Matthew Phipps Shiel (1865-1947), was a prolific British writer of fantastic fiction, remembered mostly for supernatural & scientific romances, published as novels, short stories & serials. He wrote under the pen name Gordon Holmes. After working as a teacher & translator he broke into the fiction market with a series of short stories published in The Strand & other magazines. His early literary reputation was based on two collections of short stories influenced by Poe published in the Keynote series by John Lane, Prince Zaleski (1895) & Shapes in the Fire (1896), considered by some critics as the most flamboyant of the English decadent movement. His 1st novel was The Rajah’s Sapphire (1896), based on a plot by Wm Thomas Stead, who probably hired him to write the novel. Around 1899-1900 Shiel conceived a loosely linked trilogy of novels which have been described as possibly the 1st future history series in science fiction. Shiel’s lasting literary reputation is largely based on Notebook 3 of the series which was serialized in The Royal Magazine in abridged form before book publication as The Purple Cloud (1901). He also wrote The Lord of the Sea (1901).
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