BOOTHBY, Guy (Newell)

(1867-1905)

   Australian-born writer, permanently in the UK from 1894, who remains best known for his Dr Nikola sequence: A Bid for Fortune (1895; rev vt Dr Nikola's Vendetta 1908 US; vt Enter Dr. Nikola! 1975 US), Doctor Nikola (1896), The Lust of Hate(1898),Dr Nikola's Experiment (1899) and "Farewell, Nikola" (1901). The heart of the series is devoted to the Doctor's convoluted search for a Tibetan process that will resuscitate the dead and ensure IMMORTALITY in the living, and there are some hints that - unhampered by compunctions, armed with PSI POWERS, and blessed with a powerful experimental intellect - he may have reached his goal. Of GB's 50 or so novels, several further titles were of fantasy interest.

   JC

   Other works: Pharos, the Egyptian (1899); The Curse of the Snake (1902); Uncle Joe's Legacy, and Other Stories (coll 1902); The Lady of the Island (coll 1904); A Crime of the Under-Seas (1905), a fantastic-invention tale.