C. C. MacApp
C. C. MacApp, born Carroll Mather Capps in California on September 19, 1913, was a notable science fiction writer who began his literary career in his late forties. He gained early recognition with his novella "A Pride of Islands," published in 1960, which was well-received and later included in the anthology "The Six Fingers of Time." MacApp's works often explored imaginative themes, such as time travel and cosmic adventures, exemplified by his novellas "A Guest of Ganymede" and "The Mercurymen," the latter of which earned a Nebula Award nomination in 1966. His debut novel, "Omha Abides," was released in 1968, followed by other works that showcased his penchant for action-oriented narratives and space opera. Among his notable stories is "Worlds of the Wall," featuring a unique hemispheric planet, and "Recall Not Earth," which dealt with themes of survival and galactic warfare. Although MacApp's works experienced a period of popularity, many have since fallen out of print, and his literary legacy is less recognized in contemporary discussions of science fiction. He passed away in 1971, but two novels were published posthumously, continuing to reflect his imaginative storytelling.
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C. C. MacApp
Writer
- Born: September 19, 1913
- Birthplace: California
- Died: January 15, 1971
- Place of death: San Francisco, California
Biography
Science-fiction writer C. C. MacApp was born Carroll Mather Capps in California on September 19, 1913. MacApp began writing science-fiction stories when he was in his late forties. He sold his first story, a time travel novella entitled A Pride of Islands, to Worlds of If Science Fiction Magazine for the May, 1960, issue. Reader response was favorable, and the story was reprinted in an anthology of time travel stories, The Six Fingers of Time (1965). A second MacApp novella, A Guest of Ganymede, appeared in the June, 1963, issue of Worlds of Tomorrow, and in December, 1963, his short story “And All the Earth a Grave,” was published in Galaxy. In 1966, his novella, The Mercurymen, was nominated for a Nebula Award, presented by the Science Fiction Writers of America.
MacApp’s first novel, Omha Abides, was published in 1968. The following year, he published three additional novels, Prisoners of the Sky and Worlds of the Wall under his now-familiar pseudonym and Secret of the Sunless World, the only book he published under the name Carroll M. Capp. Worlds of the Wall is a hyperspace story in which a space explorer named Zeke Bolivar discovers the unique phenomenon of a hemispheric planet, a globe sliced down the middle. Reaching the flat surface of the slice, Bolivar discovers the surface is a black wall. When he meets a strange old man, Bolivar is pushed into the wall, which turns out to be a dimensional bridge to other worlds.
MacApp’s novel Recall Not Earth, the last published in his lifetime, combined the science-fiction themes of the last man left alive and galactic warfare in a story about Earth’s final survivors who are fighting to keep the memory of their home planet alive while saving the rest of the galaxy from destruction. After MacApp died of coronary thrombosis in 1971, two more of his novels were published posthumously: Subb a story of mutants persecuted by humankind, and Bumsider, a galactic tale about humans who attempt to claim their share of real estate in the colonization of space while the powers that be attempt to keep them out. Action- oriented and tending toward space opera, MacApp’s fiction enjoyed a brief popularity, though few of his books remained in print through the twenty-first century.