Shaw, Bob

(British, 1931– )

Shaw was born in Northern Ireland, and worked in engineering, aircraft design, and public relations before becoming a full-time science fiction writer in 1975. Begin with Orbitsville (1975), typical of his work in its technological ingenuity, in which Vance Garamond discovers a habitable alien structure in deep space while fleeing a predatory commercial organization. The Wooden Spaceships (1988), part of Shaw's saga about neighbouring worlds called Land and Overland, finds Land blighted by a deadly disease, while Overland prepares to defend itself from refugee-invaders by constructing a fleet of wooden spacecraft. In The Peace Machine (1976) a scientist discovers a device capable of detonating simultaneously all the nuclear weapons on Earth. He attempts to force governments to disarm as a serious international crisis threatens destruction.

Ian Watson, John Brunner  DH