hamilton
      Hamish Hamilton
      Hamish Hamilton Limited was a British book publishing house, founded in 1931 eponymously by the half-Scot half-American Jamie Hamilton . Confusingly, Jamie Hamilton was often referred to as Hamish Hamilton...

       (UK)
      • 35th anniversary edition, with revised text and preface by author, Simon & Schuster
        Simon & Schuster
        Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...

        , ISBN 9780689855047 (2003)
    • The City of Gold and Lead (1967) Macmillan (US); Hamish Hamilton (UK)
    • The Pool of Fire (1968) Macmillan (US); Hamish Hamilton (UK)
      • When the Tripods Came (prequel
        Prequel
        A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...

        ) (1988)
  • Pendulum
    Pendulum
    A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced from its resting equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward the equilibrium position...

     (1968)
  • The Lotus Caves
    The Lotus Caves
    The Lotus Caves is a juvenile science fiction novel by John Christopher, first published in 1969.-Plot synopsis:Two teenage boys, Marty and Steve, live in a colony on the Moon, "The Bubble", in the year 2068. Exploring outside the dome of "The Bubble" is strictly controlled...

     (1969) Macmillan (US); Hamish Hamilton (UK) ISBN 0-241-01729-7
  • The Guardians
    The Guardians (novel)
    The Guardians is a young adult science fiction novel written by John Christopher, originally published in 1970.Set in the year 2052, the novel depicts a future, authoritarian England divided into two distinct societies: the modern, overpopulated "Conurbs" and the aristocratic, rarefied "County";...

     (1970)
  • The Sword of the Spirits
    Sword of the Spirits
    The Sword of the Spirits is the title of a trilogy of young adult oriented novels written by John Christopher. The stories are set in the South of England in a post-apocalyptic future where, due to a worldwide ecological catastrophe, life has reverted back to a militaristic, medieval setting of...

     trilogy
    • The Prince In Waiting (1970)
    • Beyond the Burning Lands (1971)
    • The Sword of the Spirits (1972)
  • In the Beginning Longman
    Longman
    Longman was a publishing company founded in London, England in 1724. It is now an imprint of Pearson Education.-Beginnings:The Longman company was founded by Thomas Longman , the son of Ezekiel Longman , a gentleman of Bristol. Thomas was apprenticed in 1716 to John Osborn, a London bookseller, and...

     (1972) ISBN 0-582-53726-6
  • Dom and Va (1973)
  • Wild Jack (1974)
  • Empty World
    Empty World
    Empty World is a science fiction novel written by John Christopher aimed at an adolescent audience. It was Christopher's eleventh such novel. The German station ZDF produced a TV adaptation of Empty World in 1987...

     (1977)
  • The Fireball trilogy
    • Fireball
      Fireball (novel)
      Fireball is the first book in the Fireball Trilogy by John Christopher, published in 1981, exploring the adventures of two cousins when they are suddenly transported into an alternate history Earth through a mysterious fireball.-Plot synopsis:...

       (1981), E. P. Dutton
      E. P. Dutton
      E. P. Dutton was an American book publishing company founded as a book retailer in Boston, Massachusetts in 1852 by Edward Payson Dutton. In 1986, the company was acquired by Penguin Group and split into two imprints: Dutton Penguin and Dutton Children's Books.-History:Edward Payson Dutton founded...

      , ISBN 0-525-29738-3
    • New Found Land
      New Found Land
      New Found Land is a young adult alternate history novel by John Christopher, the second in his Fireball series. It was first published in 1983.-Plot summary:...

       (1983), Dutton (US), ISBN 0-525-44049-6. Gollancz
      Gollancz
      Gollancz often refers to the British publishing house Victor Gollancz Ltd.Gollancz, a family name originating from the Polish town Gołańcz , is mainly known as the name of a prominent British Jewish family, including:* Sir Hermann Gollancz , rabbi* Sir Israel Gollancz , scholar of...

       (UK), ISBN 0-575-03222-7
    • Dragon Dance
      Dragon Dance (novel)
      Dragon Dance is a young adult alternate history novel by John Christopher, the last novel of the Fireball Trilogy. It was first published in 1986.-Plot summary:...

       (1986) Dutton (US) ISBN 0-525-44227-8; Viking Kestrel
      Viking Press
      Viking Press is an American publishing company owned by the Penguin Group, which has owned the company since 1975. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim...

       (UK), ISBN 0-670-81030-4
  • When the Tripods Came (1988), a prequel
    Prequel
    A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...

     to The Tripods trilogy
  • A Dusk of Demons (1993)
  • Bad Dream (2003)

Samuel Youd

  • The Winter Swan (1949)
  • Babel Itself (1951)
  • Brave Conquerors (1952)
  • Crown and Anchor (1953)
  • A Palace of Strangers (1954)
  • Holly Ash (US title The Opportunist, 1955)
  • Giant's Arrow (1956) (as Anthony Rye in the UK, as Samuel Youd in the US)
  • The Choice (UK title The Burning Bird, 1961)
  • Messages of Love (1961)
  • The Summers at Accorn (1963)

William Godfrey

  • Malleson at Melbourne (1956) - a cricket
    Cricket
    Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

     novel, volume 1 of an unfinished trilogy
  • The Friendly Game (1957) - volume 2 of the trilogy

Peter Graaf

  • Dust and the Curious Boy (US title Give the Devil His Due, 1957) - volume 1 in the Joe Dust series
  • Daughter Fair (1958) - volume 2 in the Joe Dust series
  • The Sapphire Conference (1959) - volume 3 in the Joe Dust series
  • The Gull's Kiss (1962)

Hilary Ford

  • Felix Walking (1958)
  • Felix Running (1959)
  • Bella on the Roof (1965)
  • A Figure in Grey (1973)
  • Sarnia (1974)
  • Castle Malindine (1975)
  • A Bride for Bedivere (1976)

Stanley Winchester

  • The Practice (1968)
  • Men With Knives (US title A Man With a Knife, 1968)
  • The Helpers (1970)
  • Ten Per Cent of Your Life (1973)

Short stories

Youd's first published story was "Dreamer" in the March 1941 Weird Tales
Weird Tales
Weird Tales is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine first published in March 1923. It ceased its original run in September 1954, after 279 issues, but has since been revived. The magazine was set up in Chicago by J. C. Henneberger, an ex-journalist with a taste for the macabre....

, as C.S. Youd. He has had stories published in the magazines Astounding Science Fiction, Science Fantasy
Science Fantasy (magazine)
Science Fantasy, which also appeared under the titles Impulse and SF Impulse, was a British fantasy and science fiction magazine, launched in 1950 by Nova Publications as a companion to Nova's New Worlds. Walter Gillings was editor for the first two issues, and was then replaced by John Carnell,...

, Worlds Beyond Science-Fantasy Fiction, New Worlds
New Worlds (magazine)
New Worlds was a British science fiction magazine which was first published professionally in 1946. For 25 years it was widely considered the leading science fiction magazine in Britain, publishing 201 issues up to 1971...

, Galaxy Science Fiction
Galaxy Science Fiction
Galaxy Science Fiction was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by an Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break in to the American market. World Editions hired as editor H. L...

, SF Digest, Future Science Fiction
Future Science Fiction
Future Science Fiction was an American science fiction pulp magazine that was published under a number of different names between 1939 and 1943 and again from 1950 to 1960.- Publication history :...

, Space SF Digest, Thrilling Wonder Stories, Authentic Science Fiction
Authentic Science Fiction
Authentic Science Fiction was a British science fiction magazine published in the 1950s that ran for 85 issues under three editors: Gordon Landsborough, H.J. Campbell, and E.C. Tubb...

, Space Science Fiction
Space Science Fiction
Space Science Fiction was a science fiction magazine published by Space Publications, Inc. of New York and The Archer Press Ltd. of London that ran for eight issues from May 1952 to September 1953. Space was edited by Lester del Rey and featured a monthly book review column by George O. Smith...

, Nebula Science Fiction
Nebula Science Fiction
Nebula Science Fiction was the first Scottish science fiction magazine. It was published from 1952 to 1959, and was edited by Peter Hamilton, a young Scot who was able to take advantage of spare capacity at his parents' printing company, Crownpoint, to launch the magazine...

, Fantastic Universe
Fantastic Universe
Fantastic Universe was a U.S. science fiction magazine which began publishing in the 1950s. It ran for 69 issues, from June 1953 to March 1960, under two different publishers. It was part of the explosion of science fiction magazine publishing in the 1950s in the United States, and was moderately...

, Saturn Science Fiction
Saturn (magazine)
Saturn was a short-lived bi-monthly, digest sized science fiction magazine published by Candar Publishing out of New York. It produced only five issues from 1957 to 1958 as a science fiction magazine before changing to a detective magazine and then to a horror magazine specializing in weird...

, Orbit Science Fiction
Orbit Science Fiction
Orbit Science Fiction was a short lived science fiction magazine anthology published in 1953 and 1954 by the Hanro Corporation. Only 5 issues were published, each of which were edited by Donald A. Wollheim, although Jules Saltman was credited within the publication. Several prominent science...

, Fantastic Story Magazine
Fantastic Story Magazine
Fantastic Story Magazine was a 1950-55 science fiction pulp magazine which merged pulp reprints with new stories.It was published on a quarterly schedule by Best Books, a subsidiary imprint of Standard Magazines. Initially priced at 25 cents, the 160-page debut issue was titled Fantastic Story...

, If: Worlds of Science Fiction
If (magazine)
If was an American science fiction magazine launched in March 1952 by Quinn Publications, owned by James L. Quinn. Quinn hired Paul W. Fairman to be the first editor, but early circulation figures were disappointing, and Quinn fired Fairman after only three issues. Quinn then took over the...

, Worlds of Science Fiction (UK), Argosy (UK), The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Beyond Infinity

Serializations

No Blade of Grass was serialized
Serial (literature)
In literature, a serial is a publishing format by which a single large work, most often a work of narrative fiction, is presented in contiguous installments—also known as numbers, parts, or fascicles—either issued as separate publications or appearing in sequential issues of a single periodical...

 in The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post is a bimonthly American magazine. It was published weekly under this title from 1897 until 1969, and quarterly and then bimonthly from 1971.-History:...

 in 1957. Caves of Night was serialized in John Bull Magazine
John Bull (magazine)
John Bull Magazine was a weekly periodical established in the City, London EC4, by Theodore Hook in 1820.-Publication dates:It was a popular periodical that continued in production through 1824 and at least until 1957...

 in 1958.

Anthologies

  • The Best SF Stories 3rd Series by Grayson & Grayson (1953)
  • Avon Science fiction and Fantasy Reader #1 (1953)
  • The Twenty-Second Century Grayson & Grayson (1954)
  • Gateway To Tomorrow edited by John Carnell
    John Carnell
    Edward John Carnell , known to his friends as either Ted or John, was a British science fiction editor known for editing New Worlds in 1946 then from 1949 to 1963. He also edited Science Fantasy from the 1950s...

    , published by Panther (1963)
  • Avon Science Fiction and Fantasy Reader No. 2
  • The Best Science Fiction Stories Third Series edited by Everett F. Bleiler
    Everett F. Bleiler
    Everett Franklin Bleiler was an editor, bibliographer, and scholar of science fiction, detective fiction, and fantasy literature. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he co-edited the first "year's best" series of science fiction anthologies, and his Checklist of Fantastic Literature has been called...

     and T. E. Dikty
    T. E. Dikty
    Thaddeus Maxim Eugene Dikty was one of the earliest science fiction anthologists.He started the first "Best of the Year" anthologies, called The Best Science Fiction, which ran from 1949 until 1957. In 1953, he married writer Julian May, and in 1957 the two started an editorial service for...

  • The Tenth Pan Book of Horror Stories, edited by Herbert Van Thal
    Herbert Van Thal
    Herbert Maurice van Thal , better known as Bertie, was a bookseller, publisher, agent, biographer, and anthologist. His grandfather was a distiller , and was a director of the theatre proprieters, Howard and Wyndham...

     (1969)
  • Young Winter’s Tales No. 2, ed. M. R. Hodgkin, London: Macmillan (1971)
  • In Time to Come, Topliner (1973)
  • The Best of British SF 1 Orbit Books
    Orbit Books
    Orbit Books is an international publisher that specialises in science fiction and fantasy books. It was founded in 1974 as part of the Macdonald Futura publishing company...

     (1977)
  • The Random House Book of Science Fiction Stories Random House
    Random House
    Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...

     (1997) (ISBN 0-679-88527-7)
  • The Young Oxford Book of Nasty Endings, (1997), edited by Dennis Pepper, Oxford University Press
    Oxford University Press
    Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...

    , ISBN 0-19-278151-0

External links

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