Sutton, Jeff
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
(1913-1979) US author, married to Jean Sutton, who began publishing sf with "The Third Empire" for Spaceway in February 1955; whose background – he had been a journalist, served time in the Marines and done research in high-altitude survival – was reflected in several of his novels, from First on the Moon (1958), his debut, to Spacehive (1960) and Whisper from the Stars (1970). Sutton alone wrote with a somewhat dilute clarity, his tales occasionally rising above the routine when he dealt in Near-Future subject matter, though neither Bombs in Orbit (1959) or H-Bomb over America (1967) managed to dramatize Cold War conflicts among the superpowers with much conviction: in both tales, global catastrophes are more or less averted. The Atom Conspiracy (August-September 1961 Amazing as "The Man Who Had No Brains"; 1963; vt The Man Who Had No Brains 2013 dos), set half a millennium after World War Three, is a Pariah Elite tale involving Telepaths who want to revive nuclear Technology for the good of all of us; but Sutton's reach did not extend convincingly into such far-flung regions.
His novels with his wife included the competent The Beyond (1968), about a special agent on a planet where ESP is banned who discovers himself to be a Telepath, and Lord of the Stars (1969), a Space Opera whose young protagonist, a human boy, must oppose the Galactic Empire of a violently imperialist race of Aliens. Most of the remaining tales written with his wife, generally designed for Young Adult readers, convey a similar verve, where nothing unexpectable happens, but a sense of competence prevails. [JC]
see also: Children's SF.
Jefferson Howard Sutton
born Los Angeles, California: 25 July 1913
died San Diego, California: 31 January 1979
works
- First on the Moon (New York: Ace Books, 1958) [pb/Ed Emshwiller]
- Bombs in Orbit (New York: Ace Books, 1959) [pb/]
- Spacehive (New York: Ace Books, 1960) [pb/]
- Apollo at Go (New York: G P Putnam's Sons, 1963) [hb/Robert Bartram]
- The Missile Lords (New York: G P Putnam's Sons, 1963) [hb/Ben Feder Inc]
- The Atom Conspiracy (New York: Avalon Books, 1963) [first appeared August-September 1961 Amazing as "The Man Who Had No Brains": hb/Ed Emshwiller]
- The Man Who Had No Brains (Medford, Oregon: Armchair Fiction, 2013) [dos: reprints magazine version: pb/Ken Fagg]
- Beyond Apollo (New York: G P Putnam's Sons, 1966) [hb/Francis Chauncey]
- The River (New York: Tower Books, 1966) with Jean Sutton [pb/]
- H-Bomb over America (New York: Ace Books, 1967) [pb/]
- The Man Who Saw Tomorrow (New York: Ace Books, 1968) [dos: pb/Jack Gaughan]
- The Programmed Man (New York: G P Putnam's Sons, 1968) with Jean Sutton [hb/Denny McMains]
- The Beyond (New York: G P Putnam's Sons, 1968) with Jean Sutton [hb/Albert Orbaan]
- Lord of the Stars (New York: G P Putnam's Sons, 1969) with Jean Sutton [hb/Albert Orbaan]
- Alien from the Stars (New York: G P Putnam's Sons, 1970) with Jean Sutton [hb/James Barry]
- Alton's Unguessable (New York: Ace Books, 1970) [dos: pb/Kelly Freas]
- Whisper from the Stars (New York: Dell Books, 1970) [pb/Paul Lehr]
- The Boy Who Had the Power (New York: G P Putnam's Sons, 1971) with Jean Sutton [hb/James E Barry]
- The Mindblocked Man (New York: DAW Books, 1972) [pb/Jack Gaughan]
- Cassady (New York: St Martin's Press, 1979) [hb/]
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