Kenneth Bulmer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
Kenneth Bulmer

Born January 14, 1921(1921-01-14)
London, England
Died December 16, 2005 (aged 84)
Occupation Author
Nationality United Kingdom
Genres Science fiction

Henry Kenneth Bulmer (January 14, 1921 – December 16, 2005) was a British author, primarily of science fiction.

Born in London, he married Pamela Buckmaster March 7, 1953. They had one son and two daughters, and were divorced in 1981. Bulmer lived in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England.

An extraordinarily prolific writer, Bulmer penned over 160 novels and innumerable short stories, both under his real name and numerous pseudonyms. For instance, his long-running Dray Prescot series of planetary romances was initially published as by Alan Burt Akers, and later as by the first-person protagonist of the series, Prescot himself.

Bulmer's works are popular in translation in some non-English-speaking countries, particularly Germany, to the extent that in some cases they have been published only in German editions, with the original English language versions remaining unpublished.

He also helped create the British comics antihero The Steel Claw. Paul Grist's comics series Jack Staff acknowledges this in the real name of its character The Claw, Ben Kulmer.

Bulmer was also active in science fiction fandom, including travelling to the United States in 1955 as the TransAtlantic Fan Fund (TAFF) delegate.

In the 1970s he edited nine issues of the New Writings in Science Fiction anthology series in succession to John Carnell, who originated the series.

Contents

[edit] Pen names and imaginary biographies

Bulmer's pseudonyms include Alan Burt Akers, Frank Brandon, Rupert Clinton, Ernest Corley, Peter Green, Adam Hardy, Philip Kent, Bruno Krauss, Karl Maras, Manning Norvil, Chesman Scot, Nelson Sherwood, Richard Silver, H. Philip Stratford and Tully Zetford. Kenneth Johns was a collective pseudonym used for a collaboration with author John Newman. Some of Bulmer's works were published along with the works of other authors under "house names" (collective pseudonyms) Ken Blake (for a series of tie-ins with the 1970s television programme The Professionals), Arthur Frazier, Neil Langholm, Charles R. Pike, and Andrew Quiller. He also ghost-wrote a couple books for Barry Sadler.

In some cases, Bulmer used not only a different name but also included in the books a detailed imaginary biography giving specific personal details substantially different from the true ones. For example, the Viking series published under the name "Neil Langholm" included biographical details intended to create the impression that the series - as appropriate to its subject - was written by a Dane:

"Neil Langholm was born in Copenhagen in 1931, but was educated in England at Eton and Oxford. He started his career as a veterinary surgeon but gave up in 1960 to begin writing full time. He is the author of several bestselling western and science fiction series, which he writes under a pseudonym. Mr. Langholm now lives with his wife and five children in Ruislip. His hobbies are breeding dogs and archery." (From the introduction page to "Blood Sacrifice", 1975).

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Science fiction novels

[edit] Dray Prescot series (written as Alan Burt Akers and Dray Prescot)

Consists of eleven cycles (the last is unfinished), four stand-alone novels, and three stand-alone short stories as noted below. The first thirty-seven volumes were published by DAW Books from December 1972-April 1988; to date, print editions of the later volumes have been published solely in German translation by Wilhelm Heyne Verlag from 1991-1998. English language ebooks of volumes 38-41 were later issued by the now-defunct electronic publisher Savanti from September 1995-December 1998; ebooks of volumes 1-45 have since been issued by another electronic publisher, Mushroom eBooks, which projects issuing the entire saga in ebook form. As of April 27, 2009 only the first forty-five books of the series are available from this source, though its website still cites the end of 2008 as the target date for completion of the project.

[edit] Delian cycle

[edit] Havilfar cycle

[edit] Krozair cycle

[edit] Vallian cycle

[edit] Jikaida cycle

[edit] Spikatur cycle

[edit] Pandahem cycle

[edit] Witch War cycle

[edit] Lohvian cycle (originally published in German only)
  • 38. Scorpio Reborn (Wiedergeborenes Scorpio, 1991; English ebook edition Sep. 1995)
  • 39. Scorpio Assassin (Meuchelmörder von Scorpio, 1992; English ebook edition Feb. 1996)
  • 40. Scorpio Invasion (Invasion von Scorpio, 1992; English ebook edition Aug. 1996)
  • 41. Scorpio Ablaze (Scorpio in Flammen, 1992; English ebook edition Dec. 1998)
  • 42. Scorpio Drums (Die Trommeln von Scorpio, 1992; English ebook edition Apr. 2008)
  • 43. Scorpio Triumph (Der Triumph von Scorpio, 1993; English ebook edition Jun. 2008)

[edit] Balintol cycle (originally published in German only)

[edit] Phantom cycle (published in German only)

[edit] Ryder Hook series (written as Tully Zetford)

The last six books in the series were published only in German, under Bulmer's real name. The first four books have also been published under his real name, collected in a single volume.

[edit] Keys to the Dimensions series

[edit] Odan the Half-God series (written as Manning Norvil)

[edit] Other science fiction novels

[edit] Historical novels

[edit] The Vikings series (as Neil Langholm)

[edit] Wolf's Head series (as Arthur Frazier)

[edit] The Eagles – Gladiator series (as Andrew Quiller)

[edit] Captain Shark series (as Richard Silver)

[edit] Fox series (as Adam Hardy)

[edit] Sea Wolf series (as Bruno Krauss)

[edit] Western novels

[edit] Jubal Cade series (as Charles R. Pike)

[edit] Adventure novels

[edit] Casca series (as Barry Sadler)

[edit] Strike Force: Falklands series (as Adam Hardy)

[edit] Television tie-ins

[edit] The Professionals series (as Ken Blake)

[edit] Children's books

[edit] Collections

[edit] Anthologies

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Bulmer"
Personal tools