Nigel Kneale

It's a sad day today. Nigel Kneale, one of the greatest and most prophetic authors, has passed away at the age of 84. Without a doubt Kneale's works, the Quatermass stories in particular, have been a huge influence on my books. In fact, as recently as when I was putting the finishing touches to HATER earlier this year, I found myself watching Quatermass to get myself 'in the mood'. There's an air of fear and confusion in the final scenes (as 'martian' humans turn against 'human' humans) which contributed to the HATER story.

As far as I'm concerned, Nigel Kneale ranks right up there with Wyndham and Wells as the literary genuises who defined 'social' science-fiction.

Rest in peace, Mr Kneale. And thank you.