NOEL, Atanielle Annyn

(1947-)

   Now the legal name of the US writer who, under her earlier legal name, Ruth S(wycaffer) Noel, published 2 studies of J.R.R. TOLKIEN: The Mythology of Middle-Earth (1977) and The Languages of Tolkien'sMiddle-Earth (1980). Her 3 novels as AAN rather mercilessly tumble together fantasy, sf and thriller modes into spoof plots, through which some excitements emerge willy-nilly. The Duchess of Kneedeep (1986) is a humorous fantasy with ROBOTS. Speaker to Heaven (1987), set in post- HOLOCAUST California, conflates PSI POWERS and MAGIC. Murder on Usher'sPlanet (1987), evoking Edgar Allan POE, sends its investigator protagonists to a planet containing a secret, which they uncover.

   JC