Donald Rowland

Notable Works

• Star Quest (1974) as alias Fenton Brockley
• Nightmare Planet (1976)
• Blood in the Dust (1964)

About

Born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, in 1928, Donald Sydney Rowland was a prolific author under many pseudonyms, including Peter Mallett, Corba Sunman, Fenton Brockley, Roland Starr, Graham Garner, Alex Random, Mark Suffling and Roger Carlton. He wrote for the library market, frequently publishing with Robert Hale, a UK publishing firm that, from 1936-1984, published more than 450 novels in hardbound editions for public libraries.

Rowland wrote at least 18 books for the Robert Hale SF series, including the Space Operas under his own name, beginning with Despot in Space (1973), and the Professor Condor sequence whose titular Scientist hero confronts challenges with the aid of his ‘Matter Transmission device’, beginning with Master of Space (1974). Rowland wrote at least 40 westerns with Robert Hale under the pseudonym Corba Sunman. Rowland wrote over 400 library novels for various publishers under different names and genres. Later in life, he also seems to have written at least one non-fiction ‘Beauty’ book, as Tania Kindersley and Sarah Vine.

Legacy

His gift of Royalties to the RLF from his literary estate helps support future generations of writers.