Haile, Terence
Entry updated 26 January 2026. Tagged: Author.
(1921-1979) UK author of two sf novels remarkable for their clumsiness and their apparent ignorance of the basic laws of Physics. In Space Train (1962; vt The Claw 1973) a UK farmer builds a rocket-powered train which travels at 3000 miles per hour and, as a consequence of sabotage, takes off into space while carrying numerous VIPs including the Prime Minister, his Cabinet and leading members of the Opposition. The travellers encounter interplanetary crabs before returning to Earth without any inconvenience from the long fall from space. Galaxies Ahead (1963) is similarly implausible, with space travellers attaining ridiculous longevity – over a million years – not through any Relativistic effect or Stasis Field but simply because "we were in an air-locked compartment and did not do anything but sleep for most of the time, thus conserving our energy ..." [NT/DRL]
Terence Haile
born Birmingham, England: 22 June 1921
died Walsall: 19 January 1979
works
- Space Train (London: Digit Books, 1962) [pb/Dan Rainey]
- The Claw (Sydney, New South Wales: Bill Ewington Books, 1973) [vt of the above: pb/]
- Galaxies Ahead (London: Digit Books, 1963) [pb/uncredited]
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