WU, William F(ranking)

(1951-)

   US writer who began publishing sf with "By the Flicker of the One-Eyed Flame" for Andromeda 2 (anth 1977) ed Peter WESTON, and who has produced considerable work in various genres, receiving nominations for various awards; several tales make use of his own Chinese-US background. His novels are less impressive. The first, Masterplay (fixup 1987), thoughnot set in a franchised GAME-WORLD, flirts with the intoxications of a role-playing venue whose outcomes determine real events. The protagonist of Hong on the Range (1989) had appeared earlier in "Hong's Bluff" (1985). The Shade of Lo Man Gong (1988 Pulphouse; 1991 chap) is also fantasy. Hisother books have been ties: 2 tales in the Robot City sequence, Isaac Asimov's Robot City \#3: Cyborg * (1987) and \#6: Perihelion * (1988); DrBones \#2: The Cosmic Bomber * (1989); and a Time Tours tale, Robert Silverberg's Time Tours \#1: The Robin Hood Ambush * (1990); 6 volumes of Isaac Asimov's Robots in Time sequence: \#1 Predator* (1993), \#2 Marauder *(1993), \#3 Warrior* (1993), \#4 Dictator* (1994), \#5 Emperor *(1994) and \#6 Invader* (1994); and Mutant Chronicles: In Lunacy *(1993).

   JC

   Other work: Yellow Peril: Chinese Americans in American Fiction, 1850-1940 (1982); Shaunessy Fong (1992 chap); Wong's Lost and Found Emporium (coll1992).