GERRARE, Wirt

   Pseudonym of UK writer William Oliver Greener (1862-?) for most of his work, both fiction and nonfiction, though at least one thriller appeared under his real name. His first novel of any interest, Rufin's Legacy: A Theosophical Romance (1892), features a Russian female spy who uses herastral body nefariously. Phantasms: Original Stories Illustrating Posthumous Personality and Character (coll 1895) assembles fantasies abouta psychic investigator. The Warstock: A Tale of To-Morrow (1898) is a genuine sf novel in which a group of brilliant inventors establishes in Morocco an advanced city-state called Cristalia, seemingly armouredagainst invasion. But Germany, using fifth-columnists, takes over, though without reckoning on the eponymous weapon, a device which randomly triggers ammunition dumps worldwide. The scientists then reoccupy the city and prepare to rule the world from their technological meritocracy.

   JC