Martha Wells | |
---|---|
Born | Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. | September 1, 1964
Occupation | Writer |
Education | Texas A&M University ( BA) |
Period | 1993–present |
Genre | Fantasy, science fiction |
Website | |
marthawells |
Martha Wells (born September 1, 1964) [1] is an American writer of speculative fiction. She has published a number of fantasy novels, young adult novels, media tie-ins, short stories, and nonfiction essays on fantasy and science fiction subjects. Her novels have been translated into twelve languages. [2] Wells has won four Hugo Awards, two Nebula Awards and three Locus Awards for her science fiction series The Murderbot Diaries. She is also known for her fantasy series Ile-Rien and The Books of the Raksura. Wells is praised for the complex, realistically detailed societies she creates; this is often credited to her academic background in anthropology. [3] [4]
Martha Wells was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and has a B.A. in Anthropology from Texas A&M University. [1] She lives in College Station, Texas, with her husband. She was involved in SF/F fandom in college and was chairman of AggieCon 17. [5] In May 2023, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. [6]
As an aspiring writer Wells attended many local writing workshops and conventions, including the Turkey City Writer's Workshop taught by Bruce Sterling. [7] She has also taught writing workshops at ArmadilloCon, WorldCon, ApolloCon, and Writespace Houston, [8] and was the Special Workshop Guest at FenCon in 2018. [9]
Her first published novel, The Element of Fire (1993), was a finalist for that year's Compton Crook Award, and a runner-up for the 1994 William Crawford Award. Her second novel, City of Bones (1995), received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and a black diamond review from Kirkus Reviews, and was on the 1995 Locus Recommended Reading List for fantasy. Her third novel, The Death of the Necromancer (1998), was nominated for a Nebula Award. [10] The Element of Fire and The Death of the Necromancer are stand-alone novels which take place in the country of Ile-Rien, which is also the setting for the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy: The Wizard Hunters (2003), The Ships of Air (2004), and The Gate of Gods (2005). Her fourth novel was a stand-alone fantasy, Wheel of the Infinite. In 2006, she released a revised edition of The Element of Fire. [11]
She has written media tie-ins, including:
Her fantasy short stories include "The Potter's Daughter" in the anthology Elemental (2006), which was selected to appear in The Year's Best Fantasy #7 (2007). [13] This story features one of the main characters from The Element of Fire. Three prequel short stories to the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy were published in Black Gate Magazine in 2007 [14] [15] and 2008. [16]
Wells' longest-running fantasy series is The Books of the Raksura, which included five novels and two short fiction collections published by Night Shade Books: The Cloud Roads (2011), The Serpent Sea (2012), The Siren Depths (2012), Stories of the Raksura Vol 1: The Falling World & The Tale of Indigo and Cloud (2014), Stories of the Raksura Vol 2: The Dead City & The Dark Earth Below (2015), The Edge of Worlds (2016), and The Harbors of the Sun (2017). The series was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Series in 2018, [17] and The Edge of Worlds was reviewed in The New York Times. [18]
Wells has written two young adult fantasy novels, Emilie and the Hollow World and Emilie and the Sky World, published by Angry Robot/Strange Chemistry in 2013 and 2014. [19]
Wells was toastmaster of the World Fantasy Convention in 2017, [20] where she delivered a speech called "Unbury the Future" [21] about marginalized creators in the history of science fiction and fantasy, movies, and other media, and the deliberate suppression of the existence of those creators. The speech was well-received and generated a great deal of discussion. [22]
During 2018, Wells was the leader of the story team and lead writer for the new Dominaria expansion of the card game Magic: The Gathering. [23]
In May 2018, her Murderbot Diaries novella All Systems Red was number 8 on The New York Times Bestseller List for Audio. [24] The book won the 2017 Nebula Award for Best Novella, [25] the 2018 Hugo Award for Best Novella, [26] the 2018 Locus Award for Best Novella, [27] and the American Library Association's Alex Award, [28] and was nominated for the 2017 Philip K. Dick Award. [29] It was followed by the sequel novellas Artificial Condition (2018), Rogue Protocol (2018), and Exit Strategy (2018); [30] a short story, "Compulsory" (2018); [31] and a full novel sequel, Network Effect (2020), which made The New York Times Bestseller List for Novel. [32] On April 26, 2021, Tor.com publishing announced that they had signed a deal with Wells for six books, including three more Murderbot Diaries. [33] [34]
In September 2022, Tor Book shared the cover of Witch King, the latest novel by Wells that was released on May 30, 2023. [35] Tor describes the book as a story "of power and friendship, of trust and betrayal, and of the families we choose." [36]
Year | Work | Award | Category | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1994 | The Element of Fire | Compton Crook Award | Nominated | ||
Crawford Award | Nominated | ||||
1998 | The Death of the Necromancer | Nebula Award | Best Novel | Nominated | [37] |
2002 | The Death of the Necromancer (French edition) | Imaginales Award | Nominated | ||
2004 | The Element of Fire (French edition) | Nominated | |||
2018 | The Books of the Raksura | Hugo Award | Best Series | Nominated | [38] |
The Murderbot Diaries: All Systems Red | Alex Award | Won | [39] | ||
Hugo Award | Best Novella | Won | [26] | ||
Locus Award | Best Novella | Won | [27] | ||
Nebula Award | Best Novella | Won | [25] | ||
Philip K. Dick Award | Nominated | [40] | |||
Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award | Best SF Novel | Nominated | |||
2019 | The Murderbot Diaries: Exit Strategy | BSFA Award | Best Shorter Fiction | Nominated | [41] |
The Murderbot Diaries: Artificial Condition | Hugo Award | Best Novella [a] | Won | [43] | |
Locus Award | Best Novella [b] | Won | [44] | ||
Nebula Award | Best Novella | Nominated | [45] | ||
2021 | The Murderbot Diaries: Network Effect | Hugo Award | Best Novel | Won | [46] |
Locus Award | Best Science Fiction Novel | Won | [47] | ||
Nebula Award | Best Novel | Won | [48] | ||
The Murderbot Diaries | Hugo Award | Best Series | Won | [46] | |
2023 | Witch King | Dragon Awards | Best Fantasy Novel | Won | [49] |
2024 | Witch King | Nebula Award | Best Novel | Nominated | [50] |
Hugo Award | Best Novel | Nominated | [51] |
Young-adult fantasy
Science fiction series:
Martha Wells | |
---|---|
Born | Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. | September 1, 1964
Occupation | Writer |
Education | Texas A&M University ( BA) |
Period | 1993–present |
Genre | Fantasy, science fiction |
Website | |
marthawells |
Martha Wells (born September 1, 1964) [1] is an American writer of speculative fiction. She has published a number of fantasy novels, young adult novels, media tie-ins, short stories, and nonfiction essays on fantasy and science fiction subjects. Her novels have been translated into twelve languages. [2] Wells has won four Hugo Awards, two Nebula Awards and three Locus Awards for her science fiction series The Murderbot Diaries. She is also known for her fantasy series Ile-Rien and The Books of the Raksura. Wells is praised for the complex, realistically detailed societies she creates; this is often credited to her academic background in anthropology. [3] [4]
Martha Wells was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and has a B.A. in Anthropology from Texas A&M University. [1] She lives in College Station, Texas, with her husband. She was involved in SF/F fandom in college and was chairman of AggieCon 17. [5] In May 2023, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. [6]
As an aspiring writer Wells attended many local writing workshops and conventions, including the Turkey City Writer's Workshop taught by Bruce Sterling. [7] She has also taught writing workshops at ArmadilloCon, WorldCon, ApolloCon, and Writespace Houston, [8] and was the Special Workshop Guest at FenCon in 2018. [9]
Her first published novel, The Element of Fire (1993), was a finalist for that year's Compton Crook Award, and a runner-up for the 1994 William Crawford Award. Her second novel, City of Bones (1995), received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and a black diamond review from Kirkus Reviews, and was on the 1995 Locus Recommended Reading List for fantasy. Her third novel, The Death of the Necromancer (1998), was nominated for a Nebula Award. [10] The Element of Fire and The Death of the Necromancer are stand-alone novels which take place in the country of Ile-Rien, which is also the setting for the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy: The Wizard Hunters (2003), The Ships of Air (2004), and The Gate of Gods (2005). Her fourth novel was a stand-alone fantasy, Wheel of the Infinite. In 2006, she released a revised edition of The Element of Fire. [11]
She has written media tie-ins, including:
Her fantasy short stories include "The Potter's Daughter" in the anthology Elemental (2006), which was selected to appear in The Year's Best Fantasy #7 (2007). [13] This story features one of the main characters from The Element of Fire. Three prequel short stories to the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy were published in Black Gate Magazine in 2007 [14] [15] and 2008. [16]
Wells' longest-running fantasy series is The Books of the Raksura, which included five novels and two short fiction collections published by Night Shade Books: The Cloud Roads (2011), The Serpent Sea (2012), The Siren Depths (2012), Stories of the Raksura Vol 1: The Falling World & The Tale of Indigo and Cloud (2014), Stories of the Raksura Vol 2: The Dead City & The Dark Earth Below (2015), The Edge of Worlds (2016), and The Harbors of the Sun (2017). The series was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Series in 2018, [17] and The Edge of Worlds was reviewed in The New York Times. [18]
Wells has written two young adult fantasy novels, Emilie and the Hollow World and Emilie and the Sky World, published by Angry Robot/Strange Chemistry in 2013 and 2014. [19]
Wells was toastmaster of the World Fantasy Convention in 2017, [20] where she delivered a speech called "Unbury the Future" [21] about marginalized creators in the history of science fiction and fantasy, movies, and other media, and the deliberate suppression of the existence of those creators. The speech was well-received and generated a great deal of discussion. [22]
During 2018, Wells was the leader of the story team and lead writer for the new Dominaria expansion of the card game Magic: The Gathering. [23]
In May 2018, her Murderbot Diaries novella All Systems Red was number 8 on The New York Times Bestseller List for Audio. [24] The book won the 2017 Nebula Award for Best Novella, [25] the 2018 Hugo Award for Best Novella, [26] the 2018 Locus Award for Best Novella, [27] and the American Library Association's Alex Award, [28] and was nominated for the 2017 Philip K. Dick Award. [29] It was followed by the sequel novellas Artificial Condition (2018), Rogue Protocol (2018), and Exit Strategy (2018); [30] a short story, "Compulsory" (2018); [31] and a full novel sequel, Network Effect (2020), which made The New York Times Bestseller List for Novel. [32] On April 26, 2021, Tor.com publishing announced that they had signed a deal with Wells for six books, including three more Murderbot Diaries. [33] [34]
In September 2022, Tor Book shared the cover of Witch King, the latest novel by Wells that was released on May 30, 2023. [35] Tor describes the book as a story "of power and friendship, of trust and betrayal, and of the families we choose." [36]
Year | Work | Award | Category | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1994 | The Element of Fire | Compton Crook Award | Nominated | ||
Crawford Award | Nominated | ||||
1998 | The Death of the Necromancer | Nebula Award | Best Novel | Nominated | [37] |
2002 | The Death of the Necromancer (French edition) | Imaginales Award | Nominated | ||
2004 | The Element of Fire (French edition) | Nominated | |||
2018 | The Books of the Raksura | Hugo Award | Best Series | Nominated | [38] |
The Murderbot Diaries: All Systems Red | Alex Award | Won | [39] | ||
Hugo Award | Best Novella | Won | [26] | ||
Locus Award | Best Novella | Won | [27] | ||
Nebula Award | Best Novella | Won | [25] | ||
Philip K. Dick Award | Nominated | [40] | |||
Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award | Best SF Novel | Nominated | |||
2019 | The Murderbot Diaries: Exit Strategy | BSFA Award | Best Shorter Fiction | Nominated | [41] |
The Murderbot Diaries: Artificial Condition | Hugo Award | Best Novella [a] | Won | [43] | |
Locus Award | Best Novella [b] | Won | [44] | ||
Nebula Award | Best Novella | Nominated | [45] | ||
2021 | The Murderbot Diaries: Network Effect | Hugo Award | Best Novel | Won | [46] |
Locus Award | Best Science Fiction Novel | Won | [47] | ||
Nebula Award | Best Novel | Won | [48] | ||
The Murderbot Diaries | Hugo Award | Best Series | Won | [46] | |
2023 | Witch King | Dragon Awards | Best Fantasy Novel | Won | [49] |
2024 | Witch King | Nebula Award | Best Novel | Nominated | [50] |
Hugo Award | Best Novel | Nominated | [51] |
Young-adult fantasy
Science fiction series: