Walter Jon Williams

Walter Jon Williams (born October 28, 1953)^[1] is an American writer, primarily of science fiction. Previously he wrote nautical adventure fiction under the name Jon Williams, in particular, Privateers and Gentlemen (1981–1984), a series of historical novels set during the Age of Sail.^[2]

Walter Jon Williams
Walter Jon Williams in 2017
Born	(1953-10-28) October 28, 1953 (age 70) Duluth, Minnesota, U.S.
Occupation	Writer
Education	University of New Mexico (BA)
Period	1981–present
Genre	Science fiction Nautical fiction (as Jon Williams)
Notable awards	Nebula Award
Website
walterjonwilliams.net

Career

Writing as Jon Williams, he designed the wargame Tradition of Victory and role-playing game Promotions and Prizes, which were republished by Fantasy Games Unlimited as Heart of Oak (1982) and Privateers and Gentlemen (1983).^[3]: 74 A role-playing game sourcebook for Cyberpunk called Hardwired (1989) was licensed by R. Talsorian Games, based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Williams.^[3]: 209

Williams was born in Duluth, Minnesota and graduated from 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.

In 2006, Williams founded the Taos Toolbox, a two-week writer's workshop for fantasy and science fiction writers.

In 2017, Williams was the Guest of Honor at the 75th World Science Fiction Convention, held in Helsinki.

Publications

Novels

• Hardwired series
  • Hardwired (1986)
  • Solip:System (1989), novelette released as a standalone book
  • Voice of the Whirlwind (1987)
  • "Wolf Time" (1987), novelette

• Drake Maijstral series
  An SF comedy of manners series about the aristocratic burglar Drake Maijstral. Collected as an omnibus, Ten Points for Style (1995)
  • 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 nominee; Nebula Award nominee

• Dread Empire's Fall series
  A military science fiction/space opera series.
  • The Praxis (2002)
  • The Sundering (2003)
  • Conventions of War (2005)
  • Investments (2008), novella
  • Impersonations (2016)
  • The Accidental War (2018)
  • Fleet Elements (2020)
  • Imperium Restored (2022)

• Privateers and Gentlemen series, as Jon Williams^[2]
  • 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)

• Dagmar Shaw series
  A sci-fi thriller series involving crowdsourcing and alternate reality games.
  • This Is Not a Game (2009)
  • Deep State (2011)
  • The Fourth Wall (2012)
  • "Diamonds from Tequila" (2014), short story published in Rogues

• Quillifer series
  • Quillifer (2017)
  • Quillifer The Knight (2019)
  • Lord Quillifer (2022)^[4]

• 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)
  • The Rift (1999), as by Walter J. Williams
  • The New Jedi Order: Destiny's Way (2002)
  • Implied Spaces (2008)

Short fiction collections

• Facets (1990)
• Frankensteins and Foreign Devils (1998)
• The Green Leopard Plague and Other Stories (Trade Hardcover: Night Shade Books, 2010, ISBN 978-1-59780-177-5)

Notable short fiction

• "Dinosaurs" (1987), Hugo Award nominee
• "Witness" (1987), Nebula Award nominee
• "Surfacing" (1988), Hugo Award and Nebula Award nominee
• "Prayers on the Wind" (1991), Nebula Award nominee
• "Wall, Stone, Craft" (1993), Hugo Award and Nebula Award nominee
• "Red Elvis" (1994) (collected in Mike Resnick's alternate history anthology Alternate Outlaws)
• "Foreign Devils" in War of the Worlds: Global Dispatches (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 Green Leopard Plague" (2004), Nebula Award winner, Hugo Award nominee

References

1. Williams, Walter Jon (28 October 2007). "Geezer Test". Walter Jon Williams. Retrieved 20 May 2021. Since it's now my birthday, and the whole day is entirely about me—making it not unlike other days, actually—it's only appropriate that I devise a test to discover if you guys are as wise as I am.
2. "The Nautical Fiction List" (T–Z). An Annotated Bibliography of Novels based in part on the work of John Kohnen (part 9). California Maritime Academy (csum.edu). Retrieved 2014-08-02.
3. Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.
4. Williams, Walter Jon (15 February 2022). Lord Quillifer. ISBN 978-1481490030.

External links

• Official website   with blog
• Walter Jon Williams at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Critical profile and bibliography in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
• at the Wayback Machine (archived November 2, 2007)
• Interview on Bibliophile Stalker
• Practice for Something Else: Walter Jon Williams, Interview by Jeremy L. C. Jones, Clarkesworld Magazine, January 2011
• Interview With a Writer: Science Fiction Writer Walter Jon Williams, Interview by Tom Chandler, Writer Underground blog, April 2011
• Walter Jon Williams at Library of Congress
• Jon Williams at LC Authorities – undifferentiated name; 6 of 7 catalog records belong to this Jon Williams
• Jon Williams at WorldCat (Privateers and Gentlemen, among works by other Jon Williams)