Walter Jon Williams

Walter Jon Williams (born 15 October 1953) is an American writer, primarily of science fiction.

Several of Williams' novels have a distinct cyberpunk feel to them, notably "Hardwired" (also an homage to Roger Zelazny's novel "Damnation Alley") and "Voice of the Whirlwind". However, he has explored a number of different styles and genres, including farce (e.g., the "Majistral" series), postcyberpunk space opera ("Aristoi"), military science fiction ("Dread Empire's Fall" series), alternate history ("Wall, Stone, Craft"), science fantasy ("Metropolitan" and "City on Fire"), disaster thriller ("The Rift"), and historical adventure ("Privateers and Gentlemen" series), and police procedural ("Days of Atonement"), usually in a science fiction context. He has also contributed to some of the Wild Cards cooperative novels.

Williams was born in Duluth, Minnesota and attended the University of New Mexico, where he received his BA degree in 1975. He currently lives in Valencia County, south of Albuquerque in New Mexico.

Williams played roleplaying games (in a group with other sf authors including George R. R. Martin and Melinda Snodgrass) and has written both fiction and rulebooks for the games "Privateers and Gentlemen" from Fantasy Games Unlimited and "Cyberpunk" from R. Talsorian Games.

Bibliography

Novels

* Hardwired series
** "Hardwired" (1986)
** "" (1989)
** "Voice of the Whirlwind" (1987)

* Maijstral series
** "The Crown Jewels" (1987)
** " House of Shards" (1988)
** "Rock of Ages" (1995)

* Metropolitan series
** "Metropolitan" (1995), Nebula Award nominee
** "City on Fire" (1997), Hugo Award and Nebula Award nominee

* Dread Empire's Fall series
** "The Praxis" (2002)
** "The Sundering" (2003)
** "The Conventions of War" (2005)

* Privateers and Gentlemen series, as by Jon Williams
** "To Glory Arise", originally "The Privateer" (1981)
** "The Tern Schooner", originally "The Yankee" (1981)
** "Brig of War", originally "The Raider" (1981)
** "The Macedonian" (1981)
** "Cat Island" (1981)

* Other novels
** "Ambassador of Progress" (1984)
** "Knight Moves" (1985), Philip K. Dick Award nominee
** "Angel Station" (1989)
** "Elegy for Angels and Dogs" (1990)
** "Days of Atonement" (1991)
** "Aristoi" (1992), on [http://www.niucholaswhyte.info/sf/doom.htm preliminary list] for Hugo Award for Best Novel; cover art nominated for Hugo Award for Best Original Artwork
** "The Rift" (1999), as by Walter J. Williams
** "" (2002)
** "Implied Spaces" (2008)

Short fiction collections

* "Facets" (1990)
* "Frankensteins and Foreign Devils" (1998)

Notable short fiction

* "Dinosaurs" (1987), Hugo Award nominee
* "Witness" (1987), Nebula Award nominee
* "Surfacing" (1988), Hugo Award and Nebula Award nominee
* "Solip:System" (1989)
* "Prayers on the Wind" (1991), Nebula Award nominee
* "Wall, Stone, Craft" (1993), Hugo Award and Nebula Award nominee
* "Foreign Devils" in "" (1996), Sidewise Award for Alternate History winner
* "Lethe" (1999), Nebula Award nominee
* "Daddy's World" (2000), Nebula Award winner
* "Argonautica" (2001), Nebula Award nominee
* "The Last Ride of German Freddie", in "Worlds That Weren't" (2002), Sidewise Award for Alternate History nominee
* "The Tang Dynasty Underwater Pyramid"" (2004)
* "The Green Leopard Plague" (2004), Nebula Award winner, Hugo Award nominee

External links

* [http://www.thuntek.net/~walter/ Walter Jon Williams Home Page]
*

* [http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/originals/originals_archive/williams/williams1.html/ The Tang Dynasty Underwater Pyramid]
* [http://www.asimovs.com/_issue_0501/leopardplague.shtml/ The Green Leopard Plague]
* [http://boards.theforce.net/Authors_&_Artists/b10347/5816776/?903 Walter Jon Williams discussion at theforce.net Message Boards]
* [http://walterjonwilliams.blogspot.com/ Angel Station] - Walter Jon Williams' personal blog.