PHILLIFENT, John T(homas)

(1916-1976)

   UK writer of much sf and works in other genres; though he claimed to reserve his best material for publication under his own name, he was at least as well known to sf readers under his pseudonym John Rackham. He began writing sf with the Space Puppet series for Pearson'sTit-Bits SF Library as Rackham: Space Puppet (1954 chap), Jupiter Equilateral (1954 chap), The Master Weed (1954 chap) and Alien Virus (1955 chap). He produced also a fantasy series, the Chappie Jones stories, for Science Fantasy, beginning with "The Veil of Isis" (1961); these storieswere assembled as The Touch of Evil (coll of linked stories 1963) as by Rackham. In the mid-1960s his career picked up some steam with a flow ofRackham SPACE OPERAS for ACE BOOKS, beginning with We, the Venusians (1965 dos US) and Danger from Vega (1966 dos US), and continuing with others of the same unambitiously readable nature. Under his own name, JTP produced in the 1970s some sf novels of real competence, including King of Argent (1973 US), an entertaining adventure set on an agreeably strange planet.Through his career, he remained a reliable producer of the second-rank fiction demanded by an entertainment genre hungry for copy.

   JC

   Other works: 3 MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. ties: The Mad Scientist Affair * (1966 US), The Corfu Affair * (1967) and The Power Cube Affair * (1968); GeniusUnlimited (1972 US); Hierarchies (1973 dos US); Life with Lancelot (coll of linked stories 1973).As John Rackham: Watch on Peter (1964), a juvenile; The Beasts of Kohl (1966 dos US); Time to Live (1966 dos US); The Double Invaders (1967 dos US); Alien Sea (1968 dos US); The ProximaProject (1968 dos US); Ipomoea (1969 dos US); Treasure of Tau Ceti (1969 dos US); The Anything Tree (1970 dos US); Flower of Doradil (1970 dos US); Beyond Capella (1971 dos US); Dark Planet (1971 dos US); Earthstrings(1972 dos US); Beanstalk (1973 US).