M. P. Shiel

1865–1947

1 standalone book

M. P. Shiel was a British writer born in the West Indies in 1865 and died in 1947. He wrote twenty-five novels and dozens of short stories under his pen name, often focusing on romantic or supernatural adventure themes. His most famous work is The Purple Cloud (1901), a "last-man-on-Earth" story that influenced Stephen King's The Stand and inspired several films. He also created the unusual detective Prince Zaleski, featured in four stories beginning in 1895. Critics have praised Zaleski as one of the most unusual and erudite detectives in literature. Shiel referred to his character as a "legitimate son" of detective fiction, contrasting him with Sherlock Holmes.

Born

1865