Edwin Charles Tubb (15 October 1919 – 10 September 2010) was a British writer of science fiction, fantasy and western novels.

"[1] Much of Tubb's work was written under pseudonyms including Gregory Kern, Carl Maddox, Alan Guthrie, Eric Storm and George Holt.

Previously a salesman of printing machinery,[3] he opted for a full-time career as a writer and soon became renowned for the speed and diversity of his output.

Originally written in what Michael Moorcock has described as a "conscious and acknowledged imitation" of Leigh Brackett's Eric John Stark stories, the series subsequently developed a style of storytelling unique to Tubb.

in the UK (where only the first six books have ever been published), the novels follow the adventures of Captain 'Cap' Kennedy, a Free Acting Terran Envoy (F.A.T.E.)

with licence to act as judge, jury, and executioner, and the power to intervene in any situation which threatens the peace of the Terran Sphere, an interplanetary federation centred on Earth.

Independently wealthy and operating from his personal spaceship, the Mordain, Kennedy is assisted on his missions by engineer Penza Saratov, veteran scientist Professor Jarl Luden, and alien navigator Veem Chemile, a humanoid chameleon who claims to be descended from the Zheltyana, an ancient race which dominated the galaxy in the distant past before vanishing without trace.

"Random Sample" was itself a revised version of a much earlier Tubb short, "Entrance Exam", originally published in New Worlds magazine (1951).

Tubb's best known standalone novel is The Space-Born (1956), which started life as a serial for New Worlds Science Fiction magazine entitled "Star Ship".

Other notable standalone novels include Alien Dust (1955), which charts the first 35 years of an Earth colony on Mars, and Moon Base (1964), a science fiction detective thriller set on a British Moonbase where a biochemical computer is under development.

The short story "Little Girl Lost", originally published in New Worlds magazine (1955), was dramatised as a segment of Night Gallery in 1972.

Adapted by Stanford Whitmore and directed by Timothy Galfras, with a cast featuring William Windom and Ed Nelson, the segment originally aired on 1 March 1972, paired with The Caterpillar in the penultimate episode of the series' second season.

(later published in a slightly revised version under the title "Fallen Angel") was adapted for the 2023 film, "57 Seconds" starring Morgan Freeman and Josh Hutcherson.