Jim Baen's Universe

Authors | A. Bertram Chandler

A (Arthur) Bertram Chandler was born in Aldershot,England in 1912, Chandler sailed the world in every-thing from tramp steamers to troop transports before emigrating to Australia in 1956. Here he commanded merchant vessels under the Australian and New Zealand Flags up to his retirement in 1974.

Encouraged by John Campbell following a visit to New York during World War 2 Chandler's first published story was "This Means War" in 1944. He became a regular contributer to Astounding during the final years of thewar. Making the front cover twice - once with 'Giant Killer', and again with 'Special Knowledge'

Up until his death in 1984 he published over 40 science fiction novels and over 200 works of short fiction writing as A Bertram Chandler, George Whitley (Whitely) or Andrew Dunstan. Many of the novels had a nautical theme, with the plot moved from the seas of earth to the ships of space in the future. Many of the stories revolved around the character of John Grimes some times referred to as "Hornblower of Space". While most stories are set in the future, they also have a distinctly "Australian" theme with places and stories relating back to Australia today.

Chandler received four Australian SF Achievement Award "Ditmars" for his novels. Nearly all of his novels were published in the USA. Two of his short stories 'The Cage' and 'Giant Killer' are regarded as classic SF stories. He was also very popular in Japan winning the prestigious SEIUN SHO, the premier Science Fiction award. He was also guest of honor along with Lee Hoffman and Kelly Freas at the 40th Annual World Science Convention in Chicago (Chicon IV).

Further details on A Bertram Chandler can be obtained from his website www.bertramchandler.com

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