Hoyle, Fred

(British, 1915–2001)

Born in Bingley, Yorkshire, Hoyle was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. A leading figure in twentieth-century astronomy, his science fiction gains credibility from his authoritative use of scientific speculation. Begin with The Black Cloud (1957), his first novel, in which an alien intelligence in the form of a cloud blots out the sun, threatening ecological disaster and social upheaval. Ossian's Ride (1959) resembles a conventional thriller when it opens with its main character on the run in rural Ireland. Science fiction takes over when he joins an extraterrestrial conspiracy to create a technologically advanced utopia. Hoyle's later novels were written jointly with his son Geoffrey. They include Inferno (1973), in which Earth is depopulated by the effects of a stellar explosion, leaving scattered groups of survivors to face their responsibility for the future of mankind.

John Wyndham, Ray Bradbury  DH