OFFUTT, Andrew J(efferson V)

(1937-)

   US writer who often signed his name andrew j offutt; his first published story was as by Andy Offutt and his first professional sale was as by A.J. Offutt. That first published story, a contest winner, was "And Gone Tomorrow" for If in 1954, but he regards his professional sf careeras beginning with "Blacksword" for Gal in 1959. He soon became a prolific writer in several genres, both under his own name and under pseudonyms including John Cleve (see below for the Spaceways sequence), Jeff Douglas and the house name J.X. WILLIAMS. The pseudonymous works have been SEX novels, several with sf content. AJO's first sf novel under his own name was Evil is Live Spelled Backwards (1970), in which an underground movement opposes a 21st-century religious tyranny through sexual revolution. The Castle Keeps (1972) more ambitiously depicts - through an acid examination of SURVIVALIST shibboleths - the violent disintegration of Western culture. A juvenile, The Galactic Rejects (1973), features three young friends with PSI POWERS on a UTOPIAN world threatened by invasion.From the mid-1970s, with the appearance of tales like Messenger of Zhuvastou (1973) and My Lord Barbarian (1977), AJO turned primarily to fantasy, usually SWORD AND SORCERY, often works tied to other authors' creations, though much of the John Cleve sf erotica was published in the 1980s. His urgent, sometimes rather hasty style and his sharp intelligenceare most effectively deployed in sf stories depicting a hectic urban world and, though he clearly finds all sorts of material congenial, his later career has not been of striking interest.

   JC

   Other works: The Great 24-Hour Thing (1971); Ardor on Aros (1973); Genetic Bomb (1975) with D(ouglas) Bruce Berry; the Cormac Mac Art sequence, based on Robert E. HOWARD's character and comprising Sword of the Gael * (1975), The Undying Wizard * (1976), Sign of the Moonbow * (1977), The Mists of Doom * (1977), When Death Birds Fly * (1980) with Keith Taylor (1946-) and The Tower of Death * (1982) with Taylor; Chieftain of Andor (1976; vt Clansman of Andor 1979 UK); a Conan parody, The Black Sorcerer of the Black Castle (1976 chap) plus 3 Conan novels, Conan and the Sorcerer * (1978), The Sword of Skelos * (1979) and Conan the Mercenary * (1980); the War of the Wizardsfantasy sequence, all with Richard K. Lyon (1933-), comprising Demon in the Mirror (1978), Eyes of Sarsis (1980) and Web of the Spider (1981); the War of the Gods on Earth fantasy sequence, comprising The Iron Lords(1979), Shadows Out of Hell (1980) and The Lady of the Snowmist (1983); King Dragon (1980); Shadowspawn * (1987), whose labelling identifies it as a contribution to the Thieves' World SHARED-WORLD enterprise but which is, according to AJO, not so - a denial whose terms might also apply to The Shadow of Sorcery*(1993); Deathknight (1990).As John Cleve:Barbarana(1970); The Devoured (1970); Fruit of the Loins (1970); Jodinareh (1970); The Juice of Love (1970); Pleasure Us! (1971; vt The Pleasure Principal 1975 as by Baxter Giles); Manlib! (1974); The Sexorcist (1974; vt Unholy Revelry 1976); the Spaceways sequence (the first 6 written solo, most of the rest in collaboration, but all signed Cleve alone), comprising Spaceways \#1: Of Alien Bondage (1982), \#2: Corundum's Woman (1982), \#3:Escape from Macho (1982), \#4: Satana Enslaved (1982), \#5: Master of Misfit (1982), \#6: Purrfect Plunder (1982), \#7: The Manhuntress (1982) with Geo. W. PROCTOR, \#8: Under Twin Suns (1982), \#9: The Quest of Qalara (1983), \#10: The Yoke of Shen (1983) with Proctor, \#11: The Iceworld Connection (1983) with Jack C. HALDEMAN II and his wife Vol Haldeman, \#12: Star Slaver (1983) with G.C. EDMONDSON, both writing as Cleve, \#13: Jonuta Rising! (1983) with Victor KOMAN, \#14: Assignment: Hellhole (1983) with Robin Kincaid, \#15: Starship Sapphire (1984) with Roland GREEN, \#16: The Planet Murderer (1984) with Dwight V. SWAIN, \#17: The Carnadyne Horde (1984) with Koman, \#18: Race Across the Stars (1984) with Kincaid and \#19: King of the Slavers (1985). There are further Cleve erotic novels.As Jeff Douglas: The Balling Machine (1971) with D. Bruce Berry.As J.X. Williams: The Sex Pill (1968).As Editor: The Swords Against Darkness series, comprising Swords Against Darkness (anth 1977; vt Swords Against Darkness I 1990); II (anth 1977); III (anth 1978); IV (anth 1979); V (anth1979).

   See also: POLLUTION; SCIENCE FICTION WRITERS OF AMERICA.