David Guy Compton (19 August 1930 – 10 November 2023) was a British author who wrote science fiction under the name D. G. Compton. He used the name Guy Compton for his earlier crime novels and the pseudonym Frances Lynch for his Gothic novels. He also wrote short stories, radio plays, and a non-fiction book on stammering, its causes and cures.
Biography
Compton was born in London on 19 August 1930, as the son of actor Gerald Cross and actress Nuna Davey. His first published book was the 1962 crime novel Too Many Murderers. His 1970 novel The Steel Crocodile was nominated for the Nebula Award, and his 1974 novel The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe was filmed as Death Watch by Bertrand Tavernier in 1979.[1]
The 1983 film Brainstorm was very similar in content to Compton's 1968 novel Synthajoy.
In Science Fiction: History, Science, Vision, Robert Scholes and Eric S. Rabkin write:[2]
Compton's work is informed by an acute and subtle moral sense which avoids the extremes of satire and sentiment while compelling us to see the world ethically...he succeeds superbly in preserving certain traditional fictional values and human values in works of genuine science fiction.
The Steel Crocodile (1970) Alternate title: The Electric Crocodile
Chronocules (1971) Alternate titles: Chronicules and Hot Wireless Sets, Aspirin Tablets, the Sandpaper Slides of Used Matchboxes, and Something that Might have been Castor Oil
